[Bluebird95]

Hello everyone, i'm writing on behalf of my husband. He has been battling schizophrenia for years. In 2014 he was stable on 3 mg of Risperdal so he tried reducing to 2 mg but he relapsed so he was put back on 6 mg Risperdal with 5 mg Zyprexa. The voices stopped but he had side effects so he tapered off zyprexa. In the meantime (2015) he still couldn't hold a job, he felt depressed so doc prescribed 3 mg ablify ( april 2016) for depression. It didn't make much difference, it made him more anxious, he had to take his monthly shot every 3 weeks. In September he decided to taper off ablify , the first 2 weeks 3mg to 1.5 mg and last week he took 0.75mg. ( in august he quit his job , he was very stressed)
He became delusional, started hearing voices, lost his appetite.
Went back to the Dr, he doesn't know what's wrong, maybe it's stress he said. I read a lot about medicine withdrawal psychosis so we went back to 1.5 mg ablify a few days ago. His appetite seems better but still psychotic.
Sorry for the long post, doctors here are not very helpful.
Any ideas, advice about this situation? I don't know what to do anymore. Thanks

[Blue_Bird]

1.5mg is a very small dose. Usually with 5mg and under Abilify is used to augment anti-depressants. Maybe he needs it increased? It can go up to 30mg a day, talk to his doctor

[Bluebird95]

I know it's a very small dose, but he tapered really quickly to a quarter of 3 mg in 3 weeks and it made him lose his appetite, so he upped back to half of 3 mg (1.5mg)
Even though it's a small dose it still effects him badly, before when he quit zyprexa voices came back sometimes cause of withdrawal i think.
Doctor said to keep taking 3 mg but my husband wants to quit so he'll keep tapering slowly.

Abilify is an antipsychotic so it will cause withdrawal psychosis if he comes off it. Relapse is not necessarily the right word. Unfortunately it's impossible to know if it's the schizophrenia coming back or withdrawal psychosis. That I am afraid is the nature of this medication, I had a diagnosis of OCD until recently but had withdrawal psychosis after coming off Seroquel too quickly and the psychiatrist interpreted this as schizophrenia. Doctors won't admit the damage these drugs cause. Your husband may now be dependent on the antipsychotics and might just have to take them for the rest of his life. If he wants to reduce the medication he should lessen it by 10% at a time and taper off more every few months. There's no guarantee of success though. It depends how long he has been on antipsychotics. 25% of people with schizophrenia don't take medication so it can be done, it's less likely the longer he's been on them though.

Good luck.

[Wonderfalls]

Your husband needs to quit making medicine decisions all on his own. It doesn't seem like any of the outcomes have been good. If he doesn't think a medicine is working or he can't tolerate the side effects he needs to bring that information to a doctor. Psychiatrists (and I hope that's who he's going to) are extensively trained in dealing with these drugs; your husband is not.

To cyberwoman
While one's previous symptoms can return when they discontinue any drug, I would want proof that there's such a thing as "withdrawal psychosis" after taking an antipsychotic. Also I would want to know the scientific basis for assuming there's such a thing as antipsychotic dependence, if you're using "dependence" the way it's usually used. You can't be addicted to antipsychotics. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that what you're stating as fact is controversial and not proven to many scientists' satisfaction

EPA-0937 - Association in patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia between withdrawal psychosis and antipsychotics

"Recently, dopamine supersensitivity psychosis (DSP) and tardive dyskinesia (TD), both of which could be caused by inappropriate pharmacotherapy, as typified by excessive dosages of antipsychotics, have also been presumed relevant to TRS. Several lines of evidence suggest that both DSP and withdrawal psychosis are closely linked to the supersensitivity of dopamine D2 receptors; this could be caused by a potent blockade of the receptors by antipsychotics"

There are good books on the harm of antipsychotics, one of which is The Bitterest Pills by Dr Joanna Moncrieff which I have in the house. Also look at how well patients in the Open Dialogue programme do in Finland and explain how so many do so much better without antipsychotics.

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental...comes.pdf/view

If every time you try to come off antipsychotics you suffer withdrawal psychosis, and you can't deal with the symptoms, you are dependent on them.

2029 ? Aripiprazole withdrawal and supersensitivity psychosis: a case report

[-jimi-]

Almost any med can cause an anti reaction when coming off it. It is because the body adapts to the med. If you are on a blood pressure med and you just stop it, your blood pressure will be higher than before treatment.

If someone is already prone to psychosis, it might just take a little nudge for things to get worse.

These things usually level out after a bit though. Coming off meds gradually and carefully gives the body a chance to balance up the loss of the med, while stopping faster might cause more of a reaction. It is basically common sense.