I was diagnosed about 5 years ago with schizoaffective disorder. prior to that I had a diagnosis of schizophrenia. during the past 6 years I was drinking heavily and smoking pot. I think It interfered with the medication I was taking. Anyway the result wasn’t a good one. I joined AA and am working the steps and you know what? A great big depression was lifted off of me. I still have a mental disease but it is more manageable now. I am very grateful for having the obsession to drink removed. God has done for me what I could not have done for myself.
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Please give yourself some credit for that hard work as well.
I’m glad this has been fading for you and your feeling better. I couldn’t stabilize until I finally got drugs and alcohol out of my life either.
Keep up the hard work, and as you heal and get stronger, you will feel better again.
Well I support alcoholic recovery, I am a recovered alcoholic but technically because we are mentally ill, we are not really alcoholics, alcohol DOES FIX OUR PROBLEMS and it MAKES IT STOP we dont just enjoy getting drunk as ■■■■. But dude you quit drinking, take the credit.
And by the way, pot or any other recreational drug other than anti-anxieties will ■■■■ a schizophrenic up
any dopamine/serotonin agonist (increaser) will ■■■■ you up and make you worse. Central nervous system depressants, downers, anxiolytics will relieve psychosis. I am prescribed xanax and am legally dependent on it to sleep and not be an irritable person, and I am still irritable to an extent, I am just used to hearing ■■■■■■■■ come from peoples mouths. But one direct insult to my face and I go psychopath and dont regret it and never say sorry. Ever. Except for my sister, she is bipolar and has borderline personality disorder and refuses all treatment and instead convinced her doc to give her anti depressants and anxiolytics, which make her more hypomanic, irritable and moody. She’s exempt from getting spit in her face.
But yeah dont do drugs, if you do, get downers from your doctor, legally, and drinking more than one drink will interfere with all schizophrenia meds, so dont do that.
I beat alcohol too so I feel you. I detoxed and didnt sleep and had withdrawals and ■■■■, it was fun, but it was worth it. I was a slave to ethanol, it took all of my money and all of my mind, if I didnt have enough to get at least tipsy every night, I panicked and drank vanilla extract, which is 80 proof and gets the job done but makes you have terrible cramps and diarrhea later.
I would say your next step is getting on the right dose of the right meds. Be open to meds, some of them wont work, some might even make life worse, but there is most likely a med out there (there are a lot of antipsychotics) that can virtually cure you, but side effects happen and you need to learn to live with them.
My side effects are restless legs and sedation, here I am drinking a strong ass cup of coffee and I take propanolol and xanax to relieve the restless legs. Its funny, without caffeine and my two accessory meds, I am sedated but my legs move on their own, my left leg will be pulsing and kicking and my head will be hanging low and my eyes shut halfway. But caffeine, xanax and propanolol with Geodon and I am pretty close to normal.
I am “■■■■■■ up” aside from schizophrenia according to my doctors. I am deeply disturbed, traumatized, aggressive, slightly on the psychopath side by just a little bit and reactive, aside from having paranoid schizophrenia. I am one of those young men who is into being a “badass” because otherwise I feel helpless. I am a competitive powerlifter today, used to be a martial artist and bodybuilder as a teenager.
But Im glad to hear that AA worked for you. I went and found out that I wasnt actually an alcoholic. My doctors and friends told me I wasnt either. I was hanging out with a 21 year old friend and told him I quit going because I am not “allergic” to alcohol and can stop at one drink, and he opened up his mini fridge full of booze, rum and beer and tequila and ■■■■ and was like “lets see if you are allergic” and gave me a beer. I drank it and didnt ask for more. Case closed, not really an alky myself.
I had a bad crack habit in the late 80’s. I won’t get into my war stories. But I got clean in 1990 when I joined AA. I was going to two or three meetings a week for a few months when one night I got the craving for crack I made plans to get up in the next morning and take a bus to where I got most of my drugs back then. I woke up in the morning and I thought, “That was crazy”. And my obsession and compulsion to use had been lifted from me overnight, and has never come back. I just wanted to say that after I got clean and sober my life blossomed and opened up. In 1990 I was living in a Board & Care home with 13 other guys. I got a job which I stayed at for three years. It ended and I went out and found another job on my own and stayed there for 4 years. In 1990 I also started taking classes at a community college, two at a time. I started going to 5 or 6 meetings a week, taking the bus or walking to and from. On weekends I did fun stuff with my family. I made a friend in the board & care home and we used to do stuff too. I am grateful to AA, CA, and NA. If I hadn’t gotten clean I wouldn’t have done any of this.
Happy for you that the obsession was removed. I had experiences with crack that drove me into recovery. since stopping drinking 9 months ago the obsession was removed from me too. I haven’t had the desire to drink now since then. My wife started going to Al-anon too. That has really helped the family as well.
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