Hi everyone. My son has been on Invega since September and was doing okay. He had been working 3-4 days a week. He was often late but going. His boss was generally understanding and patient. In January the doctor raised the dose as he was still having auditory hallucinations. I noticed a decline since the increase I don’t know if it’s him adjusting to the dose or can after time it lose its effectiveness. This shot was given after many failed oral medications because he’s not med compliant. We are at the end of the month so I know some people have indicated they can see a decline. So the past two days he has not gone to work even though I know he’s scheduled for work and has been self isolating in his room not eating. This also happened a few days before and he went back to his usual self. This is out of character for him he’s always hungry and asking what’s for dinner and often hangs on the couch sleeping or watching television in the family room wanting to be around us. He’s not sharing what’s going on and acts like he’s working on something important in his room. I’m just trying to see if anyone has more experience with the side effects or reactions of the monthly injections and if this is typical or is this concerning. It’s like he is bouncing back and forth from his baseline to what we saw before spiraling into psychosis.
Hello. I have been lurking around on this forum for a couple of months and this is my first post. I am the sole caregiver of my 65 year old brother who has paranoid schizophrenia. My brother has been receiving monthly Abilify Maintena injections for 4 years. It took a couple of months for the injections to fully take effect then I saw such positive changes in him. He stopped talking to himself, he stopped hitting the television (he used to sit in front of the tv and hit the screen), his mood was brighter. He was engaging with me more. He was helping with chores.He wasn’t functioning independently but it was a huge improvement.
Then something changed over the past year or so. I caught the word “isolation” that you mentioned. That struck me. I live in the same house as my brother and we are like strangers now. He has isolated himself so much in the basement that we are like strangers. We got new next door neighbors and that was a significant stressor. They are a younger couple with teenage children and he feels threatened by them. He thinks they are directing their outdoor security lights at him. When we go to the mental health clinic each month he denies everything and the psychiatrist said the medication is working. My brother looks “spaced out” - his eyes look so strange (try explaining that to a psychiatrist).
In response to your post I have the same query as you. I honestly think my brother has emerging symptoms of concern. I think his current medications need to be evaluated.