Could people tell me how quickly they relapsed (if they did) after trying without an anti-psychotic?
I am a little over three months now and doing well, but I really would like to feel like I’m “out of the woods” in regard to a likely relapse. I googled to find out about relapses and it sound like it could be anywhere from immediately after getting off an AP to a year out or more.
Thanks.
I relapsed 2 years after coming off meds. I think it’s just a matter of when not if.
well that’s discouraging. Did the fact that it took two years for you to relapse make you want to try again to see if you could go awhile w/o APs? I know of a psychologist that relapsed once and then never did again and it’s been 20 years . . .
I relapsed after a year, I gradually had paranoia, delusions and hallucinations. They got worse until I was brought to a hospital by cops and paramedics because I was aggressive and I was saying nonsense. I don’t recommend stopping your meds, its very dangerous, even if your psychiatrist accepts. They accept because its your personal right but you are responsible for the dangerous consequences of such an act.
I tried again for a month and wasn’t coping well and I saw the warning signs and went back on them pretty quick.
Did the symptoms come back after a whole year of being symptom free?
ah ok, thanks for sharing with me. It’s really scary to figure this all out.
I wasn’t symptom free for a year, I gradually developped positive symptoms until they got too difficult to live at home.
I see. Did you have symptoms right away when coming off the AP or did they start a some months in?
I’m sorry for what you’ve been through! I was involuntarily hospitalized and dealt with cops too. I don’t want to live thinking I am a bad, dangerous person though.
Injectable or oral?
The half lives matter A lot
For me I started with injectable and then switched to oral for about six months before I stopped taking anything. You?
I would say symptoms started appearing after a month. They gradually got worse.
Thanks. Something else I wonder — does a relapse feel the same as the initial onset of psychosis or is it different?
I had no symptoms for 2 years once. I also relapsed quicker at times.
I am on a low dose for more than a year now (sometimes 0, sometimes 0.5mg haldol). I have symptoms but i manage them by myself.
The situation was tough in this year though, with several sevete life events. So I hope to fully come off this year, but dont expect to be 100% symptomfree. I prefer managable symptoms over meds though.
About relapses being different: i never had fullblown psychosis before meds and feel the more meds i used and also the quicker i withdrew, the more extreme my psychotic relapses, and the more i “froze”. My psychotic story kind of developped further, with more and more desperate and bizar story line.
The last time i very slowly withdrew though and my symptoms eventually became more mild again than before…more hypervigilance/distrust based on experiences (“oh no…is this a sign he will abuse me?”/“i did something bad, now im a bad person”) than bizar delusions (“there is a time portal in my bed room and when i flush the toilet i will go to hell”).
is going to find it hard to find any success stories, i tried stopping but i had a thing called ‘tardive psychosis’ so i had to start them again, maybe i could have pushed through but i couldnt chance getting really sick again,
you may be the exception, i mean i hope you continue to do well, i’m hoping to try stop again at some point, its just really hard
just a matter of time
Thanks! I’m really trying to get a lay of the land. I know there is a percentage that does not relapse. It’s what studies say plus there’s a mentor I know that only relapsed once.
TD is no joke. Did you get it coming off the AP? I thought it was the AP that gave TD but I have read that sometimes schizophrenia starts to develop TD.
Its close but I would say initial psychosis is slightly worse. My first psychosis I tried suicide but I am sure if I continued without meds it would be the same as initial psychosis or maybe even worse.
tardive psychosis is not the same as TD i dont think