Tell us how you are today?

Me too…just a mother.

But I remember in the 70s --you know the decade of sex drugs and rock and roll–my friends and I would do a little experimenting with weed. And laugh about what made us paranoid. WE EXPECTED the high would make us paranoid. That was part of the ‘fun’,

No scientific or political agenda, just life experience with the drug induced paranoia. We recovered…but others??? Just makes me wonder.

No, I haven’t actually written about my health stuff…although the subject thread comes up.

They tested for everything it seems…over and over the tests come back (except once) that I have Chronic Lymphocytic Colitis. Microscopic colitis - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

Apparently the condition prefers post menopausal women. Hence, the confusion… as I am still in my 40’s and this has been going on for over 20 years.

Until…they reviewed my medical history from 20 years ago. That’s when I was put through a chemically induced menopause. Lupron injections once a month for a year. Year before and after, non-stop birth control pills to manage Endometriosis.

I now have the bones and the stomach of an elderly woman.

Wish I had researched much more 20 years ago. I simply trusted my gynecologist, and was so very sad I was “infertile”. The same doctor said I would never have children, and began preparations for a complete hysterectomy.

Wow…that was a long time ago.
It appears my body has not forgotten.

STRESS is the worst thing for this condition.

I feel strange talking about this. Taking the time to address my health has always been a struggle for me.

The thread about caretaker stress really struck home. 20 years ago? I was dealing with my unmedicated scz mother and her serious, very serious psychosis’…a few years after my brother had been dx.

I was a dumb 20 year old.
The “one med that may work”’ is too expensive for this pay period. (I was warned that most people can’t afford it.)

And now…I’m venting.
My apologies…

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It must be very hard to become hopeful about a medication and then feel like it is not working. Have you talked with the doctor about that? Perhaps a different dose, or another med alongside it? I am learning that it can take multiple trials, and time, to figure out the best medications. Also, there is a test that can be done to determine what type of meds a person’s body best responds to. I would like to do that with our son. The doctor told me he would give us a kit (at a cost, I’m sure). I think it just requires a swab from inside the mouth.

Hi hope4us, My son scz is totally unmedicated. He refuses to take any meds for it… Sadly I have not been fortunate enough to have the struggle of trying to figure out the right med or combination of meds for my son.

this is a good article!!!

That IS an awesome article!!!

I have read this same thing, that weed is NOT good for persons with SZ. I also learned this in a NAMI Family-to-Family class. It is based on evidence, not opinions.

Yes. I thought it worthwhile sharing here.

It mad me cry a little.

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Yes. I thought it was worthwhile to share it here. It made me cry a little.

Hi there - I guess you could say today we’re doing okay. We’re not in a crisis. I never thought there’d be a time when that would be something I was grateful for but we’re not fearing her hurting herself or anyone else right now. Her hygiene is good, she’s in school and only had a couple episodes today while there. The school is learning to navigate having her there again and everyone is communicating. Most importantly, I was able to hug her, kiss her, brush her hair, and tell her I love her before she went to school. She was released from the residential treatment program two days ago very unexpectedly so there’s a bit of a waiting for the other shoe to drop feeling right now. I’m off from work today with no schedule to keep so I’m just relaxing, playing a video game when I feel like it, browsing the forums, blogging, eating some good food, and spending time with hubby and the dogs before kids come home. This is as close to calm and bliss as our household ever gets and it’s always temporary so I’m relishing it - every precious second.

How about you? How are YOU doing?

You are not alone. Our son is also non-medication/treatment compliant, unfortunately. I’m only speaking from what I have learned from others about medications. We are hopeful that someday this will change. I learned that SZ tends to plateau after 5-10 years and sometimes persons gain insight (ability to see self as he/she really is which ideally includes the ability to recognize the need for meds…that they can help in some way) as they get older. Our son is in the hospital right now and semi-catatonic. But we hope to someday be able to use psychology as conveyed in the book “I’m Not Sick; I Don’t Need Help” by Dr. Xavier Amador to help our son become compliant. I encourage you to read that book if you have not already done so.

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I used Dr Amador’s techniques to regain my son’s trust after making the mistake of telling him he was sick. His methods worked to correct that wrong.

I have seen different estimates on scz regarding when it plateaus or lightens. Some say 25 years, I have come to believe it must vary a good deal between the various types of scz. I can’t even figure out when my son’s started for sure, it was so subtle at first.

How is your son today?

Apparently I have made a friend angry by suggesting she support her daughter’s hs course selection.

I am a little surprised that she is angry about the suggestion.

I guess I have forgotten how crucial such things are out in the real world where people have such incredibly large issues. Sigh.

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There are “first world problems”, and then there are non-MI related problems. It must be nice to not have either.

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And nice to be able to withhold approval to a child to get them to feel guilty and get your way with their high school schedule. The child even asked her outright for her support.

Nothing like giving your child a dosing of conditional love during her formative years - hope hers stay mentally healthy. I haven’t seen where that sort of parenting works well around here.

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Well let’s hope the child can rise above the negativity, and the parent can somehow gain some perspective as to what’s really important.

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Might be too late for this particular mother/child battle. The child let Mom know she has several colleges on her want list. Mom wants strongly for it to be her alma mater - kid may be firing back already.

Perhaps I am envious of such difficulties. I remember those days well, we always supported our sons in their decisions, even when we disagreed.

My husband had offered input supporting the child also - made friend less happy.

I speculated that maybe she felt we were bad parents with how things have turned out for Jeb.

Husband was quick to offer support, saying we are not responsible for scz happening to Jeb. We are good parents and we continue to be good parents. Jeb was amazingly successful before scz. Made me feel much better.

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Jeez. What an awful conversation that must’ve been. I’m so glad you had your husband with you.

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It was - he likes this family, I guess we overstepped a boundary.

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Maybe that mom can find a supportive forum online where she can just vent. I don’t know, would it be called,
mykidwon’ttakecalculus.com?

Sorry, I followed this conversation and understand that we need to be friends to our friends in the way they need us to be. I just can’t take stuff like that seriously either. I do know that I want to be a good friend; it’s hard when I blank out every time some complaint arises that to me seems minor.

Plus, it’s really hard to watch parents put barriers between themselves and their children, not realizing in those moments how precious their relationships are.

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