Posted by Christ_empowered on June 30, 2010, at 18:01:41
I imagine you all are going to hate me for this after my anti-psychiatry rants/posts...anyway, is there a place for strictly as-needed neuroleptic use?
My problem is this: I hate neuroleptics because although they help in the short-term, I just can't deal with them in the long-run. At effective doses, they help with mania, agitation, whatever short-term, but then the longer I take them, the worse I get. I've heard this called "de-activation" and the "tranquilizer psychosis." Basically, I get lazy, apathetic, dysphoric, dull, so on and so forth..and this is on a low-to-normal dose of Abilify, which is the only neuroleptic I've been able to tolerate for any extended period of time.
What am I to do? I was spacy and freaking out the other day, so I took 7.5mgs. That kind of helped. Still having problems yesterday--almost a full-blown freakout--so I went all the way up to 30mgs, figuring I'd do what mental hospitals do--start the dose kind of high, work down. No Abilify today, so far; I feel OK. I feel calm, not sedated or dull.
The problem is the longer I stay on the Abilify, the worse I feel. I go from treating legitimate issues to creating a new set of equally troubling problems. I mean, yes, I stop mania, but I also stop my initiative and drive.
What to do? I've heard that some schizophrenics do this--they take meds as-needed, then stop. How do I know how much to take, and how long to take it?
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:952729
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100628/msgs/952729.html