Anyone know anything helpful about schizophrenia?

Euphrates · January 15, 2007

My missus had "an episode" a couple days before Christmas, she was staying with some of her family and friends at her aunt's house like they do every year. She ended up putting her fist through a window, hitting her aunt with a maglite, and that's all she can remember/told me. Her mother and father alluded to a lot more when I was staying with them. She said she wasn't sure what was real anymore, but that she knew she was having hallucinations. Seeing demons, hearing voices but unfornately blacking out as well.

No diagnosis has been made yet and it may have just been a pyschotic episode, but just after reading some pretty basic things online I'm convinced she's got a pretty good chance of being schizophrenic.

She's on a 20mg dose of geodon (ziprasidone HCI) every day and has been fine ever since. This drug is prescribed for both the treatment of pyschotic episodes and schizophrenia, as it controls the levels of dopamine and serotonin in the brain, which apparently when elevated lead to hallucinations. It worries me slightly in that it is supposed to cause an irregular heartbeat, while there are similar drugs which treat both these things and do not, also its relatively new to the market, and that makes me suspicious of doctors being pushed to prescribe it...

I'm just looking for advice, similar stories or whatever, and I know from reading similar threads that this place has an amazing collection of individuals who can be very helpful.

You're also welcome to take the piss. As me and her have as well. If you don't every once in a while, something like this gets really scary.

January 15, 2007

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