As long as it works for your son then that is great . My son has no insight so i don’t believe i can ever put him in a group home which is amazing as they are safe and monitored . He will be moving on Monday to an apartment which has 2 rooms and has a room mate that he hasn’t met yet and im apprehensive about that . What did you mean by not eating or drinking ? My son is so strange with food and is very particular in what he eats . He says he can’t eat most foods as they are not good for him , really strange and he has lost so much weight and is a little worrying .
So sorry to hear , yes no boundaries ! I have told my son to deal with it but he bullies me and starts to get verbally aggressive and it stresses me out as he wants me involved but there are days he doesn’t mention it . Your son sounds like my son taking them to court and getting a big fat check ! He says the same thing . What is that about ?He believes he will be rich very soon … hang in there
My son had no insight a year ago. He became a danger to himself because he was catatonic and was not eating or drinking. Prior to that he had been wandering in another state living out of his car for 3 months, then in and out of various hospitals for literally half of a 12-month timeframe (and a short time in a residential treatment program). He was so sick, and yet refused meds, but he was so bad off that the hospital finally gave him ECT, and for some reason he accepted that a bit reluctantly. I first used LEAP with him while he was still in the hospital. It was amazing. I told him that it mattered to me what HE thought and how HE felt. His demeanor immediately changed, and he said “Really?” He had a partial short-lived recovery, then relapsed again. A different hospital discharged him to home saying “What do you want us to do with him? He will die if he stays here.” We had to wait another week with him mostly catatonic at home until his vitals deteriorated and we called 911 (with the advice of his former psychiatrist). After that hospital stay and more ECT, we had planned for him to go directly to a group home (we refused to let him come home) upon discharge. He had to be med-compliant at the group home. And he has been, his med was soon thereafter changed to Clozapine, and has been there for a year and is very stable! In many ways, we got our son back, and there is still more upside. We hope he can be independent someday. He is such a good young man and we love him so much.
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Is the group home near you ? and how often do you get to see him ?
I didn’t think my son would comply with the blood testing and taking the med everyday. He has, I think largely due to the fact that it works better than any other med he has been on.
Does he still have delusions on the clozapine ? My son is stressing so much about the shrinking of his muscles , He Psychiatrist says it’s either a delusion from his illness or he has BBD … he says that ssri will help but can worsen his schizophrenia, I don’t know what to do , so stressing
Some delusions still persist, but life is soooo much better.
The group home is 45 minutes to an hour away. My husband and I go to see him every Saturday. He has complete freedom to have visitors (some practical restrictions) and to leave as often as he wants. Sometimes I pick him up and he comes to our home for the day, like he might stay one or more nights for his birthday or a holiday, or for the day when he has aa dentist appointment in our town. He seems to be very comfortable in his current setting and prefers to be there overnight. Our goal is to get him in a more affordable residential setting but we don’t want to upset the apple cart just yet. Someone I know says “This is a marathon, not a sprint”.
I am not familiar with SSRIs but Googled it and they appear to be anti-depressants. I suggest getting real medical data based on research at the site PubMed I use this site a lot. Our son is still dealing with what he calls a “personal struggle” which is faith-based. He has some difficulty discerning what is true and what is not and this is likely holding him back. He reaches out to our daughter about that more than to us and she can usually help him work through it. He also sees a counselor.
And I keep reading others that say they see continued improvement on Clozapine even years later. I am hopeful for that! The dose could also make a difference. Our loved one does not want to increase his dose so we are taking this slow to see how well he can be on the current dose.
I’m so happy for you both 
And I am HOPEFUL for YOU and your loved one, and for everyone on this site. Keep learning, keep trying, take care of yourself, and keep hope!
