<p>The symptoms she’s been showing point to schizophrenia (auditory hallucinations, paranoia that she’s being watched). Are there any things I need to know if she in fact has this? How likely would she be able to live a normal life and would somebody always have to be with her for the rest of her life? Does it typically get worse over time even with medication? Is medication absolutely necessary? </p>
<p>She first showed signs of the illness about a month ago. It went away for a while but came back recently. The thing is we can’t arrange for a doctor’s visit until 2 weeks from now. Is that ok? Please share your thoughts and experiences. Thanks so much.</p>
<p>First, does your sister use drugs? Sometimes people show symptoms that look similar to schizophrenia because of drug abuse/withdrawal. If not, then support her in getting to see competent professionals RIGHT AWAY. This is an illness that has much better outcomes if treated early and consistently. Encourage her to find doctors she likes and trusts and take the medicines and stay on them. Many people make the mistake of feeling better on medicine and deciding they can go off it. That leads to decompensation, relapse, hospitalizations and worse. Medications are getting better and better, with fewer side effects. Do not ever encourage her to go off medication. Believe me, the illness is much worse than the side effects.</p>
<p>This is a heartbreaking and frightening time for families and loved ones. Contact NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill) for more information, and support.</p>
<p>It is very important that you see a psychiatrist as soon as possible. Call the doctor again and tell them it is a clinical emergency to see if you can get in sooner. Or try another psychiatrist. Medication is the standard treatment for schizophrenia (if that is what she has). It can be very well controlled with medication and there are newer meds now that work well with fewer side effects. So yes people can have a good life. There is evidence, I believe, that it is harmful to the brain to have a full-blown psychotic episode so that is why I would act as quickly as possible since it sounds like that is the path she is on right now. Even go to the emergency room if needed as they could start meds. </p>
<p>Good luck to you. I second the advice to seek info from NAMI. This is a serious problem but it has not been diagnosed yet – there may be other possibilities such as drugs use or another kind of psychotic break that is not schizophrenia.</p>
<p>A third vote for NAMI. Note that some insurance plans require that you see a psychologist prior to seeing a psychiatrist (only a psychiatrist can presribe medication). If the psychologist doesn’t see the symptoms, then they may not refer on to the psychiatrist…</p>
<p>One thing I would do is have you or your parents call ahead of time and talk to the doctor she is seeing. The doctor will not be able to share any info from the doctor’s point of view (HIPPA regulations), but if you can tell the doctor what they are looking for it helps a LOT. Believe me, it will save you headaches later on if that first visit does find that there is an issue. If that first doctor doesn’t see anything, you run the risk that your sister will never go back for another examination.</p>
<p>Medication is probably essential. I had a sibling who refused treatment, and ended up committing suicide. However, know this… if your sister is an adult, you probably cannot legally force her to seek a diagnosis, or undergo any treatment. Even getting an involuntary 72 hours psych hold for them is very difficult if they have not harmed themselves or someone else. One good thing about local NAMI chapters is that they will have good ideas for how to get help within your specific community.</p>
<p>Regarding the drug use comment above, the person does not necessarily have to be using at the time of the psychotic episode for the drugs to be a factor. There are studies that show that long term marijuana users have a higher incidence of adult onset schizophrenia than the general population. I believe this was a factor for my sibling. Of course, using drugs can result in some of the same symptoms.</p>
<p>Two weeks is a long time to wait under these circumstances. I would suggest that you guys do spend as much time with her as possible. Don’t try to argue with her about her delusions, though, it is a waste of time and will potentially drive her away from you. But you need to make sure she is not behaving in a way that is dangerous to herself or others. If the situation gets truly desparate, you can call the police, but whether they will take her in for a psych hold is very dependent on where you live and what training they have had. And it could drive a wedge between her and your family that means it is impossible to get her in for treatment later. But you also have to keep her and the people around her safe.</p>
<p>Good luck, BD. Do the best you can for her, but take care of yourself as well.</p>
<p>I had an elderly aunt with a thyroid problem who complained of visual hallucinations (“I can’t watch TV these days because I see all this other stuff in front of the TV”) and whose conversation made no sense from time to time.</p>
<p>The doctors tended to dismiss it as Alzheimer’s disease because she was in her 80s. But it was not. Whenever they would straighten out her thyroid medication and get her thyroid hormone levels into the normal range, the problems vanished. She could watch TV again, and she could carry on a normal conversation.</p>
<p>I tell you this story because I think it’s possible that your sister’s symptoms might be due to something other than schizophrenia – and that it might be best to present the problem to her in that way. Maybe ignore the paranoia for the moment and focus on the auditory hallucinations. If she’s hearing things that other people don’t hear, she may have a physical problem – just like my aunt, who saw things that other people didn’t see, had a physical problem. And this is something that needs to be checked out. Your sister’s problem could be a severe thyroid disorder (like my aunt’s), some type of epilepsy, a bad reaction to a prescription drug, or any of dozens of other things. Schizophrenia is only one of the possibilities (but it’s the one that might be most difficult for you to bring up – and maybe you don’t need to mention it at all).</p>
<p>She really needs to see a DR ASAP.
Which I am not.
My mother was diagnosed at one point/treated for schizophrenia- even though it didn’t manifest till her 40s ( typically first appears in the 20’s)</p>
<p>Individual symptoms taken individually can be a lot of things- anxiety might account for the paranoia, hearing loss can account for auditory hallucinations ( but not voices), however taken together- it is quite disturbing and I suggest you take her to an emergency room if she has ins. as there is no telling how quickly a crisis might occur.</p>
<p>There are nutritional supports and alternative care that can support allopathic treatment, but I would not suggest it for replacement.</p>
<p>I strongly agree that two weeks is much to long to wait .</p>
<p>Yes, if you can get her to the ER, I agree with EK. You haven’t said how old she is, that makes a difference in all this. If she is not legally an adult yet (under 18, probably), then your parents or her legal guardian(s) have more options. However, just as with a family doctor or psychologist or psychiatrist, try to get in to talk to the ER doc before he examines her.</p>
<p>I think it is very scary to be the person experiencing this, and there is usually tremendous denial on their part that anything is wrong with them. If that is the case, she may see no reason to go to an ER. It is a tough situation, my thoughts are with you.</p>