So it turns out my freaky as hell night was probably due to withdrawal symptoms from going off a medication I've been on since last year. No one warned me that there could be some nasty side effects like: shaking, twitching, hot flashes, hearing voices, being unable to sleep, and being all around TERRIFIED. Well...maybe some of that was part of my disorder, but a lot of those reactions sound mighty like withdrawal symptoms. I'm pissed no one warned me ahead of time, I thought everything was hunky-dory...a smooth transition from risperdone to abilify. But no. I can't be that lucky. And my counselor all but diagnosed me as schizophrenic today. She is pretty positive that's what I have, but she also says I'm stable right now. But we're talking about my situation as if I am schizophrenic so they might as well stamp me with the label. Labels are bad, but if its true, its true. I don't know. I don't want this to be happening. Its like I'm someone else outside of myself watching things unfold, and its awful. I just want to be normal. A normal young, successful lady. Why is this happening to me? Why...? Pixie
I think it's about time you see a new counselor. Any good counselor is going to care about your well being enough to give you a full breakdown of the medication they want to put you on. Also; never fully trust your counselor, after all, they are human.
Have they done blood work on you, lipstick? True schizophrenia should show up there (in bloodwork) as should any other chemical imbalance. Could there be any multiple personality disorder in there? I'm glad you are seeking help for this though. Luck to ya.
@Duck: It was my psychiatrist that didn't give me the full warning, but I think I know why. My mom unloaded on him last time we were in there and completely distracted him from the task at hand. It was kind of a curve ball for us all. Anyway, he makes mistakes. He's human, so I'm going to stick with him. He's helped me so much this far. @Lynn: They've done some bloodwork to test my levels of lithium and prolactin. That's all the blood work so far. I sure as hell hope there aren't any other personalities up here in this noggin. I'm plenty. No, I think they're dead on with schizophrenia. I need a lot of help right now. I'd be lost without my family, counselor and psychiatrist.
take care of you...sometimes some b vitamins and zinc deficiency can mimic what they say you have. some doctors meds create deficiencies. take a good multi vitamin. DON'T mix meds with herbs tho. Also homoeopathy can help. If you have taken drugs etc that have caused a problem you can get good results here. don't sweat over labels. one in 5 of us are mentally ill. good luck
Yeah don't let labels get you down. I'm dyslexic, but I don't use that label...I just go on with my life and know my limits with math and whatnot. And I agree on looking for a new doctor. Sometimes it takes a few tries, but by the sounds of this one you've got, they really aren't putting your wellbeing first.
sigh I know exactly what you are talking about. You need sleep, a lot of it, and valerian (helped me). Also try Valocordin. Read about both of them , here they sell them without prescription. You just need to relax and you will be back to normal. Trust me on this. Also eat good and maintain some discipline. Physical exercises or physical work are good too.
That's a good point. When I was first diagnosed as having Generalized Anxiety Disorder I really limited myself; after all, I had Generalized Anxiety Disorder right? Quite a few relaxation exercises later, I've come to understand that treating myself like I'm anything but a normal worrier, is not quite helpful. The best way to overcome GAD is to ignore it. Disorders are there to help the doctors and scientists more than the patients. Ever since I've been eating better, sleeping better, and exercising the "disorder" comes and goes, really.
Its so easy to get attached to labels. They're so convenient. But really, how much to they really help the patient? I know I have several symptoms of schizophrenia, and by checking them off the doctors and counselor know what treatment plans to put me on. That's fine and dandy, but what about the internalized stigma that goes along with it? I haven't quite solved that one yet. I'm still new to schizophrenia. I know I want to live my life in spite of it, no matter what it takes, but also realize some of my dreams may never be met. For example, I wanted to be a professor of social work or sociology. Its sad to give that one up. I'm going to the bookstore today to get a book on schizophrenia, because I really don't know what to expect aside from voices and delusions. I also want to find A Beautiful Mind either in book form or DVD. Maybe Patch Adams too. Thank you everyone for the advice. I think I will stick with my doctor though because he's the best we have in the area I live. I couldn't get into any other psychiatrists either. He's really good. Just...my mom bombarded him the last session and we didn't cover much of what we were supposed to. I trust him. Pixie
I haven't read the book; tho' I usually read a book and don't see the movie...anyway, I found myself wondering if he didn't have a friend that others just couldn't see. In the movie, with his going on meds and dianosis/labeling, the dude that was with him throughout his life was no longer there! WTH Yes, it was a wonderful movie. Also, schizophrenia comes in different "levels", I guess you'd say...everyone might not hear voices, for instance. The same with dsylexia...some ppl may have so much difficulty with words and sentences being seen backwards, it takes much training and discipline just to read, whereas numbers might give them no problem. A different doctor (that will have the good common sense to discuss negative side effects of meds) definitely sounds in order.
