Posts by Ashley Morgan

Kenneth Scott41 said:Has anyone here actually dealt with Zyprexa before? I'm also wondering—if you could even compare them that way—which one carries more weight, Zoloft or Zyprexa?

First off, just so we're clear, Zyprexa isn't even an antidepressant; it's an antipsychotic. And if I had to guess—don't call me out on this if I'm wrong—I'd say it definitely packs more of a punch than Zoloft.

So, I’ve been sitting with this diagnosis of unspecified psychosis and schizotypal personality disorder—basically a "borderline case" on my EEG. Honestly, I have this nagging feeling my doctors are sugarcoating things to avoid labeling me with a full-blown schizophrenia diagnosis. If they went that route, my life would basically be over. It would be a total disaster for my career prospects; right now, I’m working as a forklift operator, and if word ever got out that my head isn't quite right, I wouldn't be able to hold down a job anywhere. I struggle a lot with mood swings, and I suspect the docs are just trying to protect me from the stigma, but deep down, I can't help but feel like it's actually schizophrenia. Currently, I'm on 10mg of Zyprexa and Depakote Chrono.
I tend to keep to myself, and yeah, I get pretty lonely. Socializing isn't really my strong suit, so I probably come off as a bit of a weirdo or just some guy who doesn't fit in. More than anything, I just want to find a sweet girl who actually gets me, but I honestly have no clue how to find a soulmate when I'm living like this. Any advice out there from my fellow schizophrenia warriors? 😢

Hey, so, are you one of those paranoid, introverted types dealing with schizophrenia, or are you more of that loudmouth type who just blathers on about nonsense without even realizing how ridiculous they sound? 😍

wanderingscout13 said:Unknown... my former boss actually went through the exact same thing; she gained a massive amount of weight specifically because of those medications. A good friend of mine dealt with it too. It's honestly pretty awful.
There was this one single time when my doctor tried to prescribe me something for anxiety, and because I was so terrified of the weight gain, I actually ended up snapping at him! Honestly, the guy was being totally irresponsible!

You don't actually gain weight from those specific drugs (I'm assuming we're talking about diazepam)

David Kern14 said:Stop lying, man, there's no way you're taking Zyprexa and Moodstar at the same time.

Look, I was on Moditen before, but I actually switched over to Zyprexa recently. I honestly thought I made it pretty clear earlier. 😲

I’m currently on Zyprexa, and man, I have gained weight like crazy. Every now and then my hand or some other part of my body just starts twitching; it isn't that intense shaking you get from Moodstar, it's more like 😬
. I don't really feel exhausted, though... even if I do have to sleep for 12 hours straight just to feel somewhat human again. But hey, that's just how it goes, I guess.

coppergardener said:hey

I recently had my first appointment with a psychiatrist—it actually lasted a good twenty minutes or so, which was surprising—and I've been dealing with these symptoms for about ten years now. On my clinical assessment, she noted progressive schizotypal personality disorder (which, truth be told, is what I had already diagnosed myself) and mentioned that there’s an observable progression of schizophrenic processes under observation. Now, here is the thing: I am resisting medication for the time being; I really wanted to see if psychotherapy could be my first line of defense. Of course—as I had already suspected—she informed me quite bluntly that no therapist in the States is going to take me on if I refuse to take medication. Since I don't have symptoms that would actively derail the therapy sessions themselves, and considering how overworked our American psychiatrists are—seeing fifty or sixty patients a day is not uncommon—I highly doubt anyone would bother talking to me unless I was medicated. I even asked her what kind of prescription she would suggest if I did decide to comply... and she said she wasn't quite sure yet. Well, isn't that just... something.

Can anyone here tell me what kind of medications are typically prescribed for schizotypal disorder? (To add some context: I deal with intrusive thoughts and elements that lean toward cyclothymia... though no hallucinations... if I were to list every single symptom, I'd practically be writing a dissertation 😁.)

And honestly, what on earth... if there is an organic basis for this, I have no way of knowing what it might be since I declined the meds right out of the gate. She simply told me that given the nature of my questions and my intellectual capacity, I could only find the kind of care I'm looking for through private practice—which, unfortunately, is simply not an option for me financially—and then she told me to reach out for a follow-up as needed. A follow-up🙄...

I certainly suspect that functioning properly without medication might be a struggle, but due to certain personal and health-related reasons, I have a massive amount of fear and resistance when it comes to drugs.

So... is there anyone else here living with schizotypal?

Thanks!

