Hi, I’m on Abilify for my schizophenia.
What I want to talk about is my lack of motivation. I’m surprised to read that it is considered part of the disease, as in my case, I’m also 99% certain it is the drugs.
I tested this out when I came off risperidone over the summer. I had been feeling suicidal on the drugs due to my lack of motivation and depression, but once I came off them it took one month for all my joy in life to return. I was happy to go out and socialise again, happy to go on walks. I even walked up a mountain. Unfortunately, after three months I was back in psychosis.
Now I’m on abilify, and the lack of motivation is back. It’s not as pronounced, thank the Lord, but it is definitely there.
So I’m wondering, how many of our negative symptoms are due plainly to the drugs?
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When I would go off my meds, I would experience a euphoric feeling for the first couple months, but then the lack of motivation would seep back in and I’d get more and more flat. Now that I’m on the right med combo for me, I feel a full range of emotions and have motivation to do things. Maybe you just need to give your body time to get used to the Abilify, or maybe it’s not right for you.
Sarcosine helps me with the motivation factor.
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I don’t t know how much is the drugs. Probably a lot. I know my negatives are strong and have been bad since getting on invega. My therapist and pdoc blame the meds.
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The abilify is a hundred times better than the risperidone, so I’m hesitant to consider changing. I’m just annoyed that I’m stuck with poor motivation. Also, I feel over medicated. I mean, if it takes 3 months to fall back into psychosis, then I am probably getting fed too much in my opinion.
I’m going to try the Sarcosine, though. Anything to get me up and about.
Generally, you go on a higher dose to first snap you out of the psychosis, and then, when you’ve been stable for a while, they try reducing to the lowest effective dose.
After I quit meds and relapsed, I needed to be on the max dose for a few months, and it made me very sleepy and bummed out all day. But after I spent a few months with minimal symptoms, they reduced it and now I don’t feel tired or crappy.
There’s a honeymoon period when you come off meds for some reason. It normally lasts about a month and then things go south.
I’m on abilify and my biggest complaint is probably lack of motivation. I can’t seem to get anything done unless it’s really important.
But it’s better than thinking I can fly and jumping off a building.
There’s a new medicine in the pipeline called MIN-101 which treats negative symptoms. So there’s a few people watching that.
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About motivation, I just think to myself “I’ll do it, I just wish I wanted to.”
The drugs def play a part in my case if I refer to experience
I came off em in May last year and I saw a gradual improvement in my motivation and started feeling like my old self for a while too. It was so exciting looking back at it I took it for granted. I relapsed n went back on my abilify again and motivation went down once again.
I don’t think drugs helps the negative symptoms, but I don’t think they necessarily cause them, they may enhance it. But then again I don’t get negative symptoms from medication only off of them I get serve negative symptoms.
Min-101 does look interesting. Fingers crossed it comes through all of the trials.
I’m looking at the immune research with interest, and in particular the following:https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/03/radical-new-approach-to-schizophrenia-treatment-begins-trial
Not sure it will be any good for those already with Schizophrenia, but I’m hoping.
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Yes, MIN-101 sounds interesting. Would be amazing if we could get our motivation back, so fingers crossed.
The research I’m looking at is the Oliver Howes’ work with the MS drug Natalizumab. Trial finishes around November I think. I’m trying not to get my hopes up.
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Yes, the improvement was gradual for me as well. It was only at the one month mark where I was feeling normal again. Ahh, to be able to stay at that point.
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My doc laughed at me when i brought natalizumab up as a question to just learn more. Needless to say he was unwilling to work with me to try alternative methods. I was only asking his thoughts on it. If i remember correctly, it is suppost to help repair the mylin sheaths over the nerves.
I am currently on minocycline but they want to take me off of it. I am kinda scared that symptoms may come back with a vengence. Yes i still have day to day symptoms but i am coping.
I wanted to try minocycline when I went back into psychosis, but unfortunately was too far gone to ask for it.
I’m not sure of the specifics of why they are trying natalizumab. It might be to do with the anti-inflammatory IL-4 and IL-10. Needless to say, no doc is going to prescribe it without a successful study, and the study has not finished yet. I think they are trying to reverse the microglia in the brain, as they think this represents neuroinflammation.
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I have a similar problem when it comes to lack of motivation. Off meds I start doing things like going to school, going out and socializing, exercising, walking around town. It ends up being only a matter of time before psychosis rears it’s ugly head. I also take abilify and have a lack of motivation. It may be due to the illness or it may be the medication. All I know is that I do not want to ever lose touch with reality again.
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I’m the same. Psychosis was really bad for me this time. Fortunately I’ve come out of it well apart from the motivation which is really debilitating. It has to be the drugs. My motivation was actually still pretty good for a few weeks after starting the abilify.
Yes, minocycline targets inflammation. I guess they think too many or overactive microglial cells cause this problem.
Did you ever try minocycline without antipsychotics? I sometimes wonder whether some of us have an occult infection of the CNS that requires cleansing. Minocycline would do that I think, as it penentrates the CNS. However, everyone is terrified of psychosis, so experimentation is avoided.
Yes i am on minocycline now without any ap’s.
Something i read on nih(?) said you had to take 200 mg to achieve this. My doc only wanted me to take 100 but i was on 200 very temporarily.
I am kinda lost myself. How long should i be taking it if the microglial cells/inflammation is causing it? It is not studied much(or seems not to be)
I also had alot of irritable gut and it seemed to clear it up. I am not sure if this was just a coincidence or not.
I don’t think there are many (or any) studies with schizophrenics where minocycline is taken without antipsychotics. One of the latest minocycline studies was in the Lancet where they tested the antinflammatory properties of minocycline with antipsychotics, but it came back that there was no additional effect.
How are you feeling on the minocycline? Are you having symptoms? Why do the docs want to take you off it?