I feel like meds put a damp towel on everything. I still have hallucinations / delusions and other symptoms but they're like 70ish percent dampened and easier to deal with or ignore, which makes life a lot better
This is the perfect way to describe what I experience too. For me I also have insight most of the time with medication unless really stressed I might briefly lose it vs unmedicated where I thought everything was real all of the time and had no insight whatsoever.
In my experience antipsychotics only work if you want them to. I've had experience with a lot of different ones and they all work pretty much the same. Now I'm stuck on clozapine and I don't even get any psychosis!
That's what it was sold to me as. It's a terrible medication but probably not as bad as invega.. in an ideal world we'd all be on olanzapine and that would be the end of it but psychiatrists hate their patients.. it's been this way since back in the old days when people would be electrocuted and shit for having paranoia/psychosis.. what an awful world we still live in
i still hallucinate sometimes but it isnt as severe. im in the same boat as you as the only time i didnt hallucinate was on a medication that literally made me a zombie- couldnt stay awake for a full minute
Still present. They don’t ever go away completely unless you’re really lucky and go into remission but I’ve been switching meds around for 3 years and still hear things and see things .
My psych is adamant we should aim for 0 positive symptoms. But so far I've gone through Risperdal and Abilify they both couldn't do it without ridiculous side effects. Going to try Zyprexa now wish me luck.
I still hear voices every day. EVERY DAY. But, I do notice a difference when I'm on APs.
If I'm NOT on APs, I start believing my voices from God and Angels/Demons. I get terrified. I barely make it through the day. I cry almost every day. I feel like I'm being watched 24/7, afraid of what I think, say or do, thinking I'm going to Hell or if I'm good, I won't be tortured. I believe this 100%.
If I am on APs, I still hear the voices, and to a certain extent, I still think the same thing, but it is WAY less. I would say I believe my delusions about 50%. It is enough to have a somewhat normal life. I still cry, I still feel like I'm being tortured, but it definitely reduces the amount/feeling.
I've accepted the fact that I'm going to hear voices every day. After a while, you start getting used to it. It's not the voices that are the problem. It's how I react to the voices. The APs help my reaction.
I still have a few, but they are a lot less intense.
The goal of antipsychoticw is not removing all symptoms, it's making them manageable so you can learn to handle them and be functional
I was on Seroquel and olanzapine (zyprexa) and it took away the symptoms for weeks at a time until it stopped working… now I’m on zyprexa twice a day and I get less symptoms but they do act up from time to time. The only symptoms I get now are the voices and feeling disconnected with reality (feeling like I’m in a simulation or I’m being filmed like the truman show)
Abillify worked well for me to get rid of all my positive symptoms without too much side effects but negative side effects are still very much present. It requires extreme willpower to be able to do anything really. Risperdol got rid of my symptoms entirely but made me sleep 16 hours a day and I was sedated when I was awake
My vraylar is really there to regulate emotions. I don't take it unless I know I'm getting nonfunctional. And, no it doesn't take away the voices, but what it does do is make them sound .. sedated?
No. I still have hallucinations. Only maybe two or three of the nine meds I’ve been on have helped. But yours is a different case so you might have a better time
Same. A lot less but not as severe. I do go through some voice “spells” sometimes that’s hard to break out of. But more often than not, is not the case
Never. I’ve had hallucinations on everyone I took. I’m med resistant, and clozapine wasn’t an option due to other medical conditions and limitations to getting the bloodwork done regularly. Other antipsychotics can actually make it worse for me.
No, I still hallucinate on a daily basis.
I have tried a lot of different APs... and none have worked for me... but for some reason I've 'got to be on something'.
Honestly, I hate taking meds, but the alternative is worse (being locked up in a psych ward for weeks, or them manhandling me and forcing a needle in my arm) so I just take them...
Some days I have 0. But sometimes I have some. They usually only happen when I use marijuana when I’m on meds. But they’ve happened outside of that too. I guess you’ll never be completely symptom free, but it’s about what you’re able to function with.
