Asking help for girlfriend, she's on 30 mg of methylphenidate for ADHD and hears voices in her head

InChristAlone

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This is medical negligence. I can't even believe she has been on this drug for that long. Horrifying really. Either try to advocate for her or you will have to leave her because these psychoactive drugs can change people
 

haidut

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What medication do you recommend for psychosis and voices in your head? Doc wants to prescribe risperdal

I would not get any of the traditional antipsychotics. You can ask for some of the so-called "atypical antipsychotics", which are now known to have (partial) serotonin antagonist effect. Speaking of which, you can ask the doctor for cyproheptadine or mianserin, both of which are known to treat psychosis, further confining the role of serotonin in the condition.
 

lampofred

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This is a pretty common side effect for stimulants. Sleep deprivation has similar effects, and hearty/grounding food might help. Does she eat well? I would try increasing high-calorie, high-salt foods like butter, potatoes, cheese, eggs, mushrooms, liver (chicken liver rather than beef/calf liver, as the high copper content of the latter will likely make it worse), milk (which is balanced even though it's high liquid).
 

orangeUglad

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Forsure try to wean her off the methyl if possible. Absolutely agree the B1, B2, B3 could help her. Has she tried praying at all? A voice inside her head telling her to harm you? If I was you I'd be praying for my life. I have to say this cause I don't know if anyone else will. Please I'm not trying to scare you but... drugs like that can open up doors and things can get in...if you know what I mean....
 

youngsinatra

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A friend of mine got rid of his psychosis by fixing a severe vitamin D deficiency. He was at 9ng/ml and we raised his levels to 60ng/ml in a month and he feels fantastic now.

We did a quick initial D3 therapy with magnesium and K2.
 

Clavius78

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I've been diagnosed with ADHD 4 years ago and have been medicated with methylphenidate 36mg ever since. It has saved my life. But here's the things that I've learned...

1. I need to sleep well. If I do not, then the nice ride gets awful pretty fast. Luckily, sleeping well for a couple of days resolves that equally fast too. This seems a pretty common issue.

2. Breaks are a must. I take 2 day medication breaks on the weekends. If I take methylphenidate continuously for too long, it just doesn't feel so good.

3. Could be unrelated. But, people with ADHD tend to have low magnesium. When I had it tested it was confirmed to be very low indeed. Supplementing it has been making me feel better. Finding a version that doesn't upset my bowels was a bit tricky. I'm now taking chelated magnesium.

4. ADHD never comes alone. There is always a comorbidity that goes along with it. I myself have autism. When I'm not medicated, my autism symptoms skyrocket. That's why methylphenidate has been such a help to me. But others have personality disorders, bipolarity, etc... So maybe it's worth investigating?
 

youngsinatra

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I've been diagnosed with ADHD 4 years ago and have been medicated with methylphenidate 36mg ever since. It has saved my life. But here's the things that I've learned...

1. I need to sleep well. If I do not, then the nice ride gets awful pretty fast. Luckily, sleeping well for a couple of days resolves that equally fast too. This seems a pretty common issue.

2. Breaks are a must. I take 2 day medication breaks on the weekends. If I take methylphenidate continuously for too long, it just doesn't feel so good.

3. Could be unrelated. But, people with ADHD tend to have low magnesium. When I had it tested it was confirmed to be very low indeed. Supplementing it has been making me feel better. Finding a version that doesn't upset my bowels was a bit tricky. I'm now taking chelated magnesium.

4. ADHD never comes alone. There is always a comorbidity that goes along with it. I myself have autism. When I'm not medicated, my autism symptoms skyrocket. That's why methylphenidate has been such a help to me. But others have personality disorders, bipolarity, etc... So maybe it's worth investigating?
Thats very interesting! Thanks for your participation in this thread.

Due to my research for cognitive enhancement I would consider the following.

I think it might be smart to take a immediate-release and not the extended-release type of the medication, to not ruin your sleep at night. The extended-release might be too adrenergic at night time.

I think there are also other ADHD medication that might be more appropriate over others - I think dexamfetamin, the dexter isomer is more dopaminergic and less adrenergic in comparison to the levo-isomer.

