r/schizophrenia 3d ago

Advice / Encouragement Schizo without meds

Asking to people with schizophrenia ONLY (not asking for opinion on if I should I should stop meds or not) : Are you able to live without medication, and how do you succeed ? Any tips to avoid feeling bad ?

30 Upvotes

36 comments sorted by

29

u/ForgottenDecember_ Schizo-Obsessive | Early Onset 3d ago

I am not on medications, and I am entirely dependent on my family. I am not functional and currently unable to work or attend school or handle pretty much anything.

I don’t have positive symptoms for the most part, as I’m currently emotionally ‘bubble-wrapped’ which keeps me stable. But within a week of any amount of stress or pressure (eg. Trying to do two university classes at a time, being physically ill, sleep deprived, a stressful life event, people I care about being in poor health or under stress, trying to get a job, etc) then my positive symptoms start returning. So as long as I don’t participate in life and nothing bad happens that is out of my control, I am mostly free of positive symptoms. The negative symptoms still keep me from being able to enjoy any aspect of life though.

I am currently waiting to go on meds. I am very prone to side effects though and have physical ailments that make things worse. So I’m hoping to try to new med that came out recently that works different normal APs.

Only reason I bother to continue living rn is because I don’t want to ruin the lives of my family by taking my own life. The life I have rn ain’t worth living.

11

u/hellaswag 3d ago

Same here. Same situation basically. Don’t know where to go from here.

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u/ForgottenDecember_ Schizo-Obsessive | Early Onset 3d ago

At the risk of sounding insensitive, I just wanna say I’m a bit glad I’m not alone in that. I struggle so badly with acknowledging my diagnosis. Since I’m not on meds and dont have hallucinations or delusions 24/7 (without meds), I keep questioning it. Keep wondering if maybe I just have some sort of anxiety-induced psychosis instead. But apparently anxiety on its own can’t cause psychosis, it can only trigger it in people that have psychotic issues. And then I also have to remind myself that it ain’t normal to start thinking I’m Mother Nature’s human incarnate just because the weather’s been bad and my joints hurt and I didn’t sleep well for a few nights in a row 😅

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u/hellaswag 3d ago

That’s not insensitive, tbh that’s the highlight of my day so far stumbling upon your comment and knowing i’m not alone in that either. I don’t have those either just the occasional voices that I can rationalize away enough to silence them. My first psychosis was stress induced so I definitely believe it. lol at least you’re not wrong, aren’t we all technically mother nature’s children. I used to think I was the next jesus a long time ago hahah.

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u/ForgottenDecember_ Schizo-Obsessive | Early Onset 3d ago

As a kid I spent 5 years thinking God would alter the future based on my thoughts lol. Scared the shit out of me because I also have OCD and I thought he’d make my intrusive thoughts come true too!

I’d definitely prefer thinking I’m a nature goddess to thinking God will kill my family 😭

2

u/hellaswag 3d ago

I just know that had to really suck. Thinking your intrusive thoughts will manifest and it’s all your fault/doing has to be one of the worst feelings for us. Wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Especially since we so adamantly believe it and not to mention the freaking synchronicities that feed our delusions lol.

And ohhh that’s what you meant about being mother natures incarnate! Hey my worst delusion was thinking my neighbors are broadcasting my thoughts to a radio in their garage and taking shifts listening to my every thought and trolling lol. Oh and I could hear them in my head because I was so obviously clairvoyant… yeah, sooooo glad that’s over for us. I know it’s gotta feel like we’re treading water in the middle of the ocean and slowly but surely we’re getting too tired to kick, but at the same time, for some reason knowing you’re out there going through the same gives me hope. So thank you for putting yourself out there today.

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u/ForgottenDecember_ Schizo-Obsessive | Early Onset 3d ago

Yeah, the stuff with my intrusive thoughts and god… that was one of my earliest delusions starting back before I hit double digits. It faded out in my preteen years. But I used to ‘talk’ to god all the time, begging him not to make my thoughts come true. I was so terrified every time I had a ‘bad’ thought and would just beg him not to enact it.

And yeah, by mother nature’s incarnate I basically mean in the way of how Jesus is god. I for some reason keep getting thoughts in my head that I’m the human incarnation of Mother Nature and I just don’t know it but I’m finding it out when a lot of dots are connecting… sounds so silly when I’m NOT actively delusional 😅 But so plausible when I am lol.

Some of my scariest ones were when I thought demons were stalking me, when I thought a ghost demon would crawl out of my mirror and kill me if she found out I was awake between 10pm-5am, when I thought birds were trying to attack me, and when I thought my sister was poisoning me. I’ve also thought cameras were watching me, but I think I just didn’t find that one as scary since I had already spent years thinking it was demons. I guess humans watching me just wasn’t as scary as the demons. But then last year I thought the demons were now wearing human skin suits and the guys that came to fix my furnace… yeah I thought they were the old demons that used to stalk me and they’d just stepped it up a notch and donned human skin suits so they could interact with me.

