First timer for Psychosis here

[WhatsNormal]

Hello Everybody

It's my first time on this board and it looks like the right place for me with my current condition so I just wanted to say hey

 

A little about me : I'm 23 years old and recently after developing psychosis :/ (about 3 weeks ago) and its really freaking me out ; racing thoughts, paranoia, delusional thinking, inability to form a sentence when talking to people, hard to concentrate when people are talking to me as my mind would race, fear people were judging me , isolating as a result,  and to top it off , a bad bout of insomnia because ofthe racing thoughts. (I would have went to bed at 11pm and not be able to sleep till 6am next day out of exhaustion)

I didn't know what to do , so I walked ( very clumsily) to my local A&E and was in an absolute mess when I got there. I told the receptionist I needed to speak to a psychiatrist ASAP and they said to wait in the waiting room , which I did and took only a half an hour but it felt like an eternity because I was just beginning to experience mild visual hallucinations , which kind of freaked me out even more..

 

So I met with the psychiatrist and he reccomended I take Olanzapine, which I did for 3 or 4 days but I didn't see any improvements in my thinking processes from it. It just seemed to make me hungry and sleepy..

 

So I discontinued it, and that was about 2 weeks ago and the jumbled thinking was still there. It seemed to be worse during the morning than at night for some reason..

 

So after 2 weeks, and no improvements , I went to my local doctor and they precribed '' Klonopin AKA clonazepam ''  ''0.5mg take 1 - 2 twice daily ''

 

I took one 0.5mg clonazepam tablet about 10 hours ago as of this writing and I must say i feel sooo much better , it is after making some difference. The intrusive thoughts I was having have somewhat subsided , if I were to put it on a scale : before it was 80% , now it feels like its down to 20% . My racing thoughts are no longer racing nearly as much and I feel little anxeity around having psychosis after taking this newly prescribed medication..

 

Now after doing a little bit of research on this new drug the Doc prescribed me, it is generally for short term use and NOT as an antipsychotic med per se... AND , after a little more research, withdrawls from clonazepam seemingly can actually INDUCE a psychotic episode and hallucinations!!

 

So I don't know what to do now going forward.. I would prefer to avoid medication if at all possible, and go down different routes that seemingly help, like CBT, regular exercise, group therapies etc,

 

I have hope for the future at the moment , though I am aware that I am writing this after takng the new medication for the first time ,so my thoughts and feelings when I wake up tomorrow morning could completely change :/

 

So thats me, I'm happy to be part of crazyboards,

Thank you

Joe

[Southern Discomfort]

Welcome aboard the banana boat! I'm pretty much in the same place where you are, only it's taken f'ing ages to start treatment but whatever, I've got it now, kinda, and that's more than what some people will ever get. 

I'm kind of confused about the situation with the medication though, I think it was kind of unrealistic of you to expect a result after three or four days; it apparently usually takes two to three weeks for it to reduce or stop your hallucinations, one week if you're very lucky. 

[WhatsNormal]

Thanks for the response SouthernDiscomfort,

Ya the medication didnt seem to do a whole lot but hallucinations have somewhat stopped for the last while.. I was just sceptical of taking olanzapine because of the sides..The worst thing I have is intrusive and unwanted racing thoughts which olanzapine didnt seem to help with ,but the clonazepam is just taking my anxeity away around it really, and slowing down the intrusive thoughts..

But yeah, as for auditory or visual hallucinations, they have gone thankfully

So when you talk about treatment what type are you thinking of?

[Southern Discomfort]

Yeah, I get what you mean about the side effects, it's sort of hard to keep an open mind when you see the list of potential things you could be hit with. I know I'm pretty scared of the idea of growing breasts and bedwetting on risperidone, and acne; I've had eleven years of the damn acne, I would like it to end completely not, get worse. But I also know I'm on the low end of doses and the chance that these things happen are relatively small.

 

Treatment, I won't say too much of because of paranoia. But it's just mostly waiting for appointments, waiting to start medication and therapy. But, again, I guess I shouldn't complain, everyone has been really nice to me and I know I'd rather have that instead.

[Phoenix_Rising]

Hello and Welcome to Crazyboards, WN!

I agree with Southern; 3-4 days really isn't enough time to determine if a med is going to be helpful. However, if the klonopin works for you, then I guess that's all that matters.

Don't hesitate to contact a staff person if you need anything!

[Hester]

Hello Joe and welcome

 

Good for you, going to get help from A&E/your doctor. 

 

Hopefully the meds will start working for you.

 

Some questions came up for me when i read your post:

 

Did A&E refer you to a mental health team for follow up? Have you been referred to a psychiatrist to follow your progress on the meds? or did they just send you away with some meds?

 

Have you been given any info of support groups etc or local agencies that deal with first-time psychosis? If you are in the UK, they have quite a few of these about. 

 

Also, you didn't mention if you have anyone supporting you - family/friends etc. Do you have people around you for support?

 

I'm just asking all these questions because I feel very strongly that if you are having these experiences, you need more than just to be given some meds and off you go! They help, they really do, and I couldn't do without mine, BUT you definitely need some kind of follow up care and support too, in my opinion.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Hester

[jt07]

Welcome!

[WhatsNormal]

 I also know I'm on the low end of doses and the chance that these things happen are relatively small.

