tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post4206036603544290924..comments2023-04-03T00:37:53.697+01:00Comments on Female, Twenty Something, Schizophrenic, GSOH: Why do Schizophrenics Come off Medication?Katy Grayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384403447580393959noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-79125804390081044822016-02-10T12:11:01.180+00:002016-02-10T12:11:01.180+00:00Excellent post.Excellent post.risperal side effectshttp://www.injurylawsuithelp.com/risperdal/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-50936016329091331072014-04-25T02:01:36.319+01:002014-04-25T02:01:36.319+01:00I would like to come off medication. I am injected...I would like to come off medication. I am injected with piportil every two weeks because of schizophrenia, which I am quite violent with. Today was my injection day but i didn't get my injection. I feel quite good at the moment, but also hope this tiredness goes away. It's been eight years since my last incident. <br /><br />I'm not going back on the injection. I want to see what daytime looks like. I sleep, nvermind sixteen hours, my record is 48 hours. ----> I have music to write and record. <br /><br />I have a mathematics degree to continue. I have to paint something. I have to do some poetry. I have to read physics, man. <br /><br />I have to communicate on the internet. I have to keep sane. I have to create rules, follow orders, listen to string theory, be the best. I am the best. I love being best. <br /><br />My hands are starting to feel tired. I know I shouldn't come off medication, but i haven't been on the CTO for three years, so there's no reason why i can't go back to sulpiride. I am prescribed sulpiride, and yeah, it's brilliant. I am thirty five. There's something about introducing yourself in forums. We have such hope. <br /><br />Perhaps i will come back to this forum with a fresh mind and stories. <br /><br />I've never had akathesia. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15999689051745467131noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-16071149559831098472013-11-26T20:57:52.912+00:002013-11-26T20:57:52.912+00:00Yes, I had this, too. I found Benadryl to be the ...Yes, I had this, too. I found Benadryl to be the most reliable drug for this, but one time when I was in the hospital, I was giving Risperdal, and I was able to sleep for the first few hours, but then I woke up at 1:30 AM with a strong sense of inner torment and restlessness! I begged the nurses to give me some Benadryl so I could go to sleep, but they refused. They also refused to call the doctor, saying they didn't want to bother them at night. So I had to suffer severe akathisia all night!<br /><br />I find that of all the antipsychotics, only Zyprexa and Invega--though I've had only a low dose of Invega--don't give me akathisia. Saphris (severe, accompanied by dyskinesia and tremors), Risperdal (severe), Abilify (moderate), and Latuda (severe, starting about a month after starting on the drug) all do.<br /><br />Luckily, my psychiatrist did recognize the akathisia and took measures to prevent it and to treat it. She prescribed me Klonopin back in June after Abilify gave me akathisia--I still have the Klonopin today. It and Benadryl are now part of my "akathisia action plan." :D<br />beneficiihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08107436044843445219noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-20857109454973152132013-03-14T19:56:13.259+00:002013-03-14T19:56:13.259+00:00I'm glad you are stable, and I would say that ...I'm glad you are stable, and I would say that if you do have so many problems reducing, it would be best to stay on it. I know how lucky I am to be off antipsychotics and well. It would be tricky if you did develop a severe illness from olanzapine, to be honest, I wouldn't know what to recommend. I personally knew a couple of people from hospital who developed diabetes from antipsychotics but I don't know how they are now. I hope they are still doing well but there's no way for me to know sadly.<br /><br />Depot meds are usually the worst meds to have for side effects. Unfortunately, I was forced into depot medication because I initially refused clozapine. Only when the akathisia got so bad from the depot did I actually take the clozapine. It was useless for me and after six months, I came off it against my psychiatrist's advice. The antipsychotic I best tolerated was quetiapine (Seroquel) but I know many who had horrendous side effects on that. Olanzapine, Clopixol and Clozapine were all horrible for side effects. Aripiprazole (Abilify) wasn't bad but there's no way I'd ever go back on antipsychotics.<br /><br />Thank you for your encouragement, writing is one of the the only things I enjoy at the moment so I'm clinging on to it!<br />Katy xKaty Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384403447580393959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-54120601830281071682013-03-14T16:51:21.150+00:002013-03-14T16:51:21.150+00:00Thank you so much for your comment Katy. I am stab...Thank you so much for your comment Katy. I am stable now, but have tried 3 times in the past 3 years to come off olanzapine and had great withdrawal problems when I had reduced my olanzapine slowly down from 10mg a day to 2.5mg. I found the withdrawal problems too difficult to deal with and very reluctantly went back on the full dose, it always takes me a few weeks to stabilise after I have been reducing my medication. The problems when trying to reduce my problems were so bad that I doubt that I will try reducing again. It felt like my brain was possessed when I was on a very low dose of olanzapine. However I may try to come off again if I experience a severe physical illness as a result of being on olanzapine. For example if I get diabetes I may try to come off but even then it may be impossible. I have heard an audio on the internet by a consultant psychiatrist in London who talks about the physical illnesses associated with antipsychotics and she said that if someone develops diabetes as a result of taking antipsychotics in about 50% of cases you no longer have diabetes if you stop the antipsychotic.<br /><br />I absolutely love your blog by the way, you have are very good at expressing yourself and it makes great reading.<br /><br />Regarding akathisia I understand that propanolol is sometimes used as well as benzodiazepines like diazepam and lorazepam in the short term.<br />I am so sorry to hear that you are still experiencing a mild version of it today. I have been lucky enough not to have been given depot injections. Instead when I was in hospital I had regular blood tests to check that I was actually taking the olanzapine and not putting it under my tongue which I had done in the past with risperidone and amisulpride. Olanzapine is the only antipsychotic I can tolerate out of the others I have been given (risperidone, amisuplride and clozapine).Marlonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994591694964533809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-90443104157818723012013-03-14T13:57:21.960+00:002013-03-14T13:57:21.960+00:00I experienced similar attitudes towards akathisia,...I experienced similar attitudes towards akathisia, where staff thought that I was anxious about something causing me to walk all the time. And as I had previously had restless legs due to anxiety, I couldn't tell them otherwise. I'm just grateful I was introduced to procyclidine. Lorazepam didn't help me much with akathisia.