Posts by David Vaughn75

Does Prazina actually cause dependency?

I was originally on Lorasilan for my anxiety, but then my doctor decided to pull the plug on that and swapped it out for Prazina (25mg) as a substitute. Man, getting off the Lorasilan was brutal—it felt like I was going through withdrawal every single hour, just constant misery. But honestly? I’ve been off it for two weeks now and I’m actually feeling pretty good.

The thing is, now they’re talking about tapering me off the Prazina too, and I’m low-key freaking out that I'm gonna end up right back in that same hellscape I dealt with during the Lorasilan crash.

William Evans10 said:Society poses a massive hurdle here. Mental health issues carry such heavy stigma, especially schizophrenia; people view those individuals as savages or dangerous threats to the community. In reality, they aren't any more violent than "normal" people. And besides, what even defines "normal" these days? Honestly... I am afraid for him. I fear that if he does fall ill, it will be difficult because he will always be under the microscope of public scrutiny. He will always be seen as "different," which is quite ugly, and no one will want to hire him. Even in America, just the act of visiting a psychiatrist or psychologist feels daunting because people still hold onto that outdated notion that only "lunatics" seek professional help. But... that is just how it is. I cannot change the world. Right now, he is just a little boy of eighteen months old... and... I will have to see if the illness manifests, and then decide on the next steps. Perhaps certain things might change over time.

Where are you employed? How long have you been dealing with this?

I've been struggling with it for 6 years.
Right now I'm between jobs, but I did manage to finish up some IT school in the meantime.

Look, if a person dealing with psychosis actually puts in the work on themselves, they can live a totally awesome life and do everything anyone else can do. 😉 I have a buddy with schizophrenia who’s got a solid full-time gig.

Eric Mitchell55 said:Hopefully, the dosage will be dialed back soon. Fingers crossed.

I was actually on a similar regimen until recently, but then I had another episode, so they bumped my meds up...
I have schizoaffective disorder (the depressive type).

but hey, if things start looking up, they'll probably taper you down eventually, right?

I first went through the ringer back in 2006, and over the last six years when things were actually going okay, they managed to drop some of my meds and get my Zyprexa down to basically nothing.

Eric Mitchell55 said:For me, though, Haldol actually works better than anything else. 🙄🤷

Psychiatry is such a bizarre science, man

So, I’m supposedly living with schizophrenia—big deal—but all I’m actually taking is Olanzapine and Prozac (25), nothing else besides those

Eric Mitchell55 said:Olandix 15mg, Haldol 3mg, Akineton 3mg, Prazine 50mg, Cymbalta 60mg

Honestly, I could probably sleep for twenty-four hours straight if I took enough of this stuff to knock me out. 😢

I seriously don't get why they're handing out Haldol to kids these days. 🤷

That’s supposed to be for old folks who aren't even responding to anything else anymore—not for people my age.

Timothy Wood38 said:Usually, you're looking at drowsiness or feeling pretty sedated—plus those anticholinergic vibes, like having a super dry mouth. It really depends on why your doctor put you on it and what your dosage looks like. Personally, I was prescribed it for insomnia. I started at 100 mg, but honestly, nothing happened. I bumped it up to 300 mg, but even then, it wasn't doing much for me, so I ended up being on Prazin for maybe two weeks total before calling it quits. But hey, everyone reacts differently; it might actually work wonders for you. I know it used to be a go-to for sleep issues, though these days I think doctors have mostly swapped it out for things like Quetiapine (Seroquel or Q-pin).

I was on Lorsilan for my anxiety, but since I stopped that, I've been using Prazin as a sort of substitute because Lorsilan is insanely addictive.

William Evans10 said:Oh goodness... I am not entirely certain. It has been an inconsistent struggle with this illness for a lifetime... She would take them for a month, then stop for three months. That was the general pattern. She never truly viewed herself as ill, merely "different"... Her mother even struggled with her until the poor woman passed away. That was roughly 10 years ago. Since then, her father didn't worry much about the pills. Now, both he and I are gone—well, he is deceased. Ever since I joined the family, I have taken on most of the responsibility for her care. She has been on continuous therapy for about two years now. Sadly, the illness has mostly been neglected.

