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Urgent prayer request

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StarryEyes

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My brother is going back to the doctor this afternoon. He and my parents moved to a new house in a new city this weekend. My mom says he handled it well and has been symptom free for a while. He is having side effects from the medicine, though, and still is relying on sleeping pills to sleep, too. He has tapered to half the dosage of the sleeping pill. Mom said since he has been on this medicine, his reaction time is slower, so he has not been able to drive. He is withdrawing from his college classes since he cannot live there this semester, but that's a good thing as that would be so many stressors for him (living on his own for the first time, having to live with different people, dealing with the schoolwork and such). Anyway, I'm interested in seeing what the doctor says today since he is symptom free...
So happy to hear there's been improvement! Thanks for the update Melissa. Praying!
 
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Mrs. Luther073082

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My brother went back to the doctor yesterday and the psychiatrist changed his medication again because he's changed his mind and doesn't think my brother is depressed. He thought he was doing very well. Still no official diagnosis, but that's OK with me. Better than slapping a diagnosis on him in knowing him for less than an hour.

The only problem is that I think my brother will eventually need to be taken off the medication. I really think this was drug induced since my brother no longer has any symptoms. Time will tell.

Also, unfortunately, he has gained 30 pounds. I'm not surprised because those types of meds do that to you.
 
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Mrs. Luther073082

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A new update: My brother's psychiatrist is trying to take him off the drug again -- this time slowly instead of just abruptly stopping it. So far things are going well.

My brother is signed up for classes at a new school in the new city they moved to. If all goes well, he will start in January.

I really hope that nothing happens as the doctor is trying to taper him off this medication -- he's already had his classes messed up twice now. He's doing a lot better and I hope it continues without any more setbacks. :prayer:
 
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FaithPrevails

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A new update: My brother's psychiatrist is trying to take him off the drug again -- this time slowly instead of just abruptly stopping it. So far things are going well.

My brother is signed up for classes at a new school in the new city they moved to. If all goes well, he will start in January.

I really hope that nothing happens as the doctor is trying to taper him off this medication -- he's already had his classes messed up twice now. He's doing a lot better and I hope it continues without any more setbacks. :prayer:

:prayer:

Sometimes a fresh start is the best thing. I hope that helps make a difference for him. :)
 
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Stravinsk

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Glad to hear that things are getting better with him. :)

I think the whole situation is scary - it's yet another reason I'd never go to see a psychiatrist (though I'd see a psychologist - one who doesn't peddle drugs) - if I was having some problems.

Is it simply coincidence that the word translated "witchcraft" and "sorcery" is Pharmakeia in the bible - from which we get our english word "Pharmacy"? I've never done a study on it - but it's always been a curiosity to me.
 
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Mrs. Luther073082

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No offense, but without the psychiatrist, my brother would be in a world of hurt right now. It wasn't a psychiatrist who caused this situation -- the psychiatrist is correcting the problem and getting him back to a normal life. If you were ever in a similar condition to what my brother was in a few months ago, you would not have a choice about seeing a psychiatrist... at least not where we live anyway.
 
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Edwards1984

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No offense, but without the psychiatrist, my brother would be in a world of hurt right now. It wasn't a psychiatrist who caused this situation -- the psychiatrist is correcting the problem and getting him back to a normal life. If you were ever in a similar condition to what my brother was in a few months ago, you would not have a choice about seeing a psychiatrist...

Sounds like the psychiatrist is doing their job well. And I'm thankful there is some recovery. :thumbsup:

Apparently it's fairly normal for a person to be given medication as a short-term solution, in the hopes of gradually getting the person to a normal condition where medication is not longer necessary. Therefore, what the psychiatrist is doing is no different than how most would react.
 
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Stravinsk

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No offense, but without the psychiatrist, my brother would be in a world of hurt right now. It wasn't a psychiatrist who caused this situation -- the psychiatrist is correcting the problem and getting him back to a normal life. If you were ever in a similar condition to what my brother was in a few months ago, you would not have a choice about seeing a psychiatrist... at least not where we live anyway.

Maybe I've made an assumption or misread something - but didn't you say that the use of phychotopic drugs to combat his problem actually greatly aggravated it? Don't such drugs need to be prescribed by a psychiatrist?

The problem I have with psychiatry in general is that there is a certain leaning towards drugs as solution or temporary solution - generally speaking. A psychiatrist has a "quick fix" - whereas a psychologist has no such "backup" - he must work with the person's attitudes/ behaviours/beliefs *only*.

If I lived where you lived, the authorities would have a fight on their hands if they would try to force on my person psychotropic drugs without my consent. People would get hurt - because I'd consider that violence to my body and would fight tooth and nail.
 
