My daughter was diagnose in 2017 with this desease She is on clozaoine but I don’t know if she takes her meds My daughter has been ondrugs for,7 years I just,wanted to know if any other parents have these complex issues? So ver hard regards elli
1 Like
I have a daughter who was diagnosed at 15… it’s been a struggle cuz she chooses to use drugs and go off her meds… for 17 years I made sure she got her psychotic injection and want homeless… then she took off to Vancouver… I drove myself broke and drove myself to drinking because of the codependency crazies…I detached when she went that far away… I can’t drive there every two weeks to make sure she gets her meds… eventually she was put on a community treatment order… I have not seen her for 2 years… I last heard from her 2 weeks ago… I pray and put her in gods hands… cuz I can’t do anymore… she needs to quit drugs and she chooses not to
1 Like
Hi Eli55,
It’s not my child, but my husband who is schizophrenic and on street drugs/alcohol. It is hard enough for non-MI people to get off drugs or alcohol, but it seems even more difficult for those with MI.
I know it is no comfort, but please know it’s not your fault and that your daughter probably doesn’t realize what harm she is doing to herself. Drugs are easy to get and cheap. People offer drugs to one another all the time. She just wants to feel better, and it seems that street drugs make a person feel better or take away their pain immediately, as opposed to medication that can take months to “feel.”
It is hard. Take care of yourself, keep on being there for her when you are able and don’t give up hope. There are success stories out there. Just look at the forum and you will see some recent schizophrenic posters who are doing well and are happy.
3 Likes
I don’t know if you have read any more posts of mine but I also explain my daughter has gone back to her husband that shes been seperated from for 2 years Il keep this brief as I had no sleep last night + just need to catch up on some rest. Hes extremely violent he introduced her to the worst drug in the world he used her as a punching bag Honestly this creature should have been drowned at birth. Anyway last night she got 30 seconds by herself rung me saying she was terrified of him. That he wouldn’t leave her home but then she had to hang up. We my partner + I went to the police we went with them they finally take him to mental health facility. I don’t know about America but here in Oz its hard to get an AVO On someone without evidence eg black eyes etc. So today we went to the police again I hear has he threatened you? Do u have evidence ?? I thought here we go again!!! This guy has a bad rap sheet never gets sent to goal!!! So we have made an appointment to see the police supposedly today!! But its been hours + nothing no call he even shot her up with drugs. Im thinking again it will b hopeless when 1 woman dies a week here from DV ok gotta get a bit of sleep take care all
What a bad situation, I am so sorry @Eli55. It’s difficult where I live to get police involved. I hope you got some sleep.
I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the other situations involved with your daughter. I sincerely hope this time with the police will be the time when her husband gets help. I also hope your daughter will be able to recover from this incident with her husband and won’t go back to him again.
I forget sometimes that some posters are from places other than the US unless they mention it in their posts. In the US, there are so many options for getting help in situations such as yours, especially with physically violent domestic abuse. Hoping the best for you and your daughter…
1 Like
I have a grandson diagnosed sz affective. Was doing meth and heroin, pot , vicodin. Pretty much anything he could get his hands on . We kept trying antipsychotics nothing worked until clozapine. He was hospitalized for over 2 weeks to bring his clozapine levels up quicker. He was back to his old self in a week. He had one more relaspe anout 3 months after. But happy to say now he is doing well. He works fulltime and we are starting to plan him moving out on his own. Been a long process almost 4 years for hom clean now so it can happen
2 Likes
So happy to hear he’s doing well.
Well, having schizophrenia myself and being a recovering addict I know it’s possible to get clean and sober; I just celebrated 36 clean and sober January 1st. I don’t know how addictive heroin is compared to crack but crack is known to be highly addictive and I smoked it heavily for 4 years.
I did a lot of stuff that you hear addicts and particularly crack addicts do. In my disease I sold most of my possessions for pittances of crack, I was the victim of violence, I lied to and conned my friends, I often went into a certain city to buy my drugs that had one of the highest murder rates in the country, I hung around murderers, thieves, ex cons and prostitutes. I risked my life and my freedom often to get my drugs. I lost 25 lbs from going days without eating and I didn’t even notice until a friend told me one day I looked like I had just gotten out of Auschwitz.
I went to the hospital multiple times for burns on my lips and throat from smoke and hot pipes. I wrecked two of my dads cars and lost the trust of my family; and I don’t blame them, I lied to them about what I was doing and when I was doing certain things and where I was going. Near the end I was hospitalized in a psyche ward 3 or 4 times and when I got out my dad put me in a temporary crisis home for people who were in “transition” and just got out of the hospital and had nowhere to go.
This was 1989 and by that time I had been schizophrenic for almost ten years which is a whole other story. One night, when I was in the home I wandered downstairs and discovered an AA meeting going in the dining room. The people at the meeting were really friendly and invited me to sit in. I agreed and it was an education for sure, from the stories they told the people in the meeting were dangerous when they we’re in the midst of their alcoholism and addictions but in recovery they were funny, intelligent, nice people and good examples.
I stayed and started attending regularly; if the people had been unfriendly and grim and serious all the time I might not have went back, but they weren’t, they were interesting and had harrowing stories of their adventures but they also had great stories of recovery and their lives clean and sober. And they weren’t grim at all, there’s a lot of laughter and camaraderie in AA meetings.
Pretty soon I found other nearby meetings and I started going to 4 meetings a week. And with the support of the group I stopped smoking crack and drinking. I eventually got a sponsor and I worked the 12 steps with him and started living by the principles of the program and practicing rigorous honesty in all my affairs. I started going to AA, CA and NA events and dances and barbecues. In a couple meetings I was elected GSR which stood for Group Service Representative to represent the meeting in the CA monthly business meeting of all the other GSR’s.
So that’s how I got into AA and got clean. They say AA is a simple program but not an easy one. And they also say that “Even those with severe mental problems have the ability to get clean if they have the capacity to be honest.” The sad thing is you can’t force an addict to quit, you can’t force them or cajole them or talk them into getting clean; threats don’t work either, the addict has to want to get clean for themselves. AA, CA and NA are free and proven to work. If your daughter wants to get clean there are long standing members who will come to talk to her and maybe get through to her, after all no one knows an addict and can relate to an addict like another addict or alcoholic, in fact that’s how the history of AA began, one alcoholic talking to another alcoholic.
For some lucky addicts or alcoholics all it takes is getting that first taste of AA by going to that first meeting and talking to other recovering addicts. And they see the groups are understanding and welcoming and thus they go back. I ran into other schizophrenics in my years in the program, some of them had good recoveries, and others members are tolerant of them, after all it is not an uncommon experience for people who are drinking or using drugs heavily to wind up in a psyche ward. If your daughter wants to get clean the rooms of AA, CA and NA are always there. I hope she takes advantage of them and gives AA a try. Good luck.
1 Like