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Eden1919Senior Contributor
I just watched a video on side effects of long term antipsychotic use and now i am scared basically they said that long term side effects can include brain shrinkage and cognitive decline and tardive dyskinesia and i have absolutely experienced both td and cognitive decline. I would stop taking the meds but i am on a treatment order so i am not allowed too. But idk what to do I don’t want things to get worse.
In response to: Med side effects
ItsC0mpl1catedContributor
In response to: Med side effects
tymeModerator
Hi @Eden1919 ,
Good to see you.
I can see how such videos can raise a lot of questions and concerns for you. As @ItsC0mpl1cated mentioned, it's good to speak to your health provider about it as the Community here do not know your individual circumstances including the reasons for you being on a treatment order.
All the best.
In response to: Med side effects
DimitySenior Contributor
Hello @Eden1919 good to see you, it's been a while.
I've been on antipsychotics for over 40 years. I wonder if the video explained the incidence of those problems versus the percentage of people helped by antipsychotics. And the different rates of tardive dyskinesia with different antipsychotics. For me the cognitive disruption and incompetence of being ill was personally very difficult so a small longterm risk is acceptable. The metabolic side effects of antipsychotics are a problem but I'm doing the best I can.
I've just realised that although I had occasional psychotic breaks for 20 years I've now had an even longer time free of hospital admissions. I guess you'd call that successful treatment and maintenance.
Always happy to see you @Eden1919. Take care.
In response to: Med side effects
Arbie_wunSenior Contributor
@Eden1919 I can honestly say that I understand your pain at the moment. I was on a medication for nerve pain for a couple of years and it slowly over time caused the chemistry in my brain to slowly alter.
I ended up having a major episode because my cognitive thinking was messed up and even the most basic things would result in massive mood swings. I could go from happy one minute to completely in tears the next.
I mentioned the problem to my doctor as they were new to my care because my old GP had moved away to a bigger area for more patients. The new GP got me to reduce the medication over time and completely took me off the medication. Ironically the issue was fixed with some physical therapy, unfortunately the initial GP was treating the symptoms and not looking at the cause.
I am much happier but of course now my mental health is in a bad place once more because unfortunately some things remained hidden and unaccounted for during my last treatment. I partly blame myself for that because I guess I still was suffering some of the side effects which only impact about 5% of people which is really rare.
Unfortunately, there may have been other underlying issues which hadn't been looked at then because I was unaware of the issues and the depth they were hiding in. This really is a failure on my behalf because I should have delved deeper into the cause of the situation and not taken the easy road which was blame the medication alone!
The best way to truly know is discuss the issues with your doctor and explain to them the fears that you have because of the video. I had read the literature about the medication but didn't focus on the fine points as a result I suffered. I do hope you find your answers and that it won't be as bad as the video pointed out.
Remember everything is bad for you, even too much chocolate, sugar and sunshine!
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Help us push aside the stigma and discrimination surrounding complex mental health and change the way people talk about, and care for, mental illness.
SANE acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures; and to Elders past and present.
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