Starting at a low-dose is also smart. Too much dopamine would produce euphoria, so I would stay closely under that threshold. You don‘t want to overstimulate dopamine - or otherwise your brain will de-sensitize the dopamine receptors, because too much dopamine can be excitotoxic and your brain wants to protect yourself against that by downregulating dopamine receptors.

Taking days off is definitely a good idea. 5 days on - 2 days off is good imo.

Getting restful sleep and enough nourishment is also important of course.
 

InChristAlone

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My son is a highly sensitive with asperger's and some OCD and he has been doing really well with TRS. It seems to help his OCD symptoms. Which says to me these issues could be heavy metal related. I refuse to medicate him. Get at the cause of mental disorders.
 
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I would not get any of the traditional antipsychotics. You can ask for some of the so-called "atypical antipsychotics", which are now known to have (partial) serotonin antagonist effect. Speaking of which, you can ask the doctor for cyproheptadine or mianserin, both of which are known to treat psychosis, further confining the role of serotonin in the condition.
Just wondering...have you heard of v2k? do you think this could be happening?
 

OccamzRazer

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Unpopular opinion: Get out of this relationship. You have your life before you and you don't have the experience and resources to help her. It is her parents job to make her healthy. Find a healthy girlfriend. Sounds bad, feels bad but you have to leave this situation or it will destroy you. You won't believe it when you read this but you have to save yourself.
This.

As someone who was in a very close relationship with someone affected by mental illness from the ages of 19-25, totally agree.

OP, if things don't get better soon, RUN AWAY.

There's only so much you can do. You may not be able to help much at all. Once your attempts stop working, get out of the situation.

You risk destroying your own life if you don't - or at least severely delaying your life's trajectory.

It's an awful feeling to have. It can take years to recover from. Trust me.
 
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This.

As someone who was in a very close relationship with someone affected by mental illness from the ages of 19-25, totally agree.

OP, if things don't get better soon, RUN AWAY.

There's only so much you can do. You may not be able to help much at all. Once your attempts stop working, get out of the situation.

You risk destroying your own life if you don't - or at least severely delaying your life's trajectory.

It's an awful feeling to have. It can take years to recover from. Trust me.
As someone with a mental illness similar, I disagree entirely.

Just because someone suffers from this doesn't make them a bad person or unable to maintain a healthy relationship. I still treat my partners with mutual respect and care deeply about them. It's not my fault I have to deal with this.

Let the person decide for themselves. It might not even resolve itself after discontinuing the medication.
 

OccamzRazer

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As someone with a mental illness similar, I disagree entirely.

Just because someone suffers from this doesn't make them a bad person or unable to maintain a healthy relationship. I still treat my partners with mutual respect and care deeply about them. It's not my fault I have to deal with this.

Let the person decide for themselves. It might not even resolve itself after discontinuing the medication.
Fair enough! We all have different perspectives.

Mental illness definitely doesn't make a person 'bad,' but it sounds like it's made the OP's relationship with his girlfriend less than healthy already.

I guess I'm assuming the OP is also young. If that is indeed the case, there are probably better things to do in life than spend months or years trying to fix another young person. I tried to fix someone else, and it hurt me so badly that I became the one who needed help. This is not a good place to be in.

Hopefully all the replies to this thread, mine included, empower the OP to make the most educated choice. Of course they should decide for themselves.
 

Michael Mohn

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As someone with a mental illness similar, I disagree entirely.

Just because someone suffers from this doesn't make them a bad person or unable to maintain a healthy relationship. I still treat my partners with mutual respect and care deeply about them. It's not my fault I have to deal with this.

Let the person decide for themselves. It might not even resolve itself after discontinuing the medication.

Leaving a dangerous situation that you can't change for the better is not a moral judgement on the other parties or yourself.

OP doesn't owe anybody support. What you do is emotional extortion!

Let's have a look at the odds of the OPs relationship.

OP's girlfriend's mental condition declines.
She might listen to the voice in her head who tells her to harm him maybe fatally.
She might harm herself fatally, OP will be guilt ridden for the rest of his life.
She might harm herself, survive and tell her parents that OP told her to discontinue the medication.
Her parents will sue OP for damages, if she's physically handicapped OP will pay for the rest of her life.
She might accuse OP of rape, OP goes to prison.

OP's girlfriend's mental state stays the same.
She will be unable to work or bear his children. OP will have to take care for her financially and emotionally.
She will slightly improve and bear his children but their children's health will be compromised due to her stressful condition.

