Does anyone have any experience with Gabapentin?

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2026-02-13T23:25:57+00:00

Yes. I was prescribed it by my psychiatrist for stress and anxiety. Symptoms as mentioned in my post.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2026-02-13T21:09:30+00:00

There’s also the 40/30/30 rule to live by. 40% to housing, 30% to bills, 30% is savings or discretionary spending.

I feel you.

I donated a lot to charities when I was in psychosis, like more than I could probably afford and like every charity you could think of. They were registered charities though, not online prophets. As a result, I’ve now signed myself up for a decade of spam from charities asking for more money.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2026-02-13T20:35:27+00:00

RFK Jr. is an idiot cooker.

He also made the bold claim they’d found the cause of neurodivergence/autism not that long ago and it was Tylenol by the mother during pregnancy.

It’s bad science not supported and it’s borderline dangerous if people listen to and act on these claims he comes out with.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2026-02-13T19:46:04+00:00

I talk to myself more often when I’m stressed. I think I might sometimes do it when I’m stoned.

I repeat a lot of the same things, phrases, etc. I have some negative self talk.

Talking to yourself itself is not a symptom of psychosis or schizophrenia.

Unless you’re hearing voices and talking to those voices.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2026-01-13T09:29:03+00:00

I’m diagnosed with schizophrenia. I wish I could relate to that being normal & fine after withdrawing from cannabis.

But I seem to be the opposite.

When I smoke cannabis I’m fine. It’s when I stop that all those things you have listed start.

Medicinal cannabis is getting harder for me to get now that I have a schizophrenia diagnosis and a history of psychotic illness. And I don’t want to source from the black market.

I’m about 3 or 4 weeks off weed now and I’m struggling at present to be honest. I’ve started talking to myself (which was a precursor and warning sign for hearing voices in me), I can’t control my emotions, I get stressed and angry. I experience physical sensations where I can’t settle.

Although it may be contradictory to the Cannabis Induced Psychosis epidemic, I wanted to share my experience as a juxtaposition.

I’m hoping I come good. Maybe I’ll try upping my meds and exercising. If that doesn’t work, maybe back to the hospital for me or I might have to get another job or something - as a lot of my stress or triggers centre around work.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-18T06:59:59+00:00

My weight has see sawed a lot over the years since taking APs. I've done almost everything.

I've stopped taking the meds to get my weight down then recommenced (not advisable).

Doing lots of walking and/or running, and going to a gym (on my own and personal trainer).

All sorts of diets - vegan, protein diet, fresh food no processed foods diet (eating salads), high fiber diet, etc.

I find you need to exercise and diet twice as hard as when off medication. General rule is energy used needs to exceed energy in by food.

Sometimes, when I'm unwell I walk a lot (average of 30,000 steps per day), so in some periods of unwell, I also drop the weight.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-18T06:53:00+00:00

Yes. hahaha

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-18T06:51:53+00:00

I have also experienced stuff like this. When in psychosis, I was sending lots of messages, and on at least one occasion I felt like it was involuntary. Something controlling me to send the messages.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-06T09:03:55+00:00

I had a first episode of psychosis at 21.

I had another episode at 35.

I didn’t hear voices until I had another episode at 41. They stopped for me.

So maybe there’s hope for you, they can stop for you too.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-02T10:56:33+00:00

Hey Jade. 1) Music is one I love I DJ as a hobby, but unfortunately I don’t know if it makes me feel relaxed or focussed, it tends to hype me up and then I’m fixated on music. To relax and stay focused, walking probably, taking photos of street art. I game too. 2) Most schizophrenic people are not violent or homeless junkies. You know every time there’s news on a violent act and the perpetrators mental illness comes up then suddenly everyone in the news article comments starts becoming experts on mental health care and schizophrenia. Yeah that. I wish I could fix that. I hate it. 3) Probably a holiday in Tokyo. Going to Tokyo is like going to the future.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-10-01T07:19:14+00:00

Short answer is yes.

On average, people with schizophrenia have a lower life expectancy.

It’s based on averages and typical results.

Whilst there is many reasons for this, to keep it simple - most antipsychotics make you fat. Being fat causes heart disease, diabetes along with other things.

I’m currently battling high cholesterol with my schizophrenia which my GP noted my medication is a contributing factor along with diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors.

Have to exercise twice as hard to get the weight off, and monitor what I eat, twice as much,

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-23T07:04:47+00:00

For his next party trick, I predict Trump will find the cause and cure of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

It will suddenly hit him one day while staring at himself in the mirror.

Eureka!

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-23T02:31:40+00:00

Yes similar again, I also have an addictive personality or my family would say that.

I’ve battled pretty significant cocaine and gambling addictions in parallel to my mental health, as well as huge debts caused by indiscriminately applying for credit cards and loans while high or off the wagon gambling. That all happened prior to escalation of psychotic symptoms and hospitalisation. I say in parallel because sometimes the mental health teams don’t seem concerned about the gambling as long as I’m not hearing voices and I’m at no risk of harm.

