Schizophrenia

waximus

Hi All,

Heres my questions on schizophrenia.

Can it be treated with anythig other than medications with side effects?

If you are taking the medication when is it time to try and go it alone? With support obviously.

How do you come off a medication such as respridone consta? without dopamine flooding the brain.

I would be really greatful to anybody who can offer some advice. Feel free to ask questions I would be delighted to answer them.

snorlax

please bear in mind the rules for asking about giving medical advice (see the sticky at the top of this forum). im moving this to medicine and it's up to the mod there whether or not to leave this thread open or not.

Kevster

The degree of Schizophrenia can vary from sufferer to sufferer. Also, there is NO medication that does not have side-effects. When coming off medication, you are generally advised to 'wean' off of them (i.e. take progressively lower doses over long periods of time). It took me about 2 years to wean myself off Lexapro; an anti-depressant.

Go to your GP to get referral to a professional in this area. Don't expect sound advice on a public forum.

eth0_

There are quite a few people in mental health who think a lot of schizophrenia can be treated without drugs. I personally have a friend who was in and out of hospital for ten years with schizophrenia, and no conventional treatments seemed to work for him. Then he was visited in hospital by missionairies who have helped him more than any medication, and he is now living a normal life without meds, and you wouldn't think he was anything other than perhaps a little eccentric.

OP you might find this link of interest:

http://spiritualemergency.blogspot.com/2006/01/mental-breakdown-as-healing.html


Of course this does not apply to everyone, and coming off medication without your doctors' approval is dangerous!

DrIndy

talk to your psychiatrist.

Medication is generally the number one modus of treating schizophrenia, but cognitive therapy is also very significant in helping people to deal with the voices or sensations that they experience to reinforce that they are not real.

snorlax

and occupational therapy! but then i would be a bit biast

eth0_

snorlax wrote:

and occupational therapy! but then i would be a bit biast

O RLY? What can OT's offer in terms of managing the condition?

Odysseus

I just want to note that there are other therapies which can help with such symptoms as hearing voices and the other associated symptomatology . I know CBT is the current therapy spoken about in research, and in some cases it is very effective, however. I think we need to acknowledge that there are many other psychotheraeputic therapies just as effective, but maybe more difficult to evaulate

However, I must acknowlegde that my experience with this refers primarily to co-existing disorders, and in general with these cases the schizophrenia is not as severe, maybe thats due partly to self-medicating amongst other factors.

Ekancone

waximus wrote:

Hi All,

Heres my questions on schizophrenia.

Can it be treated with anythig other than medications with side effects?

If you are taking the medication when is it time to try and go it alone? With support obviously.

How do you come off a medication such as respridone consta? without dopamine flooding the brain.

I would be really greatful to anybody who can offer some advice. Feel free to ask questions I would be delighted to answer them.

I have been off and on risperdal twice now and to be honest all the old symptoms slowly but surely reared their head over the course of a few months, so i dont know how useful it is to stop taking it. The side effects are a balls though.

lola_run

daithifleming wrote:

I have been off and on risperdal twice now and to be honest all the old symptoms slowly but surely reared their head over the course of a few months, so i dont know how useful it is to stop taking it. The side effects are a balls though.

Have you had a blood test? A deficiency of certain vitamins and minerals can cause schizophrenia. Read the Guide to Optimum Nutrition by Patrick Holford to find out more. You'll be surprised to see how mental illness is closely linked to what we eat.

http://www.amazon.com/Optimum-Nutrition-Bible-Patrick-Holford/dp/1580910157

eth0_

Sigh....IMO that is quack medicine :rolleyes:
Unless you are eating out of bins, or eating take away crap every day, your vitamin and mineral levels aren't going to be dangerously low.

I, for instance, don't have a particularly healthy diet, and was expecting a recent blood test to show that, but everything was normal.

lola_run

eth0_ wrote:

Sigh....IMO that is quack medicine :rolleyes:
Unless you are eating out of bins, or eating take away crap every day, your vitamin and mineral levels aren't going to be dangerously low.

I, for instance, don't have a particularly healthy diet, and was expecting a recent blood test to show that, but everything was normal.

Good for you. But how do you know everything was normal. What exactly did you get tested?