Posts by gentletiger23

urbanskipper4 said:Hmm, Zyprexa actually worked okay for me, but man, the weight gain and that constant, gnawing hunger were brutal. My focus was better, the depression lifted, and I slept like a baby. But it didn't touch my OCD, which is my main issue. Seroquel is working much better for me now, though I did put on 12 lbs from that one.
I gained 20 lbs from the Zyprexa.

But you see, everyone’s experience is so uniquely their own, isn't it? Some things just baffle me, honestly. I have this friend out by the coast who takes either 20 or 40 mg of Zyprexa, yet he barely eats, stays incredibly active, and doesn't struggle with sleep at all. That is such an extreme dosage, and I find myself doubting if he's even taking what he claims to be; one would certainly notice the effects on someone like him. You say your concentration improved on Zyprexa? For me, it was the exact opposite. As for the weight gain, mine stemmed from the excessive sleepiness and a heightened appetite. But can sleeping about 16 hours a day truly make you gain weight if you aren't eating anything? Not really. I personally went from 140 lbs up to nearly 200 lbs, though I've managed to get down to about 160 lbs now. Since I'm quite tall, it wasn't the end of the world, but still. And by the way, who is treating you? It is truly mind-boggling! OCD or any obsessive-compulsive disorder isn't treated with Seroquel or Zyprexa🙂!!! It feels like a Solomon-like solution—just tossing whatever comes to mind at the patient first. What kind of approach is that? Treating OCD with antipsychotics? I used to try to treat myself, and now I feel like I might need to educate my psychiatrists😂. Luvox, however, is a gentle mother when it comes to OCD. Believe me, it is perhaps the finest medication available. There are so few side effects, and it lifts your spirits so subtly that you won't even notice it happening; you simply never fall back into depression. I once took up to 300 mg a day in three doses. Yet, regardless of the meds, my experience with OCD suggests that depending on how severe the disorder is, the only true way to win is through the sheer strength of your own will. That is how I did it. To me, the medication felt like little more than a placebo to provide the courage needed to confront the obsessions. Essentially, you choose a moment, you plan carefully, you gather your inner strength, and... suddenly, it's gone. It isn't a gradual process. You have to break your obsessions. It sounds impossible, doesn't it? And the first day hurts terribly. You can think of nothing else but ways to satisfy those urges. But you say "no." By the second day, it still hurts... but slightly less. Trust me, within a week, the pain subsides significantly. And after a month, you should be able to laugh at the whole thing. The hardest part is gathering that resolve and refusing to give in. There is no occupational therapy or distraction technique that works like this. Once you break the cycle, you won't feel the need to return to those thoughts and actions. People told me that all the time, but I used to think some magic pill would fix everything. It won't. Most mental health struggles, unless they have progressed too far, cannot be cured by medication and hobbies alone. They are healed within one's own mind. Alone. When you finally manage to conquer yourself, it is a massive achievement and a beautiful feeling🙂 The less chemicals and drugs involved, the more it relies on your own effort. Anything is possible🙂 I truly don't know how you all haven't been turned into zombies, though there are probably a million different reasons for it. Absolutely everything influences potential side effects. The most wonderful thing is when you manage to impress your psychiatrist—or when I impress my psychiatrist—with your willpower rather than the power of your prescriptions. I only remember one instance where, amidst the terrible agony of OCD, I swallowed about 70-80 mg of Zyprexa and felt absolutely nothing. Recently, due to other issues, I wanted to sleep for two days straight, so I took 40 mg mixed with a sedative, and I succeeded; I slept for about 36 hours. It all depends on how you feel. When you feel recovered, every single milligram feels like it's destroying you. When you have no hope left, you don't feel the change. It's strange, isn't it? But taking Zyprexa for longer than seven years? After that, you can say goodbye to a normal life forever. I wouldn't go back to that, not under any circumstances. Let someone find a law that allows for that, then we can talk. After seven years of use, it becomes a habit, and when it's slowly taken away... it destroys you more than it heals. Blood sugar issues, a million other side effects. The worst part is that sudden, unexplained death near the end. How comforting! No thank you, my death certainly won't be unexplained XD

