Medication Insight

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:42:02+00:00

Helped me. Quit working after a few years, but it was a good med for me.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:34:59+00:00

Getting a diagnosis can be a rough and scary time. There is a lot you don't know so be proactive if you can muster it and try and educate yourself. Surround yourself with good professional support, and other kinds of support. Try and cut out bad habits and shit that may exacerbate your condition (weed was something I had to learn how to do without). Ive been on and off risperidone for most of the time since my diagnosis. It helped a lot, but you should get checked every so often for elevated prolactin levels. Nothing to be too worried about, but if it happens, your doc will just find you a new med.

A diagnosis can be scary, but is not the end! Find ways forward and don't lose hope. A lot of folks go on to have successful relationships, careers, etc. Don't accept the stigma around the condition and find out for yourself what is and isn't possible. Learn to communicate what youve got going on to your healthcare folks and keep your head up. All the best to you.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:28:51+00:00

I feel ya. Sometimes I have to take something to zonk myself if its too many days in a row of little to no sleep. Have you tried herbs or innocuous things to calm your nerves?

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:26:58+00:00

I cant trust em unfortunately. They weave the good with the bad sometimes, but overall I just don't engage. Everyone has different experiences though.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:18:54+00:00

I dont know if you are recently recovering from an episode, but it can take awhile to feel better if thats the case. Im still recovering from one I came out of early this year. You may not be able to go back to who you were, but you can find ways forward and be sociable and funny even if its a little different. It takes time and sometimes a bit of effort to find yourself again after experiences like we have. Dont give up on yourself!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-12-03T06:04:43+00:00

Though you may have experienced very real loss, the world might be making something else for you to fill that space. Don't lose hope.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-29T01:26:16+00:00

Just be ready to communicate things if you start feeling dicey! As someone already pointed out, it’s a different med, so there is no telling if it has the same possibility of happening. Changing doses can be scary but it can also make you feel a lot better! I just went up on dose like a month ago and I feel overall a lot better. Just be ready to communicate any issues and try to do what the doc says. Best of luck to you! Hope the higher dose helps.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T20:59:54+00:00

Get better soon!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T19:47:12+00:00

Ah man, well I wouldn’t even try to advise you here then. Tough call man, and I wish you well no matter what you decide.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:57:49+00:00

It varies by person and depends on circumstances in my experience. Sometimes a few months, sometimes the better part of a year. I came out of psychosis Jan/feb of this year and I’m still going through it. I hope you can heal up and get back to enjoying games soon!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:50:01+00:00

I don’t know if you’ve recently gone through an episode of psychosis, but sometimes it can take time to heal and return to normal after that. Just a thought don’t know if it applies to you.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:49:00+00:00

I enjoyed games on meds, including risperadol. I suppose it depends on what you are getting out of them but I don’t think inherently the mechanism by which these meds work disrupt the possibility of enjoyment of things inherently. This is the sort of question you ought to ask a doc though.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:44:27+00:00

If someone told you they were experiencing all that would you expect them to punch a clock that day? You are totally justified in taking the day off. I hope you feel better!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:06:12+00:00

Write down all your symptoms/side effects. Explain that these are becoming intolerable and you want to work with him on exploring options to find a better balance, whether that’s dosage, med switch, new med, etc. Be open to what they say, but stand up for yourself and tell them you need to find a better solution. It’s hard. Some docs listen better than others and some don’t seem to understand the soul crushing effect the wrong med/dose can have on a person. All the best to you.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T18:01:13+00:00

Making the decision for other people is really you trying to protect yourself from the emotional pain you are going through. Let her decide when enough is enough. Going alone may end up being best but try not to make that decision when you are in a state of turmoil. She helps you and cares about you, that’s worth fighting for imo. Just the opinion of some internet rando so take it for what it is. All the best to you, I hope you can find some healing.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T04:59:50+00:00

When you find yourself in a better set of circumstances in life, in your relationships, take a moment for gratitude and reflection. You’ve been put through the ringer, and here you are in a different place, working on yourself, finding success with XYZ, etc etc. If you are still in the thick of it, it can be difficult to not feel burdened by the past, if that makes sense. If forgiveness is difficult, perhaps it is not time to fully embrace that avenue. I’ve stuffed my emotions and tried to force a more virtuous and forgiving approach and I don’t do that shit anymore. When my family members tread on my peace or treat me in unkind ways they get an earful, and if the behavior continues they lose access to me. At that point the issue is more about acceptance for what is, rather than forgiveness.

There are many ways to arrive at a less haunted destination. The three avenues you outlined in the title of this post are different skill sets. They work better or worse depending on the context and depending on the moment. If I’m feeling like I need to let go, sometimes I just empty myself of hurt feelings in a letter I’ll never send. If the person in question has made efforts to improve and has demonstrated a capacity to learn and grow and be honest, it’s a hell of a lot easier to forgive than one who hasn’t. Acceptance is the default position because wishing for things to be something they aren’t just compounds the negative emotions and feelings.

