Posts by Kenneth Scott41

Mark Nelson said:I guess I should start by saying that everything people think they know about this is probably wrong. It’s just one of those things, you know? I mean, maybe I'm being too cynical, but I've seen enough to be skeptical. People love to talk about it like it's some settled issue, but honestly, it feels more like we're all just guessing. It's messy. Life is messy. Anyway, that's just my two cents. Don't hold me to it.

He helped me out during those first stages of intense depression—which, honestly, hasn't really gone away—but regarding what I’m dealing with now... well, I don't necessarily blame Seroquel for it. I just can't help but wonder if it's making things worse. It feels like I can't study, I can't follow a lecture, and I definitely can't process things the way other 18-year-olds my age do. Ideas just won't come to me. I can't even form a coherent thought, let alone a complex one. I struggle with the most basic, everyday stuff. It's almost like my mind is empty; that whole stream of consciousness thing? It just isn't working for me anymore. 😢

I honestly don’t even know where to start with this. I’ve started going to group therapy, but I just sit there. I don't participate at all because of the stuff I mentioned before. I feel like I have absolutely nothing to contribute. When someone else starts talking, I can't even find a way to respond or comment on what they're saying—nothing comes to mind, unlike everyone else in the room. It’s like my brain is just moving too slow to even follow the conversation. I have to manually process even the simplest things in my head, and frankly, I just don't have the energy or the mental bandwidth to deal with that right now. 😢
The years are just slipping through my fingers, and I’m still stuck in the exact same spot. Honestly? It scares the hell out of me.
My own brain is basically my biggest enemy at this point. It’s just constant chaos. I guess what I’m trying to ask is—is there actually anything out there that works better than Seroquel for this kind of mess?

What if you tried lowering the dose? You don't necessarily need to take 100mg

Mark Nelson said:Look, I know Seroquel isn't the direct cause here, but if it starts making things worse, I'm probably just going to drop the meds altogether. I mean, if the dose isn't actually that massive like you're saying, then maybe the side effects aren't such a huge deal after all. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it plays out.

Personally, back when I was taking Seroquel, I felt quite alright, and I actually found the medication to be quite helpful.🙂

Timothy Wood38 said:What "most people"? Honestly, I'm actually jealous of folks who find relief with anxiolytics. I've developed such a massive tolerance to them that my psychiatrist basically told me there's no point in even bothering anymore. For instance, I can knock back 60 mg of Diazepam and feel absolutely nothing—just like I swallowed a glass of water. Same goes for 5 mg of Alprazolam, 7 mg of Lorazepam, and so on. These days, I tackle my insomnia by taking 300 mg of Prazosin about two hours before bed, having a glass of wine in the meantime, and then finally topping it off with 30 mg of Ambien right as I'm turning in. I just build a tolerance to almost everything way too fast. And apparently, once you hit that level of tolerance, it stays with you forever—at least, that's what my doctor claims.

Well, everything you mentioned regarding anxiolytics—specifically the benzodiazepines—is pretty much my exact situation as well.
I suppose I took too many over time and mixed them with alcohol, so now I could take 10 Xanax or Oxazepam without any real issue, yet it would feel no different than if I had only taken four.

driftinggull21 said:For insomnia: Circadin (though it's pricey right now) or Seroquel, an antipsychotic.

Most people seem fine with Diazepam, which personally does nothing for me.🙂
However, I once took 15 mg of Oxazepam, and nothing could have woken me up. I was out cold.🙂

I think you might be onto something regarding the Diazepam; for me, it also feels totally ineffective.
😁 Oxazepam is actually a weaker benzodiazepine, but it's strange—I always seem to end up with a headache after taking it, specifically just from the Oxazepam.
🙂

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boldpilot2 said:unspecified

I am not, but I will be. I'm going to pick something up this morning for sleep and some mild anxiety. Thanks for the advice on Dormicum... though I got a little spooked seeing that it's given exclusively to people before surgery. It's just some substitute psychiatrist for my regular doctor. I'll ask him a few things first, then see my actual doctor in about a month. Still, maybe a second opinion is good? How long can you take Dormicum before it turns into useless candy? Meaning, when do you develop dependency or tolerance? I need something that knocks me out in about 30 minutes so I can sleep.

