Help ! Any advise ? My son told me he was going to stop his pills!

I live 45 minutes from him- he was diagnosed at 24. His cycle includes stopping his meds loosing his job drinking to control symptoms and a variety of results from drinking- for the second time now 5 years apart he has almost died. Then come rehab and this last time psych ward then rehab. I am interested in the shot in return for subsidizing his apartment - and right now he thinks the shot is his idea. The problem is covid - with covid his rehab said they couldn’t find a psychiatrist in his insurance plan to see him to administer it. I will try starting Monday . He gets out of rehab and will be starting an iop- again he thinks it’s his idea. Getting him to think these things are his idea is exhausting but seems to work

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Unfortunately this is very common. My son lives with us, so we know when he is relapsing. He too had to comply with meds. When that was over he gradually went off his shot. But still takes his antidepressant pills and talks with his case worker and needs to be in touch with his psych doctor in order to renew his antidepressant meds. So far is still able to function.
One day at a time, that’s all we handle.

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May i ask how long has it been since his last shot ? My son went down to 15mg today and i’m starting to get anxiety of the unknown when he eventually stops completely .

No wonder you’re scared. Does your son own his own car and pay his own bills? I’m wondering if there’s anything he wants you to do for him (or maybe something you’re already doing/providing) that you could use as incentive for him to continue taking his medication.

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I’ve tried every bribe . The side effects are wearing him out and i understand why he wants to quit but he does not understand why he needs them . My heart breaks for him . I just pray and pray :pray:

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How old is he now? I’m glad your son thinks the shot is his idea! That is a huge step. I have a feeling my son will go down this road as well but I’m not sure if he’ll ever go back on the shot. He won’t talk to me unless it’s about money and now since he moved out I have no idea what he is really doing. He did show me a paycheck from a 16 per week job that he has. I live miles away from my son now which is kind of a better situation for me as I can’t have him live with me again, medicated or unmedicated and he can’t support himself unmedicated. I’m just hoping he changes his mind and gets the shot and I will pay his rent until he gets back on his feet. The whole thing is exhausting.

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It took about 6 - 8 months for my sons paranoia to return.

Thank you for the insight . He took 15mg again today . Hope your son will get his shot . Every day is a different day with their mood changes .

Hi Linda,
What is Ex-Parte?
Janine

Hi ! Ex-Parte form is a form you fill in and explain about your loved ones situation, example " my son has not left his room in a week and barely eats and i feel thats a danger to himself ‘’ You get the form from a court house in your county .You then, what i understood is hand to the police so they can baker act him and drive him to hospital . Ex Parte Baker Act is a means of providing individuals with emergency services and temporary detention for mental health evaluation and treatment when required.

Just an update , my sons down to 10mg with lots of bribes to ween off safely and not go cold turkey , he seems to be doing ok so far , not too much change . Next week will give me anxiety as he insists to drop to 5mg . I am going to try and drag this as long as i can . :pray: :worried:

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Hmm. whose car is it and who is paying insurance. You may have to play hardball.

He’s down to 5mg since last week . He was actually doing well on 10mg but now getting signs on 5mg . He told me one of his neighbours was staring at him in an evil way and believes the neighbour wants to kill him . He told me today that he wants to get a body scan to check for cancer as he believes the doctor that he is trying to sue caused harm to his body . im starting to feel anxious . He is more isolated than usual .

He bought his car but i pay for the car insurance . Right now if i threaten to stop paying i don’t believe he will care much as he barely leaves his home . I need to think of another bribe for him to put his meds back up which i have doubt he will . He says he feels better on 5 mg and will stop altogether soon. :cry:

We are in the same situation. If our son doesn’t agree to the shot he has to go, which means he will be homeless. I know it seems harsh but we can’t continue the charade of him pretending to take his meds each night. I bust my butt (and literally drive my self crazy with stress) trying to help him while he does nothing to help himself.

Sorry to hear your stressing, I get it I really do :disappointed: I put my son in an apartment 7 min from me , that way I keep an eye on him and shut down when I need to if you know what I mean , out of sight out of mind . Just for my sanity. Hang in there, one day at a time

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Can you take his car? That may help get him to take his meds. I have been reading tons of books on actual stories of people going through this illness. That has been a huge help to me hearing what over people are going through. Hang in there.

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It is now since September, and still doing ok.

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Update ! still on 5mg and seems to be doing ok . no leg pain , not much pacing like before , cleans his apartment , does his washing and cooks for himself .He has not mentioned anything about his neighbour or anything about cancer anymore . He comes to visit me more often as he says he feels he needs to be out of his Apartment more . So i see changes for the good . Having said that , he still giggles to himself , his senses are really strong , smelling things, that i can not smell , so strong to the point of vomiting for example i washed my hands with a scented citrus smell and he sat next to me and said what’s that strong smell and went outside and vomited . His eyes are sensitive to bright lights . He is extremely self conscious about how he looks , his hair , his teeth , his clothes , his shoes , his height . He told me he wants to see a doctor to make him grow . he’s 5’8 . His dad was around the same height , im 5’1 . He’s obsessing that he should have taken pills when he was younger and thats the reason he is short . He does not want to hear about genes . His father was extremely self obsorbed too along with being a hypochondriac . Thank you all for letting me share this , sometimes writing it down releases stress . All in all he is stable and im still managing to keep him on the 5mg so far :pray:

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Good to hear that he’s continuing with medication. In my experience, heightened senses are a significant issue with SZ. With me it was mostly a keen sense of hearing and sensitivity to light. Left to my own devices I might have left all drapes closed, swapped nights for days and rarely left the house. I was able to gradually desensitize myself, by gradually increasing exposure to light, sounds and crowds and such.

An analogy I give sometimes to hint at the experience for ‘normal’ folk, is to imagine waking up and hearing a noise in the middle of the night that you can’t identify and are too frightened to investigate. Every sense in your body is heightened and you are paralyzed with fear. Then imagine that fight-or-flight-feeling continues and follows you for days, weeks, months, years or the rest of your life.

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