P.S. Love is truly the ultimate diet plan 🙂 It’s been tested and approved 😉 And honestly, isn't a little bit of empathy and genuine attention all we really need from one another?

nimblerider21 said:Look, I haven't been deep-diving into every single word here, but I’ve made my way through the first 40 pages of this thread
and man, it is absolutely gripping. Honestly, I didn't really spot anyone who seemed genuinely mentally ill
except for that one guy who went on that aggressive rampage (which, if you ask me, is when illness turns truly dark)
but looking back now, it turns out being sick can actually be a good thing sometimes, in its own way.
And don't even get me started on all that nonsense about chemical imbalances in the brain
I mean, is the brain just chemistry? Like, hello?
It feels pretty obvious to me that they just push that narrative to move more of those little chemical
pills... seriously, hello?
As for all that stuff regarding ECT—you know, the electroshock therapy—man, give me a break.
Honestly, those psychiatrists should be the ones getting hit with a cattle prod or an ice pick instead.
I mean, seriously... just... wow.
It makes me wonder, because people have always existed
who fit what we call schizophrenia today, but back then, society actually had room for them.
I mean, weren't those the prophets, the shamans, and the spiritual leaders?
Since mental health struggles aren't the same thing as intellectual disabilities,
everyone really needs to focus on their own personal growth first.
If someone is smart enough, why on earth would you expect this massive system
to actually step up and help you? Sixty years ago, we had maybe a handful of types of "madness"
and now we have over a thousand different diagnoses out there...
I truly believe that schizophrenia is a real thing, and when you're in the middle of it, you can't just pull yourself out,
just like how OCD works—that obsessive-compulsive disorder where you get stuck in those loops
with senseless repetitions and intrusive thoughts.
But once the episodes pass....
Sending love to all my fellow schizos, though to some of you
I’d say: don't go trying to be a hero too early..
and maybe take a few tips from the self-help books.
And please, don't try to lecture someone while they're in the middle of a schizophrenic episode.
Stay strong, mental warriors, and fight until the very end...🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂:git ara:🙂🙂🙂🙂

Kudos to you, my friend. I clicked through to the last page and you really did say it all. That's the heart of it... Madness Marketing. That is why every new edition of the DSM will come loaded with hundreds of fresh diagnoses. Honestly, anyone in the world could find a label for themselves in those pages. For instance, I struggled with OCD, and now they lead me straight toward schizophrenia simplex, F20.6. Hahaha... I know plenty of friends dealing with various forms of schizophrenia. They are wonderful people, truly, and they can make you laugh heartily.🙂 I must say, I have never experienced any kind of hallucinations, so it quite irritates me when they attempt to group me into that F20.x category... In the old days, they performed lobotomies, but nowadays, they perform chemical lobotomies with medication. The stigma attached to it is quite heavy... though, occasionally, it serves as a very effective tool for intimidation. It acts almost like a handgun used for self-defense. Everything was a joke at my expense until people discovered what I was going through. Heheh... Then, suddenly, there was 100% fear. It's rather amusing; you suddenly possess a sort of authority. An invisible one. Society? Well, as usual. And everyone eventually "cracks" at some point. It’s right there in the moment you mention the word. Boom! Even movies and video games exploit that fear. Most of the horror in films and games centers around mental institutions. Come on, people, it's just entertainment and Hollywood. They do nothing but stigmatize these individuals. You cannot tell that 90% of people with schizophrenia are "mad" unless they tell you themselves. About 10% show signs that things aren't quite right. And the remaining 1% would be the severe cases. But those individuals have gone... too far. Just stay brave, everyone! It isn't nearly as terrifying as it seems.🙂 Please, feel free to throw some more jokes my way. Because, honestly, despite living with OCD, I have never once felt "crazy." If you were to just type F20 into Google, you would see in the descriptions that it is essentially just an inability to fit into the modern social fabric—which is really just a fancy way of saying one possesses a different kind of character. And believe it or not, if I hadn't received that diagnosis... well, today I might just be some local drunk or a complete jerk. Instead, it has shaped me into a very high-quality individual. You go through all sorts of things, and it truly empowers you. It genuinely irritates me when people stereotype those living with schizophrenia; they all seem to assume such individuals are homicidal by nature. In reality, it is quite the opposite, as most would turn that impulse inward upon themselves first! Such ignorant, narrow-minded people. And besides... until they actually experience what it feels like to live with this condition, they should probably keep their opinions to themselves. The lack of social acceptance is what truly tears at your soul, rather than the illness itself. It is so incredibly rare for the sickness to be the problem. Furthermore, mental "illnesses" are part of who a person is, not merely something a person possesses! Cancer is something you have, but you don't *have* schizophrenia. It is who you are... a person with schizophrenia, a person with OCD, a person with depression, and so on. Just keep moving forward, everyone! Don't let them get you down!