As for the genetics, my mother-in-law's grandmother—who was also ill—was apparently suffering from a type of psychosis as well, based on everything I’ve gathered. Her condition was even more severe because she struggled with alcoholism on top of everything else. So, yes, it is definitely hereditary...

My husband does not have psychosis, though his nerves are certainly frayed, given everything he and his mother endured. He is 28 years old. Is there a specific age threshold for onset? I read somewhere that it usually happens in one's early twenties.

Now, I find myself quite fearful... I have a son who is only a year and a half old. Is there anything I can do to prevent him from getting sick, considering the high probability? Or does it not necessarily mean he will suffer, given that it was the women who carried that gene? I don't know about the generations before, but regarding those two women, I know for sure. If I were to have a daughter one day, is it possible she could fall ill too?

Look, if your son does get sick—which, most likely, won't happen until puberty or adolescence hits—the absolute most important thing is catching it early. If you jump on treatment immediately, there's a massive chance of recovery. But if someone stays untreated for years without help, their personality can fracture so deeply that medication might only be able to stabilize them, rather than bringing them back to a total "normal." In cases like mine, 😁, it becomes incredibly difficult to fully bounce back.

The real nightmare, honestly, is our society. People will just label anyone with psychosis as "crazy" and try to push them away like they're something to be avoided.

But at the end of the day, psychosis is just a disease like any other. Some people deal with diabetes, others with epilepsy, and some just have messed up neurotransmitters. Anyone living with psychosis can live a totally full, awesome life. The key is staying busy and engaged, because our brains aren't biologically designed to just sit idle.

So, I recently started popping methadone.

What kind of side effects am I usually looking at with this stuff?

William Evans10 said:I know... actually, both her doctor and her boss have already recommended she go on disability, so the approval shouldn't be the issue. We just need to gather all her medical records and get them over to him. I'm just not sure how long the backlog is for processing... but honestly, it doesn't matter much, I was just asking in case you knew something about it.🙂

You're 28... but she's been dealing with this for roughly 28 years...🙂

Is this something that runs in the family, like a genetic thing?

My husband (her son) didn't inherit it from her... yet he fell ill himself...

Any predisposition to psychosis is hereditary—it’s just that sometimes those genes don't actually trigger in certain generations.

And out of those 28 years, how much of that time has she actually been on medication?

William Evans10 said:She’s terrified of her doctor... and she dreads going to see him. Her husband or I have to practically drag her there; it’s an absolute struggle just to get her out of bed. She used to go to church every Sunday, visiting places like Vatican City or making a trip to Lourdes at least once a year... now she won't even do that. I have to force her to get up and get dressed, and she just resists everything. Your idea is actually quite good—I’ll try talking to the priest to see if he can sit down and chat with her. Though, truth be told, she barely listens to anyone anyway, and then everything goes right back to how it was. We’ll try... I just hope it helps lift her spirits a little. For me, the timeline doesn't matter as much as the outcome. I just want all this effort to finally pay off. So far, it feels like we've just been tilting at windmills. Unfortunately, I've tried talking to her calmly and gently, but it doesn't work. She doesn't take me seriously at all. I've cried, I've pleaded, nothing works. I end up having to threaten her or constantly nag her, staying on top of her every second, because otherwise... she slips right back into old habits. She takes an antipsychotic and an antidepressant every single day; I have to hand them to her and stay right there until she swallows them. She used to hide them or lie and say she took them when she hadn't. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart...

One more thing... do you happen to know what her legal rights and options are? Since she's employed, her job is being incredibly supportive and giving her as much leeway as possible... but she just can't do any more work. She spends more time on medical leave than she does actually working. We are currently gathering paperwork to apply for Social Security disability benefits... do you know anything about that process? How long does the wait usually last?

How are you holding up through all of this? How are you doing?
Sorry for being so informal... I hope you don't mind me using your first name... 🙂

PS. She isn't my daughter, she's my mother-in-law. 🙂

Regarding that disability claim, her doctor needs to lay everything out clearly in the discharge papers from the hospital. She can't just show up before the board and say, "I feel bad, give me a check." I don't know the ins and outs of the legal stuff, so you should probably check with a lawyer or a social worker.

