it's been a year since my husband has been in the hospital for his schizophinia. he has good and bad times. this week has been the worse. he takes his meds but they don't seem too be working.
i'm tired physically and depressed. dos it ever get better?

It's entirely possible that he may never be well, Monica. :grouphug:

Im sorry about that, i dont know anybody with schizophinia but i can imagine its tough! :grouphug:
I hope that he feels better soon so that you can feel better too!

Hi Monica,

I am so sorry that it's been so rough for you. It's rough dealing with any kind of illness, mental or physical. Is there a support group online for family members of schizophrenia? Have you checked out the chat room or discussions at
http://www.schizophrenia.com/ .

You are not alone, it just feels like it. Please seek help for yourself. You cannot be there for your husband if you aren't there for yourself. Take care of you too.

Chris

Oh Monica, I'm so sorry.:grouphug: My older brother has schizophrenia and it's so painful to watch someone you love go through this. It's also very hard on us as a family, we want so badly for him to have a peaceful, happy life. He refuses to take his meds now, but even when he did take them they just made him want to sleep all the time. There is no cure, but I'm always praying for a healing. Never give up hope.....

If you ever need to talk please feel free to PM me.

Please take care and I hope things get better for you soon.:flower:

Sending a hug. :grouphug: So sorry that you are going through this. :( Do take care of yourself.

my heart and prayers go out to you and your husband. My aunt had serious mental illness and it took years to finally find the right dosage and medical cocktail, but it was all worth it in the end. My uncle really had to take time for himself and my cousin, and those two visited relatives alot during those years, but the extended family and friends really helped to ease the burden. Definitely get a support group of people together, if not in person, then online. I second the opinion that you need to take care of yourself first so you can help him, if possible.

you can also pm me anytime, and I'll try to listen, if nothing else. God bless and good luck. . . {huggs}

{{Monica}}!

I'd been hoping that, since we hadn't heard about your DH for a while, that things were going well.

I have no direct advice, but if you can find a support group, local or on-line, it may give you some ease.

:grouphug:

Dvips

I don't have any advice but a (((hug)))

:grouphug: I am so sorry your having a rough time right now.

I do understand your frustration and pain. My mother is schizophrenic, diagnosed before I was even born. I am now her legal guardian.

Send me a pm if you like :flowers:

thank you eveyone for your support. my husband is a very sweet guy. when the schizophinia takes over it's overwheming. it is like the movie ''beautiful mind''. my husband is smart but you can't change his mind on what goes on in his mind. he is convince that some guy in heaven [yes, heaven] is now bad. through ''signs'' he tells or does thing to my husband. such this guy again in heaven is molesting my stepdaughter thru her dreams or i lust after woman! such nonsense!

I'm so sorry Sweetie.:grouphug: I know it's not easy, you must be an awfully strong lady. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers....

Hope things will get better for you. You're in my prayers :grouphug:

I'm so sorry Sweetie.:grouphug: I know it's not easy, you must be an awfully strong lady. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers....
thank you shella13. actally i don't feel like i am strong, my mom also tells me i'm a strong person but i don't feel like i am.

I don't have any advice but a (((hug)))
i'll take all the hugs i can get. :smile:

Monica: I have an adopted son who has mental illness. He has bipolar and ADHD. He went through a really rough time last year. He had a med change after that and is much better now. With the med change it took a little while to get better but it helped. I'm not sure if it's the same with schizophrenia but I would think so. I know before my son became unstable he was doing very well with the meds he was on. Then it slowly started to change and got really bad. I thought I was going loose it myself. I pray that he will be able to find the right new meds to help him become stable again. Does he have a good psychiatrist? I know my son's is awesome and I'm always able to reach him. PM me if you like.

-hugs- I hope things get better next week. I don't care for anyone with a mental illness like that but I believe that it is painful and trying.

