Overcoming Schizophrenia

After changing my employer, getting a puppy, going into autopilot with an extensive self-care routine, increasing therapy sessions, and adjusting medications with my doctor; I am feeling a little better. Life is challenging, however, managing symptoms like depression is even more stressful. Depression made the heaviness of my low energy and fatigue dreadfully disappointing season after season. It tried to kidnap my creativity, daily routines like cooking and cleaning, joy of spending more time with family, and my ability to be me. Fighting symptoms requires a lot of attention. It’s another job that you only advance in when you work overtime for a longer period. Now, I am finally starting to experience the hard work that my health team, support system, and me have done to continue to press forward. Prior to my diagnosis, I avoided medications for general use such as headaches and allergies. However, with the stigma of the diagnosis, I’ve tried to manage with minimal doses earlier in m...

There were a few consecutive days leading up to my grand finale of bad side effects to my antipsychotic medication that impaired my eye sight to the extent that I could not drive to my own doctor's appointment to get relief. Sometimes I would lose my ability to focus on the task at hand. I could sort of see, but not directly what was in front of me. I had a bad tendency of looking up, literately. I could not maintain eye contact with people or look down long enough to see the tasks I tried to do with my hands such as texting. The nerves behind my eyes would not let me concentrate, it was an uncomfortable, nerve-wrecking, stressful experience, which lasted more than two hours on and off, the worst of my experiences yesterday. Thankfully I had a great friend chauffeur me to go to my doctor's appointment and to wait for me, help me pick up my son from school, and drop off my prescription, and then pick it up from the pharmacy. For the last couple of weeks I've been tip toein...

I take one anti-psychotic for my schizophrenia, one anti-depressant, and another med to counteract the side effects. I understand that my medication for schizophrenia is a lifelong commitment, however, I've heard from others that depression for some may be temporary.  With  that said, sometimes I feel like I do not need to take my anti-depressants, but I will not stop taking them until I get my doctor's support... To quickly tell you about my background with depression, I developed postpartum depression after the birth of my son. I started taking the anti-depressants a little over a year ago after experiencing some symptoms which were probably triggered by a lot of "good stress"- having a baby and managing my new way of life. I remember my symptoms of depression included having a frequent overwhelming feeling, intense anxiety, lack of motivation, poor diet, and sleeping more than usual among other symptoms. When I ...

Have you suffered with the side effects of your medication in silence? Despite the progress I've made in my recovery I still have setbacks. Recently, my doctor changed the dose of my medication and as a result I've been experiencing some side effects. Initially, I did not know I was experiencing side effects, and I assumed my concerns were happening because I was not taking my medication at the same time daily or that it may have only occurred as a result of me missing a dose. Moreover, I noticed the side effects were starting to bother me more and more to the extent that I had poor concentration which prohibited me from maintaining eye contact with others, and my ability to read, write, or do any type of work that required attention. Although these side effects were not as bad as some that I've had in the past such as feeling jittery or having restless legs, they were still bothersome to me. My lack of concentration bothered me very much because in the past people co...

Taking medication is important because when one does not take their medication it could affect not only their own functioning skills but also other people as well emotionally and/or physically. For example, severe psychosis could lead someone to harm themself in the form of suicide, or other people in self defense if the voices tell them, or they think, other people are out to get them. This could lead to lengthy legal manners and hospital stays. I take my medication for myself and for my family. I do not want to experience psychosis again because I will feel like I have special powers, to read other people's minds, and that they can read my mind too, which is very uncomfortable and scary. And I will feel extemely confused and scared of people around me. While I was psychotic, and I did not know I had developed adult onset schizophrenia, I thought others were out to get me so I took a military truck to escape the demons around me. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but it could hav...

Approximately 18 percent of people living with schizophrenia have type 2 diabetes. People with schizophrenia have a life expectancy 20 percent shorter than the general population- and they have two to four times a greater risk of developing diabetes than the general population. Risk Factors for Diabetes Body mass index of >25 First-degree relative with diabetes Habitual physical inactivity Being an African American, Hispanic American, Native American, Asian American, or Pacific Islander Delivering a baby >9lbs., or having had gestational diabetes Hypertension, a high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level of 250mg/ dL A history of an abnormal glucose tolerance or fasting plasma glucose test result A history of vascular disease Obesity is a risk factor for diabetes, and almost all anti psychotic drugs, including the older drugs, increase the risk of obesity. "Meta-analysis found that patients receiving standard doses of atypical antipsychotics for 10 weeks gained a mean of ...

Since medication is so important to the person with schizophrenia why do they stop taking their medication? As mentioned before in group we discussed the reasons why people with schizophrenia stop taking their medication, this is what we came up with: They are discouraged with the improvements in their symptoms They are in denial that they have a mental illness They think you don't need the medication because they feel better The harsh side effects such as tardive dyskinesia or abnormal involuntary movements (usually in the hands, feet, tongue, or lips), akathisia or restlessness, muscle stiffness, tremors They have simply run out of medication They can't afford the medication There is hope. As mentioned earlier by Wandering Coyote ( http://stigma-busters.blogspot.com/ ) there is an injection that people with schizophrenia could take. Risperidone or Risperdal Consta long-acting injection if the person has trouble taking the oral form of medication. The injections are performed ...