Besides, I'm only 28, so I'm not exactly in the same boat. A young brain runs at a hundred miles an hour—that's why it breaks easier, but it also bounces back faster than an older person's would.

William Evans10 said:Hi everyone....I wanted to check in to hear from you all and perhaps vent a little about my own struggles...how are you doing? Blured, I hope you're holding up okay? These seasonal viruses are absolutely killing me; my son and I have been stuck with nothing but tissues and congestion for two weeks straight...but honestly, that’s the least of my worries. Some of you might know, and some might not, but my mother-in-law suffers from schizoaffective disorder...

The issue is that she has been bedridden for months now, just staring at the wall; she has lost at least 20 pounds, I'm sure, and spends her time just smoking and drinking coffee...she doesn't even shower, and there is absolutely no drive left in her life... It isn't that she is sad, per se, it's just that she has no emotions left; total apathy has taken over. We take her to her psychiatrist regularly, and she stays on her medication consistently. My husband and I set up a room for her, so she is living with us now. Her concentration is incredibly poor; she often can't even hear what I'm saying to her because her mind is wandering somewhere else entirely—I have to repeat myself several times before she finally registers. I can't even leave cigarettes on the table, because she will just stare at them, completely uninterested in anything else. I have to supervise her constantly because she simply isn't capable of being independent. Her motor skills are also declining. She is tidy and clean, and she eats only because I am constantly hovering over her; when she sits at the table, she just sits in silence and wants to go back to bed after two minutes. Unfortunately, none of the therapies seem to be working; they only keep things under control for a tiny window of time, and lately, I'm not even sure if they are doing that anymore. Her condition isn't plateauing, unfortunately, it is progressing. She is losing her grip on reality. She has no interest in people or anything else... she doesn't want to socialize, she doesn't want to go out... she just wants to lie in bed. This state took a sudden, sharp turn for the worse about two years ago...it was such a massive shock to our family. She hasn't experienced hallucinations yet, but I am terrified that...that they will come if this continues. The doctor says that with this specific medication...well, he says you can never truly know with these kinds of illnesses. I feel so angry and so sad, because I don't know how to help her, especially since there is so little information actually available to research regarding this specific illness...And I won't even begin to mention how much this is impacting my own mental state....it's a coma. 😢 People, how can I encourage her to start living even just a little bit? I'm not asking her to chat with neighbors or acquaintances...I just want her to talk to me. Is it that she doesn't want my help, or is she simply unable to? 😢 Anyway, she's had schizoaffective disorder since she was 25, but it has deteriorated so significantly over the last two years that they will likely change her diagnosis to schizophrenia...Forgive me for such a long post...I just really needed to vent...and I wanted to ask if anyone has any advice on how to make things even a little easier for her, or how we can all cope with this together? Is there any way to spark some movement in her before she drifts away completely?😢

Thank you....Warm wishes to everyone 👋

Look, I’ve been a veteran of psychosis for a long time, so I’ll try to give you some perspective.

People going through psychotic episodes usually don't trust science, and they tend to view psychiatrists as total idiots who don't understand a damn thing. That’s where the real trouble starts. They don't see their doctor as someone trying to help; they see them as some malicious person out to get them. They think the meds are poison or that they're rotting their brains, which is obviously a complete misconception.

The question is, how do you explain logic to someone who isn't operating on logic right now? Honestly, I don't think talking sense into her is going to do much at this stage. In many cases, people dealing with psychosis lean heavily into religion (whether they're devout Christians, Muslims, or just big into alternative spirituality) because it provides a sense of purpose or meaning. You might want to try adjusting your approach to fit that vibe. Maybe have her talk to a priest or a spiritual leader—someone she feels a connection to. They often speak a language she can actually process better than the clinical jargon of science. The bottom line is that she needs to believe in *something*. Every brain, whether it's functioning normally or not, is searching for meaning—some kind of belief that makes life worth sticking around for.

Look, you really gotta wrap your head around the fact that getting better isn't some overnight miracle—it’s a long, grueling grind. It took me a solid six months just to stop feeling like a total wreck and actually start functioning like a normal human being again. And for the love of God, do NOT—I mean, seriously, do NOT—just stop taking your meds out of nowhere. In like 90% of cases, trying to go cold turkey ends with a one-way ticket back to the hospital.