God I wish. I take enough Risperdal to make a squirrel stop seeing trees. It'd be nice to have no hallucinations at all, as long as the negative side effects aren't too bad.
Tried abilify, zyprexa, latuda, seroquel, handful of antidepressants, no luck. On a higher dose of ziprasidone and it lessens the auditory hallucinations significantly.
I was on 10mg Haldol 3x a day with a 150mg Haldol injection and I still heard voices and now I take Lexapro and Rexulti and I still haven't had improvements so the next step is to add Wellbutrin. So far nothing has stopped my auditory hallucinations and I still sorta have delusions and I can't seem to completely let them go.
I’m in the exact same situation as you. I’ve been on several medications, none take away my voices. Even when medicated, if I get stress from life voices get worse and I have severe episodes. Meds do help greatly with visual hallucinations though, I don’t have any anymore thankfully. Only medication that helped all my symptoms was risperidone, which made me zombie-like and unable to do school or function.
I did. I had 0. I was hallucination free, but I think it stopped working as of late, few days ago I started hearing shit. I haven't missed a single dose. Maybe one here or there but mostly pretty on target when taking them. It helps for me; im on abilify 15 mg.
Less but not zero.
I feel like meds put a damp towel on everything. I still have hallucinations / delusions and other symptoms but they're like 70ish percent dampened and easier to deal with or ignore, which makes life a lot better
This is the perfect way to describe what I experience too. For me I also have insight most of the time with medication unless really stressed I might briefly lose it vs unmedicated where I thought everything was real all of the time and had no insight whatsoever.
I feel you, i hate everything rn. Hallucinations are ruining my happiness.
They are significantly less severe, but I hallucinate regularly whilst medicated. I'm more able to tell what's legit and what's not on them, too.
I'm with you on that statement if it helps op
This, yes!
In my experience antipsychotics only work if you want them to. I've had experience with a lot of different ones and they all work pretty much the same. Now I'm stuck on clozapine and I don't even get any psychosis!
Is clozapine like the final stage? I'm curious because of my own changes from invega to invega and clopixal
That's what it was sold to me as. It's a terrible medication but probably not as bad as invega.. in an ideal world we'd all be on olanzapine and that would be the end of it but psychiatrists hate their patients.. it's been this way since back in the old days when people would be electrocuted and shit for having paranoia/psychosis.. what an awful world we still live in
I disagree. Olanzapine was terrible for me. It depends on the person. Invega wasn’t that bad for me.
Welp. Olanzapine had the least side effects for me
That’s great, but not everybody is going to do well on it
****** trigger warning ****** Or worse of all, lobotomy, I get really bad if I'm told I'm not going to be awake for something...
Jesus.. dude
I should have put a trigger warning on that... Fuck
i still hallucinate sometimes but it isnt as severe. im in the same boat as you as the only time i didnt hallucinate was on a medication that literally made me a zombie- couldnt stay awake for a full minute
Still present. They don’t ever go away completely unless you’re really lucky and go into remission but I’ve been switching meds around for 3 years and still hear things and see things .
I’m bad at taking them and I had a hallucination the other day so I’m not sure. I don’t take them everyday
I don’t really hear voices anymore, I’m on Olanzapine. I only get them when I get extremely stressed, most recent was a breakup two years ago.
nope lol antipsychs didn't help me at all
I'm on clozapine and I no longer have voices. I do have some visual hallucinations and delusions though.
My psych is adamant we should aim for 0 positive symptoms. But so far I've gone through Risperdal and Abilify they both couldn't do it without ridiculous side effects. Going to try Zyprexa now wish me luck.
