FYI about autoimmune factors:
Interesting. Some of this mirrors my experience in ways: An unspecified psychotic disorder diagnosis. Autoimmune disease diagnosis after many years. Improvements bordering on remission after treatment with steroids.
However, my experience featured more gradual improvement than what they report here. And I continue to take low dosages of antipsychotic medication as insurance.
I feel this might point to why keto diets seem to help some people with psychotic disorders. As I understand it, keto diets tend to reduce overall inflammation which is the hallmark of autoimmune disorders, as well as suspected as contributing to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and forms of dementia.
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Do you mind if I ask what is a low dose? My son has been on 10 mg of olanzapine and 150 mg of quetiapine (polypharmacy) apparently for an indefinite time. I read a paper which said you can’t go below 1/2 the “usual dose” for long-term therapy. His dose seems to me to be a bit more than that.
Not a huge fan of rigid can and can’ts as far as treatments go. There’s a lot of variability to how people respond and metabolize medications and off-label prescribing isn’t exactly uncommon.
It’s been a long while since I took olanzapine. I generally have been prescribed the lowest available or next size up tablets in various AP medications. So I probably was taking either 2.5 mg or 5 mg. Some of the lower dose tablets exist to allow titrating up or getting doses in between tablet sizes so this may not match with “minimum effective dose” tables you might see.
Many of the later generation AP meds like Abilify or Vralar are also used for bipolar disorders or adjuncts to depression medication at lower dosages which further cloud things, as there isn’t consensus whether schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or something else explained my symptoms. I feel my dosage is more a question of buying time to respond with increased dosages should symptoms resume, than maintenance medication in the traditional sense.
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Very intriguing. My brother, diagnosed decades ago, has days that are much clearer than others, as I’m sure many of us can say about our family members. I have often wondered if those breaks coincide with him eating better, as in more keto oriented, with fewer sugars and carbs and therefore having less temporary inflammation. Sadly, I simply cannot get him to adhere to a cleaner diet. I am sure many here know that frustration.
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Good morning.
I just happen to find this website and currently catching up with some of the posts in this site. I have a son that was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 19, he is currently 21 and for the last 2 years we have not found a medication that works for him for what they call the “negative symptoms of the disease” such as social isolation, no motivation, no good hygiene, low energy” . The medicines that he’s currently on keeps him calm but that’s pretty much it. His cognition skills are also affected since it takes him take to process commands or just simply answering questions. He is opportunity to go back to school or have job have been affected since he can focus long enough to process a task. I took the free NAMI Family to Family classes and has helped a lot in understanding his condition. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
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Hi Pat1, Welcome to the forum. You have made such great progress for your son, a diagnosis, meds and Family to Family classes completed already. Time can help, there is a lot on the forum. Take care, hope