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Well, damn it, Nicole Barrett76, that's basically how it went. When I was 16 or 17, could I really have known the difference between intrusive thoughts and actual voices? And the old folks "educated" me plenty. Psychiatry and psychology were taboo topics in my family. Sexuality too. In OCD, there were intrusive thoughts. I just told my mother as a child, comparing them to things I was saying to myself—like battles or wars in my head—and eventually, it turned into voices. Now they've finally arrived and believe it like Moses crossing the Red Sea! Idiots... they believe a child experiencing it for the first time. They believe every single thing I say!

If you truly want something to knock you out in half an hour so you can sleep soundly, I’d say go with Dormicum. It isn't strictly true that it's only for pre-op use; people certainly do use it for other things, which is exactly why it works so effectively. I remember feeling a bit uneasy myself when I first read about its surgical applications 😁. I thought it might be something heavy like general anesthesia, but it really isn't. Sometimes I have to take two just to drift off. Mind you, it's a habit... you really have to be extremely careful with Dormicum because if you get hooked, you're in serious trouble. Personally, I only use it very rarely, specifically when I've been tossing and turning for two hours and simply cannot fall asleep. Not every day, though!

boldpilot2 said:First, it was listed as F20.6, simple schizophrenia. Now it just says F20. That’s what scarlet mentioned regarding the requirement for paranoia. Honestly, I don't understand how they switched to paranoid without any history of speech issues. It's absurd to me because that diagnosis implies hallucinations and such. I read extensively on schizophrenia and can swear I have zero auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory hallucinations. Seriously. I'm done being spooked by movies like *A Beautiful Mind* or clips on YouTube. That isn't how I act. Even if I did hear voices or experience delusions, I would end myself. I certainly wouldn't claim it's "normal." I am afraid of things that aren't there. Besides, neither my family nor anyone else has noticed any hallucinations. The only thing is humming or complaining when the computer acts up 🤣. If I talk to myself internally, it's just me. Not Hitler or some voice. And I consider constructive thought to be a form of conversation. (For example, if I placed object A on board B, what would the pressure force be? I'd guess 2N. But that's irrelevant...) You get the point; it's a poor example, but that's the gist. These are the "official" symptoms, but I will highlight the ones I actually feel and those others have noted:

The DSM states the following characteristic symptoms:

a) Thought insertion or withdrawal, thought echoing or broadcasting; -none of that transmission stuff here. I had OCD previously, so there were compulsions related to that, like washing hands or dying!
b) Delusions of control, influence, or passivity relating to:
- body or bodily movements, -no 😲
- specific thoughts, actions, or sensations, -what specific ones? I wouldn't say any...
- delusional perceptions; -no 😲
c) Hallucinatory voices that: -no 😲
- comment on the patient's behavior,
- discuss the patient among themselves,
- various forms of hallucinatory voices emanating from a body part; -from where? Those things?
d) Persistent bizarre delusions that are impossible or inconsistent with the patient's culture and intellect: -haha, interesting, but I'm not an alien or anything
- impossible political, scientific, or religious identities,
- superhuman abilities or powers, e.g., controlling time,
- communication with extraterrestrials, etc.;
e) Persistent hallucinations of any modality when accompanied by transient delusions without emotional content, or persistent overvalued ideas, or when hallucinations are persistently present for weeks or months; -as I said, no!
f) Disorganized thinking, irrelevant and disorganized speech, neologisms (creating new meaningless words); -I wouldn't say that. My speech is perfectly normal. Except I am quite anxious about almost every word. Due to shame and fear.
g) Catatonic behavior - marked rigidity or maintaining unnatural postures, or extreme agitation; -no!
h) Negative symptoms such as apathy, poverty of speech, blunted affect, or inappropriate emotional response, which typically lead to social withdrawal and decline in social functioning. -that happened at the beginning, alongside the OCD. Perhaps my responses are inadequate?
i) Significant and persistent changes in behavior in terms of loss of interest, aimlessness, preoccupation with self, and social withdrawal. -this is the most prominent.

So, basically... I am certain I have no illusions, delusions, or hallucinations... Tinnitus? No, that isn't it.

