Hi, I’ve been on here before but had to create new account due to new email address. Unfortunately I’ve detoriated badly over last year. I’m very confused and very fearful plus my depression got extremely bad. I have been diagnosed with somataform disorder possibly delusional disorder as well. I feel very strange as in very uncomfortable in my own body and agitated and cant follow steps easily or tidy my house and my own self care has gotten very bad as well. I’m woozy a lot and disoriented, so I do things very clumsy and am awkward with my balance.
I feel my physical symptoms have an underlying neurological cause perhaps a rare one but have tested clear for any neurological condition being the cause of my symptoms. My head feels full all the time and I don’t like to leave the house anymore. This whatever I have has affected everything in my life, the very basics it has destroyed. I feel out of it all the time and am always extremely exhausted so I rest a lot and hate having to do anything because I’m so woozy in my head.
I am taking effexor 225mg, Queitiapine 300mg, and just again started the abilify 5mg this week, which the docs are probably going to increase to 10mg next week. I have real bad anxiety as well and my breathing is jumping at times like I get caught for breath but it has kind of stopped since starting the abilify again. I’m taking it just four days now and will be reviewed this week by the psychiatrist plus I must attend home based crisis team three days a week. I did all this before but lost the will and heart to keep going there and even stopped taking the abilify and valdoxan at one stage because my head was getting all confused with following the steps and I just gave up because I wasn’t getting any benefit from taking all the different medications but I didn’t give enough time for them to work either I guess.
I go from room to room so if I try to do one thing I seem to lose track and start something else so my concentration and focus is really bad as well. I feel very jittery.
I dont know if I’m suffering some type of schizophrenia. I don’t hear voices but I do sometimes see in my head a steel mask with teeth and saliva, plus racing thoughts . I am very concerned about my illness because I am afraid of it plus hate waking up to it every day. Its soul destroying because it has robbed me of doing things properly and I dont drive anymore or go shopping.
Can anyone here relate to this and is this more than somataform disorder I wonder. A junior doc last week mentioned delusional disorder but my other psychiatrists have not. I see different psychiatrists at the clinic but they know my history and so far they all say somataform disorder and depressive illness.
Any thoughts I would really appreciate. Due to see doc for review again on Tuesday. Just got one week if 5mg of abilify so dont know if they will increase Tuesday or not.
I have somatoform disorder and are schizotypical personality disordered at the the same time. Im very used to my somatoform symptoms : digestions problems, pains, fatigue, lack of concentration. I dont fuzz much about them.
My main problem though is depression, i have just received 8 ECT treatments and the treatments left me worse of than if i had 'nt taken the "shocks "
For some it’s a miracle cure, for others a really bad treatment option.
I hope you find you option / drug. You migh benefit from an MAO Inhibitor?. It’s difficult if you like me, are not typicial SZ or depressed, but in some mixed state.
Hi thank you for your reply. I have severe depression with somataform disorder. I’m not sure though if it’s more than that because of what I am experiencing. I take effexor 225mg for depression plus the doc said Queitiapine and abilify should help as well with depression.
I dont like these awful symptoms. I’m just not sure if my symptoms are leaning towards schizophrenia . I will ask doc but these medications, are not usually prescribed for somataform disorder is what I gathered from just reading up on somataform disorder on the web.
Thanks for your thoughts. Hope you feel better soon.
I am very somatic in my illness too and it was painful till hell, yeap… I have a permanent, very strong anxiety and paranoia too 24/7… But i’ve always looked more depressed to others than schizophrenic… But in my case, the docs say its not only my depression…
Tbh i dont think you are schizophrenic… The somatization is more common in depression, anxiety etc yeap… Dont worry, stick with your docs and talk to them about what concerns you
And those meds are often prescribed to people with lighter disorders. The best friend of my mom, which is not sz at all, had anxiety and depression and she was prescribed zyprexa and got better in 2 months. The meds help many things, yeap.
Take care, hugs!
