I am new to this world, live in Toronto, Canada, my son 15 years old was diagnosed with Psychosis/ Schizophrenia. Short long story, we were suffering with him since 2 years and none of the Doctors can proper diagnosed him till recently (few months ago);
He is suffering from delusion, hallucinations, breaking up from reality, talking to him self, laughing too much with no one talked to him or watching anything funny, we had admitted him 3 times to hospital due to Pshycosis episodes due to losing control on him, he was trying to kill himself / hurt parents/family members, throwing staff left and right. So first they put him on Remeron for 7 months and didn’t work for him, then the last episode was very tough and was diagnosed with Psychosis and start 3 types of medicine (Quetiapine, Olanzapine) and all gave him a hard side effects, now he is on Abilify 10 mg for the last 2 weeks, my questions are:
1- will he be back to normal life? As he now on dellution and Hallucination
2- is the medication will work for him?
3- he lost all his friends and social connections, school is doing very bad, no concentration with zero academic?
Is this something normal for what he was diagnosed? Any input or thoughts to make it easy on me to understand what is going on ?
Hello @Bad2Dad and welcome. I also answered on your first post on the other thread. To answer your questions:
Maybe / maybe not. Usually a person afflicted by sz is quite changed by the illness and never goes back to “normal”. However, what is call a “new normal” is reached, and each step to a better life is quite a win in this war against sz.
Often different medicines are tried. Sometimes one works better than all the others. Sometimes none work well. It is sad that it is such a trial and error process.
Yes, often a person with sz loses all friends, social interests and academic goals. This illness can rob a person of their whole personality and it makes caregivers feel more helpless than they have ever felt before. It is a cruel cruel illness that is a lifelong struggle.
I am glad you found this forum. Please do come here and read what others have posted in the past and to receive moral support. Good luck caring for your son, it is so very hard.
My daughter first told me about hearing voices when she was 14. At 15, she was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The initial medication regimes didn’t work. It turned out she was difficult to treat - not because she wasn’t cooperative, but because the meds just didn’t work. Finally, after 3 years, and multiple hospitalizations, they got the right med cocktail. She lost friends, struggled even in a therapeutic school, and eventually dropped out of high school and got her GED. She now works, drives, and has the beginnings of a social life. She started working a couple of years after dropping out of school. It’s been 6 years since she left high school and she hasnt been hospitalized. She’s doing really well.
Welcome to the club that no one wants to be a part of. I hope that you will continue with this site as it has been a help to me. Sometimes, just knowing that you are not alone with this disease can help you feel a bit better about it. While each of our loved ones are different, there are a lot of similarities that can bring comfort. I don’t think any one of of us can be surprised about the odd things our family member with sz has done. This disease is horrible for the person who has it and the family. It took us many years before we finally found a qualified psychiatrist to get a proper diagnosis. My son also has the delusions, paranoia. Try your best to find humor wherever you can, otherwise you will need to be medicated too!
It sounds exactly like my son who started about 15 1/2…is now 25…he didnt take meds till 2 yr ago…did get a small job …lost all friends in hs…doesnt socialize…only plays video games…and no motivation to try…said recently he hear voices still…prior was afraid to admit…is taking olanzapine, tri tillex, oxcarbazene…was in abilify…got addicted ro gambling at 21…abilify says has gambling addiction…some tried to get him on imveega susteena and said it would help voices and hallucinations go away…but when we switched doctors they ignore me when i mention that one…it is very sad…y life has changed too…depressing…i wonder if we have groups and bring our schitzo kids if they will be able to make a friend with each other…
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To control moods, anxiety , and psychosis she takes clozapine, carbamazapine, seroquel (very low dose), clonazapam, low dose buproprion, and has started a very low dose of buspar because of a recent increase in depression. The clozapine, carbamazapine, and clonazapam are the primary medications. Hope that helps.
