Hi, I’m new here. I don’t sleep anymore for the last 2 months. Ill sleep lightly for about 15 minutes then the voices get really loud and frantic and I jolt awake. This happens all night long. I’ve been on and off meds since 14, but didn’t get my paranoid schizophrenia diagnosis till a few days before my 20th birthday. I’m 22 now. I have good days and bad days, but the voices and everything have gotten a lot worse these last two months. Anyone not sleeping due to auditory or visual hallucinations?
Welcome to the forum! I don’t have experience with hallucinations waking me up. Maybe some one else does though.
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Welcome 
I think the problem here is your relationship with meds, but I can be wrong. When I was unmedicated, and the brief period while I took an ap just to make my family happy, I couldn’t sleep because of my hallucinations and delusions.
Be consistent about your recovery, take the meds regularly and at the same time, and you’ll probably see an improvement.
Also, if the med you’re taking is activating, it can be hard to get to deep sleep. So talk to your pdoc about it too.
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Yes, this has been happening to me a lot frequently. Bizarre dreams with even more bizarre sounds that jolt (perfect word choice there) me awake. But I’d choose that over the PTSD nightmares any day.
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Thanks guys. Ya @Lexicon I also have PTSD from some childhood trauma so I’m sorry about that.
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Were you eventually content with having taken the medication though? I made that same mistake with SSRIs, which are not my cup of tea.
I had a court order at first to take them, by the time it ended I was getting better, no more hallucinations, so I stayed on them. Intend on staying on them all my life, as long as they keep me sane.
I’m gonna probably get a lot of guff for this @Lexicon, but I’ve been off meds for 4 months… I’ve tried all they could try they said and its just as bad off or on for me. Plus I was very addictedfor years to my anti anxiety meds.
How long did you stay on a specific med? Sometimes they take a while to work.
You probably tried clozapine before giving up?
Tough situation. If you were addicted to benzos I understand that your docs won’t prescribe them to you.
Have you tried a sleeping aid?
Sorry for all the questions.
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No one has any right to give you any guff (and I’m gonna start using that word, your vocab is on point) if you’ve tried everything. Did the anxiety meds help despite the addictive aspect?
I’m not trying to seem patronizing, and I hope I don’t come across as such.
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I was on zyprexa for over a year it helped a lot then stopped they kept adjusting the dose. Plus Xanax and valium which I abused for many years. Tried Latuda made me puke and black out. Tried resperidone made me feel drunk and sleep 18 hours. Was on cymbalta and one more for 6 months I can’t remember. And yes I was on that at some point. Plus many others when I was mis diagnosed. @Lexicon
Yes they helped so much when I would have flashbacks from my trauma and panic attacks. Bc all my mental illness started with panic attacks once the abuse started when I was 6. I started to abuse bc I have nonstop anxiety @Lexicon and thanks about my vocab lol
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I see… I know it’s not easy. Hope you can solve your situation, I think you’re too young to give up though.
For me it took a while, more than a year for a med to work fully, but yeah, the worst hallucinations was almost immediately with Invega.
I take zolpidem for sleep sometimes when I’m too anxious to sleep. Some members here take it too.
Maybe other forum members can give any sort of prespective on how to deal with this.
Ambien is a thing of beauty.
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Ok thanks I was on trazodon for a few months had to go up to 150mg, but it worked really well, but then at the end of it I started feeling wired after I took it. Not giving up hope, I have things that keep me going. My Dad, my brothers, the gym, and mixed martial arts. @Lexicon
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I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t sleep much either.
What you should know about this is that voices can’t possibly be the reason you are waking up, as the brain is not active in that way during sleep. On the other hand, they could activate while you are in the process of waking up, making it seem as if you were awakened by them. I think you might have an underlying sleeping disorder that is causing this. You might be prone to sleeping very superficially, for example. Sleeping disorders can often occur in sz/sza if under medicated and it can be hard to feel sleepy. Insomnia in these cases can be caused by an overproduction of dopamine (which can make you energetic and brisk), and are best treated with APs.
This is what my experience and research tells me, but it might be due to something else. One option is an underproduction of GABA, in which case bensodiazepines can help.
You should probably talk to a pdoc or contact a sleep clinic, because a lack of sleep can be devastating when you have sz.
I wish you the best.
EDIT: Clozapine can help a lot.
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