Son won't take meds...recovering from psychosis

I wouldnt say that in every case. i’ve been on thorazine for the past four years after trying every atypical on the market. im doing much better with the thorazine.

You’re right - not in every case. I talked to one guy who found Geodon hard to tolerate, and Haldol a comfortable drug. That sure isn’t the case with me. I find all the typical med’s very hard to tolerate, and all the atypicals much easier to handle. I think it is that way with the majority of the mentally ill.

These meds can cause Psychosis to worsen if not properly withdrawn from. Maybe that’s the reason it went full-blown that fast. Ask the pdoc to help you withdraw from the drug safely if you decide to do an non-drug alternative. Long-term outcomes are better for those that choose the non-drug approach.

It’s hard to force the kid to take them. It’s stealing their youth. Been there, didn’t like it. Felt like an eff’n statue.

Educate the kid about his condition. That will help him when learning natural coping skills.

Yes - Antipsychotics can cause brain damage. It shrinks the part of the brain called frontal lobe, enlarges basal ganglia and causes biochemical imbalance in the brain.

shot two and I know he is to take pills for a bit he threw them away and told me they told him to.yesterday he was hearing voices and seeing stuff on tv,we talked and today a little better ,my question is how long befor the invega shot starts to work?

It takes a while, it took my son about 6 weeks.

There’s no timeline for this. Even highly functional folk like myself lapse from taking medication from time to time. I find I have to reach certain crisis points which motivate to medicate. For me, I started medication for fear that I’d lose my job if I didn’t and my life would be much worse for me if I didn’t at least try.

While you can certainly suggest, nagging or lecturing isn’t likely to help. The decision must come from within and be motivated by self-interest. I know it must be frustrating, but you must be patient engaging and positively motivating. Negative reinforcement was generally unhelpful for me, and led to acting out and defiance ocassionally.

Consider alternatives. If he won’t take medication see if he’s open to other therapies. (I had over a year of psychotherapy before I first took meds). If not, ask him about goals and help him with plans.

Ask him how he feels. Ask him about what it’s like to be psychotic. Ask him what it’s like when he’s on medication. Praise him when he has good days, and be patient when he has bad ones.

Caregivers often don’t realize that it’s very lonely being ill, and you feel you can never do anything right. Or no one will listen to you.

Above all be patient calm and forgiving. Maintain a dialog and listen, and hope that little by little he gain insight into himself and his disease, and learns to make good choices.

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My son is due for his next Invega shot tomorrow. I think it started wearing off about 4-5 days ago. At first I thought it was residual psychosis from his break but now I don’t think so. His voices seem to be getting worse again and more and more he is asking me questions about the ‘spiritual world’ etc. I have heard that it can take up to 3 months or more to see the full affect even for injections.

Thank you. My son is paranoid and may lose his job soon. but he has no insight so I’m lost as to how to help him. He tells me he doesn’t know what it’s like to be psychotic and lies about taking meds.

Nagging sure didn’t help, nor did bribery. Perhaps he will decide to take a small dose of something just so the anger dissipates.

Meds help with the anger, but for me it helped to realize where my anger came from.

First, it came from frustration over lack of control. I didn’t ask for the disease, but it was causing me to lose control of my life. And people were telling me they knew better than I did and to do as they said. Then doctors told me to listen to them and take medication. Then even if I took the medication, it made me feel different-- as if I was losing control.

Second, it came from feelings of not being heard. I can’t tell you how many times I went over my complex delusional system with my mother and she didn’t understand it, or wouldn’t let me finish, and blew me off in other ways. And I’d get angry and start over from the top and increase the volume etc. It didn’t matter much that she didn’t believe me, I just wanted her to listen.

Third, it came from not being asked for my input on things that directly affected me. A combination of lack of control and lack of being heard. For example the first Psychiatrist I visited talked to me for about 10 minutes and after I said I wasn’t sold on medication and would like to take as little as possible, proceeded to prescribe six different medications. Well, I walked out of his office and didn’t see another Psychiatrist for over a year.

Eventually, I realized that my parents didn’t want me sick any more than I did. And they were doing the best they could as far as listening me, but were frustrated. And eventually they asked for my input as I calmed down and they learned they could trust my judgement about things that affected me. It’s a learning curve for everyone, and not everyone learns at the same rate.

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I just can’t break thru and make him realize he is sick…he still says he is not sick…

Hi Sonya. I have schizophrenia and I have to tell you that the meds are not necessary to prevent psychosis. The psychosis comes and goes, the first time is most likely the worst experience of psychosis. It does improve but a supportive family is important for recovery. So, there should not be nagging about tak9ing medication. The meds are not effective. The illness is spiritual in nature and spirituality helps aid recovery. So, for me I volunteered with the Legion of MAry (a Christian volunatery organisation) and they helped me get my self together again.

FAith helps. Volunteering with religious organisations helps as these orgaisations are like a buoy in choppy waters. As I said schizophrenia is spiritual in nature, so spirituality helps a lot.

Barbie my son was on this shot for quite some time. We found that the shot never lasted the full 30 days, and we began supplementing with pills, in the last week. I also found others that had the same experience, one of my nami friends said their dr told them it didn’t last the full 30 days. I have an old post that breaks down the amount.

We may be switching to oral invega. I like what I see but my son hates the shot and going through this every month won’t help him.

We usually notice quite a decrease in the last 7 days. Always needing a full oral dose on the last 5 days. he was on 156. We tried upping the dose, back down and supplementing, and finally surrendered to oral. he did much better. Its a good medicine. But its so new and expensive, I don’t think pd;s have alot of patients on it, or experience with it yet.

it sounds very promising. I’m so glad for both of you.

I didn’t want to take my meds at first because i didn’t like the side effects and they don’t work right away. It is easy to get frustrated when you see no improvements and a lot of side effects on top of it. Some people have learned to control their delusions without medication but i do feel a lot better on mine. Some people also feel safer in their delusions than reality and it may be a comfort to him to have them. I would suggest a lot of support in what will no doubt be a very long journey. If he is not a danger than there is no way to force him to take medication. I hope you are both able to find some peace.

I am 72 years old and was diagnosed at age 28.

In my 44 years experience I can only say good nutrition and mega vitamins allowed me to get by on less medication. On one hand I cannot live on medication alone, on the other I cannot survive on nutrition alone. But, for me, there was a balance that has allowed me to be successful with a zest for living.

You could try offering your son a chelated magnesium supplement for starters, if I am right, it will forever change his outlook.

And remember, as Dr Abram Hoffer used to say, “a cured schizophrenic is a schizophrenic who pays taxes”. It is not about getting off meds, that does not work! It is about a healthy body that requires less meds. Been there, done that :slight_smile:

Good luck.

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HI

I’m desperate at this point. Days after his court order expired he went off meds. Slowly he began drinking again. Now the girl he lives with his leaving due to his abuse when drinking and psychotic. In the past I would’ve just put him in the hospital but he hated the court order and it did nothing for his lack of insight, which he may never have.

Do I step out of the way, let him lose the apt? or intervene for another court order? Now he is smoking pot since I put an interlock device in his car. He works 3 days a week and even attends a program one day, but they don’t see the aggressiveness. Any ideas

Ahard thing to say, but since he is living on his own, I would step out of the way. My son has done the same thing. Right now, he is living on his own. I sometimes think I may have made things worse by stepping in so much.
If my son were to lose everything this time-I would have to close my eyes. Hes blamed everything on everyone. I really want to let him figure this out now. Youre son may have more insight than you know.
Yes-let him find his way.

Hi Karl. I’m just wondering how you mean it is spiritual in nature? Just tying to understand your perspective. Thanks !