Ok I am hoping coming here can help me. I am not sure if my husband has schizophrenia or not. I do know he certainly has some kinda mental illness. I know some people use the word schizo very loosely and just label someone who they think is weird or what not. That is not at all this case. I am very desperate for help and understanding. I don’t know where to begin. I will start from the beginning. I will try to keep this short so no one loses interest. We have been together for 3 years. I could tell he was different right off the back but still loved him and also didn’t know how things would change and how hard it would be. I am not sure if his symptoms are from schizophrenia or something similar or what. But to me he seems to be some sort of schizophrenia and others think the same and as well as are chiropractor. He symptoms are not so blunt and obvious as what the web describes. His seem more mild and different. I know his speech is different and I believe anyone can tell that. He speaks way more slow than most and often has a slow response. His walk is also different as well. Very boxing if that makes sense. He is very paranoid that he has some kind of disease. He is always thinking he has something wrong with him like always. He has these episodes of thinking might be dying/ or something is seriously wrong like cancer, stroke and so on. When we go to the ER they treat him like he is stupid because he is perfectly fine. But to him he thinks he is having heart palpitations and all sorts of things but it’s just not happening but to him it is. These episodes have happen a lot and have gotten worse. He will wake up in the middle of the night thinking he is having tremors and stuff but he is not. He is very obsessed with the internet and self diagnosing himself. He thinks he knows how to cure cancer and regrow the brain and so on. He believes every article he reads and every YouTube video he watches. He doesn’t think doctors are properly trained and are out dated on there knowledge. The other day he had another episode and I wasn’t home but had to come home because he called me saying it was an emergency. He said he felt a lump in his throat and thought it might be a tumor and also that he thought he had scoliosis. So I pull up to find him laying on his back in the driveway with a note that said ceseam carbrate (not sure how to spell that) for cancer plz and thank you. I asked him why he had the note and said just incase he died or passed out and some one found him that they would give him that cause hospitals don’t know that could save him from what he thought was throat cancer. We came inside and took some food he believes helps cure cancer and said I can feel the tumor has gone down. I can go on and on about all the things he has thought and possibly still thinks he has. It’s almost like he wants to have something wrong with so he can get sympathy. He seems to like the attention. That’s just how it seems to me. Once the ER said oh you your potassium is a bit low at 2.9. It was no big deal. Well he makes it like it was life threatening and starts texting everyone blowing it way out of portion like usual. And started taking a crap load of potassium pills for days. He hardly eats because everything is cancer causing or makes you have alhzihmers. I took him to the chiropractor sense the latest thing he was sure he had was scoliosis. I called the chiropractor before hand to let him know that you need to word things very carefully because he will take anything and make a huge deal about it. Well when we got there my husband did the paperwork and even drew a note of all his supposedly injuries he has had over the years from riding dirt bikes and riding bulls. The note had stick figures and didn’t make any sense. Well the chiropractor took his xrays and yes he needed adjustments like almost anyone would. But his neck was what messing the most work. He top vertebrae was jammed up in his skull. No biggie the chiropractor said it’s not serious and he can fix it just fine. The chiropractor also noticed how he was acting was strange and stuff. Well after we left my husband immediately started texting everyone saying he all this major stuff making it extremely over the top. I talked the chiropractor about this and said I didn’t say anything like that and said I can tell you have a big problem on your hands. He said just from how he filled out his paper work and the note he drew for me and his handwriting suggests schizophrenia. He said I need to find a way to get him help. But my husband thinks he is perfectly fine and very intelligent. But I could go on and on about his ways. Plz any advice? Does this sound like it could be schizophrenia? Does anyone have any other questions that may help more?
The place to begin your search for answers is with a medical doctor. The first thing that should happen before considering mental illness is to rule out another medical issue. Your husband does seem willing to go see doctors. Perhaps he will be willing to consult his regular doctor? You could fax the doctor your concerns before the appointment. His doctor may not be able to speak with you, but he or she will read your information and take it into consideration.
I have near zero medical knowledge and anything I say is as likely to be harmful as helpful.
I agree fully with @hope
He could talk to his doctor about these situations and how they effect him.
Hello I know someone that is very close to me that has schizophrenia and I’m not really sure if your husband has it … but if you could tell me more about other things that he does that concern you, I could try to help you. Sounds like he might just have hypochondria
Yes, get him to a medical doctor or a psychiatrist that will do the medical evaluations to rule out other potential causes. And the diagnosis itself, although helpful, is not necessarily critical at first, but treating his symptoms is. Since you say he likes attention, perhaps counseling, or “talk therapy” would be amenable to him. That could be a good place to start if he won’t go to a medical or psychiatric doctor.
Since he likes docs this should be easy to get help going. I have a lot of health problems so I already trust some doctors when it comes to getting help, that is why it was easy for me to accept meds for my schizoaffective disorder.
Schizophrenia and schizoaffective can cause your body to have pains and othe symptoms. This is somatizing. The sympto s are very real because the brain causes them. The brain is also what can fix many that have no other source (like disease and arthritis, etc).
Getting help for schizophrenia and taking the right meds can wipe out the physical symptoms. I have psoritstic artgritis, possible lupus, fibromyalgia, and erosive or two arthritis which is like rheumatoid. My antipsychotic medication helps keep all of my pain and extra symptoms under control along with soothing my mind.
It is important to keep schizophrenia under control as psychotic breaks cause brain damage. Your husband may be open to the medication to help reduce any actual brain damage.
Feel free to tell him about me and how my actual diseases have been eased by getting help.