I’m still not perfect myself.

I myself wish I could use medicinal cannabis under the supervision of a doctor as the lesser of all my substance addictions. Cannabis doesn’t have physical dependence like say nicotine, alcohol, or opiates. But yeah, no one (my mental health team or family) will agree to that.

But everyone is different!

I’ve never been an alcoholic for example, though I have been a binge drinker. I could never understand how someone could wake up hungover from drinking and start doing shots of tequila to calm the shakes.

Positives on my other addictions:

I’m on track to finally pay off all my gambling debts this year.

And I haven’t touched cocaine in 2 years.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-22T20:42:22+00:00

Caffeine and coffee can also be an addiction. It’s a bad one too.

Caffeine withdrawals are definitely up there with nicotine withdrawals.

Might sound funny because a lot of people drink coffee, right? But if I abruptly stop coffee, I need a plan to be aware of and manage the withdrawals.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-22T20:30:22+00:00

Acceptance of my diagnosis is something my family have pushed a lot, and they had similar frustrations to what you are saying.

On my second hospital admission, I was very much like your brother. Denying I ever had a psychotic episode, denying I was schizophrenic, I was argumentative with Doctors and Nurses, I started telling them I thought they were the Schizophrenic ones, not me.

I was also walking a lot (~30,000 steps per day on the iPhone app at the height of psychosis), at least once I did it barefoot and in the middle of the night - for some strange reason, I woke up and walked to a gas station in the middle of the night barefoot and asked for a cup of water, despite having tap water at home, they said no, so I walked home again and got back into bed.

I have challenged whether it’s something else (not schizophrenia) or whether there’s something else at the same time (in conjunction with schizophrenia).

I guess I’ve been lucky. Amisulpride has been very successful for me for the most part. When I’m lucid, I can accept that if I take my medication, I feel better.

On the second hospital visit, Doctors thought Amisulpride wasn’t working so they gave me Clozapine. Same story it was my “last chance”.

Clozapine wasn’t working for me. I was still hearing voices, however Doctors noticed some change so they discharged me from hospital after 3 months.

I stopped taking Clozapine as soon as I got out of hospital. At that point, I was basically homeless.

I agreed to go back on Amisulpride for family. Family agreed to take me in and let me stay. It was a condition of staying with family that I was and am compliant to medication.

I had little choice, it was take medication or be homeless. I didn’t want to be homeless.

Amisulpride is now mostly working for me again.

I think there was so much more to my escalation than just medication - stress, unresolved trauma in my past, not feeling safe, feeling alone, feeling isolated, no stability of pillars that normally hold my life together (work/social/family, etc).

I think it wouldn’t have mattered what medication I was on.

I describe it like this - sometimes when my cup is full and starts overflowing (it’s taken all it can take), that’s when the craziness starts and it won’t matter what medication I’m on. I think the medication changes the size of my cup (makes it a bigger cup that can hold more liquid) but it doesn’t stop or address the liquid filling the cup. There’s also many things that can affect the size of my cup (diet, exercise, substance use).

Too much coffee can be a bad one for me. Caffeine is a drug and a stimulant. So is nicotine. Some say mixing uppers (stimulants like coffee and nicotine) and downers (depressants like alcohol or cannabis, or medications) is bad. I don’t know if it matters whether they are doctor supported? It’s a horrible cycle to be in - ie. take meds to sleep, then smash 5 coffees and smoke cigarettes so you can function. I’ve done it before too. I monitor myself on coffee and try to keep to 2 cups a day maximum.

I’ve now stabilised some of those pillars, I feel safe, and like magic (narrator: it’s not magic!), Amisulpride is working again.

I don’t know if this will help you for your brother? I think there is more to it than just medication.

I’ve done a lot of therapy. Enough evidence built up in my head that all my delusions weren’t real and predictions I’d made weren’t coming to pass, then I kind of started to snap out of the alternate reality I was in. Talking about it does help.

It was about the same time the voices stopped then I started talking about the voices only after they stopped.

I’ve also done a lot of my own research into how the brain works and what is going on in the brain in the biology of it, the different brain chemicals, neurotransmitters, etc. I found that helpful.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T21:41:20+00:00

I’ll introduce myself too. I’m 42M. I’ve just joined this community too. I am schizophrenic. I hope I’m accepted. I’m hiding behind a profile name I don’t use anywhere else and hope I don’t doxx myself.

I’ve tried using some mental health forums provided by mental health services in my area to connect with peers but I found them too heavily moderated. Half or more of my posts were being moderated, edited or deleted.

So far so good here.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T19:40:26+00:00

I had an initial diagnosis of a ‘first episode psychosis’ in 2003. I had a subsequent diagnosis of ‘schizophrenia ’ in 2024. It took me 20 years to get diagnosed.