 

 

Thats after putting things in perspective for me a bit for me, I may say that to my dooctor about the olanzapine , if I try it at a small dose and give it a a few months it may help the psychosis effects im having, I'm just worried that, at 23 , the long term useage of the drug may be damaging.. Hmm, I'll mention it to my doc , but as u said urself, if it were at a low dose , then the side effects may be little if none. Hmm

[WhatsNormal]

Hello and Welcome to Crazyboards, WN!

I agree with Southern; 3-4 days really isn't enough time to determine if a med is going to be helpful. However, if the klonopin works for you, then I guess that's all that matters.

Don't hesitate to contact a staff person if you need anything!

Hi Phoneix, Thanks for the warm welcome

As In the previous quote that's after opening my eyes up to something , that maybe i should have continued on the olanzapine for a little while longer. They gave me a script for like 5 or 6 days and i took it then and went for a follow up appointment in the hospital but I told the psychiatrist that I wasn't feeling any better from the olanzapine but she suggested take more , which I didn't .. Though the symptoms , without the olanzapine havent gone away, I still feel alot better than when I was taking them as they made me drowsy and sleepy. . Though I may give em another go under doc supervision

[WhatsNormal]

Hello Joe and welcome

 

Good for you, going to get help from A&E/your doctor. 

 

Hopefully the meds will start working for you.

 

Some questions came up for me when i read your post:

 

Did A&E refer you to a mental health team for follow up? Have you been referred to a psychiatrist to follow your progress on the meds? or did they just send you away with some meds?

 

Have you been given any info of support groups etc or local agencies that deal with first-time psychosis? If you are in the UK, they have quite a few of these about. 

 

Also, you didn't mention if you have anyone supporting you - family/friends etc. Do you have people around you for support?

 

I'm just asking all these questions because I feel very strongly that if you are having these experiences, you need more than just to be given some meds and off you go! They help, they really do, and I couldn't do without mine, BUT you definitely need some kind of follow up care and support too, in my opinion.

 

Hello Hester , hows it going

Just to answer some of the questions you asked : (Sorry I amen't familiar with how to multiquote yet so I'm just copying and pasting your questions as they were asked !) 

 

1: ''Did A&E refer you to a mental health team for follow up? Have you been referred to a psychiatrist to follow your progress on the meds? or did they just send you away with some meds?''

 

Yes they did, I went to the A&E on a sunday, and I was then referred to a psychiatrist , but I think it was more of a check to see if I would need to stay in the mental health unit in the hospital at the time . (See they would have kept me in the hospital on my first visit as I was extremely upset and delusional at the time , only they had no available beds (Ireland,  $$ cutbacks ) Sooo they just gave me a 7 day script for olanzapine and to follow up then on my own with doc / gp ..

 

2: ''Have you been given any info of support groups etc or local agencies that deal with first-time psychosis? If you are in the UK, they have quite a few of these about.''

 

This is something I am trying verry hard to link in with at the moment , currently living in Ireland , there is one local agency that does deal with it but i would need private health insurance to be able to afford it, which I dont have unfortunately :/ there are other public options for CBT and psychotherapists etc but the waiting lists there are huge, my doctor said I could be waiting 3 months to get into there :/

 

3''Also, you didn't mention if you have anyone supporting you - family/friends etc. Do you have people around you for support?''

 

Yes , I have moved back home with my family and they are a great support , they really are. I would truely, honestly, be lost without them.

 

I hope to get linked into as many services as possible that are available in my current circumstances just to get back to a somewhat functioning life .. Like this time last year I had a full time job, a girlfriend, life was good, was after becoming a qualified fitness instructor and everything, and then things just started to go downhill ,

and now i just feel completely isolated from everyone apart from my family. Ugh psychosis , why me lol

 

Anyways, optimistic about the future, 1 day at a time , hopefully things will improve

[Southern Discomfort]

Well, I hope that whatever you and your doctor chose will work swimmingly for you. Best of luck!

[Hester]

Hey Joe

 

I'm glad to hear your family are supporting you - that makes such a difference when you're having difficulties like this.

 

It sucks that there weren't enough beds for you to have the option of admission (same situation in the UK a lot too), but it does seem that maybe you didn't really need it at the time, as you seem to be coping pretty well outside the hospital at the moment.

 

It is a shame there aren't any free groups for you - I had a Google and I couldn't see much either. Maybe there are charities that could help? There is one in the UK called Mind, and also Rethink, but I don't think they cover Ireland too unfortunately.

 

I'm sure you will sort something out though. You seem to be pretty resourceful and have a positive outlook.

 

One last thing - you mentioned the 'long' 3 month waiting list - that is very short really! In the UK the average wait is 1-2 years!! I am currently having to wait 2 months just to see a pdoc where I am in the US - just moved here. So 3 months is not that long, and so it is probably (definitely) worth getting on that list!

 

Anyway, good luck with it all and stay in touch on here

[tiredg]

 

 I also know I'm on the low end of doses and the chance that these things happen are relatively small.

 

 

Thats after putting things in perspective for me a bit for me, I may say that to my dooctor about the olanzapine , if I try it at a small dose and give it a a few months it may help the psychosis effects im having, I'm just worried that, at 23 , the long term useage of the drug may be damaging.. Hmm, I'll mention it to my doc , but as u said urself, if it were at a low dose , then the side effects may be little if none. Hmm

 

All meds suck, especially antipsychotics. You need to decide if you want the psychosis or the side effects from meds.