schizophrenia

[Salahudeen]

the doctor said he's going to up her dosage to 4 mg a day cos the voices aren't going

 

[abu_musab461]

sometimes its not a medical illness at all and hence medication does not improve the situation...

 

[Salahudeen]

^ good point akhi, we're trying other means as well like water that I've recited ruqya over all though my recitation isn't good so I don't know if it'll have any effect. and 3 hours of listening to Qur'an daily.

but I just want all the bases/angles covered, so if it is mental illness the medication will help, if it's sihr the ruqya treatment will help inshallah.

 

[Woodrow]

sometimes its not a medical illness at all and hence medication does not improve the situation...

It is true there are mental disorders that are not a medical issue and can be the result of behavior disorders, situational related problems, substance abuse, brain trauma etc. But, the majority of Mental disorders have a medical basis and in general are very similar to diabetes but related to other body chemicals/hormones/neuro transmitters etc besides insulin or in addition to insulin. The first step in diagnosing and treating a psychiatric disorder is to first identify if there is evidence of psychosis. If a psychosis is identifid the next step is to find if it was sudden onset or if it was a gradual worsening of symptoms, then to try to identify the most prevelant psychosis. Based on that a tentative diagonosis is made of the most likely disorder present and minimal treatment is begun. If there are no expected changes in a few days the next most likely treatment is begun. The final diagnosis is usually made by process of elimination. It can be a slow process and part of the criteria for some diagnosis does depend on multiple hospitalizations for psychotic episodes.

 

[Salahudeen]

Brother woodrow I'm interested to know how have mental disorders been treated through out the generations, before we had all these drugs what was the plight of a person with a mental dis order, what forms of treatment were used through out time. There's no cure for mental dis orders is there, only treatment of the symptoms with drugs.

Also is there any tests to see if it's actually a problem with the brain, like a chemical in balance.

The first step in diagnosing and treating a psychiatric disorder is to first identify if there is evidence of psychosis.

would this be done by observing the person's actions and asking them questions? or would it be achieved by running tests on the person?

 

[Woodrow]

Brother woodrow I'm interested to know how have mental disorders been treated through out the generations, before we had all these drugs what was the plight of a person with a mental dis order, what forms of treatment were used through out time. There's no cure for mental dis orders is there, only treatment of the symptoms with drugs.

Treatment as it is known today is very recent. For the most part mental illness was not recognizd as an illness until the early 1900s when Freud demonstrated that human behavior could be measurd and the fields of psychiatry/psychology became recognized as science and not a field of philosophy. From about the mid 1700s to the mid 1900s people with mental illnesses were incarcerated usually for life in mental institutions. Most lived in very barbaric conditions. Prior to that they often faced torture or death. Some early treatments were shock therapy either electric, chemical or mechanical. Shock treatment did prove to be of use for some forms of depression and is still used, but not in the barbaric methods of the past. The goal of shock treatment is to produce seizures similar to epilepsy. this can disrupt the memory connections and alleviate some forms of depression. today when it is used the patient is sedated and very carefully monitored levels of electric current ar used. Most are unaware it took place and the normal side effect is drowsiness for a few days. Some people do experience a moderate headache on the second or third day after the treatment.

Bedlam hospital had devised all kinds of sphisticted tortures in the belief a person could be forced back to normality.

Often the afflicted were mistakenly thought to be possessed and various operations were tried to "remove" the evil spirits.

Possession is a rligious concern and is not related to medical disorders.

In about the 1950s prefrontal lobotomies were tried as a cure for the "Criminaly Insane" about all it did was ruin lives.

Today once a diagnosis is made the preferred treatment will be the use of anti-depressants, ant-psychotics, mood stabilizers and even insulin, or some heart medications. the specific medications being based on the person's symptoms and general health.

The affective and behavior disorders usually do not have a medical basis and often can be treated and cured with behavior modification, relaxation, and religion.

In my lifetime treatment has made great advances, when I was a boy institutionalization was the option of choice. By the time I reached my undergrad days tranquilizers and anti-psychotics came into being and removed the need of long term institutionalization for many. Over the next 40 years vn more advances were mad and today long term institutionalization is seldom needed and many affected people can lead long, productive normal lives with at the worse a temporary relapse every few years, often that can be handled with simply changing the dosage of the meds. For many disorders there are high hopes that medicine is very close to actual cures, for chronic depression, some forms of Schizophrenia and Bi-polar disorder.