Back when I was at the Mayo Clinic, they had me on 3mg of Moditen and Citalopram for depression and F21 schizotypal disorder. I didn't try anything else after that, but honestly, those didn't really do much for me either.

coppergardener said:hey

I recently had my first appointment with a psychiatrist—it actually lasted a good twenty minutes or so, which was surprising—and I've been dealing with these symptoms for about ten years now. On my clinical assessment, she noted progressive schizotypal personality disorder (which, truth be told, is what I had already diagnosed myself) and mentioned that there’s an observable progression of schizophrenic processes under observation. Now, here is the thing: I am resisting medication for the time being; I really wanted to see if psychotherapy could be my first line of defense. Of course—as I had already suspected—she informed me quite bluntly that no therapist in the States is going to take me on if I refuse to take medication. Since I don't have symptoms that would actively derail the therapy sessions themselves, and considering how overworked our American psychiatrists are—seeing fifty or sixty patients a day is not uncommon—I highly doubt anyone would bother talking to me unless I was medicated. I even asked her what kind of prescription she would suggest if I did decide to comply... and she said she wasn't quite sure yet. Well, isn't that just... something.

Can anyone here tell me what kind of medications are typically prescribed for schizotypal disorder? (To add some context: I deal with intrusive thoughts and elements that lean toward cyclothymia... though no hallucinations... if I were to list every single symptom, I'd practically be writing a dissertation 😁.)

And honestly, what on earth... if there is an organic basis for this, I have no way of knowing what it might be since I declined the meds right out of the gate. She simply told me that given the nature of my questions and my intellectual capacity, I could only find the kind of care I'm looking for through private practice—which, unfortunately, is simply not an option for me financially—and then she told me to reach out for a follow-up as needed. A follow-up🙄...

I certainly suspect that functioning properly without medication might be a struggle, but due to certain personal and health-related reasons, I have a massive amount of fear and resistance when it comes to drugs.

So... is there anyone else here living with schizotypal?

Thanks!

My diagnosis kept jumping around—first they said schizotypal, then schizoid, then schizoaffective, and finally they landed on F20 schizophrenia. It felt like they were just throwing darts at a board and didn't know how to handle me. 🤣
I just started taking Olanzapine, and man, it knocked me out so hard I slept until 5 PM. I’m just kind of zombie-walking around right now, so I can't tell you for sure yet if it's actually helping or not. 😍

Ugh, man, does anyone know if there’s an antipsychotic out there that doesn't absolutely wreck your sleep schedule? I’ve been on Seroquel for almost two weeks now and I am seriously struggling. It’s totally wiping me out 😢

Who was that singing over there... you know, that time my grandad ended up tearing up the road and blowing out a tire, so we all had to hop off the bus and walk to catch the funeral procession while the driver scrambled to swap the rubber on the bus 🤣

And then that goofy guy Miško spots those two hooking up in the woods, so the whole crowd from the funeral ends up ditching the service just to watch them instead 😬

briskgull27, you working anywhere at the moment?

briskgull27 said:Honestly, my absolute worst-case scenario would be:
Just being by myself in a big house, fully stocked with heat, food, water, and electricity.
Plus, I’ve got a PC that actually works.🤣
And I bet your friend is probably popping lithium just like I am.

Wait, why on earth would that be bad? I'm an F-22 and that sounds like the absolute dream life to me.😲

Add a working computer and a cat that occasionally poops on my keyboard, and I'm set. 😬

briskgull27 said:is on eglonyle

Man, if there’s one thing that actually made me feel like death, it was definitely eglonyle. 👎
It was just constant misery. I couldn't get two weeks of decent sleep without feeling completely wiped out, and the sweating was unreal because eglonyle totally wrecks your hormones. Honestly, I'm pretty sure that's why they didn't approve it here in the USA. 😠

At the end of the day, I told myself I'd rather deal with anything else than suffer through that stuff, so I just tossed the whole bottle in the trash 😬 and, lo and behold, I started feeling better immediately. My sleep schedule is totally back on track now—which is probably why I’m sitting here typing this at 5:30 in the morning. Maybe I'll actually manage to catch some Z's in an hour or two. 👍

F21 jumping in here... 😁

Some days I feel pretty much like a regular person, but then there are those days where the psychosis just hits me out of nowhere. Suddenly, I can’t even string together two coherent words—honestly, it feels just like Malnar's Sheva 😍. I get super paranoid, and under any kind of pressure, my whole thought process just completely falls apart. If someone asks me a simple question, I might go totally numb to everything happening around me (which is REALLY dangerous when I'm driving), or I'll genuinely forget my own name or say something totally nonsensical. 😍 It was actually pretty wild back when I was in the Army; I wouldn't be able to handle a simple task like "hey, grab some matches from the corner store," and five seconds later, I'd be sitting there frustrated because I couldn't remember who sent me or what I was even supposed to do. 😲

Right now, I'm just taking 4x25 mg of Lexapro for depression and about 40 mg of Norvasc before bed... I'm still pretty new to all this medication stuff, even though I've been dealing with these issues for over 15 years. I really wonder if there's a med out there that could stop this sudden mental breakdown, because it doesn't even seem to be triggered by fear. I just end up getting so angry at myself because I can't pull a few logical words out of my brain (and even then, they aren't in the right order 😍).

It's honestly a massive roadblock in my life. The last time I went out looking for work, I sat down for an interview and couldn't even remember the employer's name, what his company actually did, or even the specific job I had applied for. I'm sure I left a real "impressive" impression on them. 😍