Posted by blueberry1 on January 9, 2007, at 5:02:12
In reply to Drug-induced psychosis; anti-psychotic meds?, posted by Kath on January 8, 2007, at 15:42:25
My first post was on the way out the door to work. I had time to think about you at work. Now I'm home 8 hours later with some more thoughts.
First, the drugs he is on absolutely suck. If he is feeling bad, there is a high probability those drugs are making him feel even worse. Not in terms of psychosis, but in terms of depression. Since you don't know much about antipsychotics, the one with high efficacy and tolerable side effects and also benefit for depression is zyprexa. It is actually WIDELY prescribed for anxiety, as a sleep aid, and is dished out like candy to everyone including senior citizens. I was on it for 10 years and it was a good med, especially considering I am sensitive to meds. So that speaks well for its tolerability and acceptability. Risperidone does not come close to fitting that profile. Why they chose that one I have no idea. Bad choice. Keep zyprexa in mind. Second line right behind it would Abilify.
I suspect a deeper problem here though. And that is depression. He has likely been doing drugs to treat depression, though he didn't know that's what he had or that's what he was doing. People seek to get high for a reason, and often the reason is underlying depression.
Going forward, I would keep 3 things in mind: 1)zyprexa for depression and psychosis; 2)prozac for depression and because it marries well with zyprexa; 3)a stimulant such as Provigil that is going to give him a little of that energy feeling he liked, some more antidepressant action, but without the probability of psychosis.
I hope this helps. I wish there was some way you could get them to do these drug swaps right now, because he could be feeling a lot better real fast. The road he is on now with those drugs they're giving him is just torture.
poster:blueberry1
thread:720522
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070107/msgs/720691.html