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Rivulet
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Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

Hi everyone, it has been 3 weeks since my sister has been hospitalised as she was experiencing a relapse from her schizophrenia. I'm not asking for medical advice and I won't provide specifics to the medication as that's againt the guidelines but rather I wanted to see if I can get any suggestions on what I should do. 

 

I understand medication varies depending on the person, but I'm in a slight dilemma as the doctors are strongly advocating to change to a well known medicine that has been proven to work quite well, but my parents are hesistant with doing so as it will require the frequent blood tests and has other side-effects that are a lot more serious than the current medicine my sister is taking. 

 

Since she entered the hospital, the doctors had increased her original dosage of current medication but they say that it does not seem to have reduced my sister’s current psychosis i.e. her delusions that her family is trying to hurt her and that they are not her real family. Her false beliefs this time round are unlike her previous hospitalisation. In her previous last two hospitalisation her belief was that her friends were trying to harm her but it seemed to have changed this time round.

 

According to the doctors they have also included another anti-psychotic to try to help reduce her delusions about her family but apparently the side-effect of the second medicine causes my sister to involuntarily frequently look up and hasn't seemed to show visible improvements to my sister's family delusions. We haven't been able to visit her ourselves to see how she is acting as she has been rejecting our visits so we can't make a judgement either.

 

The doctors seem to be strongly suggesting the change in medicine as they said it’s the best option to help work on her family delusions. But I want to ask in the forum, should I suggest to the doctors to give more time to see if the current medication will work i.e. just another 1-2 weeks to gauge if the medicine is just making slow progress or if her body really has become resistant to it? Or should we just go straight to the new medicine option?

 

The doctors did say that they were afraid if we waited another 1-2 weeks, if her body is really resistant to her current medicine, her delusions about her family might get stronger and that might become harder to ‘fix’?

 

I understand both the doctors and my parent's concerns and perspective so I'm trying to figure out what would be the best solution as we all want what's best for my sister.

13 REPLIES 13

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

@Rivulet 

One question I would be asking is did your sister relapse because she stopped taking her meds or did the relapse happen while she was medication compliant? 

 

RANZCP treatment guidelines of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders are readily available online and here is the link:

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.ranzcp.org/files/resources/college_...

 

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

Dear @Rivulet , 

I'm sorry to hear that your sister is still struggling with psychosis. If her current medications aren't working I would be inclined to follow her doctors advice to change it. 

 

Thinking of you all,

Schitzo 🤗💚🌼 xx

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

@Former-Member and @Schitzo thank you so much for your reply! I'm sorry I forgot to mention that in my post. My sister relapsed because she stopped taking her medication. We didn't realise until two weeks before her hospitalisation, but according to her friends, they said she had actually told them that she stopped taking her medication at least 1-2 months before her hospitalisation. I guess that's why I'm wondering if we should let her continue on with the current medication for a few more weeks to see if her body really became resistant to it. 

 

Based on past experience, her current medication did take a good 2-3 months after she was released from the hospital before all the voices and thoughts she had fully 'disappeared'. Like in her last hospitalisation, she was released as the medicine seemed to work and her condition was stable despite the symptoms still persisting at the time of release. That's sort of why I'm a bit hesitant to immediately jump onto the new medicine.

 

Thank you so much for the link @Former-Member! I will definitely give it a read. I've been literally googling and trying to get as much information as I can about changing medicine so this helps a lot 🙂

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

@Rivulet  Hey Rivulet and welcome to the forums. I know the meds you are talking about and I would suggest to honestly try a bit longer with the current medication. I have schizoaffective disorder and am not on these meds my son2 has schizophrenia and also is not on these meds but on other medication.  Does your sister have a good psychiatrist outside the hospital system? having a psychiatrist outside the hospital would be my first point of call.  Is your sister a cause of concern re violence to the family or herself? That is a biggy.  While she is in hospital she is safe. Keep her in there as long as possible so that you and your parents can do all the detective work in what is the best way to go regarding your sister. Also how old is your sister? If she is over the age of 18 she is an adult and doesnt have to take the meds as long as she is not a danger to herself or others. I hope I have helped a bit. Take care of yourself. greenpeax

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

Hi @greenpea , first off thank you so much for sharing with me your opinion. I'm sorry to hear that you have schizoaffective disorder and that your son has schizophrenia. I hope that you both are doing well and continue to do so! If you need any support too, I'm here (though I might not be the best help I can listen and give my support!) and everyone else in this forum too! 

 

It's a bit difficult as the hospital psychiatrist is actually already in consultation with my sister's psychiatrist (who's separate from the hospital), and apparently, my sister's psychiatrist was the one strongly advocating to switch to the new medicine. We are going to try and talk to my sister's psychiatrist to see what their thoughts are directly, at the moment it's just the hospital doctors talking to us.

 

My sister is not violent to the family or herself; she just expresses great hatred and disbelief that her family is actually her family; so I guess that's why the doctors are concerned that she might become aggressive? She's also 24 years old.

 

My family's plan was to see if we could let my sister stay in hospital as long as possible with her current medication as it worked really well until she stopped taking the medicine herself, but the hospital seems quite rushed and wanted to try the new medicine; I think it might be due to limited spaces in the hospital due to COVID…

 

Thank you again @greenpea! I really appreciate your response as well >_< It's good to see what others think especially when I'm feeling a bit confused and don't know what is the best solution for my sister.

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

@Rivulet  Hi Rivulet medications can take a couple of months to truely kick in. I feel that you are doing everything possible. Your sister is lucky to have such a caring family. All I know is with that medication it is a medication of last resort as the side effects can be miserable. I was offered it to my son2 but declined. He is delusions and hallucinations are not under total control but it is far better than the pill of last resort.  No one wants that.  Yes I was talking with my psychiatrist and she told me that the mental health wards are hard going due to co-vid and that I wouldnt want to be there ..... I would love to go off my meds BUT I have promised my children that I will stay on them.

 

Thank you for your offer of support I really appreciate that :). Love greenpeax

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

 

@greenpea Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge and experience. Medications can be really tricky as for some, side effects can be really challenging, but it is important to remember that it can be a different experience for each individual depending on a lot of different factors. It is important to ultimately be taking advice from the psychiatrist and specialists working directly with your loved one Heart @Rivulet 

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

@Basil  Thanks Basil 🙂

Re: Should my sister try the new medicine that doctors recommended for her schizophrenia or should we wait 1-2 weeks to see if the old medicine works?

Hey @Rivulet ,

 

Im sorry to hear things are still not ideal. 

How long does the current medication take to fully 'kick-in'?

 

I think I know which antipsychotic the specialists want her on. Are you fearful of the side effects and the fact that once she goes on these, it is very unlikely she can go back to anything 'less'?


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