Would you risk a med change just to improve your concentration? (For movies in particular)

Medications
1

Up till 6 weeks ago I had been fairly stable. These last 6 weeks things have gone downhill (coincides with tobacco resumption). But even having gone downhill I was more stable than 10 years ago.

Problem is even though I am stable (the metric I am using is no hospital admissions) my concentration is terrible. Can’t watch more than 20 minutes of tv at a time.

I am a movie kind of guy and used to derive so much pleasure from this. I feel like I have lost this part of my life. I lead a simple domestic life so movies mean a lot to me.

My doc has mentioned ability in the past when I voiced these problems. But this would require a dramatic med change.

Is improvement in watching movies worth the risk of a med change?

Thanks for your time

2

I’m the same and I’m on abilify, so it could be the disease. A switch to abilify might not solve it.

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3

From what you’ve said seems like the right thing to do.

It’s not always necessarily going to be the drug you first turn too.

I went through 6 AP’s before settling on Amisulpride

Now I am much better apart from raised prolactin.

I was basically sleeping all the time in my spare time before I decided enough was enough, and fought for a better med.

It was not made easy, as the pdoc thought just having symptoms under control was enough. Anyone who takes these things knows that’s a pretty crappy way of looking at it.

Quality of life is also very important. Otherwise you’ll zombie out and wonder where all that time went

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4

I wouldn’t
Med changes are dangerous.
If you really need to - with a doctor and strict supervision

Ask what you could lose

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5

If it was me I’d try Abilify. I like being able to watch movies and concentrate on the TV. I was on Abilify before and didn’t notice side effects but I was only on 5mg for a short time. Less than a month I think.

6

I asked for a med change when I had concentration problems. But, since I’m trying to get my PhD, I have a lot at stake for my concentration. I also had a lot at stake for my stability. I am personally happy with my med change.

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7

totally with you on this :slight_smile:

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8

Med change might or might not fix some of your issues. You might relapse too if the med doesn’t work. Zyprexa didn’t work for me, made me psychotic. Its up to you and your Dr to weight the benefits vs risks of a med change.

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9

I was half psychotic with some catatonia on Latuda.

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10

Come to the conclusion that now is not the time to be changing meds. Can’t risk going into hospital with the COVID crisis ongoing.

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11

This is probably sensible as things stand.

Hopefully this will get resolved with the vaccinations and you can give it a go!

Not sure what the NHS trust is like in your area, but here you really have to be quite hard on the mental health services to get them to act on something

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12

if i couldn’t watch movies i would be really sad. But i got concentration problems too so usually i can see movies lots of times and still enjoy them.

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13

Maybe wait a few weeks when it’s spring and thins are a little less stressful?

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