Medication help

[S. Darko]

I take medication for my schizophrenia, but it doesnt help. I just stopped taking it altogether and my roommates Josh and Aidan say that I space out too much and dont pay attention to what Im doing without it. But I think that the pills make it all worse and they have had to corner me to take them before. My doctor wont perscribe anything else yet. What should I do if the medication that is meant to help, makes it worse, but Im also bad without it?

[PSY]

Hello, and welcome to TeenHelp! =)

I used to work with people who had schizophrenia, so I know how bad the side effects can be for some of the medications. Ultimately, you have to choose the lesser of two evils: take medication and risk having side effects, or don't take medication and risk hurting yourself and/or others due to the effects of untreated schizophrenia.

The good thing about medication is that there are numerous combinations you can try. It may take a while to find something that has a minimal number of side effects, but I've met a few people with schizophrenia who behave so "normally" that I would've never known they had a diagnosis of schizophrenia! They didn't give up, both medication- and therapy-wise. They communicated with their psychiatrists and other psychological professionals. Keep doing that with yours (vs. deciding to go cold turkey or something else that is dangerous without consulting first), and I'm confident you'll be able to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia with greater ease in the future. It'll never be "perfect," but it'll be better than doing nothing at all.

Something else you may want to consider doing is getting a second opinion - just to confirm that your symptoms truly are caused by schizophrenia, and not by something else. What's the use in taking medication for schizophrenia if that's not the correct diagnosis?

[BloodRedRose]

have you explained to the Dr. that the meds are not helping? if so did they give you a valid reason they want to keep you on it for now such as it might take time to get into your system. Some meds take a long time to get into your system and fully start helping you so even if they aren't helping just yet you may need to continue to keep taking them regular for a cretin period of time before you start really seeing the affects of the medication. Honestly I'd go back to the dr and Explain to them that the med is not working and ask how long they want me on it before they will change the med or dose...