<br /><br />Clopixol was the drug that gave me akathisia. The worst thing is, I was on it for just three months, over three years ago, and I still have a mild version of it today. I was on antipsychotics for three years, came off them in November 2011, but I still have problems with my memory too. That's one thing the psychiatrists don't warn about and don't even accept happens.<br /><br />I don't know if you've had talking therapy, CBT for example, but I would recommend it. I also don't know if you've tried reducing your meds, and as I don't know you, I can't really say whether or not you should come off them. I will however, say that if you choose to reduce your meds, come off them really slowly, especially as you've been on them for 10 years. I'm really glad you no longer experience akathisia though, it does cause extreme suicidal feelings, I also pleaded with someone to kill me. And the pain cannot be described. That's the worst bit. Plus, painkillers don't take the pain away either.<br /><br />Thank you for commenting, I hope that you are stable and what the psychiatrists call 'well'. It's great to hear from you.Katy Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384403447580393959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-28068270134042998802013-03-14T00:16:43.526+00:002013-03-14T00:16:43.526+00:00Akathisia - What can I say. I have experienced aka...Akathisia - What can I say. I have experienced akathisia and I found it the worst side-effect I have experienced on antipsychotics. The problem with the side-effect of akathisia is it is extremely difficult to describe how this particular side-effect makes you feel inside. There is the pacing up and down for hours and inability to sit still, however this side-effect is often confused with agitation caused by an illness so invariably the dose of the antipsychotic is increased which perversely makes the akathisia worse. I found the pacing up and down difficult to deal with but what was worse was how I felt inside and it made me suicidal in that I was pleading for people to kill me. I was fortunate that I was given a low dose of lorazepam (which was actually for agitation) but I found it helped greatly with the akathisia although it made me very sedated. But I prefered being sedated in the short term so long as my akathisia was cured. After the first dose of lorazepam I kept on asking the nurses for it everyday but they stopped giving it to me because they thought I might become addicted to it, so I was left to suffer with akathisia again. Also the psychiatrist did not recognise the fact that I was experiencing akathisia but thought I was agitated because of my illness. I was pleading the nurses to give me lorazepam so my akathisia would get better but to no avail. It took me a good few weeks for the akathisia to get better. The antipsychotics I have taken that caused the worse akathisia were amisulpride, risperidone and olanzapine. I have been on olanzapine 10 years now and I no longer experience any akathisia on it fortunately, however I am worried that being on the antipsychotic olanzapine for 10 years has accelerated the shrinkage of my brain as my memory is not very good. Before I was put on antipsychotics my memory was above average when I was tested by a clinical psychologist.Marlonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994591694964533809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-47495553483030006972013-03-12T18:21:40.319+00:002013-03-12T18:21:40.319+00:00Akathisia is probably the worst side effect to get...Akathisia is probably the worst side effect to get from antipsychotics. Some psych staff just don't realise how painful it is or how severe it can be. If your son still suffers from akathisia, I do recommend procyclidine. Although it didn't take the akathisia away, it reduced it to the point where I could live. I agree about the medication driving some people to killing, it is not their illness that causes a person to harm, but it can be the medication! A lot of the school shootings in America have been at the hands of gunmen on psychiatric medication. I'm pretty sure the gunmen in the Columbine massacre were both on psych meds, I know one of them was. When I was first put on meds, I threw a chair across the room because of the way I felt on drugs. My illness didn't make me do that, nor am I violent. It was the meds! I'm glad I'm off antipsychotics now. I'm able to think more clearly off them and although my memory hasn't come back, my concentration has improved. Plus I don't sleep for 16 hours a day anymore!<br /><br />I hope your son is improving or recovered. I'm sorry that he had to go through all that. I hope your friend's daughter is still recovered too, with no repercussions. I always recommend talking therapy as the only side effect is usually crying. Not akathisia, drowsiness or anything else!<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />KatyKaty Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384403447580393959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-55223788072630465622013-03-12T17:15:35.656+00:002013-03-12T17:15:35.656+00:00What you say about akathisia is spot on. My son co...What you say about akathisia is spot on. My son couldn't sleep more than 10 minutes at a time and kept racing around the house night and day. No doctor took him seriously, so after 6 weeks of this, he tried to kill himself. If he is alive, it is by shear luck. I found him just in time for the ambulance to race him to A&E. The staff there were first class. What the psychiatrists did to him afterwards is another story.<br />The medication actually drives some people to killing. It stops some people from thinking clearly and they become out of control. It happened to the daughter of a friend who attacked her mother with a knife.Since she has come off the meds, she is back to her rational, sensible self. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-57501689812789486822013-03-12T16:34:54.736+00:002013-03-12T16:34:54.736+00:00Thank you, I hope to inspire someone some day too!...Thank you, I hope to inspire someone some day too! Thank you for your encouragement xxKaty Grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384403447580393959noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7607863253105913866.post-56189178444435166302013-03-12T16:25:59.759+00:002013-03-12T16:25:59.759+00:00I'm a psychiatric nurse & youve done a sup...I'm a psychiatric nurse & youve done a superb job explaining why. I wish you well with your recovery! It's good to hear how positive you are & I hope you inspire others xAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com