I have no emotions regardless of being on meds. How to get back emotions? Abilify partially restored them but I had untolerable side effects. I got past the phase of accepting diagnosis and meds, thats good. I still see users here struggle with that. Some always struggle with that and some struggle sometimes.
I am tired of waiting for Vraylar…
Are emotions just dopamine balance in the brain?
I miss the intensity of emotions I had before sz…
I am also getting irritated.
In the UK this has been approved for use, but my local NHS Trust does not prescribe it yet.
Must be expensive or something, but I have had branded Latuda and Abilify in the past from the NHS, so they do get some of the newer ones still under patent by the manufacturer
Did you try Abilify?
I was on it for a couple of months. They changed it as I had a relapse. It did not treat my symptoms, and made things worse by activating me so much that I could not sleep. My anxiety and agitation were through the roof, and it’s part of the reason the pdoc took away my drivers license - which I didn’t get back for two years
Yes low dopamine function reason for lack of emotion, low motivation and many other things. Its almost like parkinson disease. Parkinson people have low emotions, masked face etc. AP lowers dopamine in brain so it may be one reason but it can also come from many other things like disease itself, low blood circulation to brain etc. This is why previously partial dopamine agonist like abilify helped you with motivation.
Dopamine and norephinephrine boosting substances help to bring some emotions and motivation but high chance it also worsen positive symptoms like paranoia especially if on medication. Cdp choline indirectly boosts these in a balanced manner unlike direct ones like wellbutrin, l tyrosine etc so its a suitable option. It also used for parkinson and stroke patients to improve their cognition and motivation.
Anyway do consult with your doctor before trying anything. Also Cdp choline can worsen depression in some especially if dose is high.
There is Rexulti other than Vraylar as partial dopamine agonists. I think someone here posted that Caplyta is a partial dopamine agonist too.
I don’t understand the meds very well in terms of how they work.
The only thing I am remotely knowledgable is side effects, as I have been on 7 AP’s and experienced a wide range of bad effects from these drugs
Did Latuda work for you? My negatives were better on it but I had positive symptoms like paranoia etc but not full psychosis. Maybe I would have gotten full psychosis with time if I stayed on it. I was on 80-120mg.
I was on 111mg for about 18 months.
Was pretty stable for that period of time.
Unfortunately I had debilitating Akathisia from it, and I got taken off it by the pdoc.
At the time I had no access to mental health services, and I suffered greatly for a few months.
Luckily they’re keeping an eye on me now and I am a long term patient.
Problem I had was they discharged me back to primary care GP, but they refuse to touch psych meds
Oh I had that too, couldn’t sleep at night and when I slept, it woke me up in the middle of the night and couldn’t sleep after for hours. I took Benzatropine but it took 20 min for it to work.
I have never felt so ill in my life. Pretty much immediately after taking it I felt violently sick and it was so debilitating.
In the end I actually had a full on relapse and had to be hospitalised by time the mental health people saw me.
It was voluntary, but basically if I didn’t go they were going to admit me against my will
I still had negative symptoms without meds. Wellbutrin boosts dopamine but it didn’t help my negatives. Just Abilify improved them and only by like 30%. My psychiatrist said negatives are from some brain parts having low dopamine while others high dopamine. Antipsychotic lower dopamine mostly in the high dopamine areas. Wellbutrin increases dopamine just in the prefrontal cortex from what I read which is for depression, not sz.
You talking about Latuda? I thought you said you were stable on it. If you felt better on Latuda taking Benzatropine should fix the akathisia.
Yep. I was stable on it for 18 months, but the akathisia got progressively worse, and I ended up non-compliant at the end of that drugs life for me.
They were going to put me on a beta blocker, but the pdoc disagreed with the pharmacist and I had to change meds. I think after that one it was Haloperidol
I have resisted Clozapine for about 5 years.
Can you take stimulants? Like adderall?
I think thats bad for psychosis as it raises dopamine in all the brain. Pretty sure thats why my psychiatrist didn’t prescribe it. Are you on stimulants?
No I miss it though. I’m still supposedly delusional but feeling a bit better on haldol. Had a few suicidal thoughts because I’m worried that they will take me away.