Hello maherc,
the world of Schiz can isolate both the person who is diagnosed and his family. my Son was diagnosed when he was 23 years of age and we did not understand what is going on. He left his condo in Virginia where he was studying and claimed that some people are following him. he tried to drive his car across the country and his car was impounded he hid his cell phone and computer. I bought into his delusions and deposited the money he requested thinking that he was in danger and he needs to escape. My Dad figure it out and told me that no one is following him and he is mentally sick because My dad was dealing with my brother who was diagnosed with Schiz’s illness and got stable later on Clozapine.
to make the story short, I have been struggling with my son’s illness for about 7 years now. he was homeless for a while in the State of California then I received guardianship on him and I was able to get him conserved with a public guardian in California he was between hospitals and facilities for almost 3 years. he came back to stay with me in my state in 2020 and started cutting his medicine and become very ill and very delusional and Taking to himself and laughing all the time. I would take him to Emergency then he got admitted to hospital in my city several times for at least 5 times in the last 2 years. he is now a little better. he is taking an Invega Monthly Shot and a `low dose of clozapine.
He has been very non-compliant. every time he has discharged from the Hospital, he wants to cut his medicine and eventually not take the medicine.
this is why the Injectable was the only option for him but he would not agree to take the shot every month so I had to call 911 and send him to an emergency when he refused to take his monthly shot.
Today he took his monthly shot for the first time in the Outpatient clinic but he was not polite with me because I told him if you do not take his shot, he would end up in Hospital.
The issue is Clozapine that it requires a blood draw every week for the first 6 months but I found a pharmacy that are willing to dispense Clozapine based on a monthly Blood draw.
it is still a challenge to take the Blood draw.
but I am hoping that we times, he will get better on Clozapine and would not need the Invega Shot. will see.
between all the medications that he took in the past, I see that Clozapine is the only one that made him calmer and talk less to himself.
he still talks to himself because the Invage shot does not last him for the entire month and he is on 200mg of Clozapine only
I am hoping as his Clozapine dose increases that he will get more compliant but I still think he needs the Monthly shot for a while…
There is hope but the road is bumpy and challenging.
keep trying and do not lose hope
keeping you and your son and your family in my prayers.
The clozapine is what one of the first doctors we had was trying to give son…then he refused treatment…no thanks to his narc dad who made him paranoid more of doctor…nine of the dovtors will prescibe it now…probably cause my son might not go to the follow ups
Clozapine is known to help many but it is not easy to manage. A friend of mine had her son on Clozapine for 27 years and he is active and doing well. My brother who lives in the Middleeast has been on Clozapine for 30 years and he is doing well also free from voices and Hallucinations.
My Son is also Taking 600mg Lithium Crabonate.
May be you can look into Olanzapine ( Zyprexa) or Respiredol. Invega Short is also effective.
This is such a terrible illness I wish they would change the name.
My so is on Invega Trenza every three months it would be 75 mg monthly and 10mg Abilify he has been doing quit well for the last 3 years. His dr doesn’t believe in over medicating.
Margie, how old is your son? Glad he is doing OK. I heard from others that 3-month Invega Trenza is not that effective as the Monthly injection. I think my son needs the monthly Injection and little more. I keep praying about it.
I really wish that I could find that group home!! I have got to find a place for my sz son to live. I need to get him ready for when I am dead and gone. Still trying to get him on disability, its been over 2 years! I am hoping that once he gets on disability, that will ease some financial burden with his insurance. But where can he live without having neighbors calling the police on him cuz he is talking loudly to himself? I would love for him to live with others so they would have something in common and make some friends. Its a lonely disease.
You’ve gotten some very good replies. The good news is your son is agreeing to try medications. You didn’t mention if he is receiving any kind of therapy, but that is also very important so he has someone trusted to talk things over with, and possibly get help dealing with everyday life. For many people with this illness, the simplest things can be tremendously challenging. Many people have more than one mental illness, and sometimes symptoms of these come and go. There is such a thing as cognitive behavioral therapy geared especially to those with Schizophrenia; its emphasis is less on classic therapy and more on managing everyday life.
Your son will need as many caring, supportive people in his life as possible. Learning how to interact with afflicted loved ones is a very important aspect of managing this illness for you as a caregiver. One approach that has gained a lot of attention and respect is the LEAP method (Listen-Empathize-Agree-Partner) Free LEAP Videos - LEAP Institute
I recommend having the whole family (and possibly an old friend or two of his) watch these videos and discuss taking a common approach.
Yes, it is a terrible illness but as you navigate it with your child, try to maintain a positive attitude, as hard as that can be sometimes. He is very young so he has a good chance of benefitting from new research, procedures and medications that may be in the future. We who love people with this affliction pray every day that there will be a breakthrough. Never give up hope!
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