Posts by bluedrifter45

Rebecca Rivera3 said:I’ve dealt with auditory hallucinations before, and I managed to get them under control—they haven't come back since. Although... one day I had a hallucination where I was absolutely convinced the ghost from Harry Potter was right there in my room with me. He stayed for an entire day... including through the evening. By the next morning, he was gone.
Of course, I know it wasn't actually him, but in my head, it felt incredibly real.
Anyway, it's over now. No voices, nothing. I'm doing okay...
You're completely right, bluedrifter45; I am fully aware that I shouldn't be acting this way and that I need professional help. For sleep, I take some Melatonin or maybe Advil, so I just take whatever helps, even though I know pills aren't a cure.

I'm just asking because I doubt I'd be the first person to deal with nightmares or hallucinations while on Ambien, so maybe try to keep an eye out for that too.🙂

Joseph Fowler33 said:Thanks for the info! Just wondering, though—is 900 mg a day considered a high dose?

It’s relatively high, I suppose. I imagine it probably makes you feel quite drowsy, doesn't it? Aside from its role as a mood stabilizer, valproate is also utilized for certain types of epilepsy, though that likely isn't relevant to your specific situation.

Rebecca Rivera3 said:Back when I was at my lowest—before everything really hit the fan—I didn't believe in anything except pure logic. I think I actually suppressed all my emotions on purpose because I wanted to distance myself from anything that wasn't strictly scientific. It wasn't until I started feeling like I was losing my mind that I actually began questioning things like the soul...

Since I've started trying to be more mindful of my spiritual side, I feel like I'm handling my internal struggles much better...
darksurfer4, you're absolutely right; the soul is everything. Without it, we aren't even whole. Medication doesn't "cure" the soul, it just helps ease the fight. I actually just took one to help me sleep... I've been having some pretty intense nightmares lately.

Rebecca Rivera3, hang in there. Regardless of what you're going through right now, I assume you realize that hallucinations are a serious matter, and you probably ought to seek professional help rather than just suffering and fighting this out on your own. Auditory hallucinations are usually the worst, especially when the voices start giving you orders. There will be plenty of time later to debate the existence of the "soul," but for now, the priority should probably be finding some medication to help you manage that internal struggle. What are you taking to sleep? Xanax, Diazepam, or maybe something like Ativan?

Rebecca Rivera3 said:Schizophrenia is an illness of the soul... so is it even possible to heal a soul with nothing but pills? You can certainly try...

One is technically "supposed" to use medication to manage both the "positive" and "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia, which is apparently what science tells us, though it seems to me that the various antipsychotics usually just require a whole mountain of additional drugs just to handle all their side effects.

Does anyone actually know what psychological testing looks like in practice? I suppose it’s just a mountain of multiple-choice forms, based on what I’ve heard, along with some repetitive reciting of stories and numbers, and then that's it, plus the interview. Is there anything else to it, I guess?

Richard White8 said:What is interesting about antipsychotics is how they can be a nightmare for one person and perfectly fine for another. For me, taking 30 mg of Azolar daily was pure torture; I couldn't sit or lie down, I just had to pace constantly. I eventually had to get off it entirely. The side effects of these medications are intense and vary wildly from person to person. The most important thing is finding the right medication through trial and error.

I suppose I agree. I was reading online that for something like Abilify, you really should take it orally for at least two weeks before switching to an injection just to gauge potential side effects—which, I haven't really experienced yet, aside from perhaps some insomnia—but my doctors seemed to rush the process, so I'm feeling a bit uneasy about it. Then there's Zyprexa, which causes such terrible weight gain all on its own, even if you set aside the fact that it drives your appetite through the roof. Like you said, these medications feel so ungrateful; I suspect that even the most seasoned psychiatrist in the country couldn't accurately predict how any individual might react. It seems to me that, much like antibiotics don't cure the root cause, these drugs mostly just mask the symptoms, and I have to admit I harbor a deep aversion toward antipsychotics specifically because I know I can function without them, and maybe what I actually need is talk therapy rather than a pill that could potentially cause unpredictable, long-term issues. I am generally quite happy with my psychiatric care, but I'm considering seeing someone privately—does anyone happen to have recommendations for a specialist in Cleveland or New York City?

