I wish I never stopped meds for 2yrs, it was stupid as it damages the brain and now I have worse negative and cognitive symptoms. All internet sources say relapsing make all symptoms worse, positive, negative and cognitive. Also that it makes recovery and functioning much worse.
My 2nd psychosis, by stopping meds, was much worse than the first one. It also made me violent while in psychosis, I was never violent during my first psychosis even off meds. Now I take stronger meds and higher dose to be stable.
“Relapses, like the first episode, disrupt life and can be demoralizing. The experience of a hospital stay, having to take time off school or work, and the stress that a relapse places on families and other relationships can lead to disappointment and fear for the future. More relapses are associated with poorer long-term outcomes, especially when the relapses are more severe and longer-lasting. The psychotic symptoms become harder to treat over time and the person becomes less able to achieve developmental goals and function reasonably well.”
My original diagnosis was psychosis Nos for 5yrs until I stopped meds completely for 2yrs and relapsed. Then Drs changed the diagnosis to schizophrenia.
My psychiatrist said its common for psychosis patients to stop their meds, its part of the disease.
@Aziz I did the same thing in 2013-2014. I stopped my meds because I hadn’t heard any voices for over 10 years. I thought I was misdiagnosed. Wrong! Now I will suffer from breakthrough voices forever! I definitely did some damage while unmedicated!
Nothing changed for me when I got off meds for awhile and relapsed the 3 or 4 times I did it but instead I have mental problems from being on the meds I know because I just developed these issues recently after consistently being on meds for years not saying I would go off meds again that would be bad lol
Yeah… same here… first episode psychosis I’ve relapsed, the second I was hospitalized and stopped meds and psychosis came back hard as ever and was basically a puppet to my voices and delusion😶 was hospitalized again and went back on meds and the positives are nearly on remission.
Negatives and cognitive I struggle… but I’m fighting through. You can too. Let your muscle memories help you keep going. Sz is mental and sometimes when I catch myself living in my head instead of the outside world, I focus on physical activity, to keep grounded.