Thank you Mayson for your encouraging words. I am going through a whole lots of struggle with my sz.husband as well. Yes, prayers are the biggest support for me as well although sometimes I get discouraged that is part of this off and on ride. My husband and I have been married for 7 years and we know each other over 10 years now. I knew about his mental condition when we got married but obviously I did not have any clue what would it mean to be a wife of a Sz. person. He has been more off than on the medc and we just reached to a point that we cannot continue our life any longer without proper medical care. He does not like the idea of medication and he does not want to take themā¦ now we are in the āspitting and hiding stageā. What next? I donāt knowā¦ he wanted to divorce as a result of my ācontrolā and I live with him in a country that does not have a good mental health system and the divorce rights on the malesā¦ This forum helps to realize that my problem is not the worse and I have to believe that things will be betterā¦
Please please seek profesional help! Even if YOU have to be hospilized for chronic Mental Depression. YouĀ“re treading into dangerous waters. Suicide or self destruction is NOT an optionā¦ please donĀ“t hesitate in contacting me if you find yourself on the edge of the cliff. e-mail, Skpeā¦You are NOT ALONE.
a warm hug
L.
Hugs to you!
And even more hugs
Heās got to go back on the shot. Make it clear to him and his doctor during his appointment. As for weight gain, he will have to follow a diet and exercise plan.Thereās got to be some lo-cal sweets he would enjoy.
My husband was on one med, I forget which, and he BLEW up. Gained about 80lbs. Fortunately, he was able to switch meds and the weight came off. He didnāt try to manage his weight while he was taking itā¦
Your son may be better able to manage his diet. Ask the doctor. He may also suggest another antipsychotic with a similar profile to the one he was taking, but without the side effects.
Take care of yourself!
And, if heās ranting and raving or otherwise being out of control, call the police and donāt come out of your room until they knock on the front door. Tell them whatās going on, and ask them to take him to the hospital. You shouldnāt be a prisoner in your own home!
Hi @Sheyelo, I"m so glad your personal situation improved and you will have insurance soon. What a relief.
I agree with you not to be his rep payee and not to be the person who tries to make him comply to medication. Those are not motherās roles in an adult childās life unless both adults have agreed.
There are many places that have rep payee services; google for your area. Try to find a non-profit or charity. Also, some treatment centers have rep payees. Patients interact with their treatment teams more if the rep payees are in the same agency, so ask your sonās doctors and providers about this.
When you can. Itās not up to you; you canāt treat mental illness. None of us can. Itās a medical condition only doctors can treat.
Your son sounds like he is a wonderful person at heart. With all you have gone through, I believe itās time to focus on your own health now.
So Iām at the dr now in the waiting room and my dad calls. I msg him telling him where Iām at. He texted back Donāt BRING HIM BY MY HOUSE!! Thanks dad for your support!! I go running to him every time he calls and says he is going to kill himself bc he lost $5000+ in gambling and i need to come get mama.
No more I tell you!! No more!!!
I have felt just like you. I am dealing with the illness and substance abuse of my son.
Cry and do something for yourself. Go to a movie, go to the beach if there is one nearby, do anything that makes you happy.
You will feel better. Go to a therapist if you can.
Hope this helps - you are not alone. God bless you.
Sheyelo, Iām sorry. I donāt know what hurts us more: knowing you cannot count on someoneās support or thinking you can and being totally disappointed. I just let people know I will likely be bringing my son along. If they bail out, fine.
My son is a week off medication and things are already becoming scary.
We are back on the scz train here. Obviously Jeb isnāt taking the meds he was prescribed, last night he texted more accusations that we filed a false police report on him and he was going to call the police on usā¦again.
If he did call them, they didnāt call to say.
Hopeāare the local police aware of your son? Maybe they donāt take his complaints seriously, which is a good thing in this case.
Wishing you a peaceful weekend.