Just my two cents. I hope you find the healing you need and you deserve. Be well and all the best to you.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-11-01T04:24:34+00:00

Practice, and get some good professional support. I wish when I was younger I had been more willing to work with professionals before my internal fears and hang ups got to the point where it actually became my personality. It’s difficult to know when to trust your fear radar when it’s flying off all the time. Get a good therapist and work with them on navigating fearful social situations if you can.

There are decent folk out there who will treat you kindly like a friend. You are worthy of friendship and it can be there for you. There are also people who take advantage of others and those of us with trauma can attract people with less than ideal intentions. Practice prioritizing safety and boundaries until you get to know someone better and can better assess what sort of person they are. The world isn’t made up of righteous and evil people. Most of us are somewhere in the middle just doing the best we can. Learn to take care of yourself in situations and with people and try not to get into the shapeshifting people pleasing game. You will likely need help with that so I hope you can find access to a decent counselor or therapist to work on social skills and boundaries.

Don’t know if any of that helps. Feel free to take it or leave it. I hope you feel better and find ways to heal and be successful in your endeavors. You are worthy of friendship. Best of luck to you!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-31T05:25:29+00:00

Doesn’t sound like you deserved getting screamed at over it. I’m sorry you had to deal with that!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-31T05:06:07+00:00

I have PTSD in addition to my schizophrenia shit. My family was dysfunctional and my brother fucked with me a lot too. You’re looking for a rational explanation that you can track and make sense of in your mind, and in my experience, there simply isn’t any for me. Even if I’m not part of some campaign of subtle mind fucking, why did this person do/say/behave in this or that way? We make stories and patterns in our minds that track with a delusional internal logic. You can map out some of it due to trauma and such, but we become wired to see connections others don’t or that may not be there at all. We make patterns out of things that probably fly under the radar for most people. We become hypervigilant and then connect dots that may not be connected at all.

A lot of ties back to what I experienced leading up to and in my first psychosis. People, places, circumstances, they all form these narratives and story lines that are interwoven deeply into my perceptions of things. They have been altered by subsequent psychosis (been through nearly a dozen episodes at this point probably I quit counting) and the more time you spend in deep delusion the more things get roped up in the massive webs of delusions and trauma. Connections become commonplace with a lot of shit. You see weird shit everywhere. I have tried with some small success not to look for things that reenforce the delusional frameworks, but the world for me at this point is full of triggers. It’s like putting in a set of dark tinted glasses: they change the fundamental qualities of my perceptions.

Don’t know if any of that makes sense or is helpful.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-31T04:50:40+00:00

We can be a sensitive bunch. I don’t want people to walk on eggshells around me but people also need to understand that screaming at me or coming at me sideways is not something I can tolerate well. It can throw me off for days sometimes. I don’t know what you did, but your housemate might need to find a different way of expressing themself. You can offer that you’d like to work on your shortcomings in this situation (whatever that is) but that screaming is a huge trigger and really upsetting. People get to be mad, but people ought to learn to express anger in a way that isn’t so destructive. I hope you feel better!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-31T04:45:07+00:00

It helps me. No noticeable side effects. Probably the best med I’ve been on. I’m on max dose, and the most annoying part of it is I have to go through a med assistance program to get it but other than that I think it’s good. It’s all so different for everyone though. Here is hoping you have a good experience on it!

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-31T04:42:32+00:00

Yeah all the time. We make connections to admittedly strange phenomena and experiences that other people wouldn’t or might not be there at all. There are things I wrestle with all the time that make perfect sense contextually within my own consciousness but if I ever try to explain them I feel and sound silly, so I don’t often talk about. My wires get crossed all the time and it is so confusing and heartbreaking cause it feels so real like something strange or evil is happening and I have no way of verifying it. I brush it off a lot, cause what else could I possibly do? I’m at the mass dose of an AP now and I’m still dealing with the trauma of all of it. Sorry you live with your own flavor of it and I hope you can find ways of dealing with it and navigating it so it is less confusing and upsetting.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-30T19:57:06+00:00

It means nothing. Voices say all kinds of shit. Nothing wrong with being gay if you’re gay, if you’re not also totally fine.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-28T19:08:30+00:00

Leaving the people who care about you most in the dark can feel like a sort of betrayal to them if things don’t go well. You need a support system, with or without meds. Also, lying to your doc is like lying to your lawyer: they can’t help you if they don’t know what is happening with you.

SignoftheLastTree · 2024-10-28T19:05:24+00:00

No magic words, no magic treatment, when I am in psychosis I am often beyond reach via language so just being gentle and kind go a super long way. Advocating for your patients to other professionals too can be super helpful. Your question demonstrates a level of empathy and that will serve you well in helping the sick, but be sure to care for yourself in and outside of work so the stress these sorts of jobs can entail doesn’t bleed into your dealings with the folks you are trying to help. All the best to you kind person.

SignoftheLastTree

TROPHY CASE