The F20 diagnosis stands. If that's classified as paranoid, then the hallucinations aren't there. You would notice them in a house with four people constantly present. I dealt with intense suicidal ideation and increased aggression. What else? Perhaps grandiose, unrealistic plans? Or constant shifts in interests—gaming one day, sports the next. Given what exists:

In clinical studies, we distinguish several types of schizophrenia based on the dominant symptom groups.

The paranoid type is characterized by pronounced delusions and hallucinations. Most commonly, these involve persecutory delusions.
Disorganized or hebephrenic schizophrenia is dominated by symptoms of incoherent, disconnected, or illogical speech and disorganized behavior.
The catatonic type is quite rare today; it involves impaired posture, extreme purposeless motor agitation, or complete physical rigidity known as stupor.
If no specific symptoms predominate, it is referred to as undifferentiated schizophrenia.
Residual schizophrenia is characterized by an absence of prominent delusions, hallucinations, or disorganized speech/behavior, though evidence of the disorder remains through negative symptoms, odd beliefs, or unusual sensory experiences.

I don't fit into any of those categories. Honestly, I am unsure where I land. I don't feel better or worse without medication. For the last six months, it has just been insomnia and certain anxieties. Presumably, the psychiatrists know best. They likely "hit" the mark somehow, even if I don't recognize these primary symptoms.

Someone already suggested you might be a hypochondriac... and it doesn't make sense to me why a psychiatrist would diagnose you with schizophrenia involving visual and auditory hallucinations if you're claiming you don't have them. Why didn't you tell him during your check-up? Just tell him you don't have hallucinations! Otherwise, you might end up with a doctor who gets frustrated with you for not being honest, because it'll look like he's treating you with the wrong meds for schizophrenia with hallucinations when you don't even have those! You know?
I've seen cases where a doctor just gives up on a patient and tells them to find someone else.

As for sleeping, nothing worked for me except Dormicum! 😁
Ambien and all that other junk were too weak for me; I just couldn't drift off. With this, you get a really solid night's sleep, and most importantly, you don't wake up feeling groggy like you do with Ambien; your head feels completely clear.☕

boldpilot2 said:Yes, we are all clearly chronic and lifelong cases. Given what I’m currently taking, I can manage a few days at a time. So far, I haven't noticed anything unusual regarding side effects. It isn't even particularly like chemical castration 🤣. Honestly, I feel fine and lucky. Mostly just business as usual. I won't sit here and wallow anymore. It is actually a blessing I was diagnosed BEFORE age 18 rather than after. If it had been later, it would be a hundred times harder. This way, I've already secured my "retirement." Others will likely face their own decline through sudden death or some malignant physical illness. It all ends the same way. For me, less is more. I wouldn't change much. Either perfect health—provided I work like a dog until I'm 65 or 70—or illness, provided it happens before 18, allowing me to do whatever I want (meaning normal things, not the stuff people associate with murder lol). Everything has pros and cons. Health and sickness alike. We make up about 1% of the world with our F20.x diagnoses. There are probably a good billion of us in the "F" section or the V category on IMDb, so it isn't exactly rare. Still, I believe certain issues could be minimized over the next 50 years, if not eliminated entirely. Primarily the antipsychotics, which are incredibly dangerous for the elderly. That's it. I'm done asking questions. It is what it is. It's fine.

From what I can gather from your post, it sounds like you're someone who is professionally incapacitated due to your diagnosis, the F20.x, and you're receiving the monthly disability benefits intended for that, which doesn't seem too bad given you mentioned how some people have to slave away until they're 65, and you even added those little smiley faces and plus signs.😁 Well, go ahead then; as long as you're doing okay, that's what matters most.😉

Anthony Lopez8 said:Honestly, nothing is so unbearable that it would force me to quit my treatment—aside from the weight gain, obviously. Right now, I'm managing four different medications, including 300mg of Effexor, and I don't experience any debilitating side effects, nor do I feel "drugged."
Before I actually tried Zeldox, I truly believed that pills, regardless of the dosage, simply had no effect on me whatsoever. 🙂 😂