Harold Anderson3 said:Hey, I mentioned in the post above that I’m actually on the maximum dose of that medication, though I take it in pill form. They say it doesn't bring your mood down quite as much as other antipsychotics, but when you're hitting that top dosage, I find myself drifting into some pretty depressive thoughts. To be fair, I can't be entirely certain if it's the medication itself, since I've been struggling with depression for quite a while now regardless of what I'm taking. As for the shot, they likely gave you the injection because it's the most reliable way to ensure you stay consistent with your treatment. I actually stayed on Risperdal for seven years for that exact same reason. Don't worry too much, things will turn out okay. All things considered, it's a solid medication, and it's actually one of the newer ones being widely used here in the States.

They gave me 200mg/1ml, so I suppose that’s a lower dose. Before this, I was taking 5mg tablets twice a day. I’m just hoping everything works out okay.

Harold Anderson3 said:Hey, I mentioned in the post above that I’m actually on the maximum dose of that medication, though I take it in pill form. They say it doesn't bring your mood down quite as much as other antipsychotics, but when you're hitting that top dosage, I find myself drifting into some pretty depressive thoughts. To be fair, I can't be entirely certain if it's the medication itself, since I've been struggling with depression for quite a while now regardless of what I'm taking. As for the shot, they likely gave you the injection because it's the most reliable way to ensure you stay consistent with your treatment. I actually stayed on Risperdal for seven years for that exact same reason. Don't worry too much, things will turn out okay. All things considered, it's a solid medication, and it's actually one of the newer ones being widely used here in the States.

Thanks. Yeah, I see... since it acts as a partial dopamine receptor agonist, it doesn't cause the weight gain you get from Zyprexa or some of those other atypical antipsychotics that hit so many different receptors... anyway, they have me diagnosed with F60.3 (emotionally unstable personality) and F23.8 (acute and transient psychotic disorders)—mostly because of some attention-seeking incident about five years ago that ended up being labeled as psychosis, I guess. I am mostly worried about the side effects of all these drugs, specifically whether I'll still be able to function intellectually like I used to. It isn't even entirely clear to me why they're prescribing this given my diagnosis, but well, it is what it is.😢

Hey everyone, does anyone here have any actual experience using Abilify? I just got hit with a month-long injection today... they framed it as some kind of "mood stabilizer," if you can believe that... I guess we'll see

Harold Anderson3 said:Would you mind sharing which medications you're currently on?
I've always felt it’s a bit nonsensical to ask someone, "Are you hearing or seeing things that aren't there?" Because if they actually are experiencing hallucinations, then to them, those sensations are completely real, making it impossible to give a simple "no" answer. You can really only gauge the situation by observing how a person interacts with the world around them.

Nothing really, just some self-medicated Xanax and Norvasc to help me sleep for the last few years, though I don't actually see any psychiatrists; I was on a tiny dose of Quetiapine for a very short stint once, but I ended up hospitalized recently over something quite trivial—basically, a friend snitched on me for sending what she called "threatening" messages to my professor, who happens to be a psychiatrist. They tried giving me Zyprexa (olanzapine), but I refused because it makes me gain weight incredibly fast and sends my appetite through the roof, so they switched me to aripiprazole, which I've been on for a few days now, and I suspect it might be causing this insomnia. It seems obvious that vivid hallucinations are a core feature of schizophrenia, and I imagine it’s probably vital to ask things like, "Do the voices give you commands, and do you find yourself following them?" just so one can anticipate potential consequences.
EDIT: Oh, I almost forgot—one rather pretentious resident at the hospital practically shoved Haldol down my throat on my first day, simply because I was asking, in what I felt was a perfectly normal tone (granted, I was anxious since I was being tossed around like a dog), to have someone contact my family so my cat back home wouldn't go hungry. And, well, I did get sick from their awful food at the facility. Honestly, Haldol is lethal, at least for those of us who have actually dealt with it. Fortunately, most of my regular doctors and colleagues strongly disagree with that approach and criticize it quite fiercely.

Carol Barrett2 said:I’ve been sitting under the same diagnosis for five years now. Though, honestly, there's probably way more going on—what do they call it? Co-occurring stuff. I've likely got OCD, depression, maybe some personality disorder, who knows what else at this point. I don't even bother with psychiatrists anymore. My old lady just handles things and picks up my meds. There's zero point in them, anyway. At least, it hasn't worked for me.

