Hello smily,

Your question reminded me of when I was first put on the Stelazine, I slept twelve hours a night and was fatigued in the morning.  When the doctor instituted a cross titer last year and had me at first on the full doses of Stelazine and Geodon, I would fall asleep at work in the kitchen after lunch.

After five months, and now that I'm solely on the atypical, the sleepiness and morning fatigue are GONE, GONE, GONE.

Not all side effects are life-long.  Your best bet is to stay on the medication and talk to your doctor immediately about the excessive sleepiness.

I had not had a recurrence of the symptoms for close to five years, and when I discontinued the medication, the symptoms came back and I had to be hospitalized again.

While you and I and everyone else hear stories in the news that claim early intervention or long-term use of the schizophrenia drugs isn't necessary, these are unproven claims when it comes to the majority of people who had a previous psychotic episode.

The good news is, if you read one of my current blogs entries, you'll see that it's possible to remain out of the hospital for the long-term, and that is a noble goal.

All the best,

Chri

When you find a medication that relieves your symptoms, you will rejoice.  You may have already found it; I hope so.  I hated taking Zyprexa for years because of unwanted side effects.  But now I am on Geodon and I rejoice!  Some of the side effects are actually desirable, and I plan to stay on it just as long as it remains effective which I hope is forever.

From all I have read about schizophrenia, including the paranoid designation, I don't believe I have ever read a testimony from a person with sz who has managed to stay at optimum mental health w/o the meds.  For a long time, I would take the meds and got to where I felt really pretty good.  Then I would stop taking it thinking I was cured or even that I never had the disease at all, or I wanted an experimental "time out" to see how things went.  EVERY SINGLE TIME, I ended up in the hospital or headed in that direction.  I am just glad I have found a med now that I like and that likes me.

I never thought I was paranoid till I got relief from it and realized how awful it had been.  I never want to chance it again.

Carolyn

I'm not a doctor, and he's the person you should ask this question to .   

From my own experience, it's a very individual treatment plan regarding meds. Most people I know take medications for quite a few years in varying amounts and types. I do know that it is dangerous to stop taking medication without first consulting a health-care professional.

Take it easy

Don Fraser