wondering,schizoprenia or sleep apnea??? / myLot

Sackville, New Brunswick

September 4, 2016 11:12am CST

Well, my son have all the symptoms of sleep apnea since long time, my husband was telling me, by helping him with the sleep apnoea problem, his schizophrenia ''symptoms '' would be reduced to just about very little . I would say none. I am afraid that the deeper we are helping my son, that we see that the psychiatrist didn't make any effort to really asses my son a second time. Since his psychiatrist doesn't want to slowly reduce his medication. He never helped him more than asking the same stupid questions, since 2 years now, no change. So anyway, lets hope that we can make sure that he has a psychologist instead. I don't like the made up difficulty that it ended up being. Photo from Francine

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5 responses

Yuki

@yukimori (10192)

• United States

4 Sep 16

The thing is, schizophrenia requires medication for proper management. If the medication your son is currently prescribed seems to be working, then the psychiatrist has no reason to adjust them. If anything, you need to make an appointment with a different psychiatrist for a second opinion, not take him to see a psychologist. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe medication; psychologists are not. And it's really not uncommon for a doctor to ask the same questions at every appointment when you're basically in "maintenance mode" for your conditions... I get asked the same questions every month when I visit my pain specialists, because in general my treatment plan is working well for me. Although I've brought up some concerning symptoms that I've had recently, they are beyond the pain specialist's scope of practice and the best they can do is say "Yeah, that's concerning. Let's work on getting you a referral to ____ to look into that more." Personally, though, I would actually bring up your concerns with the psychiatrist he's seeing before doing anything else. Speak to him, explain your concerns, and give him a chance to explain why he's not willing to try reducing your son's medication. My guess is he's going to probably tell you that sleep apnea and schizophrenia are conditions that commonly occur together, because they are... people who have schizophrenia are much more likely to have sleep issues than the general public. But correlation doesn't equal causation, and even though treating the sleep apnea may help improve some of the symptoms, it's not a substitute for proper medication to stabilize the individual. The best that you'll probably be able to do is see another psychiatrist for a second opinion. Explain that you're questioning the schizophrenia diagnosis, give your reasons why, and go from there. If the second psychiatrist agrees with the first one's diagnosis, chances are that your son really does need the medication he's being prescribed.

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Yuki

@yukimori (10192)

• United States

4 Sep 16

@beenice2 That's completely understandable. The problem is that, as laypeople, we don't know that the medications are actually unnecessary. We haven't gone through the years of specialized schooling that the psychiatrist has gone through to recognize and treat various mental illnesses. I totally get having the impression that the psychiatrist is just grabbing the money for seeing your son for a few minutes at a shot. I have to have monthly appointments with my pain specialist's office because they won't give me more than a 30 day supply of a medication I'm on. It's a controlled substance, so they can't write a prescription with refills, and it can't be called into the pharmacy because the pharmacy has to have a physical paper with the prescription on it. I see my provider for maybe 10 minutes during each appointment, and occasionally wait an hour or more to get into the office because they're running behind. It's an aggravating process that often seems like it's just a waste of time. Anyway, I'd just be honest with the psychiatrist that you have at the next appointment. "Hey, doc, I have some concerns about my son's current treatment plan. His symptoms have greatly improved since we started treating his sleep apnea, and that's made us wonder if the medications he's taking are really necessary. Is it possible that a person who only has sleep apnea would have symptoms that could point to schizophrenia? Would you mind reviewing what specific symptoms led you to diagnose my son with this illness and whether or not they could be caused by another health issue? Do you believe that the lack of schizophrenic symptoms is only due to the medication he's currently taking?" Very, very rarely have I encountered a healthcare professional who doesn't want the patient to actively participate in their treatment. My doctors love when I come in with detailed notes about the symptoms I've had since my last appointment and lists of the questions I have. If your psychiatrist acts like it's too much of a hassle, it's definitely time to start looking for a new one who will listen to your concerns. If there's one thing I've learned in having to deal with so many medical professionals, it's that it's best to not waste time with the ones who want to treat you without your input.

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Francine

@beenice2 (2967)

• Sackville, New Brunswick

6 Sep 16

@yukimori I really appreciate your input in my concern about my son's health. I will take that and bring it to light so something can be done about it.

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