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That’s great he has a sister , my son is an only child , and it’s amazing he sees a counselor. I know an ssri is an antidepressant and the reason his Dr is thinking about it as it helps with Body Dysmorphic disorder which he may have unless it’s a schizophrenic delusion we don’t know exactly but all we know is that the Abilify is not helping that problem but he is stable with everything else , in fact when we lowered his meds he wasn’t so obsessed about his muscle shrinking disorder . He still is making appointments to see doctors about this but now he makes the appointment every 3 to 4 weeks rather than every 3 to 4 days obsessing that his muscles have shrunk and he has low testosterone and hair falling out and thinning (he has such thick hair ) and that he can’t have kids . He still believes all that but is less distraught on a lower dose of Abilify which makes me think to lower it more but I’m frightened to do that . Either way it’s not in my hands as he wants to lower it and may insist on his next visit .
You are observant…we can’t fix everything and it is certainly not up to us to control everything. When our loved one’s invest in their own care, the outcome is likely to be better. Hopefully, your son’s doctor is good and will do what he/she believes is best, regardless of what your son believes that may be delusional. Or perhaps there is some reality to what he is thinking. It could be helpful if you try to reflect trust in your son’s thoughts, and encourage him to share his thoughts with the doctor, but acknowledge that the doctor is trained to make the best decision once he knows all the “facts” including what your son thinks/feels. A new med could be worth a “try” and see if your son finds (or believes) it is helpful.
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Your absolutely right ! i’m overthinking again and driving myself mad . I just need to trust his doctor and see what he and my son decide , all i know for now is that he won’t try any other meds as the last two he tried were a disaster . I will just wait and see on his next session . Thank you !
Is it possible to agree that his muscles are shrinking and maybe divert what exercises he can do while you find the right attorney who specializes in these type of cases because they are hard to find
I think dealing with MI is stressful on us but it sure is helping me become creative.
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i tried many times to tell him to exercise but he says it will lower his testosterone and its not good for him , his eating habits are becoming worse as he feels most foods are not good for him , becoming worrying as he has lost a lot of weight . when he does eat something , it will be a very small portion as he keeps saying its not good for him and will effect his testosterone . I just got off the phone with him and he says he can’t eat fish chicken meat salad egg cheese , he asked me what can i eat ? i had to think fast as he said to me that he won’t eat anything , i said quickly veg sushi and he said good idea … its all crazy !! i don’t understand the change in food in the last 6 months
A starvation diet and no exercise will cause muscle deterioration Avoiding protein rich foods will cause muscle deterioration. So that probably is a reality. Unfortunately his “fill in the blank” answer for why it is happening is wrong. Can you question him on how he came to the understanding these activities/foods will lower his testosterone? And what does he think he can do to reverse the process? Besides suing because that can take years.
I wish there was an easy answer. LEAP helps. So does a glass of wine for me. Good job in finding an answer to satisfy him for today.
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This problem actually started almost 2 years ago when his last doctor Injected him forcefully with Abilify 30 as she had no choice as he was very psychotic. Since then he believes she injected him with some drug to make his muscles shrink , obsessing that his testicles have shrunk and says he can not have kids and that he has extremely low testosterone. He was eating fine actually big appetite until 6 months ago . He still has the same beliefs . His blood test shows he is in the range but on the low side but nothing to worry about . We have been to about 15 urologist and still going to them as he is demanding a pill that would keep his testicles not to shrink … he has had 3 ultrasound and they all say he is fine and he doesn’t believe them . He has stretch marks on his body and blames the doctor whom injected him , I told him that’s because he lost so much weight and he get very angry thinking I’m stupid… he has another appointment with a urologist in 2 weeks … he is demanding I come with him … he feels more confident when I’m with him but too confident that he may curse and get angry if they don’t give him a magic pill to help him . When I ask him about the food and why he thinks they are not good , he says they will shrink my testicles even more . His testicles is his main focus, checking them often several times a day. He doesn’t really mention about his arm muscles too often … but does mention his thinning of hair and will not cut his hair on the front , he looks terrible as he has such thick hair … this is the reason His psychiatrist believes he may have BBD or schizophrenia delusion and that’s why he’s considering the SSRI but is worried if he gives him that he can make his other symptoms worse Because he’s diagnosed him with schizoaffective , but like you said I can not play doctor , I will just have to trust .
