What is best medication for paranoid schizophrenia

Hello Diane,

I believe the first thing that you have to ascertain absolutely is whether or not your son is taking the medication and if so - is he taking it as prescribed?  Unless you're in the priviledged position of being allowed to stand beside your son while he takes his meds then you cannot absolutely know for certain whether or not he's being compliant.  Schizophrenics are absolutely magnificent at manipulating their caregivers and drug taking is one instance at which they excel.

It seems rather strange to me that someone whose taking their meds is showing little if any affective change.  By definition, the medication is a strong drug and it's 'not working' is not amongst the litany of options available.  That is, the drug may not be achieving the intended or desired result; however, it must be doing something. 

I'd suggest that you strike a deal with your son (one that he'll balk at if I'm correct) asking him for permission for ten days to be by his side each and every time he takes his medication.  If he does agree to this deal you'll still have to ascertain whether or not he's 'tonguing' his meds or 'cheeking' them.  Those are the two most common methods of hiding medication from an onlooker until it's time to spit them out.  Once you've determined that your son is taking the medication as prescribed and then concluded that there is zero change - it's time to discuss dose and efficacy of the drug with your son's provider. 

The only way I know of gaining this sort of trust to a) be by his side while he takes his meds; and b) be allowed to speak with his provider with you present is to be truthful.  By that I mean you'd be well advised to communicate to your son how much you love and care for him and how concerned you are that his medication might not be doing what it's supposed to be doing.  If, you could suggest that he allow you to help him by your being present when he takes his meds (not because you don't trust him but rather that you're very suspect as to why the drug you're paying for is not working as prescribed) and, if that is the case - you'd like to join him in speaking with the provider about the efficacy of the dose and/or the usefulness of that particular medication.  I hope this serves as a reasonable starting point for you and your son and I sincerely hope that he cooperates with you.  Best wishes and good luck.

Hello Diane Olsen,

Though your son has had a couple breaks in the last three years, there is hope and that doesn't mean he will always have breaks throughout his life.

Hopefully your son has a good psychiatrist who is willing to explore drug options if the one your son is on truly isn't working.  Because if the drug isn't working, your son [your SON] has to communicate this to his psychiatrist.

At a NAMI convention in Washington, D.C. three years ago I attended an Ask the Doctor session where the psychiatrist suggested that partial compliance or non-compliance is indeed the case in the majority of instances where the drugs aren't working.  Because even if someone is having symptoms, he or she could have effective coping techniques for dealing with the symptoms, and these techniques could make the difference in the patient's life quality and functionality, so that the patient can cope better while his or her doctor works at the same time to find the drug or combination of drugs that will work.

Read Robin Cunningham's SharePosts here about his Coping Skills, which are up to skill number 11.  He has talked about the fact that for the first 10 years he didn't get relief from his positive symptoms, even though he was on medication.  His psychiatrist tried every new drug as it came out, until the ultimate drug was found to take away Robin's symptoms.

The truth is, the medication might not be working, that's also a possibility; however, to give up on treatment isn't the solution.  Your son has his whole life ahead of him, and new drugs are being researched every year, so if he works with his psychiatrist, takes the meds he's on now every day as prescribed and develops coping skills, he will be able to ride out the time spent exploring new drug options.

There is hope.  Recovery isn't quick or easy; however, it is possible.

Best wishes,

Chris

The best drugs for paranoia are clozaril, zyprexa, risperdal and loxitane.  Zyprexa and risperdal are superior at preventing a relapse...probably because they are stronger with psychosis.

I just read an excellent book by Xavier Amador on how to work with your loved one around taking meds.  The book is intended to help family members dealing with loved ones who have poor insight into their illness--even think they are not ill at all, and don't need medication.  It is an excellent book.  It features the LEAP method and is called I'm not sick and I don't need help.