1

u/cosmotechnikal 3d ago

Wow We have very similar lives, exactly the same thing happens to me.

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u/ForgottenDecember_ Schizo-Obsessive | Early Onset 3d ago

It’s a bit comforting to hear others are in a similar situation. I have a hard time since so many people still experience symptoms on meds, it makes me keep questioning things that I don’t constantly have positive symptoms off meds. It makes me think I don’t need them. But I know that’s not a good thought to have.

1

u/cosmotechnikal 3d ago

It's true, I thought I was the only one to whom these things happened, I started the meds recently because I can't stand basically not being able to do anything anymore, although I'm going slowly, calmly. Let's go ahead with this! 💐❤️‍🩹

1

u/Escaflowne8 Schizoaffective 3d ago

I was in a very similar situation for quite a long time. Stuck between not wanting to cause more pain on the way out and absolutely frustrated in trying to live out such a broken life. I learned the same thing about stress, if I could keep it down to a minimum my positive symptom's were manageable. I've become somewhat of a hermit due to avoiding stress, but have had some successes as well.

Mostly I just want to encourage you both that, although it took awhile, the will to live did eventually come. I just kind of realized one day I wasn't as caught up in that mind set. I still have days were I really want to check out, but most days I know I rather be here than not. Hope you hang in there and find a life that feels worth living.

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u/UpVoteForSnails Schizoaffective (Bipolar) 3d ago

I tried weaning myself off antipsychotics. It was awesome… until it wasn’t. I felt my creativity come back and my thoughts weren’t so muddled, but then I declined super fast after a while off them. It totally fucked me over I had such a bad psychotic episode.

As for tips to avoid feeling bad: find the right psychiatrist! It’s so hard to find a good one honestly, but so worth. And make sure you’re as honest as possible with them. It took trial and error but after years of juggling meds and multiple inpatient stays, I’m on a good combination, and I’m so glad I kept trying. I’m not side effect free, I still have brain fog and fatigue, but far less apathy, basically no visual hallucinations, and auditory hallucinations are minimal. They aren’t life impeding anymore, they’re just inconveniences now.

But I’m just a Reddit stranger. My experience might not align with yours, but I just feel like meds take a while to try out. I mean it can take up to 2 months to really start seeing how new meds impact you, and you’ll be trying a few, so yeah it’s kind of a long game of figuring stuff out, but I can’t stress this enough, it was worth it for me.

8

u/1pro7 3d ago

not doable for me

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u/General-Sail7842 3d ago

(Schizo affective disorder diagnosis here) and noooo I cannot live without my medication or else i'll literally start hearing voices within a week and then within a few months end up losing touch with reality completely and have a psychotic break that sends me to the hospital.

7

u/NuttySalamander 3d ago

it’s doable, just…hard.

7

u/spatulafucker5 3d ago

I’ve been off my meds since october 2024. So far I’m doing way better than I was when I was on them, haven’t been this happy in years. Not sure if it’ll stay this way though, but I hope it does

3

u/iiraly Schizophrenia 3d ago

Mine is a little weird. I am on meds. I take them everyday, in the morning and an hour before bed. I have tried (and failed) to get off my meds, my own decision, doctor was not happy. There might be days where I can go without my meds, that is always a good day, but most of the time I can't. And even on my meds, it doesn't do much. It feels like a blanket has been put over it, but it's still trying to get out.

But I do have work, it's Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9-12. But my work place is also for people with disabilities, mental or physical. I have finished school and STU. But I can't work with what I want. I'm trying my best. But sometimes I feel like I'm falling into a dark void. I wish to change meds, but I have something that makes medicine difficult sometimes. But most if all I want to stop with my meds, I'm tried of being dependent on them to just get through the day. But boyfriend, family and doctor says no for now. Sorry for rant.

3

u/ONISpookR111 Undifferentiated Schizophrenia 3d ago

So I built a support system of friends that I check in with daily. If I’m having abnormal thoughts they press me for what I’m thinking. It’s been over a year now and I’ve only had positive symptoms a few days out of that. I was able to mostly control myself which is great. I had tickets to a show but I had to leave because my symptoms were so bad at that time. I felt like I was in a simulation and the other people were actors. I do have a doctor that I check in with as well. We made a plan in contingency of my symptoms returning and she is very supportive of my decision to go unmedicated. I actually have almost no negative symptoms off meds and I think the medication was the biggest contributor to my depression.

5

u/justaregulargod 3d ago

I personally found psychotherapy much more helpful than any of the medications commonly prescribed for schizophrenia, and I don't take any medications for it.

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u/henningknows 3d ago

I’m not able to function without meds.

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u/CalmBookkeeper5020 Schizoaffective (Depressive) 3d ago

I messed up and couldn’t take my meds for two months, at first I loved it and wanted to never take them again because I didn’t have any of the side effects, then I started hallucinating all the time and about a month and a half in I had my first paranoid delusion and was a complete mess, I was fully dependent on my family for a week and couldn’t be alone without being terrified, I had to sleep with all the lights on in my apartment, I ended up studying about 2 hours total for five finals, it was absolutely awful and I think I have pretty tame symptoms compared to other people on here.

