Posted by JohnL on November 24, 2000, at 6:39:05
In reply to Re: Switching from Risperdal, posted by JEdwin on November 24, 2000, at 4:31:05
JEdwin,
Negative symptoms include anhedonia (lack of pleasure in normal activities), lack of drive, social withdrawal, apathy, and emotional blunting. Positive symptoms include delusions, psychosis, visual or auditory hallucinations, disorganized thinking, bizzareness, and possible agitation. You could do a net search on 'schizophrenia' to learn more about your symptoms and the various subtypes. A good place to start is http://www.mhsource.com/schizophrenia/diag.html.In his book "Dysthymia, the Spectrum of Chronic Depression", a world renowned psychiatrist/researcher makes the case that all the psychiatric disorders have considerable overlap and are not as neatly diagnosable as we would like. I agree with that because I think my subtype of depression actually fits the description of the negative side of schizophrenia closer than it does depression. Clearly though there is some overlap and a lot of gray areas between schizophrenia, depression, psychosis, and bipolar disorder.
You might want to do a search on Amisulpride and print out everything you find and take it to your doctor. I know of two European pharmacies that can mail it to your doorstep in less than a week. One needs a faxed prescription, the other doesn't. It's a wonderful antipsychotic, with a dosing pattern that can be tailored to your specific symptoms, and has far fewer side effects than other antipsychotics. A good article to read is called "Focus on Amisulpride". Just do a net search on Amisulpride and you'll find it, as well as lots of other good info for your doctor to read. Even though it's a European medicine, I was surprised to discover that the University of Maryland is studying it.
Most likely though Zyprexa will be your doctor's favorite choice. You could ask him about adding Ritalin or Adderall to your Risperdal or Zyprexa. That's because psychostimulants can clear up residual negative symptoms, decrease appetite, increase metabolism, and they are dirt cheap. Alone they can cause psychosis. But the antipsychotic will normally block that from happening.
Why is Topamax being considered?
John
poster:JohnL
thread:49274
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20001115/msgs/49338.html