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Mrs. Luther073082

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My brother was orginally given an anti-nausea drug by a doctor or dentist (or both, I can't remember anymore) and that drug caused him to have extreme insomnia and a psychosis as well as other physical problems. He needed antipsychotic medication to be brought out of the psychotic state. Unfortunately, the first psychiatrist who saw him in the hospital was an idiot and wanted to completely ignore my brother's complete lack of history of mental health issues and diagnose him with bipolar disorder instead of a drug induced psychosis. He gave him him drugs that my brother did not need that had bad side effects AND he gave him MORE anti-nausea medicine because one of the side effects my brother had was nausea. He would not listen to our family. The second psychiatrist took my brother off those drugs (especially the anti-nausea drugs) and has put him on a medication that will soley address the psychotic symptoms. He is trying to taper him off of the drugs slowly. If you take a patient with psychosis off of antipsychotic drugs abruptly, they will probably go right back into a psychosis (which my brother did earlier this year).

If you were in a psychosis, you probably wouldn't even know what a psychiatrist was or understand anything that was going on. I said earlier in the thread that five years ago, I had a drug reaction just like the one my brother had. When I was psychotic, I didn't even know what the "x" to close a window on the computer was anymore and I didn't have any idea what was going on when I was taken to the hospital. I did not know it was a hospital or that the people there were doctors and nurses. I did not even know what the sound of my stomach growling was and I no longer recognized that crossing the street in front of an oncoming car was dangerous.

People who are in a psychosis need antipsychotic drugs. It is a chemical and biological thing and can't be resolved by talk therapy and changing your attitude. It is kind of hard for a person to change their attitude when they don't even understand the meaning of the word anymore.

I understand that many psychiatrists push drugs as a first choice when in reality (IMO) it should be a last resort as treatment for things like depression. However, there are some mental health conditions that do require drug therapy as a first resort. It is for the safety and quality of life of the persons involved. You may disagree, but I can tell you from firsthand experience and from witnessing my brother's experience as well as patients that I have worked with that the side effects of antipsychotic drugs (weight gain, nausea, involuntary muscle movements, etc) are far better than actually being psychotic. I worked with a client who thought whenever he touched someone's arm that they were grabbing him and not letting go/attacking him -- he would scream in absolute terror like he was about to be murdered every time he touched another person (and he did that a lot). That is not a fun way to live.
 
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Stravinsk

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Interesting.

Well, I've never experienced non-drug induced psychosis (I have experienced LSD induced psychosis - to the point of running from giant spiders and believing I am a video game character) - although from a sober point of view I don't understand how memories such as what the "X" on a window means or what a doctor or policemen looks like - are supressed - from a *chemical* point of view...

Unless it is nutrient deficiency...such as deficiency in certain B vitamins (Thiamine) causes Beriberi.

Perhaps anti-psychotics help certain people - but I do believe the real underlying cause of the problem is most often (if not always) - a spiritual or nutritional one or both.

I have an uncle that was diagnosed bi-polar after playing chicken in traffic with his car. During his intial councelling session - all kinds of nasty stuff from his childhood surfaced. This was never dealt with and he lives as a near drug induced vegetable to this day. THAT is the kind of thing I find most disturbing and really really sad.
 
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Stravinsk

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So, what are you getting at? Are you implying that my brother should take vitamin B? Or go to therapy? Or go to church? Because he already does all of those...

What I am getting at is that there may be a route to a long lasting treatment that doesn't involve permanant use of psychotropic or otherwise mood/mind altering drugs. What that treatment *is* for your brother isn't my place to say - but isn't it worth investigating all options for his sake?

I brought my uncle up because it is the belief that he has (or has developed) bi-polar that in effect cuts off any alternative route to treatment. As long as he is drugged up he won't hurt anyone - but he'll remain in his drug induced near vegetative state for the rest of his life - when it seems obvious to me that the more effective (although harder) road (for him in particular) would be to deal with his abusive past and perhaps (if there exists) any nutritional deficiencies or toxicities that contribute to mental disfunction.

From a nutrient standpoint - certain deficiencies (such as Thiamine) *will* cause severe mental problems and certain metals (such as too much copper or lead, for example) will cause mental problems as well. A good way to test levels of vitamins, minerals and toxic elements is a hair analysis test.

From a spiritual standpoint - This is a broad subject but suffice it to say that not all therapists and therapy are equally effective. Perhaps the therapy isn't helping because the therapist isn't addressing an underlying problem - I don't know.

Just out of curiosity - is your brother a Christian?

I don't believe psychosis (that is, non drug induced psychosis) just "happens" to us - via some sudden and temporary anamoly in brain chemistry for healthy people. An aneurysm, for example, can of course effect someone permanantly if it seriously damages certain parts of the brain - but this is not really comparible to a *temporary* psychosis that a person has for a time then no longer has.

A temporary condition like this would indicate to me a temporary pysiological or spiritual condition, not brain damage. Temporary conditions like these are often caused by temporary phenomona - nutritional, toxic and/or emotional/spiritual.
 
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Mrs. Luther073082

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You did read that he is being tapered completely off the drugs, right? And yes, my brother is a Christian. I'm going to go ahead and ask that if you want to discuss your opinions on vitamins and mental health, that you do it somewhere other than my prayer request thread, please.
 
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