Hang on =)

I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through this. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you. No words of wisdom or advice, just wanted to let you know I care. (((Hug)))

Monica: I have an adopted son who has mental illness. He has bipolar and ADHD. He went through a really rough time last year. He had a med change after that and is much better now. With the med change it took a little while to get better but it helped. I'm not sure if it's the same with schizophrenia but I would think so. I know before my son became unstable he was doing very well with the meds he was on. Then it slowly started to change and got really bad. I thought I was going loose it myself. I pray that he will be able to find the right new meds to help him become stable again. Does he have a good psychiatrist? I know my son's is awesome and I'm always able to reach him. PM me if you like.
in my opinion his dr. isn't all that great. he is a ''free'' dr.

I don't have any advice either, but I know it has to be very hard (The nearest thing I've had in my family is Alzheimer's). All I can offer is love. *hugs*

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/cuddledumplin/PHTO0008Efpb.jpg

That's really rough :( I hope things improve a bit.. just try to take care of yourself, you are definitely very strong, any mental illness is very difficult to deal with. *hugs*

Monica, I'd like to recommend whatever the latest edition is of Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providers by E. Fuller Torey, M.D. if you haven't run across it yet. My brothers and I were shielded from much of my mother's illness when I was young, and I was grown with children of my own before I really began to understand what life might be like for her - as much as anyone outside that world can understand, anyway. The book was a tremendous help.

Are you able to provide input for the doctor about your husband's progress and reaction to medications? Finding the right chemical balance can be a tricky thing to begin with, made more difficult if he decides that the doctor isn't entirely to be trusted. Not to mention the fact that with schizophrenia, the patient's perception of how he's doing isn't usually the best measure.

Hugs, dear. My mother is one of the sweetest people I've ever known, but I do not think I could have taken care of her the way my father did.

Monica,

I'm sorry to hear about how difficult your struggles have been. In my work I generally work with the most debilitated of the clients with schizoprenia at our agency, but I also see the sucess stories.

People with schizophrenia can come to terms with their symptoms through appropriate medicines and education about their illnesses. The first several years following a diagnosis is the hardest on both the the person themselves and those around them.

If you have not already done so, I very much recommend getting in touch with your local NAMI group (it is a support group for people with mental illness and their families...it's good to know that your not alone and can turn to people who've "been there") http://www.nami.org/

It quite often takes time for a psychiatrist to find the right mix of medications that will work for each patient, and in my experience they are reluctant to make changes until they feel a reasonable period of time has passed to ascertain whether or not a medication is working or not. Unfortunately, anti-psychotics need to reach a therapeutic level in order to be effective, and sometimes this can take months of consistant use.

Hang in there, and please, feel free to pm me if you'd like me to look into anything in particular for you.

One of my lifelong friends committed suicide at 44 in 1999 due to schizophrenia. This disease is VERY tricky, but usually the right medication combinations CAN be found over time. Another problem is, as in Mike's case, the victim often feels unwarranted shame over his condition, and stops taking needed prescriptions when he starts feeling well.
I so hope that you two will be able to successfully fight this horror. The scariest part is that when the schizophrenic retreats into his own despair, he doesn't even realize that self-destructive actions they take will hurt others! God bless, Bob :flower:

Monica, I'd like to recommend whatever the latest edition is of Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providers by E. Fuller Torey, M.D. if you haven't run across it yet. My brothers and I were shielded from much of my mother's illness when I was young, and I was grown with children of my own before I really began to understand what life might be like for her - as much as anyone outside that world can understand, anyway. The book was a tremendous help.

Are you able to provide input for the doctor about your husband's progress and reaction to medications? Finding the right chemical balance can be a tricky thing to begin with, made more difficult if he decides that the doctor isn't entirely to be trusted. Not to mention the fact that with schizophrenia, the patient's perception of how he's doing isn't usually the best measure.

Hugs, dear. My mother is one of the sweetest people I've ever known, but I do not think I could have taken care of her the way my father did.
again thank you EVERYONE for the support!!!
wind dragon- i do have that book. it does help.
i'm no dr. but i believe my husband gets chemical imbalances [sp?] this is why i think it gets worse at times. his dr. doen't listen to me.

Monica, I'm so sorry you are going through this, and I'm very sad for your husband.

We have two family members diagnosed with schizophrenia, and another with bipolar disorder. As was mentioned previously, NAMI can be a great help. Go to their website if you don't have an office in your area, but check the local listings in the phone book. They really do try to help in any way they can.

I will be thinking about you, and please let us know how things are going.