Posted by blueberry1 on December 17, 2006, at 11:49:30
In reply to My Wife-To-Be and Me, posted by Non Heroe on December 16, 2006, at 17:43:29
Could you two maybe as a team agree on what symptoms to be on the lookout for, and when they are obvious, have an agreement to call a doctor? Kind of like part of pre-wedding agreement? A husband and wife joint venture kind of thing? I realize the problem with that is that when someone goes schizo, they may not be aware or may not admit that they are. But at least you would have made a team effort compromise thing in advance, which is what marriage is all about anyway.
It's a tough call. I mean, the odds of her having problems again are pretty high. But then, the odds of having more problems from longterm antipsychotic usage are pretty high too. That's been my experience anyway. I generally like the common saying, "if it aint broke don't fix it". But when it breaks, get it fixed promptly.
If you are deadset on having her on preventative medication, the only one I would feel safe mentioning is depakote 500mg to 1000mg. We don't hear of it talked about much for schizophrenia, but there are pharmacology websites that speak of it as preventative medicine, in place of antipsychotics. Antipsychotics are used for acute episodes that get out of control according to some things I've read here and there, but depakote by itself can do a fair job of preventing that from ever happening. Why depakote? Because you want as close to 100% coverage as you can get, with close to 0% side effects. DepakoteER in the 500mg to 1000mg range is practically free of side effects other than some possible weight gain.
Anyway, it is a tough call and it is all arguable. I'm just thinking out loud for whatever it is worth.
poster:blueberry1
thread:714320
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061217/msgs/714552.html