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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
hi, i still live with my parents but they wont allow me to come home until im better and on right med, so now i am on clozapine 3 weeks but its not helping, but i dont want bogus treatments like i cant return home to see my cat
so what shall i do? shall i leave home and rest something and recover this way, what i need to do?the clozapine twice 50 mg 3.2 weeks now isnt making me feel good and doesnt work at all
i know you said 4 weeks but thats long i will take it
i have nothing to take anymore, except for the old drugs now and sulpiride and Sertindole i havent tryed lithium yet maybe thats a
Posted by Phillipa on June 24, 2008, at 10:38:37
In reply to police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
Jeroen hi sweetie. I am so sorry you are having such a hard time. Did you tell your doc that you are scared and what is his plan if the med doesn't work? I know how badly you want to be well and be like the rest of your friends. Please hang in there and are you hearing voices, seeing things that aren't there, Classic symtoms of schizophrenia? Have they considered bipolar as sometimes in a very bad state hard to tell the difference. I think of you a lot and worry about you. Your parents must worry too and just want you better. Kitty will not forget you. Animals love their masters. Love Phillipa
Posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:57:11
In reply to Re: police and schizophrenia case » Jeroen, posted by Phillipa on June 24, 2008, at 10:38:37
hi, philippa, animals give true friendship you cant seek with humans
Posted by Horned One on June 24, 2008, at 11:33:00
In reply to police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
You're not at the optimal dose yet, so give it time. Usual doses are 200-450mg, so there's plenty of room to play with. They have to raise the dose slowly in the beginning in case you get the dangerous side effects. I was in hospital going up slowly on Lithium like this not so long ago, so I know how frustrating it can be. Just give it more time until you get to at least 200mg and have been there for four weeks. In your case, because you're a young man, you may need the full 450mg dose. It can be raised as high as 900mg for people that need it.
-Horny
Posted by Racer on June 24, 2008, at 11:39:13
In reply to police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
I suspect you don't want to hear this, but waiting until you've been at a therapeutic dose for four weeks really is the only way to know if this medication will help you. Switching away because you're impatient for results isn't going to help you.
Frustrating as it is -- and I know how frustrated I get -- giving the medication a fair chance now saves you time in the long term. What's four weeks now, compared to the forty years of improved quality of life you may get from it?
Also, ask your doctor what he has in mind if this doesn't work out for you. It always helps me to know that there are plans in place, because it removes some of the uncertainty. That helps me a great deal, and it may help you a lot, too.
Good luck.
Posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 11:39:47
In reply to Re: police and schizophrenia case, posted by Horned One on June 24, 2008, at 11:33:00
I EMAILED SEROQUEL RESEARCH TODAY ON HOW TO REVERSE THE POOP OUT EFFECT
IF POSSIBLE, LETS SEE HOW RESEARCH WILL REPLY
Posted by Phillipa on June 24, 2008, at 12:06:45
In reply to Re: police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:57:11
Jeroen yes they do mine are my best friends. They love unconditionally. Love Phillipa
Posted by Phillipa on June 24, 2008, at 12:09:24
In reply to I EMAILED SEROQUEL RESEARCH TODAY, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 11:39:47
Jeroen you sound better you're being proactive. Maybe the med is working and just slowly so you don't really notice it working. Keep up the good work. Remember four weeks. Love Phillipa
Posted by SLS on June 24, 2008, at 13:15:34
In reply to police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
> so now i am on clozapine 3 weeks but its not helping,
Neither are you helping clozapine.
Give it a chance. Take it for at least two months before giving up on it.
I normally don't write to you because I find your case so frustrating. You are never compliant with treatment long enough to gather any information about your illness. I think the last thing I wrote is that you should slow down.
Just let these medicines get you well, and stop confounding your treatment.
This is not easy.
Do you have the courage to get well?
If so, then you need to start listening to professionals and not Psycho-Babble. You need the fortitude to remain on drugs long enough for them to work, just like anyone else afflicted with your condition needs to be. Since I have seen doctors require of their schizoid patients that they remain on a drug for at least two months, and I have seen the majority of them improve, I would say that painful patience is what you will have to exercise in the future. You might have to go back and try the drugs that you don't feel you gave an appropriate amount of time to work. That is a hopeful thought on my part. Clozapine works for more people than any other of the newer "atypical" neuroleptic antipsychotics.
I have aborted drug trials prematurely. I did so more often when I was at my sickest. This is a paradox of sorts. It was painful to continue for so long with one treatment when I needed relief so desperately in the present. I couldn't wait for the future.