I truly didn't expect that I would find myself needing to write here... but necessity is a powerful thing, isn't it? It concerns Zyprexa. I’ve struggled with OCD for about four years now, and I honestly can't fathom why, after being on Luvox, Prozac, and Anafranil, I ended up with such a massive pile of medications. But the worst of them all? Definitely Zyprexa. Why? Well, as they say, I have what is essentially the mildest, most basic version of schizophrenia, F20.6—the simplex version, not the deluxe edition, haha! What the ICD-10 classification states is true, almost entirely... but I can't help but wonder, didn't this all stem from my severe OCD? For practically six years, I was consistently on Zyprexa 10 mg. My psychiatrist is quite pleasant, so she checked in on me once a month, then every two months, and eventually even every three. Most recently, I had been on Luvox 150 mg paired with that single 10 mg dose of Zyprexa. What breaks my heart is that while Zyprexa might actually be beneficial for those dealing with paranoia or other intense symptoms... is it really meant for a simple case like mine? Hmm... I don't think so. Just 10 mg is enough to literally turn you into a zombie. And I mean that literally. Of course, it depends on individual tolerance and physical makeup—gender, height, weight, and so on. For me, it was a constant struggle. I was sleeping twelve hours straight, from 2:00 AM to 2:00 PM, plus another three hours in the afternoon. I lost absolutely every interest I ever had. Video games! Music! Everything! Because I knew that the moment I started anything, I would just fall asleep. There was this crushing fatigue that lasted all day. And the weight gain? My appetite skyrocketed! I always looked like I had just smoked something. Besides, olanzapine is a drug, plain and simple. And I have always stood against drugs; I have never wanted to take them, nor did I ever intend to. Eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore, so exactly four months ago, I stopped taking it. Quite abruptly, I suppose. But for just a day or two, I felt this incredible sense of freedom. My mind cleared, I became much more talkative, I had more interests, and I slept significantly less—about half as much. The exhaustion vanished. It was all wonderful. There were no withdrawals or scary side effects like people warned me about. In fact, I found myself wondering: are there really no side effects to stopping so suddenly? Then, I went in for my checkup fifteen days ago, and she suspected I wasn't taking the Zyprexa. I didn't tell her I had stopped; I told her I was still taking it. But I highly doubt she believed me, because instead of the Luvox, she prescribed me one 300mg tablet of Depakote. That’s a mood stabilizer and an anti-epileptic, yet we are back to the Zyprexa issue. I hadn't taken it for three and a half months, and then, perhaps doing the stupidest thing possible, I took it again for ten days. My parents were nagging me about it; they realized I wasn't taking it. They never forced me, though. But a few days ago, I finally told them I hadn't been taking it for a long time and that I don't plan to start again. So, I stopped once more. And please forgive me, but it has completely wrecked my system. On the plus side, I am not sleeping nearly as much, but the major downside since I quit is that it takes me five hours to fall asleep! I lie down around 1:00 AM but don't drift off until 6:00 AM. Then I sleep until noon. I don't feel tired, but it is exhausting to spend five hours every single day just trying to fall asleep. It isn't exactly "insomnia." It's more like my mind is constantly planning and thinking, constantly. Tomorrow I should do this, I will say that there, I'll do this here. I'm interested in this, how does that work, what about that? Nothing unusual, really. Just thoughts, sometimes worries, sometimes love, haha! So, what now? I have a follow-up appointment in two weeks. What on earth am I supposed to do? Naturally, I will tell her. An old doctor who used to be a great