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any1 here tried clozapine for negative symptom and cognitive symptom?


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I haven't taken it, so I could be totally pulling this out of my ass.

I used to work in mental health, and I interacted with a lot of people on Clozapine. Cognitively, they seemed to feel OK. Very flat affects. But overall, considerably better than how they were before the drug.

Negative symptoms are a bitch to treat, and they don't always respond as well to medication. If you're at the point where you think you need Clozapine, it's definitely worth a shot. I have two friends who swear by the stuff.

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i'd also agree that clozapine CAN improve cogition, based on the limited amount of what I've seen, but treating negative sx is generally just... pretty hard. I'd personally give it a shot, but often a different med than an AAP completely can be needed to treat negative sx, and even then, it may just be partial remission.

Anna

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There's really nothing on the market right now that does anything to negative symptoms with any consistency. There's some new stuff in the works, and Shire is running trials to see if Vyvanse helps, but in the meantime, we just don't have much.

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Guest Vapourware

Sorry to hear that you are having negative symptoms. At the moment, I think treating negative symptoms is significantly more challenging than positive symptoms. Clozapine might help you - I think it's worth a shot, in any case, as long as you are ready to be compliant with regular blood tests.

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I am currently taking 200mg clozapine daily for treatment of my schizophrenia.

I have been on a multitude of anti-psychotic medications, and cloz has been the best so far for me.

Disciplne and compliance are really important if you intend to go on cloz. You cant just get it over the counter with a script like other miedications.

I had to go on an 18 week trial, in which I wa committed to a weekly blood test and weekly p-doc appointment. Cloz is a controlled subtance because it can cause problems with your white blood cell count (although this is very rare).

It is generally recommended in treatment resistant schizophrenia.

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Cloz is a controlled subtance because it can cause problems with your white blood cell count (although this is very rare).

Clozapine is not a controlled substance, because it's not covered by the Controlled Substances Act. Clozapine is not scheduled, nor is it monitored by the DEA in any manner. Rather, the FDA created and enforces the regulations restricting clozapine prescriptions.

Among psych meds, only stimulants and benzos are controlled substances. Prescriptions for these are monitored by the DEA, but are actually not monitored nearly as heavily as prescriptions for clozapine. The only other drug available at retail pharmacies that is restricted so heavily by the FDA is isotretinoin (Accutane), which is practically guaranteed to cause birth defects (and is typically prescribed to teenagers - you do the math).

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