I needed to go back and retry several drugs that I had failed to alot the necessary amount of time to work. However, this is truly hard to evaluate objectively given all of my treatment failures along the way. Since I did exercise patience this last attempt at treatment, I got lucky, and it worked. What made the last 1 1/2 years easier is that I stayed on medication long enough to get partial relief. It is much easier to be patient when you are feeling even a little better.
Allow time for clozapine to begin helping, even if that means staying with it for a few months. When it begins making you feel a little better, you will not only have less pain to persevere, but you will have true data that there is a possibility that the drug will work more and more as time goes along.
Stop beating your head against the wall. It is an easy way to start to feel better.
I have a wonderful idea. Spend two weeks away from Psycho-Babble and use the time to do your own research on Google and Medline and confer with your doctor afterwards. You'll see a whole bunch of scary stuff as well as promising stuff written. Use the results of your research to formulate a list of questions about your treatment. Let no question be unasked. I do not believe you know how to interpret your research findings as well your doctor. See for yourself that clinicians give antipsychotics for schizoid disorders trial periods of months rather than weeks. Of course, it does happen sometimes that someone will respond during the first week of neuroleptic treatment. However, you cannot compare yourself to any single person and define treatment periods by that standard.
"The wisdom of patience comes in knowing
that one must give Time time to work."
- Scott
Posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 13:21:24
In reply to Re: police and schizophrenia case » Jeroen, posted by SLS on June 24, 2008, at 13:15:34
ok SLS you made your point
it simply is most meds work for me after 2 weeks
thanks
Posted by SLS on June 24, 2008, at 13:30:52
In reply to to SLS, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 13:21:24
> ok SLS you made your point
>
> it simply is most meds work for me after 2 weeksThen I didn't make my point forcefully enough.
Why would you want to compare the pattern of previous treatment failures to a yet unknown pattern of success?
Do you think that I don't give a crap about you?
- Scott
Posted by jamesr2 on June 24, 2008, at 15:27:32
In reply to police and schizophrenia case, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 10:13:11
Hi,Jeroen, I also take clozapine. I take 500 mg a
day (200 mg morning, 300 mg night). Clozapine
doses have to be raised carefully because of
side-effects. Anyways, you said you are taking
50 mg two times a day. Maybe the dose is a bit low?Regards,
James
> hi, i still live with my parents but they wont allow me to come home until im better and on right med, so now i am on clozapine 3 weeks but its not helping, but i dont want bogus treatments like i cant return home to see my cat
>
>
> so what shall i do? shall i leave home and rest something and recover this way, what i need to do?
>
> the clozapine twice 50 mg 3.2 weeks now isnt making me feel good and doesnt work at all
>
> i know you said 4 weeks but thats long i will take it
>
> i have nothing to take anymore, except for the old drugs now and sulpiride and Sertindole i havent tryed lithium yet maybe thats a
Posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 17:04:06
In reply to Re: police and schizophrenia case, posted by jamesr2 on June 24, 2008, at 15:27:32
hi, how long did it take to kick in?
Posted by jamesr2 on June 26, 2008, at 12:31:18
In reply to to james, posted by Jeroen on June 24, 2008, at 17:04:06
> hi, how long did it take to kick in?
I don't remember how I increased the medication
the last time. I think it took about 2-3 weeks
to get to the full dose. Once at the full dose
Clozapine would work fast to help with psychotic
thinking, paranoid delusions, etc. As for help
with depression, I don't know much about clozapine's efficacy.Good Luck,
James
Posted by jamesr2 on June 26, 2008, at 13:03:29
In reply to Re: to james, posted by jamesr2 on June 26, 2008, at 12:31:18
Jeroen,When I was in the hospital they started me out
with a good dose of Haldol, which works fairly
quickly (a couple days for psychosis/paranoi), then they slowly raised my Clozapine. As the Clozapine dose became high enough, I stopped the Haldol.Maybe you could do the same thing? Your doctor
probably can prescribe a more tolerable med than
haldol (abilify , geodon, zyprexa, risperdal, etc) to take while you increase the clozapine.James
> > hi, how long did it take to kick in?
>
> I don't remember how I increased the medication
> the last time. I think it took about 2-3 weeks
> to get to the full dose. Once at the full dose
> Clozapine would work fast to help with psychotic
> thinking, paranoid delusions, etc. As for help
> with depression, I don't know much about clozapine's efficacy.
>
> Good Luck,
> James
This is the end of the thread.
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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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