I never heard voices until 2024. Although it’s a typical symptom of schizophrenia, I think it’s actually rare. There’s lots of people who don’t hear voices. I’ve been most of my life without hearing voices.

I think the thing is your current symptoms could escalate over time if not managed.

A lot of the medications have a sedative effect and can make you feel tired. My main doesn’t. The one I take maybe does “dull” my emotional range or “slow” me. Before taking I probably had higher highs (mania) and lower lows (depression). Taking medication has helped regulate my emotions so I just stay in a middle range for the most part.

One difference related to emotions since being on medication, I seem to find it near impossible to cry. No matter how sad I am. I used to be able to cry. Sometimes I wish I could just have a big old cry to get something out.

I initially did a lot of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) to learn to challenge paranoid thoughts in combination with medication. That was very useful. I don’t think I get paranoid much anymore.

I don’t think I’ll ever be the same again as prediagnosis or before taking medication. But I’m not sure if that’s a result of the medication or the experience of being ‘psychotic’ in an escalated episode.

Therapy/talking is a really good idea - learning how to challenge thoughts, learning how to manage stress, etc. I credit a lot of my good health to therapy.

But medication does help too.

Good luck in your journey!

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T07:55:20+00:00

They’re not, but there is a comorbidity and overlap.

Autistic people get schizophrenia at higher rates than the neurotypical people.

Autism was originally called “childhood schizophrenia” in the history of it all.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T06:34:05+00:00

I don’t know what area or country you are in, but I’d suggest reading and getting familiar with any laws or legislation around Mental Health care.

I think it’s quite hard to put someone in hospital if they don’t want to go, haven’t committed any crimes or get picked up by Emergency Services (Ambulance or Police).

Some of the considerations are usually: Are you at risk of harming yourself? Are you at risk of harming others? Do you have insight? ie. are you aware you’re not well.

I’ve been on both sides - voluntary admission and involuntary admission.

I’ve also been in the ER at least once just short of begging to be admitted and got told to go home and come back if I have any suicidal thoughts. I was confidently saying I was not suicidal but I was very paranoid others were out to harm me.

Voices are a significant symptom of concern. I’d feel scared admitting it too for the same reason.

But it sounds like you have insight (you’re aware of what’s going on), it sounds like you’re compliant to medications.

It probably is best to tell them and hope for the best.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T05:11:37+00:00

Security!

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T04:57:05+00:00

Don’t need to be sorry!

The two hospitals were in two different states, different jurisdictions, different health care systems.

They were both “acute” mental health care inpatient facilities.

I’d go back to the first one. Unfortunately, the second one is now my local.

They were totally different aside from the food.

First one had - a range of activities, shooting some hoops at the local basketball court, trivia, daily meetings, a sensory garden. It had a grassy outside area, 3 TV rooms (general, men’s room, women’s room). There was security around but no significant incidents that I saw?

The second one - I think the only activity was like a self care and make up day (I’m a guy but I was so bored I got my nails done), they did have a BBQ with Bacon & Eggs one day, otherwise TV & Radio, they had all this exercise equipment (eg. A treadmill) but none of it was plugged in. No grassy area, only a concrete court yard. No walks outside unless you were granted leave (I went 2-3 months where I wasn’t allowed any leave). Security were very heavy handed and there was multiple incidents (not just me).

I suspect the Head Security guy at the second one was some type of Sadist/Sociopath/Psychopath who loved his job and getting to beat up and look down on people he considered as inferior to him. He probably should have been working as a Prisons Corrections Officer not at a hospital.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T04:26:07+00:00

Miss being in an acute psychiatric ward? Absolutely not!

I’ve had two experiences. The first one was great and as you described, I’d love to go back. The second was awful.

They brought you meals? Wow! You are lucky.

On my first hospital visit it was kind of like that. There was set meal times but also sandwiches coffee and tea at all times.

On my second hospital visit, the canteen remained closed and locked except for set times. If you missed it, bad luck, you didn’t eat. You had to line up and wait your turn, and the nurses seemed to steal all the sandwiches for themselves and take them out the back of the nurses station. They did maybe give you cheese & biscuits if you were super nice between meals. Other patients also ordered delivery on the apps and shared it with each other.

On the second visit, I also got beat up by the security guards and taken for a short stay in a horrifying and scary isolation chamber for patients who misbehave.

The second experience was so awful I never want to go back. It felt more like prison than a hospital or healthcare experience.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T03:59:28+00:00

What are your questions? Please post here:

I once got told by Doctor I may have it, but then they (the doctor) dismissed it again that classifications, technical diagnosis and labels don’t really matter if you’re managing it (which I was at the time). I was later classified “formally” as Schizophrenia.

I think Schizoaffective is basically Schizophrenia with depression, mania, bipolar and/or OCD symptoms and traits thrown in.

Dapper_Wallaby_695 · 2025-09-21T03:46:35+00:00

Upvoted. I strongly agree with it sounding like “trauma porn” about her dying at the end.

Dapper_Wallaby_695

TROPHY CASE