300mg of Effexor?! That seems like quite a heavy dose. I only take one 150mg pill in the morning along with two 1mg Xanax SR, and while I should be taking the Zeldox too, I somehow always manage to forget about it...😂

Anthony Lopez8 said:I actually gave it a shot. Twice. And both times, immediately after that first pill, I felt as though I had overdosed on some kind of lethal poison. I’ve never experienced anything quite like that before—unless, of course, I was actually overdosing on something 😬—and while I am certainly not one to shy away from medication, this was nothing short of a nightmare.
That is precisely why I am on Zyprexa now, fully aware of the reality that with an appetite like this, I’ll probably pack on 25 pounds in no time. 🙂

And don't you find Zyprexa to be at least a little bit rough? I mean, I know it has that pleasant lime flavor, but it definitely carries its own set of side effects too.

Timothy Wood38 said:Every body reacts differently. I was on 10 mg of Zyprexa daily for a year and I didn't sleep at all because of it; it actually had zero sedative effect, let alone hypnotic, so I had to take extra sleep aids on top of it. Zyprexa isn't a bad drug, per se, but it doesn't fit everyone. As for Abilify, I think it's been approved in the US for about seven months now, though it might hit the mainstream markets more broadly next year. Regardless, plenty of people are switching to Abilify, especially in America, because it tends to have fewer side effects than other antipsychotics, but again, it's all highly individual. For doctors to actually find the right medication for someone, they would need a much deeper, more concrete understanding of psychopathology (which is mostly based on assumptions anyway), followed by psychogenetics, then psychodynamics, then psychokinetics, and so on. But of course, that's not profitable for them, so psychiatrists usually just prescribe things based on trial and error.

p.s. Found something interesting about benzodiazepines that I didn't know. Apparently, once you develop a tolerance to a certain dose, that tolerance stays with you forever.

Is Abilify covered under Medicare?

Anonymous said:Hey everyone.
I finally decided to sign up here, though I’ve been lurking on Reddit for a while now. I’ve been diagnosed with depression and I'm currently managing a few different medications. I had a serious struggle with heroin in the past, so I’m also taking 18 tablets of methadone a day. Starting today, I’m adding Citalopram to the mix—beginning with half a 20mg pill for four days before moving up to a full dose. I'm also supposed to take 25mg of Prazosin three times a day, I think. I'm honestly pretty terrified about the side effects. I just want to know if anyone has experience with this kind of regimen and if the depression will actually lift. I deal with this crushing sense of guilt that started when I was 14 and has only gotten worse as I've hit 22. Even though I'm young, I spent five years struggling with heroin; I've been clean for six months now thanks to methadone treatment, but the depression is still hanging over me like a cloud. My psychiatrist mentioned that antidepressants take a long time to kick in and that I’ll likely be on them for the long haul. Has anyone here actually managed to beat their depression?

I was wondering, do you experience any withdrawals or crises after being on that amount of methadone for six months? You must have built up quite a tolerance by now on those 18 doses, so I’m curious if your tolerance has significantly increased over time.

quietgull75 said:To each their own—Zyprexa never really worked for me, but I was doing alright on Risperidone

I wonder, did you ever give Zeldox a shot?

@Timothy Wood38, I suspect your complexion is looking a bit pale lately, which might just be why you’re struggling to drift off at night. Maybe if you took a Benadryl, you'd finally sleep like a baby.

boldpilot2 said:Risperidone? Thoughts or experiences? I just started taking it. Previously, I was on 5mg Zyprexa. Now it's 2mg Risperidone. What should I expect, specifically regarding male side effects? I’m already noticing certain things 😁. Or rather, I’m NOT noticing them 😉.

By the way, all antipsychotics are garbage; none of them are better than the others. Let's get that cleared up right away. But at 22 years old... how long will it take to get off antipsychotics entirely? Even if I stay on mood stabilizers? Is there any actual future ahead of me? Also, my diagnosis shifted from F20.6 to just F20. What does that imply? F20.6 was hard enough, but this feels even more complicated. It’s as if they couldn't "decide" where I fit. At times it was BPD, then Bipolar, now I don't even know what anymore.

Edit: Don't start with that neuro-fatalist nonsense... I've already read everything on Wikipedia.

