AFAIK, Respiridone has a sedative effect which may cause daily fatigue, but it also _should_ make you sleep better, some people say they sleep for 12 hours from it. Apparently something’s no working or perhaps the drug doesn’t suit you. I’d suggest you to complain to your current psychiatrist about the issues you’re facing and ask them to chance to another antipsychotic, there’s a ton more to choose from.
Unfortunately, all drugs have side effects :(
Ask your healthcare provider to address them. They may be able to adjust your dosage and eliminate the worst issues.
Hi, what do you think of therapy in addition to medication? I’m afraid that both psychotic depression and schizophrenia require taking medication to get rid of your delusions, but otherwise therapy can help you in many ways, including your anxiety and sleep issues stemming from it. A good therapist will help you develop coping strategies and give you clues how to cope with your stress. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in particular can help you challenge negative thought patterns and improve your overall mental well-being.
Sorry to hear you experienced all of that. A lot of side effects are generally manageable, if the meds do you good (even to some extant) then it’s worth taking it until your condition stabilizes (my personal opinion...)
Did they change your first prescription because it was not eliminating your episodes?
The right combination of medications is a kind of art not all psychiatrists are good in, is usually done by trial and error. I agree with the comments that you should make an appointment with your psychiatrist and ask them to change your prescription again due to all the added symptoms that negatively affect your daily life. Or, in case you don’t trust the opinion of this one psychiatrist, consult an independent one.
@Kelpie58 I have heard alot about the benefits of CBT but unfortunately I am not able to find good therapist here in Afghanistan. I am searching if I can find affordable online resources which can help me
Hi, Sultan. Can you subjectively say that how you feel with the medications you’re taking makes your life generally more productive than when you did not take anything? Can you give a score from 1 to 10 how you felt before you started taking your prescriptions (1 – horrible, 10 – perfect), and how you feel today (1 to 10).
Hello @lurking gnome, for delusions I will give to medcine score of 10 for depression I will give 5 and for anxiety i will give 1
@smmashal Thank you for the answer. I think it’s safe to say that you lack an antianxiety component in your current prescription scheme. Antidepressants and Respiridone do not alleviate your anxiety, which is probably the cause of your late night insomnia and stress. As for your estimation that depression still persists, I’d say you should raise this question next time you see your doctor. Ideally, an antidepressant should make you feel happy, even ecstatic. I went from Zoloft to Vortioxetine due to libido side effects of the former, but had to switch back, because with the new antidepressant my mood began to go downwards again. This must not happen on an antidepressant that works, and there’s obviously no sense to take pills that don’t work.
@smmashal I will tell you more: CBT is not just an addition to your medication, it might as well be an effective replacement. I’ve come across an article in NewScientist about treating paranoid schizophrenia without drugs. CBT is considered to have the potential to reduce relapses and return people to normal life without all the side effects of antipsychotics. I found the study - https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/34/3/523/1876271 Alas, I can’t find the article right now. I’ll try later when I’m home.
You need to discuss your concerns with the psychiatrist. Finding the right drug for you is a trial and error process.
Exercise regularly for atleast 20-30 min a day. set that as a routine. first start with 10 min then gradually increase to 20 min then 30 min. You can otherwise break down your exercises say 10 min session can be done 2-3 times in a day. Exercises like walking, swimming or running. This increases serotonin level which is feel good chemical in your brain. Exercise will also help you to stay focussed, would raise your energy levels and help you with the sleep.
Whenever you have anxiety or if you are stressed then squeeze a ball for some time or just fidget with a slime/play dough. It would make you feel rooted, grounded. It would relieve your stress and keep you in the present.
when you have been diagnosed with schizophrenia it would some times feel that no one understands you which would lower your self esteem so see if you can reach to other support groups online who are going through similar diagnosis. it would be helpful to talk to them as there would be people who would acknowledge what you are going through and would be even discussing ways of how they are coping with it. This would in a way boost your self -esteem
Lack of motivation also called avolition is lack of initiative to accomplish daily purposeful tasks. For your daily task just write down your routine and create a reminder in your phone for it. You can also reflect on what task is harder for you to do.Ask yourself why do you think this task is more harder than others, why you don't enjoy it and how can you make it interesting for you. see if you can break that task into something more smaller and achievable.
cognitive behaviour therapy would also work great extent to help you deal with the symptoms.