[Catgotmytongue]

Have you heard of or know someone going off their medication. I have heard sometimes that schizophrenics can go without meds but I don't know much about it and how safe it is.

[seriouslydisturbed]

It's possible for some. I was off meds for almost 5 years until I smoked some cannabis and relapsed.

[DogLover93]

Speaking only for myself, I wouldn't be able to live without my meds. I don't know if other people can pull it off, but my meds do a great job of weakening the voices and keeping me mentally stable. I'm sure I would go off the rails if I stopped taking them.

[x123]

Originally Posted by Catgotmytongue

Have you heard of or know someone going off their medication. I have heard sometimes that schizophrenics can go without meds but I don't know much about it and how safe it is.

A while back, I found the website of a psychiatrist who had schizophrenia as a young adult. He was hospitalized and then started taking anti-psychotics. The anti-psychotics gave him tremors and made life difficult. Eventually he stopped taking them and never relapsed. He went on to college and became a psychiatrist. He felt that his experience of schizophrenia helped him treat people with schizophrenia. If I find the website again, I will let you know.

It seems like psychiatrists are beginning to think that people with schizophrenia should not receive as much medication as they had in the past. (I don't have schizophrenia, so that is just an idle observation.)

[x123]

O.k. this is the guy I mentioned earlier - Daniel B Fisher, M.D.
Schizophrenia Daily News Blog: Daniel B. Fisher and his "Empowerment Model"

Originally Posted by Catgotmytongue

Have you heard of or know someone going off their medication. I have heard sometimes that schizophrenics can go without meds but I don't know much about it and how safe it is.

My experience , for the vast majority , no. If the diagnosis is correct , then there are certain diagnostic criteria that have being satisfied.

For me, meds or death.

It depends on symptom severity and how well a person is able to cope with any symptoms they may have. Personally, I don't think the outlook is as bleak as many in psychiatry would have us believe, but that's just me.

*Willow*

[Catgotmytongue]

Originally Posted by seriouslydisturbed

It's possible for some. I was off meds for almost 5 years until I smoked some cannabis and relapsed.

So would you try going off your meds again? Or do you feel better staying on them? I'm asking for myself. I've been on medication for about 8-9 years and I did try being weened off of them 6 years ago and I got very emotional but I'm wondering if it wasn't just the medication but other reasons for that

[seriouslydisturbed]

Originally Posted by Catgotmytongue

So would you try going off your meds again? Or do you feel better staying on them? I'm asking for myself. I've been on medication for about 8-9 years and I did try being weened off of them 6 years ago and I got very emotional but I'm wondering if it wasn't just the medication but other reasons for that

I would try again but I need a good long time being stable. You could try weaning off again. Becoming emotional might not mean relapse. Are you happy on meds? If you are then you may as well stay on them. Me myself am very unhappy on meds and just don't know what to do

[joacobanfield]

I dont use meds, since this isn't an impairment.
They scare the bloody hell out of me tough. I don't want my voices gone.

[Takeshi]

Check out Will Hall?

I also heard of a story where this schizophrenia patient got forcibly committed to mental hospital and medicated/drugged and eventually saved by some advocates for medication reduction for psychiatric patients. I didn't follow up on that much but it has a lot to do with the law regarding the consent here, I want to know more about these things.

[Catgotmytongue]

Originally Posted by seriouslydisturbed

I would try again but I need a good long time being stable. You could try weaning off again. Becoming emotional might not mean relapse. Are you happy on meds? If you are then you may as well stay on them. Me myself am very unhappy on meds and just don't know what to do

At the moment I'm happy, which is unusual. Therapy a year ago helped. But I want to go off them, weight gain, etc. I think I might be able to do it but won't know till I try.

[PointOfNoReturn]

I heard there's a push somewhere to rename schizophrenia to psychotic susceptibility syndrome... To me that helps explain what it is diagnostically, so I guess it depends how susceptible you are to psychosis as a individual

Originally Posted by Catgotmytongue

Have you heard of or know someone going off their medication. I have heard sometimes that schizophrenics can go without meds but I don't know much about it and how safe it is.

Im going with No , the other answer takes far too long , a bit tired....

[rep97]

I was off medication when I was undiagnosed. I don't hear things or see things.. the only problem was my family was very abusive so they called the police and police took me to psych ward where they diagnosed me with schizophrenia and said based on an incident that happened 7 yrs ago when I punched a hole in the wall, that I am a threat to others or myself.

As I said I don't hear voices or see things.. just my clash with my family.. especially my dad.
I now have c-ptsd and depression etc. and I need medication for those.. but not for schizophrenia. Although invega didn't do anything for me.. I find clozapine relaxing and helps my c-ptsd symptoms to a degree but I am far from cured.

[insilence]

i did lastnight to see if the psych med was causing my extreme dry-mouth. I am wearing a silver ankle bracelet to ground myself, as well as have discovered pressure points that silence them totally. woke up at 1 am, barely any voices peeped overnight.

[Katieissweet]

Im schiz I do not take any meds,it's caused me problems not taking them,But I go from a size 6 to a 16 on meds,and having never been fat can't deal with it,not to mention lots of other side effects,tremors,no sex drive.Ive always been against psyche meds.im a natural medicine hippy kind of girl,these drugs haven't even existed for fifty years and are known to shrink the brain.
in the tribe im from im suppose to have visions,spirit contact etc it's part of being a (iquirra) shamaness which I dreamt I was, so I don't want to lose it.
I take one med in an emergency only,e.g when im having an episode.