How can you say all antipsychotics are the same?! The ones we have access to here are absolute trash, especially that Risperidone, which made me vomit and wet the bed in my sleep (unconsciously). The exact same thing happened to a younger guy at the psychiatric ward; they switched him off the Risperidone and onto Zyprexa, and he's fine now. I'm on Zeldox and I only deal with one side effect: drowsiness. Honestly, Zeldox is pure harmony.😁

urbanskipper4 said:Look, I’m not even stressing over the 5mg thing. I mean, I’m already on a massive cocktail of other antidepressants, for crying out loud.
I'm popping nine and a half pills a day.
I can't even begin to imagine what my liver is going to look like after years of this, let alone my stomach. Everything seems fine right now, but you never know with this stuff.
And yeah, I've put on 30 pounds. I seriously cannot deal with these damn diets mentally anymore.
Ever since I started taking these antidepressants, it feels like I'm constantly stuck on some miserable diet.

I guess you can't really have it both ways, can you? You're trying to grab the whole pie at once. Is getting through this depression more important than being thin, or vice versa? It’s possible you’re just on the wrong medication, maybe. Perhaps it's best to just wait a while and see if the antidepressant actually starts working; if it manages to lift the depression, then that's a win. After all, you can always find a way to lose the weight later...

fadedbear92 said:Don't you have supplemental insurance? Or does it not cover Dormicum? Only ten pills? Man, everything is just so expensive... you take them, and suddenly you're back at the pharmacy spending more money. It's a brilliant business model for Big Pharma, isn't it? 🙂

I do have insurance, but I guess it doesn't really matter. The medication is imported, of course. The worst part is that there are only ten tablets in a pack.🙂

By the way, looking at that list of yours... it didn't exactly surprise me to see alprazolam sitting right at the top.🙂

I consider myself quite well-versed in the world of benzos, though I have to admit—with a fair amount of self-awareness—that I’m practically enamored with them and can't seem to function without them. It’s a bit grim when you think about it; the very term "benzo" carries such a heavy connotation of toxicity. We essentially ingest poisons just to feel a little more human, I suppose. 🙂
I try to be careful about not taking Dormicum every single day because I'm terrified of spiraling into a full-blown dependency, but then my psychiatrist goes and writes me a prescription for two tablets to take at night. There are only ten in the whole pack, and considering what I have to pay out of pocket for this stuff, it feels like a bit of a losing game.

Robin Myers91 said:Has anyone here tried that new schizophrenia med that hit the US market about two months ago?
I finally managed to get my psychiatrist to prescribe it—had to fight tooth and nail because Zyprexa, Everbio, Risperdal, and Seroquel made me pack on over 90 pounds.
So far, I haven't noticed any side effects other than some mild drowsiness (which I don't even really feel), though apparently, people with heart conditions should stay away from it.
It doesn't cause weight gain at all; in fact, it actually kills my appetite so much that I’ve already dropped 11 pounds in just seven days. I'm still taking Zeldox 120 mg on the side.

The medication is indeed quite new, and while things might have been different back when you first started it, I was able to get it from my psychiatrist quite easily; she prescribed the antipsychotic immediately, and everything you mentioned seems to align with my experience. There aren't really any side effects, aside from that one issue with drowsiness... sometimes it hits me a bit harder, but other times I don't even notice it, so to speak.
I am currently taking the highest dose available, which is 80mg a day. As far as I understand, that's the largest pack size they offer. I think the options are 20, 40, 60, and 80mg.
What I'm curious about is how you're feeling on it lately? How long have you been using it now?

As for sleep... I actually spent the entire night wide awake, and on top of that, I’ve got a fever, a stuffed-up nose, and this splitting headache that just won't quit.🙂
I honestly can't even say for sure why I couldn't drift off... I suppose I'm just hoping it isn't some kind of dependency developing from the Dormicum.🙂

As I’ve mentioned before, Sanval isn't technically classified as a sleep aid, but if it happens to work for you, then I suppose that's fine.
Personally, I rely on Dormicum to get some rest. It has always been my go-to; honestly, it's probably the most effective thing out there for me.
In my experience, both Sanval and Cerson are just too weak—there's really no chance of me actually falling asleep with those.