i think i have got a really good chance of putting this sz behind me
do you believe that a person can get completely better?
when i move and i feel the time is right i am going to try and reduced my med
it is at a low dose already but i want to see what happens
if all goes well i will be able to survive unmedicated and more aware than i could ever be on meds,
if i need them again i will take them straight away, if there is any sign.
such is the plan.
You’ve been here awhile. You’ve read the stories. If you think it’s a wise idea then go for it. It’s probably an idea you should run by your doctor or therapist first.
don’t see them much anymore but i’ll let them know when i see them,
i have been discharged from seeing a cpn (community psychiatric nurse)
i only see my p/doc now every 3 months (although they were trying to make it longer)
so i don’t think any one will even bother unless i go completely bonkers again and i will make sure that that will never happen,
didn’t you try and come off them a few months back dreamer? or you missed a few doses on your holiday or something and you were all over the place? i can’t recall when it was but i do remember you sort of not doing so well because you’d missed a few doses. just something to think about before you decide to tinker with your medication. if you can do without then great but you have to remember that schizophrenia is a lifelong illness not a bug that you catch and then everything is hunky dorey again. just bear that in mind is all i’m trying to say. good luck and i don’t mean to put a dampener on your efforts, i’m just worried about you is all. much love, jayne.
thanks @jaynebeal i think i remember what you mean although it feels like a long time ago now,
the reason i wanted to write this thread was because my sister and i was talking today and she said to me that she doesn’t think i would ever be able to work again which made me feel rubbish because i am really hoping to work some time in the future, i have been going to college and trying to build myself up to it for the last 3 years or so,
i don’t think there is any point in me being on this planet if i just waste away and do nothing
(no disrespect to those who are too unwell)
i guess i am lucky i am on a good med for me and it works well for me which means i am able to manage my symptoms a bit better than before,
the other thing she said was that i will always have to take medication which i find very hard to accept, i always hoped that one day that my brain would be able to function on its own without the meds as a crutch, i wish i could function normally,
i came home and forgot to take my med, after a couple of hours i started to feel depressed so i thought i better take them, so i did take them but i thought that maybe if i stopped taking my meds maybe i would just have depression symptoms and not sz now, so i think i need to make sure.
i feel the longer that i am getting better and i am improving all the time that my brain is healing and that maybe one day i won’t need the meds, i hope this is true, the more positive i am and that i can be the better chances i have of complete recovery.
anyway that the reasons for it i guess
peace
That’s IF you recognize the signs you are declining. Big IF. I don’t always manage to do that.
10-96
if i don’t recognise it someone else will,
i’ve got a routine that will put out warning signs if i don’t stick to them,
like meeting my mum on a sunday and my sister on a wednesday, as well as college and going to church and volunteering,
so if i start to struggle with these things i know i am in trouble,
also i see my friend sweep every day and she knows me really well and she will be able to spot if anything is wrong,
so i have my bases covered,
i know when i get ill anyway, i know the warning signs,
i would definitely know if i was having an episode or even the start of one,
i know what to do, i know who to talk to and i know when i need to take my med
so i should be ok.
if it is just depression i may ask my p/doc for an anti-depressant
anyway its not like i will be stopping my med straight away, i will just be testing the waters so cutting down from 200mg to say 150mgs and just see what happens, whatever happens though i will be ready for it thats for sure.
I think that was a pretty arbitrary incident to go off meds for if you are basing your whole experiment on that one incident.
You may start to relapse. You may do fine. You don’t really know.
On one hand all of our cases of schizophrenia are different and take different courses in our lives.
But on the other hand you can’t always buck the law of physics and it seems most people are more successful on meds and going off of them is a VERY common cause of relapse.
well it wasn’t just that incident it was also what my sister said that really got to me,
hearing things like that make my ears bleed, i hate to hear people say that i can’t get better or i can never work, its not her fault she probably just heard it from someone and it is normally true, but i don’t want it to be true for me, i want to defy the odds,
when someone says ‘you will always have to take medication’ its like it is hopeless, like i am cursed with this brain that is just weak and hopeless, or if someone says ‘you will never work’ it has the same effect,
i mean how do they know? how can they tell for certain? they don’t have a crystal ball, they can’t see into the future so who’s to say whats going to happen? the future hasn’t been written yet if you know what i mean.
and i am not trying to say that anyone can do it, most people probably know that it is impossible to stop meds and make a complete recovery, but i have been making progress in every field, i have exceeded my expectations in every way on this medication
i thought maybe my med in combination with a good positive outlook and everything else could somehow maybe mean that i have a chance at least.
I couldn’t agree with the latter part of this more.
I’ve seen some amazing recoveries and surprises when it comes to recovery. Heck, look at surprisedJ and his story. I don’t mean to be insensitive at all, but some people might have written him off as never getting better when he was younger but with the help of his family, including of course kidsister, he’s made amazing progress in his life.
don’t stop your meds, @daydreamer is my advice. why take any chances? If you really want to work well apply yourself but don’t stop your meds??? bad idea I think.
you know, maybe i will, maybe i won’t be able to do it
but that shouldn’t stop me trying
as long as i have breath i will keep fighting this thing
i am on a low dose already so i am nearly there
who’s to say i can’t go all the way?
I think whatever you decide to do needs to be done in concert with a qualified pdoc. If you want off the meds, it would be best if your pdoc was on board with that idea.
thats true and i will tell him and i think he will agree to it as well,
they know i have been doing well these past five years
but i will manage it myself i guess
tbh ‘who’s more qualified?’ him? or me…
It’s true that you know yourself best, BUT (and that’s a big ‘but’) the pdoc understands the brain better than you do, dreamer.
It would be good if you could go without meds. I think you should wait + talk to your Pdoc about it, too just to have someone else involved. You might not ever be able to work. Or work in a job where you feel you can use your talents. There is also volunteer work. You’re right - you might be more aware without the med and more able - if you are successful with your attempt. Or you could learn some things. I think you should have someone to report back to.
I had my Risperdal dose lowered with my pdoc’s approval - I started to get mixed and higher manias - I lost it completely and wrote out a 15 - 20 minute long hate filled text to my brother and his wife at 4 am - I was manic and depressed at the same time. I had to raise my dose again to a therapeutic level and my moods are eventually stabilizing.
I would tell your pdoc that you want to go off of your meds - if you attempt to do it yourself, this is going to be a recipe for disaster. All I am going to say is that the meds work - they really do.
But if you really want to go off of your meds - please tell your doctor and make sure it is a very gradual process, if you get off of your meds too quickly, you just may end up in the Hospital.
Best of luck to you on whatever you decide