I have been dealing with my schizophrenic son for a few years now. It is a constant roller coaster!! Every day is something different. We have changed his medications several times and I am hoping this will work for the time being.
He obsesses over many things on a daily basis. My issue now is he is always complaining of something hurting him and he thinks it is a serious disease. For example, he says his chest hurts and he is having a heart attack, or his stomach hurts and he is getting an ulcer. This is somewhat disturbing and I am not sure if this is normal behavior with this illness?
Yes I have had such fears and feelings. What was just some small muscle ache in my chest from exercise + excessive attention to it + some anxiety + some ignorance about medicine + voices suggesting the worst = repeated fears of heart attacks. I went to the GP a couple of times for reassurance and that worked a bit. The pain was still there but my fear of having a heart attack was diminished. Eventually when the meds kicked in and the muscle ache was gone all was well.
Yes my voices would feed into a lot of small inconveniences in an authoritative tone - always exaggerating and exploiting insecurities. Something like a room that is a little too warm for comfort can be enough for my hallucinations to suggest suicide. After a while I took the liberty of interpreting such talk in a metaphorical sense, as expressions of the body similar to sweating. So any negative talk that I hallucinated I interpreted as an expression of discomfort, but as nothing more than just ādiscomfortā. Similarly positive hallucinations and intrusive thoughts would be expressions of me enjoying myself. Whenever I was making music they were cheering to me like they were groupies
this could be hypochondriasis, also known as Munchausenās. This means he has a psychological disorder which makes him think that he has illnesses that are unlikely. I think I have a bit of it but I have been correct too many times like āOh wow you did burn your handā or āOh wow you did tear an abdomenā or āoh wow you do have a cold soreā or āoh wow your nose is brokenā
Itās honestly better safe than sorry, but if its some new illness every day, it might even be tactile hallucinations, that or just hypochondriasis.
Like my mouth is moving and I made an appointment to see the psychiatrist, that and one of my fingers is sticking out. Itās very rare on my medication (Geodon) but that shit is no joke so I am going to the doc, he wants to see the symptoms.
Wow!! This is very helpful!! I have an appointment for him to see is Primary Care Physician. You may be right as far as tactile hallucinations or hypochondriasis.
The last time it was a horrible experience. He called 911 and the paramedics came for his chest pain, but once we got the the ER there was nothing wrong with him and doctor said everything was normal.
Sure - these are specific names for the more general issue of delusions related to health status. Iāve known people who have schizophrenia and who frequently (when untreated) quickly jumped to all sorts of catastrophic conclusions about small and common aches and pains.
I donāt see a lot of value in delving into a specific naming of a delusion - fundamentally if you get the general issue of psychosis / delusions addressed via medications and also therapy (e.g. CBT for psychosis) - then the specific issues will go away, along with all the other delusions that a person might have.
I recommend you read up as much as you can on schizophrenia (on this site, and in books) and also watch video series like this:
SZAdmin, you sound just like my general practitioner, āOh she wants to get tested for an auto immune disease, thereās the schizophrenic!ā
Yeah, yeah, keep at it all you want until I really do have an ailment and then since you say Iām exaggerating everything, maybe I wonāt take it seriously and then it will be too late!
Daze - it all comes down to evidence and history. If there is good evidence that any person would look at and say - yes, its worth checking out. If there is not that evidence - then Iād say let it go, focus on other more positive things in life. If a person has a history of overestimating or checking medical issues that turn out not to be anything - then thats an issue also.
Tactile hallucinations are common. I donāt know of any specific medications - it should be treated by the antipsychotic and if it isnāt talk with the doctor. Iām not sure if a higher dose, or a different medication, is in order.
More discussion on other peopleās tactile hallucinations here:
I will see about getting an increase on his antipsychotics or perhaps add something new. It will depend on what the psychiatrist says on Friday. Thanks so much
I learn something new every day will this illness. I am so happy to be a part of this forum!!
Then why do people drop dead of a heart attack when there is no evidence or proof. for most of us we use our bodies as proof of how we are feeling, or signs that something is amiss. Forcing the schizophrenic to come up with proof is like asking the priest to prove there is a God.
