[nbritton]

Simple question, what has helped alleviate your negative symptoms?

I just had a trial of Wellbutrin and it had no effect on me. I'm searching for something new to try that helps negative symptoms. My doctor was under the assumption I was suffering from depressive symptoms, due in part to my former bipolar diagnoses, but the reality is I'm not depressed. My problem is that I'm not functional. I can't hold a job in my current state, I can't even stay on top of daily tasks like personal hygiene and cleaning my house.

Is there nothing out there that can help with this kind of stuff?

[medicalfox]

From my own personal research and talking to my psychiatrist there are no meds for decrease negative symptoms. My psychiatrist told me the best thing you can do is develop a fixed routine and try to make it habit forming. Humans are naturally creatures of habit so this could work, but it may be hard to start it.

Personally my boyfriend helps me with personal hygiene and cleaning. He gets me to brush my teeth and shower, but I try my best to do these things on my own. Maybe if a family member helped you with keeping clean that could benefit you.

[Sometimes psychotic]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24765078

So its not definitive but the gist of this is that it's NMDA rather than dopamine that causes the negative symptoms and they are suggesting that a glyT inhibitor which will increase NMDA signaling through the glycine regulatory site(ie without the neurotoxicity of glutamate stimulation)

Here is a roche trial for one inhibitor

Roche - Roche reports positive Phase II results with potential first-in-class treatment for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia

phase III is not going to be complete until 2015

However there are supplements which inhibit glyT like sarcosine

Here is a one source that is not mixed with aspartic acid ...

ProFrontal - a natural option to support NMDA Receptor function.

(I feel like a shill for these guys but its one of the more interesting supplements I 've seen)

Here is a discussion about this product apparently the effect is mild but worth it...
Any experience with D-serine/Sarcosine + NAC combined? - Schizophrenia Forums

The also talk about D-serine but that was abandoned awhile ago by psychiatry due to kidney toxicity so I would not go that route.

Anyway this is an active area of research so there is new stuff every day. Let us know if you find anything that works...

[Sometimes psychotic]

Here is link to the phase II for bitopterin the roche drug however I also saw a report that suggests its not doing so well in phase III although they are not fully completed....there is a very high placebo rate like 40% efficacy so that's kind of hard to beat..

JAMA Network | JAMA Psychiatry | Effect of Bitopertin, a Glycine Reuptake Inhibitor, on Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Proof-of-Concept Study

Anyway same mechanism as for sarcosine...so it may or may not work and it may work better in some people than others..

[reginox]

i am on wellbutrin but not really depressed even though I lost my job, going through a divorce (live with mother), and doing my best to make friends or just go out. I had a recent round of hospitalizations that were demoralizing.

A routine is helpful. Part of my routine is to write affirmations that I am ok, worthwhile and I listen to motivation stuff on youtube.

Medication is helpful but I really try to also realize that I have had things like a job, place to live, boyfriends and that I will have them again.

Good luck and I hope you feel better.

[ZehR]

I remember last week I posted in the roll call about how I was going to ask my psychiatrist for a less sedating antipsychotic (because I stopped taking my current one two months ago) to help with the negative symptoms when in reality, I was full of positive symptoms and going psychotic. I refused the meds and blamed it on someone else in my head (dont ask) and then started taking my original when I got home which took intense thinking multiple times to cross that line between real and not real. So tomorrow is my next appointment where I can have a more sane session.

I think getting rid of the positive symptoms helps to alleviate the negative symptoms because I've tried basically every common class of medications except opiates and psychiatrists don't prescribe those for the mind so..

[Bigmike727]

Well, I am not schizophrenic, but my depression does include psychotic features. I find that the combination of Prozac and Zyprexa is a pretty effective one. When I was at my worst, smoking helped me alot with negative symptoms, although I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, it's an extremely addictive habit and bad for health. I am trying to quit now and am having a hell of a time.

[Sometimes psychotic]

A pilot six-week randomized controlled trial o... [Schizophr Res. 2014] - PubMed - NCBI

Can't access this paper but the abstract suggest oxytocin works on the negatives---they only have injectable for use during pregnancy for now but they are working on other formats mostly to do with autism..