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Discussion of Alcoholism
Temp. Alcohol-Induced Schizophrenia/Psychosis BLOG
Posted By: Brian Smith In Response To: Alcohol-induced temporary schizophrenia? (Brian Smith)
Date: Wednesday, 12 April 2006, at 8:30 p.m.
http://alcohol-schizophrenia.blogspot.com/
Hi Everyone,
I'm the original poster for this discussion from May 2003.
RELAPSE
I successfully avoided a relapse from May 2003 until 3 weeks ago (March 2006) by complete abstinence from alcohol (including all food where alcohol is an ingredient). I went to Europe for a week and returned 2 1/2 weeks ago. On the return flight to the US, alcohol was used either in the food preparation (made in Netherlands & Italy) or, more likely, was in the after-lunch mints they passed out (I had one and almost fell out of my chair, it was almost like having Nyquil in a lozenge!). A few hours after I finally arrived home, I experienced dissociation (feels like you're still in control of your movements but you are almost watching & listening first-hand but partially removed). I went to bed right away, woke up worse with all of those same symptoms I described in the original posting.Long story short, this was my FIFTH episode. I was sick for a week, and then see-sawed just like in 2003 for a week going back and forth. It almost is IDENTICAL to what SOPHIE posted 20-Aug-2005 (1st time I was sick it was EXACTLY a week when I suddenly woke up completely back to normal as if nothing had happened).
GET HELP BEFORE YOU HAVE ANOTHER EPISODE!
Since the last time I was sick, I moved from Atlanta to Florida and didn't have a new doctor down here for this problem and had to find one during the episode (what an experience… a neurologist wanted to get me on anti-seizure medication to “manage” my behavior (who is the nut? I refused even though I was delusional) before even doing an MRI and then after the MRI wanted to put me on antidepressants (again, who’s the nut, I was delusional, not depressed). Should have known when the guy dragged himself into the room that something wasn’t right).I lucked out after the neurologist (at least I got the MRI, which was completely normal) and found a top-notch psychiatrist here in FL who has seen this before in 2 other patients over the years. Obviously, there are more of us out here experiencing this as this site clearly shows.
Find a doctor (psychiatrist) close to where you live & explain your symptoms BEFORE you have your next episode. Delaying treatment during an episode will keep you miserable longer… and it’s difficult (but not impossible) to find help when you’re not feeling like yourself.
SYMPTOMS (subjective, mine and others mirror this, seek out a doctor for help!)
Keep in mind your condition would be due to SLIGHT drinking (maybe 2 bottles or less of beer or just some alcohol in your food.... NOT the 2 bottles of wine your wife drinks nightly before she goes to bed as one guy posted). You didn't get this from being an alcoholic, you're getting sick [temporary alcohol induced schizophrenic disorder that lasts for a week or multiple weeks] from SMALL amounts of alcohol. The doctors can't diagnose you and you're probably very disturbed from the "episodes". Here’s a recap again: “At 25, after drinking a bottle of beer, I became disoriented for 7 days (dimensia, detachment, paranoia, exhaustion, etc. - basically schizophrenic for a week but without any hallucinations). This happenned again twice when I was 27, again just like the first time I had between 12 and 16 ounces of beer. Both of these times, just like the first, I was sick with dementia for a week and then seemed to return to normal. About 3 weeks ago I ate glazed apples as a dessert (about 1/2 cup) and found out afterwards that they were prepared with alcohol. 2 days after eating this dessert, I became sick again, this time though after a week I felt normal for a day and then the normal feeling see-sawed back and forth for about a week. I've felt normal now for about the past 4-5 days, although I am nervous. I have been intentionally staying away from alcohol since I was 27 (2000). This is the first time alcohol in food has made me ill. My question is - have you ever heard of anything like this before? I had an MRI, CT, EEG, and blood work done in the past 3 weeks - everything is normal. The psychiatrist said it seems like some sort of alcohol-induced psychosis.”TREATMENT
My treatment mirrors what an earlier poster also was given (takes a good 2 days to kick in, but you'll get slowly better --- PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST, if you have some other disorder or you're taking other medicine, this could be truly harmful! There is nothing wrong with you asking your doctor directly about these medicines):
Lorazepam (aka Zanax; to reduce anxiety and help with sleeping)
-and-
Abilify (aka: aripiprazole; to get you feeling more normal and less like you're imagining life)LEARN AND SHARE MORE
If you believe you suffer from “Temporary Alcohol-Induced Schizophrenia/Psychosis” as described above, I've created a new blog dedicated to helping us communicate and share experiences and exchange information on treatments to consult with your doctor about:
http://alcohol-schizophrenia.blogspot.com/ (membership sign-up is free)
If you have an RSS newsreader, you can add the XML atom feed:
http://alcohol-schizophrenia.blogspot.com/atom.xmlIF YOU ARE HAVING AN EPISODE RIGHT NOW:
If you're reading this and don't feel yourself, and not everything seems real, it WILL go away eventually. YOU WILL FEEL BETTER AGAIN. See your doctor right away. Post something HERE or on the blog (http://alcohol-schizophrenia.blogspot.com/), we'll reply. YOU ARE NOT ALONE! You are strong and will beat what's making you feel bad. Whatever you do, DON'T GIVE UP.THANK YOU!!!!
I am glad we are here to help each other. Your comments have helped me get through this. Thank you for sharing and supporting everyone who is struggling with this condition.-Brian
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