Has anyone stopped to think why your sons or daughters donāt want to take their neuroleptic medications? As someone who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and who was prescribed Geodon and Zoloft, I can speak from experience on this matter. I developed akathisia first and it was a terrible experience. Do some research on your own about akathisia and that alone will tell you why we donāt like taking our meds. Geodon also caused me to gain weight, and then I developed metabolic syndrome which includes diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Look up metabolic syndrome and antipsychotics. There is a lot of research about it, but no one warned me about it. Then the straw that broke the camelās back for me was when I developed tardive dyskinesia. Once again, look that up. There are tons of youtube videos about both akathisia and tardive dyskinesia. Go watch those videos and then you will begin to understand why we donāt like taking these meds.
Last time all they did was call me to ask me to ask him to stop calling 911. I might be too quick to judge here, having no experience with him on meds outside of 3 days on Geodon a couple of years ago, it could be that his days are better. Everyone says that the meds can still leave a lot of the scz symptoms present, just in a lighter state.
From my experience with Geodon, it is a very powerful tranquilizer at first, and all cognitive functions are depressed at first, so hallucinations and delusional thoughts are reduced but so are ānormalā thoughts. You feel like a zombie at first. As you start to get used to antipsychotics, then akathisia sometimes creeps in and at first you have no idea what is happening to you. My psychiatrist didnāt tell me about it. A regular nurse at the hospital emergency room was the first person to say that word to me. I later looked it up when I got back home and realized the symptoms of akathisia were what I was experiencing, and that they were being caused by Geodon.
Yes, I am extremely aware of the concerns my son has with the neuroleptic medications. This is why I have told him that I support his ādecisionā to not take them.
The psych meds have serious side effects- just like the meds he already has to take to keep his kidney transplant from being destroyed by his body. If you would like to read some side effects that are equally dangerous, and in some of the cases, more dangerous, take a look at the side effects from the immunosuppressive medications. My son doesnāt take a single med he hasnāt studied in great detail.
So, I, personally, do listen to my sonās concerns. I have supported his ādecisionā to not be medicated for several years. Currently, only he can ādecideā if he wants to take on more risk of side effects or keep screaming his agony from the depths of hell, as he pleads for the abuse that isnāt really happening, to stop.
Because the abuse is as real to him as it is to someone who is really experiencing such abuse, I think his pleas to make it stop may deserve equal consideration.
He has chosen recently to attempt psych meds to alleviate some of his pain. I support that ādecisionā also.
My son has no awareness of his illness, how responsible he can be for his ādecisionsā is certainly a matter worthy of intense debate.
Has he tried Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) yet? That helped me cope with schizophrenia better than anything else.
Oh, and group therapy! Very helpful.
Sheyelo - As a fellow migraineur, I wanted to ask what do you take for your migraines? Iāve had them since I was 9 and Iām in my 50s now. Iāve found Imitrex to be the best to stop one and I take Topamax as a preventative. I also take magnesium daily. Iām with you though - my migraines increase as my sonās behavior takes a turn for the worse, so I understand what youāre going through.
Have you looked into Botox for your migraines? I didnāt qualifyā¦but you might.
Hope- my husband used to obsess over all the possible side effects of his antipsychotic medications. I was less freaked out about it; I take many medications myself for multiple sclerosis, and know you have to weigh the risks vs the benefits for any med.
That said, itās an individual decision. Try not to worry about a side effect that might happen and concentrate on whether the drug produces the desired effect in the patient,
Anyway, thatās what I learned in the last 20 years or so.
Hi Jan,
I donāt sweat the side effects, itās like choosing dialysis vs transplant - there are risks both ways. Hell on earth for Jeb vs more side effects?
Itās been a tough week. Last weekend a young man who did Peer to Peer for Nami accidentally drowned on vacation. His mom worked so hard to get him stabilized with meds and now he is gone. His volunteer work helped so many people. When people would ask him to explain scz and some of the symptoms, he often said āitās trickyā.
And he is right, scz is a tricky business.