Hi and thanks for all you’ve said. I probably am overthinking things. I just dont feel right and very detached from reality. I have very debilitating symptoms so it’s all just strange.
Hopefully the meds will work soon to give me a lift I hope. You take care too
Hi and thanks. Yes I’m very depressed and anxious. The thing is I have a very woozy head and balance issues as well. I’m awkward and clumsy as well so its all just messy around me. Its really difficult to do anything when I’m like this.
I’m going to talk to docs on Tuesday about delusional disorder. I accept its somataform disorder but I also think the docs think i am delusional especially when I believe its neurological even though all the neurologists say it’s not. I believe it is neurological as well as psychiatric.
Hi butterfly. How is your somatic disorder now? Better? Dont worry, if the docs say it’s not sz, then it’s not probably…
Me too I have bad thoughts, dont freak about them… you are probably blaming yourself for them, while you just are in pain…
I am interested here too, cause I somatize as hell too… do your docs believe that we can get better from the meds? Why do we somatize too lol? My docs dont see other solution to my somatics than the meds… there’s not so many solutions about it out there I think… maybe the efforts can pay, what do your docs say about your somatization? Take care of yourself.
Hi Anna hope you are doing well also. I’m not too bad just very anxious still even though I am taking a small dose of lyrica. My psychiatrist told me I have somataform disorder because I was convinced I had MS even though several neurologists told me I had not. I still think I have some type of MS although not as strongly as before. Maybe the abilify is helping that. He told me I was bordering on being delusional.
What meds are you taking? I’m not sure the ones I am taking are for somataform disorder although I have severe anxiety and depression too, so together maybe that’s why I’m on these meds.
225mg effexor, 10mg abilify, 300mg quetiapine and 50mg lyrica.
I also have sleep apeona. Mild. I use CPAP.
I never feel refreshed. Always drowsy and wobbly and clumsy. My thoughts race a lot, and I do have bad visual thoughts as well as thinking my neighbor’s can read my thoughts and are watching me, plus recording me.
I dont have schizophrenia my psychiatrist told me so I’m just doing what they say and trying to get better.
I’m certainly doing better on the meds except for the anxiety part. I’m more motivated and interested. Hope this lasts. Due to see Doc on Tuesday . I dont know why we somatise, it could be from past traumas maybe? I really dont know.
I need to have therapy doc said, as in attend home based crisis team and that he alone isn’t enough so I need a team sort of. I see a regular psychiatrist in the same clinic I attend my care worker. So that’s the home based crisis part, the team. I probably need to see a psychologist as well they said. For now its seeing the psychiatrist who I like and he is good as well plus my care worker twice a week.
My original psychiatrist I will also see in February for an update on how I’m getting on at the clinic. They liaison as well with him.
Basically need to follow all they say and try to help myself as much as I can and take my meds.
Tbh, I relate with you a bit… my sz is strange too, even the docs still wonder if I have it…
Ok, I had the low energy too, never fresh… I see some progress on it now, but I was mentally sick since 20 years, so I guess I am quite worse than you and this, still, will take me time… I have the fast thinking too yeap… I am clumsy too.
I have anxiety and depression as well yeap. We need the meds, but we should put efforts with you. It’s good that you are only on the border and has this problem since not so long.
I am on zyprexa 10 mgs and klonopin at my worst… I tried many, many meds, maybe even way too much as said it honestly one doc of mine, so I try mostly with efforts now. I dont deny the meds, we need them, but I dont find them ultra helpful on the somatics yeap…
Ok, all the best, thanks for answering me, I was isolated for 20 years, so it’s quite hard here… but well, I guess I have a chance
Anna of course you have a chance I’m the same isolated. I have no brothers or sisters, mother or father but have two amazing adult kids. I’m telling you we must fight this because otherwise it will just knock us. Mind over matter is what I’m trying to do. Banish the thoughts from my brain.
It’s not easy at all. I’ve had a shocking two years of it worst ever. I’m taking antidepressants most of my life, 30 years at least.
