Lived Experience Forum

[Tyler77]

People with my illness are notoriously known to have poor compliance when it comes to treatment.  Often, when released from the hospital, we pick and choose which medications to use, sometimes chosing none at all.  This often results in destablization and rehospitalization.  When admitted, you lose your rights to leave on your own accord.  It is either the doctor who must say your safe to be released back into general pop, or sometimes it comes down to a judicial decision.  Anyone in the hospital can call for "legal services" to help get them out of the hospital.  But this often results in a courtroom hearing.  The burden of proof rests with you and your attorney to prove you aree of sound mind and can see after your own affairs.  Often, since the doctor is the professional in the room trained in mental ailments, the judge naturally weighs his opinion as more valuable and therefore often rules in the doctors favor.  From my expierence, the whole hearing part is merely a formality, and your doomed to lose to the doctor time and time again.  You can refuse medication when in the hospital, but the doctors can get a judicial ruling of medication over objection. So if it is believed you are spitting out your meds, you will recieve intermuscular injections, by force if necessary.  First couple times I was in there, I fought them off believing it to be my right to declare what goes into my body, but they always win.  Now, I put up no fight in the matters, because I know it will always end with me getting a needle, because they always have more people than I am capable of holding off.  

Upon my most recent release, I entered into a outpatient treatment program where they come and check up on you at least once a week, at your residence.  They assess you each time.  Give you medication and leave.  This outpatient program is court enforced.  If for some reason, I do not meet up with them...if i try to avoid them, the police will get involved, track me down, take me to the hospital, and if I need a injection, I'll get one whether i want one or not.  I've been in this program for 6 years now.  Uncooperative and bitter at first, but now I've learned to get along.  

I want to stop my shot, for multiple reasons.  The first, is that it detracts from my intellectual capacity and limits my creativity when writing or making other art.  The other reason is because in the time that I've been on the shot( I had 6 months off it once), I've regained 50 lbs.  The only downside, is that the shot reduces greatly my paranoia and delusions.  I am currently so heavy though that i think the shot is causing more harm than good and is putting me at risk for heart disease and diabetes.  

I am not sure what I can do.  It is up to my psychiatrist to decide my medication regime and currently it stipulates that the shot is part of it, in the court papers.  I am thinking of asking her to try to give me a few months without it, to see how i do.  I did that once for about 6-7 months and did quite well but ended up going back on it because the delusions and paranoia was really starting to aversely affect my life.  I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here.  

Whats your opinion on forcing medications on patients?  

What do you think I should do?

[-karma-]

Hi @Tyler77

I think you are not alone with the side effect of weight gain, unfortunately medication often addresses some of the symptoms, while overlooking others or has adverse side effects. I guess its about finding the right fit for you, and weighing up the positives and negatives.

I think a conversation with your psychiatrist is a good idea, letting her know your concerns about the dramatic weight gain, and your desire to reduce your medication over time. She may suggest trying another drug, or even a combination of drugs, however i  know that this can also be difficult!

What does your gut tell you about the situation? How unwell did you become last time, and what impact did this have on your life? What would be your ideal solution to the situation? Hopefully answering some of these questions will help you come to some sort of conclusion about moving forward.

What does others think??

[Appleblossom]

Your description of being forced to take medication .. is similar to a lot of people. I have seen it quite a few times and it always fills me huge concern and misgivings about the system. I have never experienced it. I would hope that your treating doctor would respond to your relative ongoing stability and enter into the discussion with you.  It is certainly fair to raise it.   Sometimes as we get older we manage things a little better. 

It is important that you dont go into a relapse .. so go slowly and try and deal with medical people and get them on side if you feel you are over medicated.

Take care

Apple

[NikNik]

@Appleblossom & @-karma- offer some great words of wisdom.

I hope you're listened to @Tyler77

When you had 6 months off your medication last time, did you have any support, or did you do it solo - no psychologist, support or other therapies? 

[Tyler77]

@-karma- I became more neurotic if anything.  Just general anxiety about things and could be's, might happen...I had massive amounts of energy though and I'd be come reclusively obsessed with my work(I'm trying to become a writer).  Thats not necessarily a bad thing, it just makes social life difficult and often those are the people assessing me.  

No, when I went off the shot for six months, I still had a medical team meeting with me weekly and checking in on me from time to time, including a psychiatrist.

Good news though...I talk with the psychiatrist who discussed it with the medical team and their willing to take me off the shot.  I meet with them weekly and I am in close contact with my family, who have the phone numbers for the medical team should i start acting abnormally.  So really, there isn't much risk involved.  I'm excited.  Hopefully I can take this time to prove I don't need it and lose some substantial weight.  

Thanks for listening everyone and talking me through..

-Tyler77

[Kurra]

Hi @Former-Member

I'd prefer chemical restraint to a straight jacket. As I've experienced both my preference is the chemical even when administered by force. Again I'm speaking from personal experience. A straight jacket removes all capacity for freedom of movement.

[Tyler77]

Hi @Former-Member

I've never seen anyone ever be put in a actual straight jacket, during all my trips and stays at the hospital.  Some people destroyed property or were aggressive/violent to others and were given a IM injection.  I call it a "medicinal Straightjacket".  In some ways that is even more intrusive...

I got a few of those shots early on, like over a decade ago, when I still thought my rights were being violated for being locked up even though I had commited no crime.  But all it takes is some doctor to say your either a danger to yourself or others...then you often have no choice but to go to the hospital, if you refuse, the cops will make you go.  Then once you get in there, its on lock down, locked doors, gaurds, etc.  Until a doctor says your okay to leave....

One thing I learned through all of this is, try to be respectful, patient, polite and cooperative.  Which was the exact opposite of what i was when they originally demanded that I go in there.  It just made it worse.  

These shots are often a sedative of some kind, that allieviates aggitation.  It wears off after a few hours.  Kinda harmless in my opinion.

The antipsychotics block dopamine, not all over but particularly in the D2 receptor sites.  For some reason this area is often associated with delusions and hallucinations.  In a way it is kinda like a medicinal straight jacket, cause it limits the function of certain areas of the brain.  But some people, can't function unless they get the shot.  They become paranoid, delusional messes.  So for many, though restrictive, those kind of shots are lifesavers.  

[Kurra]

Hi @Tyler77
My experience with the straight jacket treatment was 45 years ago in Europe. It's inhumane and horrible.

[Former-Member]

Hi @Kurra and @Tyler77, I agree. Having had physical and chemical restraints, I'd much prefer chemical. That doesn't make either of them okay in human rights terms though. In the seminar I attended, I thought it was interesting that they were also talking about psychological restraints as being problematic.. They said those were essentially the various ways that either overt threats (calm down or we'll do X) as well as the general environment kind of coerce people into going along with things they wouldn't otherwise consent to. I could really relate to going along with things I didn't actually want because I knew if I didn't, the consequences would be worse. In legal terms, coerced consent is not a valid consent but in mental health and aged care settings it kind of slides under the radar.