i am a schizophrenia patient and withdrawn medications without consulting my doctor as i felt i dont have any symptoms now. i dont have any side effects except sleepiness. my family members take care of me much and do not want me to continue with medications. but when i was browsing i feel that i have residual schizophrenia with no longer delusion or hallucinating, but has no motivation or interest in life. can i marry and have child. is this not genetic? should i restart my medicines.
A place to come to ask and answer questions from others on mental health and relationship issues.
Copyright © 1992-2008 Psych Central. All rights reserved.
Answers
My Mom is schizoaffective disorder, a rare form of schizophrenia combined with bipolar disorder.
Yes, restart your meds! Let me tell you from experience, it is extremely important that you do not go off your meds. Always speak with your doctor first. There is no cure for schizophrenia. Your medicine is there to help you cope and reduce your symptoms. If you are not experiencing symptoms, it just means your meds are working, not that you are cured. Going off your medicine can cause a psychotic episode.
As to your other questions, yes, of course you can get married and have children. It is true, the child of someone with a mental illness has a significantly higher risk of later developing a mental illness, but, as yet, there has been nothing to prove that mental illness is genetic. As long as you take your meds and receive treatment, you are less likely to transfer these behaviors to your child. Also, you should be as honest with your spouse as possible. Let he or she know what is going on and allow yourself to trust them. Also, it is likely they could be frustrated by your illness as much as you, so give them some slack sometimes.
I hope this helps. Please, make sure you have researched your illness completely, talk to your doctor and either have you doctor consult your family or encourage your family research schizophrenia. It is not okay for them to ask you to stop your meds. Ask them to be as researched as you.
Yes, please get back on your medications until you meet with your doc, please. You could make it worse on yourself later on, but excluding meds now, because those medications are there to help you out with your schizophrenia.
Please also check this site out:
http://forums.psychcentral.com/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=schizophrenia
Best,
Clyde