OP, diagnosing schizophrenia is a long and a complex process, as there are no defined set of symptoms that would indicate that it is for sure schizophrenia and not just a nervous breakdown, deep depression or a result of drug abuse and such. there are symptoms that suggest you need to go for a check up, but you need a second, third and forth opinion, before you are pronounced a schizo and are subjected to medication. Those meds for schizophrenics (esp anti-psychotic ones) trigger some irreversible chemical changes in the brain, so you really must be sure you cannot live without them, before you start taking them. I got the impression that your doctor made this decision way too fast about you. Also they have discovered that schizophrenics do have some chemical changes in the brain, which cause them to become what they are, but again they are still not sure what triggers those changes. So, it is as well all about how you feel and what environment you are in. Change it to something positive to trigger 'positive' chemical reactions in your body (like stimulate endorphin secretion - body massage, relaxed atmosphere, no stress, enough sleep and good nutrition) and it will 'fix' your brain, I am sure. And after you tried all that and if nothing helps then you should start taking pills and be pronounced schizophrenic.
Lynnbrown, what I loved about A Beautiful Mind was his wife character and how she was a bridge between his madness and reality and kept him in touch with the latter one. The True Love thing, you know also I can strongly relate to his paranoia and delusions :leaving:
I didn't read the entire last page, pretty tired, but: Like squaw said, a schizo diagnosis is hard, it's a kind of fluid thing, and it requires a pattern and not just a single event. A healthy person under duress or having doubts or whatever can have auditory hallucinations or something, or an imbalace can be temporary and caused by recreational drugs or the cessation of their use, the cessation of your licit meds, an exposure or dietary problem, or even the common cold. If it is schizophrenia, life's not so bad: chow down on some lithium and think twice before you accept that those parked cars are really talking to you. Depending on your scary revolutionary hippie ideals, your therapist may have diagnosed schizophrenia because of how you view the world in general, when you may have no problem. If you do have a serious problem with it, it would likely be noticeable to others if you expressed feelings, understandings, or phenomena that you felt to be commonplace that are in fact not real. It seems that, for example, a lot of people have occasional hallucinations and just think that they're the only one that can see things, or assume that different people have specific things that are real that only they can see, because that's just how it's always been to them. A more mild example would be that some people (I'm not sure what this technically makes them, I know one who's schizo for sure, but there's probably plenty who are not) experience synesthesia without ever knowing it's abnormal, simple because no one ever felt the need to tell them that you should ONLY hear sounds, and not also see them, for instance. This sort of thing could make a more douchebaggy shrink decide you're less mentally stable than you really are. I'm NO sort of real doctor, I'm just a drug hobbyist, but if you need someone to talk to who can objectively point out this sort of thing for you without the bias that your therapist has, that comes with being PAID to find things wrong with you, I'm happy to help, PM me if you want. *edit* if in your normal life (ie. not depressed, sick, or anything else that you wouldn't generally be) you feel isolated from the world or like either you or other people are working on totally different levels, like talking about things that totally confuse the other or that suprise or scare the other when they seem commonplace to the one saying them, that would be a sign in the direction of schizophrenia. I read your full first post in this thread, but don't remember if you mentioned this, I've been awake 24 hours longer than I should have.... Also I recall in your introduction thread when you first came here, you said some things that could lead one to this assumption. But get some independent opinions, whatever the diagnosis turns out to be. This is not something that will keep you from doing what you want to do in life, unless what you want to do involves going in spacewalks to repair critical international space station components or something.... (cause that would be a bad time to have that heater system solar cell start telling you that it doesn't want to be replaced )
that's definitely withdrawal symptoms from your medications.. When I was coming off ( I still am a bit) I was seeing shadows out of the corners of my eyes, demons on my ceilings, hearing far off muttering voices in the distance, heard my thoughts shoot into peoples mouth, saw a Halo floating around my head, started even having obe experiences, I'm not exaggerating here... Intense delusions, like i thought everyone was in these secret society black magic thing and was all working to initiate me. intense mood swings, constipated, head aches, minor seizures, all from the psychiatric medications... it's crazy.
^ yeah , which is why I never went to a doctor, when I was going through a nervous breakdown, I figured they'd just prescribe me some crazy pills that would turn me into a nut forever.
Well hey..... I pay lots of money for black market substances to turn me into a nut forever. Having a prescription for it sounds like a pretty good deal
well I have to struggle in order not to turn into a nut forever and it's without any substances, just reality is enough. but yes, there were times when I had your kind of attitude teehee I guess I deal with the consequences of it now