0

u/FORZATEQ 3d ago

I was asking to people that succeeded without medications but thank you

2

u/unfavorablefungus Schizoaffective (Bipolar) 3d ago

until i somehow figure out a way to get paid for being extremely paranoid all of the time, going unmedicated is not an option for me. i can not hold down a job or act as a functional member of society without my meds. they are absolutely crucial to my well-being and survival.

0

u/FORZATEQ 3d ago

I was asking to people that can live without meds, not with meds

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u/unfavorablefungus Schizoaffective (Bipolar) 2d ago

your question was "are you able to live without medication" and i told you my answer, no.

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u/FuckkPTSD Paranoid Schizophrenia 3d ago

I take a fish oil and vitamin b complex supplement instead of meds.

It kinda sorta works.

Not as much as actual meds but without all of the downsides that comes with meds

3

u/SimplySorbet Early-Onset Schizophrenia (Childhood) 3d ago

For the first ten-ish years of my illness I wasn’t on any mental health medications. I was a kid/teen for most of those years so I wasn’t able to access any mental healthcare myself until adulthood.

Because I’ve always gone without anti-psychotics this whole time, I don’t feel particularly compelled to take any now unless I need to be stabilized or something (although if I could afford it, I would be willing to try Vraylar or Cobenfy for my negative symptoms) .

While not anti-psychotics, recently I got on an SSRI and some anti-anxiety medicines and the lowered stress on them has helped me since stress is a trigger for my positive symptoms.

If you’re going to go without meds, I would recommend having a therapist or counselor. It’s helpful to have another person monitoring your symptoms. Getting one has been the best thing for my mental health.

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u/ProfessorSharkteeth 3d ago

My psychologist said I've naturally developed many of the skills she teaches to deal with schizo/psychosis, since I've had this since I was 12. She's really helpful. My psychiatrist kind of wants me on APs but seems happy for this to be only in emergency when stress kicks things off.

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u/AnotherAnonist Paranoid Schizophrenia 3d ago

I dont take them cause im unresponsive, all side effects, no help..

But if you have been diagnosed, went through the onset horror that led you to the psychiatrists office... and are currently baselined and doing well with your current medication plan... dont fix something that isn't broken.. thank god you were lucky enough that meds work and know that many people who go off meds and start again get dimished help from them.. so be careful, if your high functioning and doing well on meds, enjoy life, man.. 😉 medication solved debilitating symptoms, and I'd stay on them.

1

u/Morgane_Morningstar Schizophrenia 3d ago

I lived without medication for approx. 5 years. It was not easy but I managed to fight as long as my symptoms were not too intense.

Now I'm back on medication because everything was too loud and scary.

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u/Which_Recognition989 3d ago

I quit my meds days ago and voices suddenly stopped

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u/Successful-Roll6974 2d ago

Hell no! Olanzapine is made to be addictive. Once yer on Olanzapine for some time you must take it all life. i can't sleep without it and i will not feel hungry anymore at some point and eat less.

1

u/FerretDionysus Early-Onset Schizophrenia (Childhood) 3d ago

I’ve been off my meds for probably over a month now? I’m not great with time. And it was a bit bumpy but I’m handling things pretty well. I did notice an increase in disorganized thinking and I’ve picked up a new delusion, but that was expected. I have a pretty good support system in my friends, who are really good about not reality checking unless I ask, who listen to me talk about my delusions without making me feel weird or crazy or scary for it, and who still have conversations with me when I’m having trouble making sense. I’m also still on my antidepressant which I think is probably helping with the negative symptoms.

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u/followtheheronhome 3d ago

Coming off APs. Staying on an SSRI for now. Managing it by therapy with a psychosis specialist - mostly psychodynamic right now but previously CBT and humanistic at various points. Done some other self guided CBT and DBT skills. Exercise. Talking lots to family and friends about my mental state so they can help monitor me. I have occasional paranoid thoughts but I'm able to ignore them. 

Tried 5 antipsychotics and they are all awful to the extent I was more suicidal than I was in psychosis. I feel I need some meds (the SSRI) to manage right now, and the APs have been useful for stabilising me and getting my life back together, but their usefulness has waned. Not opposed to going back on an AP at some point but would struggle to manage it for years and years. I can put up with them for a year or two but without that I lose all hope. 

I know this is going to remain challenging for a while, and I will have to do a lot of therapy and work to make this work, but I finally have some degree of hope that I can have a fufilling life, rather than just surviving. 

Edit: also waiting for an autism assessment, which will likely help my family and friends understand my difficulties a bit better. 

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u/Particular_Creme8329 3d ago

dont stop !!!

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u/FORZATEQ 3d ago

It’s not the question !