Schizophrenia and your brain

Has anyone had their brain scanned multiple times? I am just wondering to see how common our brains aren’t damaged by the schizophrenia. Is it the meds or the disease?

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I’ve had my brain scanned upwards of thirty times and nobody ever found any damage caused by anything other than the knife that was in there.

That said, people who specifically study scans of schizophrenic patients notice a 1-10% decrease in gray matter in our brains, that is thought to be caused by psychotic episodes.

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Interesting. I am going to ask my pdoc if I can get my brain scanned. I’d like to do it annually just to see what’s happening to my brain.

Most doctors wouldn’t be able to notice the differences. You could research to see if any clinical studies are being done in your area. Brain scans are expensive, and your insurance won’t cover annual ones because it’s not a necessary or helpful procedure for someone with schizophrenia.

That said, if you’ve never had your brain scanned, one of your doctors really should order one, just to rule out physical causes for your symptoms.

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I live in Canada so may be but different. I am pretty sure I. Men ruined it before and was blown off.

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I’d had it scanned once, and was supposed to have it scanned a second time. But I was so symptomatic negatively that I just didn’t do it. I was also supposed to have them send the scan over to my then pdoc but I never did that either. I don’t know if I should follow up on that or…

Due to a long term exposure to hypoglycemia, my brain activity was well below normal. A cat scan verified this. So the doctors gave me a dopamine enhancer drug to bring the activity back to normal. This is what triggered the schizophrenia. But they said that I would be back to norm after being off the drug for a couple of weeks. That was 20 years ago and it never went away. It would be nice to see what a cat scan would show today.

So way back when, the doctor destroyed all evidence within my file that would prove that the schizophrenia was drug induced and then said that he was not seeing patients of people of my age anymore. The idea was so that I could not sue him. This info was then passed on to other psychiatrists that I saw via my GP file. And of course when seeing me for a second appointment, they each immediately said that there was absolutely nothing wrong with me despite not having spoken to me for longer than a few minutes. All that done such that my schizophrenic condition was not to be put on paper such that I could not sue the first psychiatrist.

Anyhow, I too would like to see the difference between then and now.

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I’ve had my brain scanned once for mental health 5 times for migraines and 3 times for a sleep disorder.

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