We will be fine:) this year will be good to us I hope. I really wish you everything good. Thanks for replying to me too. Nothing is impossible, we need to be strong and focused on dealing with what we have as best we can. We will get bad days but hopefully we will have more good days than bad.
I’m fierce worrier so I have to reign in on that as well. I hope you are not too isolated now. You can talk to me anytime, I’ll be here for you
Yeah, in fact I should have taken meds earlier and have more support system earlier… you’ll do it. Me, I went very sick and had a long history of loneliness with weed use while already sick… In fact, I lived abroad while sick already so it’s a pity… I think we had some traumas mostly yeap… my father was beating my mom and my sister… but maybe he was sick too… my sister still thinks it’s an illness and not traumas.
Yeah, my friends say I need a psychologist too yeap…
Thank you very much for your help dear you gave me some light on the somatization… I guess the mind and the body are just linked lol
I have many sz friends, but they dont somatize so mine is strange yeap…
Hugs!!!
Mine is strange too the whole lot of it is strange. I don’t have friends a lot I mean. Just two who try to understand bit its difficult to talk to someone who might not understand and I feel I dont want to be bothering them too much with all my stuff. They are good friends though.
Yes its definitely an illness for sure. Don’t worry about the meds. They are just to help us over a difficult time and to make it a bit easier for us I guess because we are ill at the end of the day.
I’m really glad you have friends and can relate with one another on some level. That’s therapy too I think.
Oh, hi dear!
Ya know, i relate a lot with you… My somatics were terrible too. And me too, i have a strong anxiety and racing thoughts… But no matter that my thoughts race, i still have some thinking deficits…
My problem is, that i waited way too long to start my treatment… I was ill for 15 years before my meds… And i dont switch my ap since 5 years. Ya know, one pdoc of mine told me, that in my case, my ap can work in years lol… And sometimes, i feel like it starts to help a bit.
Our anxiety is perfide, we should first get better on our racing thoughts, which was slow for me on my zyprexa… If you already feel a small improvement on your meds, then it menas, they are working. In my case, my zyprexa was like a candy for me for 5 years, while many got calmed way faster than that… But ive accepted that i am sick, that my mind is different than for the others, so i try to be patient yeap. And i still stick to the ap…
For the rest tbh, i take sometimes still a bit of klonopin though… Lately, i have the fear of dying from cigarettes and the smoking cough is making me anxious too…
Continue talking to your doc, but there is a chance for us yeap. Me, yesterday, i was a real infirm somatically… I was all shaking interiorly (not exteriorly), i was just feeling uncomfortable in my body and many, many other things… I was denying before, that the somatics are an illness too, but yes… You’ll feel better. Hugs
Hi Anna dear I hope you feel better soon. I’m like that, i feel very uncomfortable in my own body. Told docs about this before. I feel disoriented a lot as well. My thoughts are not normal one bit. I’ve been having certain visual thoughts now for about six months or more. They were extremely bad during the last six months.
Since starting my meds they have not been as frequent but I still have them.
Will talk to doc soon and will tell him that. He knows about them and said it’s the anxiety causing them.
You know my meds that I take. I don’t know if anything will change regarding the meds.
Pity you didn’t get the help you needed years ago, but now you are doing ok so keep up with seeing docs if you can, and maybe a psychologist? Plus other therapies maybe.
I smoke as well and have smokers cough. We will be okay with the cigarettes I think. I need them fir my nerves. I know they are bad for us. Hard to give up.
Doc rang. He increased the Lyrica to 75mg twice a day for my anxiety. He is happy with how I am doing and said the unwanted thoughts are anxiety and stress related.
He said he spoke with the psychiatrist who referred me to the clinic and that once they are finished with me, I will only be under my original psychiatrist which is good because he knows me well.
I’ll see how it goes on the increased lyrica. It might help my anxiety the higher dose.
me, I was isolated for 20 years, so it’s quite hard here… but well, I guess I have a chance 