 

[hanif_]

Akhi Woodrow:

That is a very insightful post.

26:80 (Y. Ali) "And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me;

[FONT=Verdana,Arial]3:186 (Y. Ali) Ye shall certainly be tried and tested in your possessions and in your personal selves; and ye shall certainly Hear much that will grieve you, from those who received the Book before you and from those who worship many gods. But if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs. [/FONT]

Pychiatrist's are known to promote using anti-psychotics like Seroquel or Risperdal to stablize the schizophrenic condition. There have been rare cases reported were some people have used the medication initially and then discontinued using them and were OK. I would advise anyone with any illnesses physically or mentally to seek professional assistance and guidance.

 

[Salahudeen]

well the doctor's upped the dosage to 4mg, my mum took it and said it feels like there's a clamp on her brain, like her brain is being gripped and hurt. and she's not going to take 4 mg again.

I did feel she was improving slightly each day on 2mg but the doctor said he wants to find her therapeutic dosage and we will try 4 mg for 1 week.

I was just wondering is there any chance of an increased dosage having any long term effects that are bad for her, cos my mum keeps saying the pills will fry her brain eventually.

 

[جوري]

as stated akhi the worst side effects are tardive dyskinesia and extrapyramidal side effects, the other ones that are more common are sedation, maybe lactation and sexual dysfunction. worst of all is neuroleptic malignant syndrome which is life threatening.
Is the doctor she is seeing an actual psychiatrist or a regular physician? she needs to be followed up by a psychiatrist, ask this guy if he can get her a psych. consult.

and yes most meds need a few weeks to stabilize someone so one needs to be patients on drugs..

and Allah swt knows best

 

[Woodrow]

well the doctor's upped the dosage to 4mg, my mum took it and said it feels like there's a clamp on her brain, like her brain is being gripped and hurt. and she's not going to take 4 mg again.

I did feel she was improving slightly each day on 2mg but the doctor said he wants to find her therapeutic dosage and we will try 4 mg for 1 week.

I was just wondering is there any chance of an increased dosage having any long term effects that are bad for her, cos my mum keeps saying the pills will fry her brain eventually.

While respiridol has potential unwanted side effects there should be no need for concern about a 4mg doze for a week. The Dr. is most likly trying to establish the dozage range that can be easily tolerated and still be effective. One way to find this is to try the extremes for a short period of time and once a level of tolerance is established, to find the most effective in that range.

I do agree with Sister Skye, this should be a joint consultation between a GP and a psychiatrist.

 

[Salahudeen]

Well alhamdulilah my mum's getting better, we tried spiritual treatment along side the meds and it seems to be working alhamdulilah. I read the book "sword against black magic and magcians" and followed the programme it gives for lunacy in there

she's back down to 2 mg a day I'm not gonna let her stop this time inshallah. she seems to have come out of the episode and back down to earth.

 

[جوري]

al7mdlillah akhi..
that is excellent news indeed.. May Allah swt grant her fast shifaa

ameen ya rabb

 

[Salahudeen]

ameen, I was jus wondering is there any dangers to having anti pshychotic drugs for long periods of time.

She doesn't seem to have an side affects with respiridol but I'm just wondering if it's doing any other harm to her.

 

[جوري]

ameen, I was jus wondering is there any dangers to having anti pshychotic drugs for long periods of time.

She doesn't seem to have an side affects with respiridol but I'm just wondering if it's doing any other harm to her.

No drug is without side effects but it is a matter of benefits vs. risks.. so long as she is monitored closely by her doctor and goes to her appointments regularly and is on proper dosages then she should be fine insha'Allah.. my sister in law's mother (who is a malingerer/she is a non-muslim) has been on anti-psychotics for over twenty years and she doesn't even need them!

 

[Salahudeen]

No drug is without side effects but it is a matter of benefits vs. risks.. so long as she is monitored closely by her doctor and goes to her appointments regularly and is on proper dosages then she should be fine insha'Allah.. my sister in law's mother (who is a malingerer/she is a non-muslim) has been on anti-psychotics for over twenty years and she doesn't even need them!

that is comforting to know thank you. I was thinking all sorts of absurdities.