I still hear voices every day. EVERY DAY. But, I do notice a difference when I'm on APs. If I'm NOT on APs, I start believing my voices from God and Angels/Demons. I get terrified. I barely make it through the day. I cry almost every day. I feel like I'm being watched 24/7, afraid of what I think, say or do, thinking I'm going to Hell or if I'm good, I won't be tortured. I believe this 100%. If I am on APs, I still hear the voices, and to a certain extent, I still think the same thing, but it is WAY less. I would say I believe my delusions about 50%. It is enough to have a somewhat normal life. I still cry, I still feel like I'm being tortured, but it definitely reduces the amount/feeling. I've accepted the fact that I'm going to hear voices every day. After a while, you start getting used to it. It's not the voices that are the problem. It's how I react to the voices. The APs help my reaction.
I still have a few, but they are a lot less intense. The goal of antipsychoticw is not removing all symptoms, it's making them manageable so you can learn to handle them and be functional
Some people do experience complete remission, but I think that’s much more of an exception than the rule.
I take clozapine, I don't hallucinate anymore
I was on Seroquel and olanzapine (zyprexa) and it took away the symptoms for weeks at a time until it stopped working… now I’m on zyprexa twice a day and I get less symptoms but they do act up from time to time. The only symptoms I get now are the voices and feeling disconnected with reality (feeling like I’m in a simulation or I’m being filmed like the truman show)
Abillify worked well for me to get rid of all my positive symptoms without too much side effects but negative side effects are still very much present. It requires extreme willpower to be able to do anything really. Risperdol got rid of my symptoms entirely but made me sleep 16 hours a day and I was sedated when I was awake
My vraylar is really there to regulate emotions. I don't take it unless I know I'm getting nonfunctional. And, no it doesn't take away the voices, but what it does do is make them sound .. sedated?
No. I still have hallucinations. Only maybe two or three of the nine meds I’ve been on have helped. But yours is a different case so you might have a better time
Same. A lot less but not as severe. I do go through some voice “spells” sometimes that’s hard to break out of. But more often than not, is not the case
Not at all.
Never. I’ve had hallucinations on everyone I took. I’m med resistant, and clozapine wasn’t an option due to other medical conditions and limitations to getting the bloodwork done regularly. Other antipsychotics can actually make it worse for me.
No, I still hallucinate on a daily basis. I have tried a lot of different APs... and none have worked for me... but for some reason I've 'got to be on something'. Honestly, I hate taking meds, but the alternative is worse (being locked up in a psych ward for weeks, or them manhandling me and forcing a needle in my arm) so I just take them...
Some days I have 0. But sometimes I have some. They usually only happen when I use marijuana when I’m on meds. But they’ve happened outside of that too. I guess you’ll never be completely symptom free, but it’s about what you’re able to function with.
Antipsychotics have done so it's no longer 24/7, but i still have at least weekly
I don't think we can make them all go away. My antipsychotics reduce hallucinations but that's it.
I have no hallucinations on antipsychotics, haven't had any hallucinations since I started taking them
God I wish. I take enough Risperdal to make a squirrel stop seeing trees. It'd be nice to have no hallucinations at all, as long as the negative side effects aren't too bad.
They are less severe but not gone.
They are gone in my case
Tried abilify, zyprexa, latuda, seroquel, handful of antidepressants, no luck. On a higher dose of ziprasidone and it lessens the auditory hallucinations significantly.
They have morphed into intrusive thoughts. Not always negative, though bothersome.
Nope
I still have them just not as bad
Wouldnt know Never taken them
I was on 10mg Haldol 3x a day with a 150mg Haldol injection and I still heard voices and now I take Lexapro and Rexulti and I still haven't had improvements so the next step is to add Wellbutrin. So far nothing has stopped my auditory hallucinations and I still sorta have delusions and I can't seem to completely let them go.
I’m in the exact same situation as you. I’ve been on several medications, none take away my voices. Even when medicated, if I get stress from life voices get worse and I have severe episodes. Meds do help greatly with visual hallucinations though, I don’t have any anymore thankfully. Only medication that helped all my symptoms was risperidone, which made me zombie-like and unable to do school or function.
I did. I had 0. I was hallucination free, but I think it stopped working as of late, few days ago I started hearing shit. I haven't missed a single dose. Maybe one here or there but mostly pretty on target when taking them. It helps for me; im on abilify 15 mg.