conversationalist regarding treatment once told me that no one will ever force me to take medication. And looking at American law, nowhere does it say "forced medication." I find myself asking: isn't there some alternative? I was a zombie for six years, and I refuse to be one again, even if I face problems until the day I die. My GP gave me Zonadren for sleep, which surprises me given the potential interactions with antipsychotics. I tried herbal supplements, but I think I might just take the Zonadren. For three or four days, as instructed. I simply don't understand what she will say after I explain everything. Fortunately, she isn't some ancient, judgmental woman. Still, now that I am returning to Zyprexa for a third time, does it even make sense? Please, tell me. You all have more experience. I am twenty-two, so I'm not a complete fool. I always read the side effects; I spend hours reading through pages of information online. But I am no psychiatrist; I just listen to what various people think. It feels silly because every psychiatrist in the world seems to have their own unique theory. It feels like a bit of pseudo-science. It isn't a "disease," it's a disorder. It offends me when someone says, "You are sick." It doesn't offend me when they say, "You aren't normal," because that just means I'm unconventional. What kind of "illness" is it where every psychiatric patient receives a different therapy? Where there are no lab tests? We know nothing about the brain. It's all becoming so complex. What should I do? Or rather, what will she say? I have the support and authority of my parents. Just as any medication is taken at one's own responsibility, so is the decision to stop. If anyone messes up, it's on me. And no, I am not acting crazy. I simply want to live as healthily as I can while I am young, with as few chemicals as possible. I'm a vegetarian, by the way. Even a friend encouraged me to quit. I hesitated, but he gave me the extra push I needed to stop. Now, I am at a loss. No matter how you look at it, it's a lose-lose situation. And yes, I am a fool—I get used to being off it, and then I go back for ten days. Zyprexa works incredibly well as a hypnotic, though. No matter how much you think or plan, within an hour, you are deep in sleep. But then there is that 555.555... factor. So, is there a compromise? An alternative? Any advice would be very welcome!

P.S. Before anyone starts throwing those shocking emojis my way or lecturing me about what I’ve supposedly done wrong, perhaps you might consider a different perspective? Is it truly necessary to take medication for something like cancer? Of course not, yet we do it. In my own experience, I didn't find any negativity in my actual behavior—though I certainly felt it during my OCD phase—rather, the negativity stemmed entirely from the medication itself. And I know plenty of people who are prescribed as many as four pills at once; if they were actually taking them, they wouldn't be out riding their bikes for five hours a day, but would instead be completely bedridden twenty-four hours a day. So, please, do not assume that I am the only one who has decided to stop taking these. For those interested, here is some research:

Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman from Columbia University, along with several other researchers, published a government-funded study in "The New England Journal of Medicine" regarding the efficacy of certain "medications" used to treat mental disorders, comparing older generations of these drugs against newer ones. Far from proving how effective these "medications" truly are, the study revealed that out of 1,493 participating patients, 74% discontinued their "medication" before the treatment was even finished due to lack of effectiveness, unbearable side effects, or various other reasons. After 18 months of taking Zyprexa (Olanzapine, a psychiatric drug), 64% of patients had stopped using it, most frequently because it caused drowsiness, weight gain, or neurological issues such as stiffness and tremors.