 

[جوري]

that is comforting to know thank you. I was thinking all sorts of absurdities.

you should always do research on the med. she is on to be aware of any sudden change in her, but most of the real horrible things happen in a very small percentage of the population ... but yeah most folks are on these meds for a lifetime and they do fine.. most important thing is never to stop a drug abruptly without medical clearance!

and Allah swt knows best

 

[Iris]

Salaamz..

A heart-breaking story...just like many of my patients'. (I've recently started my specialization in the field of psychiatry...) So I'm not really an expert yet with the whole thing, but mashaAllah everyone above has given good advice...and yeah Risperidone is an amazing treatment, inshaAllah this lady will stabilize on this.
A few side effects are common and expected but as long as she continues visiting her dr. on all the scheduled appointments it should be alright. Some serious side effects like tardive dyskinesia can develop after a proloonged period of usage...but, not for everyone.

From the social point of view, she would need maximum support, as I'm sure you're giving her. But I've jus come across too many patients of mine who're thrown away and rejected by their families...they eventually get fed up. I've had patients who get dropped off at the emergency room by the driver and their family realises a couple of days later that the person is missing and might be admitted at the hospital. Yeah it's truly sad. It's not these people's fault that they think this way and that their 'illogical' beliefs are so fixed in their minds.

The thing that makes illnesses like schizophrenia hard to treat is 'insight'. Whenever the patient is acutely ill, most likely he/she has no insight as to the fact that he/she is ill. This makes making them compliant on meds harder. We try different sorts of strategies for this. You're giving her the medicines yourself and making sure she takes them, that's one of the good methods. Some other methods inclue giving them an intramuscular injection of medicine (for example Risperidone), that has effect lasting till at least 2 weeks...especially in scenarios where the patient is acutely ill and refuses to take medicines, we use these 'longacting' injections as a means to give sustained release of antipsychotic medications(this is frequently used alongwith the oral meds)

May Allah SWT keep her well and symptom and sideeffect free, ameen.

 

[barney]

Hi.
I'm a Psychiatric Nurse of 23 years.

First take your loved one to doctor. they will be able to refer them to a psychatrist.

You will need to provide examples of their behaviour and state why , in your opinion they require help.
,
Items to include.
:1) Any talking to themselves
2)Any bizzare behaviour. Not out of cultural norms , but outside logical norms. " The CIA are after me" ( unless theres a reason for the CIA to be after them ,most unlikey)
3) loss in motivtion
4)loss in energy
5) Loss of social contacts
6) Any Bizzare content of speech.

Retain that bizzare and the definiton of such resides within the culture of the society.

If in ny doubt, try to seek medical help from the GP.

I think the first port of call if you are in Pakistan is the Imam, as i had a patient refered to them.

Very best wishes.

 

[chacha_jalebi]

with all schizophrenia cases its so important to get medical assistant asap!

like wit one of my cousins he like 14 and for 3/4 years he would say he sees stuff and he cant sleep because these stuff dont let him and he has a friend, a old man with a beard, and his family for some reason decided that the old man with a beard he would "see" is RasoolAllah (saw) and when you say stuff like RasoolAllah (saw) aint a ghost or he dont roam around showing himself to people, they argue and say bla bla just cos you dont see it lol, so after quite a lot of like arguments and the fact he couldnt sleep and it was affecting him in school, d family finally agreed to see a doctor, and he was diagnosed with a mild form of schizophrenia or summin, but it just comes to show

many people and indeed families are in denial and many times you hear from muslims, oh the kid has a jinn in him, it gets really annoyin, like jinns dont have better stuff to do then go and haunt people and go inside them,

anyway

 

[Proud.Hijaabi]

Waalakumu Salam

I know exactly what you are going through. It's not easy to cope with someone in your family having scheziphrenia. I think its best if you get them a doc ASAP and get them on meds. Also, its best if you still converse with them and stay by their side. Patience is a key element in handling a situation and do not judge them by what they say. Remember that this is not their fault and that they are still family and you should be more understanding. From what I know the meds tend to make people a bit drowsy so dont be surprised if they are constantly sleeping. ( I think so anyway!) Good Luck and pray to Allah (SWT) for guidance and help and patience.