Responses to talk of suicide+physician referral for clozapine

That makes sense. Yes, her existing physician hasn’t mentioned anything about being hospitalized, nor much else for that matter.Hoping that this week she will be able to see someone else with more competence in this treatment. Again, I am so heartened to know that your son is doing well now, gives me some hope.

1 Like

Have you tried the non-medical route to healing? Clozapine is usually the go to drug when nothing else works. However it does come with a lot of possible side-effects. In my experience it doesn’t fix anything, simply another way of coping/managing. Try looking at" Inner Compass Conversations." There is a lot of help there and experiences of people in recovery. It sounds like your daughter has had difficult experiences and needs to find a way to come to terms. I would look at psychotherapeutic methods.

It’s hard to navigate this map on the phone but i know the schizophrenia program at MassGeneral does prescribe clozapine.

Yes, the map is very difficult to navigate, I agree. I have found a facility nearby that has doctors that prescribe clozapine, but unfortunately, my daughter, at this point, is refusing to contact them for an appointment. Thank you for all of your help and suggestions…very much appreciated.

An update, hoping it will be helpful to anyone else who is searching, I’ve been referred to Bay Psychiatric in Berkeley. There are a number of physicians there who are comfortable with the complicated protocol that clozapine requires. My daughter has decided to give Abilify another try at the suggestion of her current doctor. I have no faith in that decision as we just had a horrible family altercation that almost resulted in a 911 call.

1 Like

Occupational therapy and reading stories may help with cognitive problems

So sorry that your daughter isn’t wanting the Clozapine but hopefully the Abilify is just taking time. It is so hard to live with constant stress. I know if you came close to a 911 call things are getting scary.

The substance abuse/addiction component is something thats complicated things in my partners situation. He even has a lot of abusable meds currently too, so as things get worse with increased highs/drinking he will just say its not that but the sz. I wish he would do treatment but with sz i think its harder to rationally think about their situation and then addiction is such a powerful force. I swear he woud be significantly more stable if he gave up medications that are abusable and legal drugs but it seems impossible. And hes traumatized by past hospitalizations so forcing him to do anything involuntary is a very sensitive situation.

Its hard to know what to say. My partner usually gets pretty suicidal and will threaten it and talk about it when it gets bad for him. The common recommend is just to listen and acknowledge what they are going through, and show you are there for them and there to help. I like to sometimes tell my partner that we just need to get him stable, that its hard now, but its because the sz, and lets do what we can or try something new to figure something out to help get the sz more manageable which is a possibilty versus just hopelessness. Also reminding them things they like and what they want to do, and that there are good things. It really is difficult to navigate because you worry theyll get too defeated and hurt themselves; and it is very hard for them. I also dont want to say things theyll just argue against in these conversations, and get them more upset so i really have to take my time be present.

If we had gone the non-medical route to healing, we would have really been screwed. Clozapine does not have any more possible side effects than other anti-psychotics and and most are rare. The side effects we witnessed on other antipsychotics were worse than those on Clozapine. Clozapine is not merely another way of coping/managing. It actually has the capability to give one’s life back to some extent and finally offer a new life trajectory so long as the dose is sufficiently high and the patient compliant… Psychotherapeutic methods may be a good companion piece but are no substitute for Clozapine.

1 Like

Yes, things did get really bad, so much so I fear that our family relationships will not recover fully from this last episode. As of this week we are finally “coming up for air”, the Abilify seems to have finally taken hold…but as we all know, that will depend on our loved ones continuing to take the meds. And at the correct dose, which my daughter plays with, historically. It is what led to her decline since last October. I think the Abilify is a temporary fix, like it was the last time, but she will not discuss trying clozapine at this point. She smokes, and drinks, unfortunately, and has heard/read that she can’t do either on clozapine. Of course she isn’t supposed to do either while taking any antipsychotic, but does so anyway. Sigh.

1 Like