Thanks for the response. I think I can agree with them regarding those adjustment disorders and various personality combinations... you know, the F60 stuff. Personally, I feel like the definition of psychosis could be interpreted differently, and that occasional, deliberate attention-seeking through inappropriate behavior—which is always under control, mind you—wouldn't necessarily be what I'd call psychosis, but fine. What really rubbed me the wrong way in the report was how they noted that while I deny sensory distortions, like hallucinations, they "cannot be ruled out with certainty." My blunt insistence that I have never heard or seen anything that isn't actually there clearly didn't satisfy them. God, this pseudoscience is exhausting...

Hey everyone, I have a quick question... I was wondering how many of you, following an F23 diagnosis—you know, those acute and transient psychotic disorders—eventually received a diagnosis of schizophrenia or perhaps something even more severe? I guess it’s just on my mind. Thanks.

I’m looking for some decent in-ear headphone recommendations, mostly to use with my phone and my laptop—specifically for listening to FLAC files—so I’m really hoping to find something with a bit more sonic depth and comfort, especially since I’m planning on actually sleeping with them in my ears.
My budget is probably around $150-$67 if possible.
It would also be a huge help if they came with a good variety of ear tips, because I have somewhat unusual ear shapes and most standard buds just seem to fall right out of my head.
Thanks.

I was honestly leaning toward pulling the trigger on the V55, but then I stumbled upon a review mentioning how much it creaks—basically, the plastic housing makes these annoying little noises whenever you move the head. I’ve dealt with that before, and let me tell you, it’s incredibly grating, so I doubt I could actually live with it. Apparently, the Ninja 650 doesn't suffer from those specific issues, and while the sound quality might be a notch below the V55, at least they aren't entirely made of cheap plastic.
That said, I think I’ll just go with Pioneer; even if I have to shell out a bit more cash, it seems like they’re the only ones without any glaring dealbreakers.

I’m not particularly fond of these in-ear models, I suppose, since portability isn't really my thing; I’d likely spend about 95% of my time using them at home anyway. I also neglected to mention that having a microphone isn't a priority for me, though I do find the fact that the mic on the Razer Electra 460 isn't visible from the outside quite appealing. So, does that mean the Razer Electra 460 are actually superior to the Orca ones? They both look pretty cool in green, I guess. I noticed the Electras have a narrower frequency response, topping out at 16kHz, but I couldn't tell you how much that actually matters in practice—I just know how to read the spec sheets, haha.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for full-size headphones? I was under the impression that brands like Sony or Sennheiser might offer better sound quality for music than Razer...

EDIT: Ideally, I'd love to find a shop in Cleveland, because I really don't feel like trekking all the way to New York just to pick up some headphones. I see that Best Buy has a massive selection, but honestly, I’m feeling a bit lost and don't really know which ones to choose; it feels a little mindless just staring at the price tags.

My Siberia V2s finally gave up the ghost after two years, so I suppose it’s time to hunt for something new... honestly, my experience has been limited strictly to those mid-range "gaming" headsets, but since my priorities have shifted and I rarely find myself gaming anymore, I’m looking for something primarily for music and the occasional movie. I don't really know the first thing about this stuff, and everyone seems to insist that you can't find decent audiophile headphones without breaking the bank. I’m not actually searching for anything professional-grade, though; I was hoping to stay under maybe $110 max—though, naturally, the lower the better. If anyone could offer a solid recommendation, I’d be quite grateful.

Thanks in advance 🙂

Thanks. I think I phrased that a bit clumsily, because obviously I’d always just plug my speakers directly into my laptop rather than the TV. What I meant by "either/or" was more that... well, I usually just binge series on my laptop, but if I’m settling in for an HD movie, I’ll probably hook the laptop up to the big screen via HDMI 🙂 It should be perfect, though; this card will definitely handle EAX3/4 effects in my games too.

I was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction regarding some new speakers. I’m looking to hook them up to either my laptop or my TV, mostly just to improve the experience when I'm watching movies. I'm certainly not hunting for anything high-end or spectacular, though I suppose they really need to sound decent enough to be satisfying. I haven't settled on a budget since I don't have much of an idea what things actually cost these days, so I guess any suggestions you could throw my way would be appreciated.

Thanks, 🙂

Also, does anyone know if those... I think I saw some Creative sci-fi USB cards for laptops recently?