My brother came out of negative symptom “hibernation” very quickly when the meds were adjusted. He was also put through Cognitive Behavioral Training, to re-learn his communication skills and get some of his emotional responses back. He was also put through family therapy, Sz support groups and day hospitals.
He says it was the med kick start that got him back into the living.
So sorry to hear about your husband. I know that has to be very hard. The stress from our loved ones being sick can certainly be overwhelming. I hope things improve for you.
Do you think it was the Latuda that helped him so much?
What is clostinine? I’ve not heard of that one. Is your son doing better in other ways too, like delusions, etc. in addition to emotionally?
This is just my uninformed observation… But I think it was a combo of adding the Latuda which has some anti-depressant properties and is used in bipolar cases and at the same time, cutting the Seroquel in half.
The Seroquel mixed with the Zoloft packed quiet a numbing punch for my brother. He didn’t seem suffer from positive symptoms. If he did, he was too sedated to react.
The Zoloft was switched over to the Xanax.
The Xanax seemed a better fit for him.
In a not so orthodox way, he had basically three med changes in one go.
Then, when he was motivated to start moving again my parents got him back into CBT.
That is so great that he finally found the right cocktail. I can tell from his posts that he is doing fantastic. My son was taking Zoloft for a while with his other meds and he didn’t like it at all. It seemed to make him more depressed. I still don’t think he is on the right combination of meds, but seems like its a crapshoot, and also scary to switch. Son doesn’t communicate with me too much anymore. The only thing I want to do is help him and he is distrusting right now. 
My parents agonized over the med switch proposition. Finally it just came down too the point that he was hitting such a wall, they felt that he was going to get worse. It was do nothing and have him get worse, or change the meds and have him get worse. He was headed in a downward direction no matter what the action.
It was a gamble, and lucky for this family, it paid off. But that being said, it wasn’t an uninformed gamble. My Mom researched for weeks.
My brother has said that during that time he was so numb and so disconnected that he was willing to try anything.
Aww, hate it James had to suffer so much but so glad he has come out the other end, yay!!
Did he go through any kind of uncooperative or rebellious stage with your parents? My son is just kind of limping along right now. I think he is also doing illicit drugs and pot, so that also distorts everything. It could be that he is on the right combo of meds, but can’t tell because of the drugs, idk.
He’ll be the first to admit to his anger and paranoia, and rebellion with our parents. Lately he’s been calling it his anger phase. It lasted a while. He was always sweet to me. He somehow always had patience for me. But there were some hard years between our parents and J. They have both been working so hard to fix that past hurt.
Yes, there was shouting, door slamming, cussing and running away. He will also admit to his drug use and his heavy drinking. Things really started turing for him when he gave up the Alcohol and drugs.
he never talks to me about delusions but he will sometime talk to my bf,and he will tell the same story that he told 3 years ago like it happened yesterday…he is getting better with that but his fear of me not being here has him worried…I said tonight I hope I am off next weekend I want to go with my bf to the beach for the weekend…he did not say anything but his actions spoke it for him he huffed and went to his room for awhile and came back out…we will see… he has not been bobbing today I don’t know if me saying something about it made him more aware of it…lets hope so
If you want to be gone for the weekend, or just overnight, is there someone that your son trusts enough to go to their house or stay at your house with him?
Kind of like a babysitter, so he has somebody there in case he needs something.
Sometimes being alone brings out the worst symptoms in me, but just having another person in the house makes a difference.
thanks, but we really have no friends left…they seemed to disappeared when he was talking some crazy stuff for 2 years…he has one friend but she cant drive now,
Sounds like there is a need for an adult “sitter” service where you should be able to either drop your (forgive me, it’s just for lack of word I can’t think of right now) baby off to a place where he will be in good hands to care, and a comfortable space for him so you can get away for a bit and not worry.
My 81 year old father passed away last year after needing 24/7 care given solely by my 77 year old mother, with the exception of my brother helping on saturdays and me during the week, he had dementia and lost a leg from a failed stint 11 months earlier. I saw my mom age 20 years in those 11months.
You need time away from your son if your going to be in any shape to help him in the future. He isn’t a baby, and will survive if you go somewhere for a couple of days without him. Believe me, I speak from experience, my (ex) husband used to go on trips for extended times to “get away” from me while I was symptomatic. As long as there are rules to keep everyone safe, you can start slowly and build time away from your son, which will help him in the long run knowing you can’t be there beside him every minute of the day without becoming resentful and bitter, which happens when you feel trapped.
It’s no good for either of you to deny he needs to be able to become more independant, so you both can have a good life.
For me, when I knew what was needed from someone, and knew the rules to be safe, and had someone to call if needed (which I never would do), I learned independance, and that builds self confdence.
Barb: that is good advice telling us not to by into the paranoid feelings and become argumentative because I too find that it gets worse and is somehow turned around on me. I try my best to walk away only to have him coming right behind me going thru it all over and over as if he is going to make me talk when I am really trying to diffuse the situation. Doors close many times in my house and I know that isn’t the right way but it’s impossible to rationalize with him when he is in that state of mind. He then takes it out on me.
If you have the resources can you hire someone to keep an eye on your son while you and your boyfriend go on a vacation. It would have to be a person who understands mental illness and is super responsible. I know there are peer support people who have been hired to look after those who are less healthy. It could also be a person who has a disability but not necessarily a mental illness disability. I have an acquaintance who works part time for a big box store and also has someone who lives with her who has a mental disability. My acquaintance is legally blind and has a real heart for people. I know in my state the mental health community is doing that more and more.