Posted by Christ_empowered on February 9, 2022, at 5:47:00
In reply to Re: Can Antipsych's cause huge panic attacks? » Christ_empowered, posted by jay2112 on February 8, 2022, at 15:44:58
it seems that individual reactions to -all- psych drugs tend to be...far, far more unpredictable and complicated than the official data and/or "clinical wisdom" leaves many to believe/think.
if I recall correctly, the real "point" of neuroleptics is to achieve varying degrees of "de-activation." Early on, Thorazine was hailed as a quick and easy pill substitute for a lobotomy. Oddly enough...
although dosage varied -wildly- , it seems that lower doses were more common in the UK, much of what is now the EU...
but in the US, there was a trend towards higher doses, often with extra pills for adverse effects and such...
especially among US psychiatrists. Not a "conspiracy theory" or anything, just...kind of interesting, from a sort of sociohistorical perspective.
so,yeah...de-activation. apathy, indifference, reduction in reaction to external stimuli, reduction in movement and overall activity...
-sigh- I guess that's the goal of treatment? -eek-
to be fair, de-activation can be just what the doctor ordered (so to speak) when things get extra rough and intense. I remember this one vintage Thorazine ads, classic 50s all around...
well dressed housewife in 50s grab, on a stool, obviously in the throes of some sort of episode, sense of high tension all over the ad. Thorazine for extreme emotional states. I think they had the Spansule, by then?
ads in those days were directed to the shrinks (and other doctors, f course), not so much the direct to consumer "information" beaming into everybody's homes, these days. and so...
that, coupled with what appears to be some rather lenient FDA guidelines for psych drugs (Quaalude plus amphetamine? sure!), resulted in some awesome ads, from the late 40s to the 70s or so. at a certain point, the dsm-speak and such took over, so the ads weren't as blunt and awesome...the style wasn't as sophisticated or appealing, either, too clinical ("because we are real doctors, treating real illnesses," etc.), and...
yeah. yeah. moving on...
could an as needed/PRN neuroleptic do the trick, maybe? some people report good results from taking a low(er) daily dose, and then adding in more as needed (example: 15mgs/abilify daily...freak out? add 5-15 till distress resolves...), that sort of thing.
is amoxapine available where you live? a former shrink brought it up. I declined, because I've been on Abilify forever, and the idea of adding in a drug that is both a tca "antidepressant" (what does that -mean- ?) and also metabolizes to some unknown quantity of loxapine...
-not appealing- . but, another former shrink said she got good results with amoxapine in cases that were heavy on the low mood, agitation, anxiety end of things, coupled with milder psychotic symptoms. for whatever reason(s), amoxapine is considered a viable option in psychotic depression and also in cases of low, low, low mood that require a faster acting option. not a good idea if TCA drugs are a no go and/or if you are currently suicidal, on multiple other meds, etc.
perphenazine did OK in that big, big study of neuroleptics in long term treatment of Schizophrenia-spectrum people, back in the early 2000s. I think the dosage has to be calibrated more carefully, and even then the EPS, akathisia, and TD risks would probably (?) be higher than, say, olanzapine or quetiapine. and yet...yet another former shrink (clinic underpays, can't keep anybody) said it was a viable, lower cost option, when dosed appropriately, proper selection of people to be treated, etc. just a thought...
I hope things work out well for you.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1118481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220128/msgs/1118510.html