Posted by Amelia_in_StPaul on June 26, 2009, at 23:37:34
In reply to Re: med to prevent instability? )) Garnet, posted by Amelia_in_StPaul on June 26, 2009, at 23:31:20
if you have any of the positive symptoms--hallucinations or bizarre thoughts--then see a pdoc right away. that's what I meant. obviously you have symptoms of anxiety and etc. but as the article says, these are totally nonspecific and most people have anxiety without having the prodrome. I suspect you aren't having bizarre thoughts or hallucinations. As I said in my last post, many people don't really even know what psychosis is about--they just know they are afraid of "losing their minds" or "going crazy."
> Garnet, I hesitate to tell you this because it will feed your fears, but having had a close relative with schizophrenia, and having actually studied it, I can tell you that there are risk factors, but you can't definitively "see it coming." If you really, really want to know about the schizophrenia prodrome (there is no "psychosis potential" or, in other words "psychosis prodrome" because what psychosis is, what causes it and what its symptoms are, depend on whether the psychosis is part of bipolar disorder, depression with psychotic features, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophrenia--psychosis is not one thing), then you can read about it here:
>
> http://www.healthcentral.com/schizophrenia/c/76/3075/early-phase/
>
> If you have any of the symptoms listed, then you should talk to a psychiatrist. I suspect you don't. Most people with the kind of fears you detail don't really even know what psychosis is like--they just know the word, and it scares the bejeesus out of them.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > If you have anxiety, most likely you have some underlying depression. Depression and anxiety go hand in hand. Anxiety is often how depression manifests in some people.
> >
> > If you have any potential for psychosis you want to do your best to find a qualified doctor and get to the bottom of it. Then you can do what you need to prevent it.
> >
> > So you have been on every SSRI?
> >
> > I do not think xanax will prevent a breakdown. It has too short of a half life. In my opinion, xanax can be destabilizing for some over time. It acts more like a drug than a medication. Some here may disagree, but I and others I know have experienced the destabilizing effect of xanax first hand.
> >
> > A low dose of a mood stabilizer may help with anxiety and destabilization. If you feel like your on the brink of a possible breakdown, you need to take action now for sure. You need to find a good doc and see what they say.
> >
> > Do you workout or do yoga? What about meditation?(i know its hard to get into, especially if your high strung to begin with)
> >
> > I would consider just going to the school clinic and tell them what's been going on. They may be able to refer you to someone.
> >
> > If your just popping xanax without any other med to stabilize you, you find yourself needing more xanax and popping it more and more. This can turn into an addiction. Anything that is powerful enough to get addicted to will contribute more to your problems.
> >
> > Whatever you do try to release some of that stress instead of popping a xany. Workout, run, swim, do yoga, bikram yoga, there's got to be something you can do. It's just building and the xanax is only covering it up temporarily.
>
>
poster:Amelia_in_StPaul
thread:903272
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090620/msgs/903401.html