Using that option will begin a brand new topic. It’s useful if someone responds to a thread and you have something to say to them that applies to their response but not to the whole topic itself, or if you have a reply that you feel merits its own thread entirely.
latuda costs more than abilify but you gain less weight. in the end you gain weight on both.
my son gained like 20 some pounds in 2months and he is pretty upset. I feel so sad for him but I keep telling him to start taking walks or we could even walk together outside. We have a treadmill and a weight bench but he thinks he is being recorded in our house and will not use them. He paces a lot but has no motivation or desire to exercise or even work. He tried working 3 different jobs in the last month and couldn’t even last 1 whole day at any of them. I feel so sorry for him. I tried to explain to him this is going to take time and that he is trying too hard and too fast and that he needs more time.
Things can get better in time - Meds and therapy, a healthy support system, abstaining from illicit drugs and booze all help.
lack of motivation is a serious problem with schizophrenia. they dont have a pill for that yet. im trying strattera but my motivation doesnt seem to be getting better although my energy seems to be. there is always metformin for weight loss but that causes massive diarhea
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 16 and I am now 50. My life has not been a walk in the park, but I’m glad that I’ve stuck it out because recovery really does happen, and it happens to the degree that we are all capable. My family, with he exception of my father, who passed away in 1992, in contrast to you, was not at all supportive, and instead exploited my mental illness as an excuse to be lazy, dishonest, cheap, and selfish - even stooping to criminal damage to property and theft. These are not the rants of a psychotic man as I am not currently psychotic. These things actually happened, and consequently I am estranged from these people, who I no longer consider family. Instead I consider those who act with love for one another to be my family. Therefore, I consider you to be more my family than any of those from whom I’m estranged of blood relation because you really care about your son who is suffering from a terrible illness. And inasmuch as you say you will never give up on him, then you have my allegiance for life as well, because I know how it feels to be left for dead by those who are supposed to give a damn.
There’s little I could add to all the fine advice given in the posts in this thread except to suggest honesty and consistency in your dealings with your son - his mind is most fragile and he needs you - of all people - to be true. My mother was not. My mother’s behavior exacerbated my illness in my 19th and 20th years, and her duplicity continued throughout my lifespan until I finally said goodbye to her permanently last year. My father told me what manner of person she really is in 1990, but I didn’t want to believe him back then. Don’t be like her. When you tell your son you’re coming, then either show up, or call to cancel. My mother stood me up while I was locked in hellish psychiatric wards over and over again, until even the staff had to warn me that she probably wasn’t coming. Don’t be like her. Because the famous therapist Rogers was right - we all need at least one good friend, and this ought to begin with you mom. I don’t mean to lay a trip on you. I’m only suggesting that you do what I expect you are already doing. It’s just that schizophrenia is a long haul illness, and your hope must come from the mighty strength of a good mother. Not all of us are blessed with one. My mother would never bother with a message board like this - Nay! she dumped me as soon as she could, while maintaining a counterfeit respectability all the while. Anyone including my first psychiatrist could see through her facade - but I didn’t want to believe the obvious truth about this creature that called herself mother in arrogant error. But the fact that you come here and esquire about your son’s future shows an effort on his behalf. I feel for you too though. It is stressful to worry about someone you care about - someone you care about. And that is the distinction mom. You really care about your son and its got you down too. Hang in there; both you and your son are worth it. And thanks again mom.
I was only diagnosed when I was 22 and am almost 26 now, I was lucky, I had a ‘sudden break’ but I was in a place where I got treatment within minutes of the break down.
However I have been keeping an eye on a lot of studies (most of them European) some of them are very promising provided they can get steady, predictable results. One study is seeing how certain proteins may affect Schizophrenia. not proteins you get from meat, different proteins . But yeah they have yet to progress to human tests though since their work is very theoretical at this point.
Thank you for responding and I am sorry to hear about your family(especially your own mother) not being supportive. My heart goes out to you. I will always do my best to support my son and anyone else for that matter. I am thankful my son is home so we can keep an eye on him because I still think he may be suicidal. When he was in the hospital(45min ride) I went to see him everyday including Christmas day. My mother, brothers and my sister are also very supportive. We talk about this matter almost everyday. I’ve been learning so much online and I am actually going to start attending NAMI meetings in March. I can’t wait! I am determined to get him the help he needs. He deserves to have a good life.
Do you know what caused your sudden break? Have you had any symptoms prior to being diagnosed?
