My sz daughter has been ranting and raving all day long nonstop. Accusing our neighbors of stealing our mail, breaking into our house, defecating in her bathroom, replacing our sugar with poison, and stealing her paperwork to steal her identity. She is on her meds faithfully plus an abilify injection. Out of the blue, she is 200% worse than yesterday. Why? What happened? She has not left the house in days so she has not been using drugs. Why would she all of sudden become so paranoid and delusional?
Because apparently, this illness comes in phases or cycles. From our experience, there can be nothing that stands out as a clear trigger. We just have to keep our distance and weather the storm.
I’m pretty sure these kinds of sudden fluctuations can also happen when a person has a combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (aka schizoaffective disorder), but maybe I’m wrong.
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My son suffers sza with bipolar disorder and has constant delusions and such. It’s when his mania kicks in that things get tense, like today/tonight. He’s 6’2" and roughly 260-270 pounds at 29 years of age. He’s screaming, kicking and furiously punching the air, stomping on the ground, and yelling obscenities in hate-filled tirade.
I’ve quit calling the police for medical evaluations as they just tend to lock him up for trespass or for domestic violence. He never gets any treatment that way and usually when he’s released, he’s actually worse. He’s in a downwards spiral and I see it as just a matter of time. But, yes, occasionally he’ll act almost normal. That’s when he’s claiming to own Microsoft, the U.S. Air Force, and that he’s the greatest mathematician to ever have lived. He’s intelligent, so to speak, but he’s not that intelligent. He does not comply with any medication protocol or other therapy/treatment. Sorry, but this level of mental illness/brain disorder is truly frightening. Wish I could make him take the meds and go to treatment, but I can’t.
The police took me to the hospital 5 times. I was taken in a ambulance not a cop car. I think you can explain it’s MI and not something he should go to jail for. At the hospital I was involuntary committed. Usually for a week at a time
There are good days and bad days even on medication. What meds is he on, maybe he needs an adjustment?
@Moonwalker, our son has been on Invega Sustenna for a year and a half, mostly at the highest dosage.
Yes, he does need a med adjustment/change, but he won’t accept one. He needs to try Clozaril, but he refused. So, we remain in limbo.
Fortunately, even though the Invega Sustenna hasn’t given him his life back, and he remains symptomatic, his mood is generally calm and he’s usually happy.
He doesn’t rant, etc… He just gets over-the-top paranoid and more delusional during bad phases. I consider us extremely fortunate in that regard.
I have sza too and have been on lithium or depakote for the bipolar side. Is you son on either of these?
No, just the monthly injection. He won’t take pills. It is what it is, and it’s currently manageable. This might be as good as it gets. Who knows.
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Why won’t he take pills?