My diagnosis is Bipolar 1 with pycotic features but they have tried me on every antipsychotic medication there is old and new and they all make me feel Psycotic, So if I have psycosis or am bipolar 1 or scitzoeffective wouldnt they work instead of making me feel really weird and I am on some strange drug, I am just talking for me, The only meds I am on are Depakote and Klonopin, It does not make sense to me

[Catgotmytongue]

Originally Posted by insilence

i did lastnight to see if the psych med was causing my extreme dry-mouth. I am wearing a silver ankle bracelet to ground myself, as well as have discovered pressure points that silence them totally. woke up at 1 am, barely any voices peeped overnight.

How does the ankle bracelet work? I don't hear voices thank God so that's not an issue

[Catgotmytongue]

Originally Posted by Katieissweet

Im schiz I do not take any meds,it's caused me problems not taking them,But I go from a size 6 to a 16 on meds,and having never been fat can't deal with it,not to mention lots of other side effects,tremors,no sex drive.Ive always been against psyche meds.im a natural medicine hippy kind of girl,these drugs haven't even existed for fifty years and are known to shrink the brain.
in the tribe im from im suppose to have visions,spirit contact etc it's part of being a (iquirra) shamaness which I dreamt I was, so I don't want to lose it.
I take one med in an emergency only,e.g when im having an episode.

I'm starting to be hippy in that sense too. I want to be more natural and even stopped taking the pill (although I was taking it for medical reasons and need to see a doc about it) I swear I feel happier off of it.
I have heard about the shamans and their outlook and I like it

[Katieissweet]

Yea I would never take the pill ever,chemical medications have not been around very long and I have faith in natural medicine that's existed for thousand of years without harsh side effects.

[amandalouise]

some people with schizophrenia can go medication free and others can not. there are some life situations in which a schizophrenic must go off their meds like pregnancy and there are some health issues where a person with schizophrenia cant take medications like allergies, heart or other organ related problems where that persons body cant metabolize the medication.

short version schizophrenia is a mental disorder where a person has hallucinations (sees, hears things that are not real) delusions (has beliefs and thoughts that can not possibly be real) erratic behaviors (uncontrolable rages, frequent or multiple sexual partners, disorganized speech, saying one thing one moment and changing to another when confronted, extreme energy similar to mania, emotions that for them is perfectly fine but others outside their bodies like friends and family have a hard time understanding,rough interpersonal relationships due to their behaviors and beliefs.sometimes have trouble with even the basic daily living like hygiene and other daily life skills needed for taking care of their self and those that are responsible for.

sometimes handling this in non medicated means is hard for those I know with schizophrenia but it can be done if they get the mental and physical health care that they need. the problem with those I know with this is the nature of the disorder is that when the treatment options are working be it medication or non medication treatment, the disorder tells that person they no longer need to follow their treatment plans any more, which in one friend of mine it results in their not being able to have pets due to their inability to manage the pets needs and has been evicted many times and many hospitalizations. her husband has custody of her children due to her schizophrenia impacts even something so simple as taking her children for a walk, the father has had to replace the older childs computer many times due to the mothers damaging or other wise getting rid of the childs computer meant for school work because she was so angry and paranoid when online in mental health groups and at times felt the computer was talking to her. At the moment though she is stable off medication and in non medicated treatment plans.

[sweetmadness]

I had schizophrenia, now it's bipolar and I can deal off anti-psychotics, however I prefer to take Abilify to manage the paranoia and maintain my mental health. I don't know how long I would be able to go without treating it with medication before I relapsed. I went for a few months between medications and insurance transfers but I needed it.

[ickydog2006]

I'd say it depends. For me it has become meds or death. However, I went mostly without treatment for hallucinations from age 7 til 24. It was obvious I had issues with depression and anxiety, and started meds for that around 14, but did not let Dr's know about the hallucinations til I was 22 and pregnant. The anxiety and depression meds did not help the hallucinations, but they helped me tolerate them. I had to go off all meds during pregnancy and that spiraled me down. I hated being pregnant, all I wanted to do was kill it, and I got to the point it was not safe to leave me alone, and was induced. Afterwards, meds made things bearable, and I was in control enough to not harm myself or baby, but the hallucinations were 24/7, and encompassed all my senses. I'd been in therapy since 14 and was well versed with self talk and reality checking, but by the time my son was 2 I wanted to obey the voices just so I might have some peace, and it was increasingly hard to distinguish what was real. My meds were upped but I was still refusing antipsychotics and eventually I hit a delusional episode where I thought I was supposed to kill myself, thankfully my delusion included that I believed everyone would understand and let me. I was hospitalized, medicated, and okay (thats the short version and doesn't include the meds trial and error process). Then I started lactating from the antipsychotic and my Dr decided to 'see how well I could function in society unmedicated'. Was back to hallucinations and delusions. The hallucinations got so intense I felt I was bouncing between dimensions. I would be walking along and then I would see/think I was somewhere else, then it would flash back (I almost walked into a wall). While driving I came up with the 'brilliant' idea I could drive into oncoming traffic and the vehicles would go through me proving I was going between dimensions. No one was with me so I recognized no one would believe me and even when successful my husband would be angry at me risking my life to prove I was right. Didn't take long for me to be hospitalized again.
All this to say, yes some can survive long periods of time unmedicated, I don't believe they can maintain close meaningful relationships and thrive like that, and many will die unmedicated / unsupervised. I also think of it as like diabetes and alcoholism. Diabetics can feel great when medicated, but feeling good does not mean you can go off meds. Similarly, those whose diabetes was triggered by something, are sometimes able to correct the problem, and go off meds. For those born with it, where it was not triggered (for diabetes: diet for schizophrenia: by trauma) then going off meds can be deadly. The similarity with alcoholism is you can go decades without a drink and be great, but one slip (schizophrenics going off meds), and the disease will be as great as ever and usually resume right where you left off.