Geodon is another weight neutral medication. I now take Latuda and it helps with depression also. What I learned from my experience that would have helped in the beginning was this; anxiety meds help with paranoia (if he thinks he is being recorded it does cause anxiety and the meds help) also sleeping pills help tremendously if he has trouble sleeping. I take Lunesta and it is powerful enough to put you to sleep if you are psychotic and suicidal. Its best to have every weapon in your arsenal. If you don’t need it don’t take it but if you need it you have it. In the beginning the paranoia is too much for therapy to make a difference. I found I was very gaurded in everything I said to anyone because I also thought everything I did was recorded.
I wish you the best and it can take some time but it can get better.
Generalization seems unrealistic. But what follows is pretty much the best one can do to increase the chances:
- Get a copy of these books, read them and have your family read them, as well. (Torrey can be a bit totalistic and unwilling to see exceptions to his “rules” at times, but most of his book is really worth the effort to plough through.)
http://www.amazon.com/Surviving-Schizophrenia-6th-Edition-Family/dp/0062268856
http://www.amazon.com/The-Complete-Family-Guide-Schizophrenia/dp/1593851804/ref=as_sl_pc_tf_til?tag=schizophren0c-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=XKLY6NWSWJSQ3VYN&creativeASIN=1593851804 - Get properly diagnosed by a board-certified psychopharmacologist who specializes in the psychotic disorders. One can find them at…
http://doctor.webmd.com/find-a-doctor/specialty/psychiatry and Find Psychiatrists, Psychiatric Nurses - Psychology Today
. - Work with that “psychiatrist” (or “p-doc”) to develop a medication formula that stabilizes their symptoms sufficiently so that they can tackle the psychotherapy that will disentangle their thinking.
. - Psychotherapies for that currently include…
DBT – http://behavioraltech.org/resources/whatisdbt.cfm
MBSR – Welcome to the Mindful Living Blog
MBCT - Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: theory and practice - PubMed
ACT – ACT | Association for Contextual Behavioral Science
Vipassana – Samatha-vipassana - Wikipedia
. - the even newer somatic psychotherapies like…
MBBT – An Introduction to Mind-Body Bridging & the I-System – New Harbinger Publications, Inc
SEPT – Somatic experiencing - Wikipedia
SMPT – Sensorimotor psychotherapy - Wikipedia
. - or standard CBTs, like…
REBT – Rational emotive behavior therapy - Wikipedia
Schematherapy – Schema therapy - Wikipedia
Learned Optimism – Learned optimism - Wikipedia
Standard CBT – Psychotherapy | NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness & scroll down
. - Get two or more of those “down,” and one can use the skills therefrom in this way to combat delusional thinking and emotional reactivity very quickly: 10 StEP – Pair A Docks: The 10 StEPs of Emotion Processing
. - If you/she/he needs a professional intervention to get through treatment resistance, I would use those search tools in item 2 above. Look for clinics that include intervention and treatment resistance services.
. - If you or your sz patient suddenly becomes manic: What to do when your depressed patient develops mania | MDedge Psychiatry?
. - Look into the RAISE Project at Google.
. - Look for mental illness clubhouses in your area (which can be hugely helpful… but may also pose risks). Dig through the many articles at Google to locate and investigate them.
I will order these books and thank you for the suggestion.
my break was caused by the high stress environment at Fort Benning where I went for Basic Combat Training, I had some symptoms before then, but nothing that made them want to diagnose me with anything.
He already has a better life than I ever had, but he doesn’t know it because he’s so ill. I cannot tell you the future, just that I believe in Love above all things. He is capable - but he probably doesn’t think so because of his sickness now, which will pass, as schizophrenia does. Meanwhile your love, and the love of his family sustains him - and I cannot emphasize this enough! It was the love of my father that sustained me and brought about my remission from alcohol and drug abuse, as well as schizophrenia. The rest of my so-called family can all pound sand. You mentioned visiting your son on Christmas day. Jesus that moved me! I can’t tell you how many Christmas days I spent alone in institutions with no visitors. Not even my father came - we weren’t reconciled until I ws in my twenties. As I said, I have no crystal ball - but I believe that Love will prevail for you and your son. And no matter what happens, Love is the best medicine.
Be well, mom.
You are very supportive to your son. It takes time, but i hope the best for your son. I was diagnosed by the age of 22. Im still learning to live with this illness. But i know it will get better soon. Good luck.
Good luck to you too. Its so different for everyone. I wish there was one magic pill that would cure all. Take care
1 Like
It took me more than 6 months from starting medication to function on basic level again. And yet a couple of years before I stopped being a robot and started to be able to think again. I had been psychotic for two years before I got meds. Made a complete ass out of my self at work when I was psychotic. But they rehired me when I was stable.