Finally OP is prince charming and will kiss the frog and turn her into a princess, she fully recovers.
Now OP knows her darkest side, in her view he has control over her. She's going to dump him and hook up with chad who doesn't know about her past and has invested all his energy in his career and financial success while OP has invested his best years... for what?

I know this all sounds horrible but for each case I know guys (and gals) who experienced exactly that.

OP is young and deserves a chance for a good life. The girl's parents are responsible for the health and wellbeing of their children, instead they were hiding the problems with medication. I don't fault them but they can't push their responsibility on a young man.
 
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Fair enough! We all have different perspectives.

Mental illness definitely doesn't make a person 'bad,' but it sounds like it's made the OP's relationship with his girlfriend less than healthy already.

I guess I'm assuming the OP is also young. If that is indeed the case, there are probably better things to do in life than spend months or years trying to fix another young person. I tried to fix someone else, and it hurt me so badly that I became the one who needed help. This is not a good place to be in.

Hopefully all the replies to this thread, mine included, empower the OP to make the most educated choice. Of course they should decide for themselves.
No worries, it's common for people to run for the hills once someone admits they have some mental disorders but I think everyone should get a fair shake at least.
 

Scarytrout

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I've had a similar experience. It's been 22 years.

I recommend she get tough, like taking a stark defiant stance in her mentality towards the voices. They could pass a Turing test, they are people, they are smarter than we are, they are older than we are. They use symbols, loaded language, ambiances, psychological technique, leveraging. They use words interestingly, saying two things at one by devices. There are plenty of them, there are different kinds, too. Assuming that they have the upper hand keeps you from underestimating.

Pursue medication free alleviation, I am biased by my experience with Risperdal, if it works without side effects, lucky you/her. Do not tolerate side effects, stop taking the pills if they hurt you, suffer the condition instead and grow to adapt.

I recommend Christianity, and resources on spiritual warfare from Neil Anderson, Victor Matthews, and Jesse Penn Lewis.

Be relentless in pursuing health. Being on this forum already means that you're curious and pursuant. Treat your health issues like projects and relentlessly seek information to refine your approach to life.

Becoming snarky, but not verbally abusive or profane toward the voices can be good.
 

dukesbobby777

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They could pass a Turing test, they are people, they are smarter than we are, they are older than we are. They use symbols, loaded language, ambiances, psychological technique, leveraging. They use words interestingly, saying two things at one by devices. There are plenty of them, there are different kinds, too. Assuming that they have the upper hand keeps you from underestimating.

I really don’t understand what you mean by all of this. You’re making it sound like the voices are above us in some kind of way? The only thing I respect about it is the fact that it’s just something that’s impossible for us to process, rationalise and understand (for those that have gone through it). Because it seemed so real.

I had a psychotic episode and the voices I heard were abusive, degrading and out to destroy me. At the time I rolled over and took it, but upon coming out of the episode, I am left with PTSD and the negative thought patterns that now dominate my every day life. So now, in hindsight, there’s absolutely no way in hell I will respect these voices, what they said to me at the time, or what their intentions are/might of been. Thankfully the voices have disappeared but I am left with residue tactile hallucinations (physical sensations) that are now unfortunately part of me, I assume, as part of my PTSD.

Those voices, and what they said to me at the time, can kiss my big hairy behind. I respect nothing about them.
 

youngsinatra

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I'd advise you to do a deep dive into the topic of methylation. Are you potentially overmethylating?

Common symptoms of overmethylation, also called histapenia , include depression, paranoia, head and neck pain, and the tendency to ruminate on thoughts, irritability, inability to sit and rest, ADHD. Overmethylated patients have elevated levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, low whole blood histamine, and low absolute basophils. Anxiety and depression are the main symptoms of overmethylation, at times the symptoms can be severe enough to cause a state of confusion.

Patients who are overmethylated have an adverse reaction to serotonin-enhancing substances such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, St. John’s Wort, and SAMe.
They also react very negatively to methylated B-vitamins and copper-rich foods. They react very well to zinc, niacinamide, B6 and magnesium.

Dr. Abram Hoffer treated a lot of psychiatric conditions with the main focus on schizophrenia. He is famous for using high dose niacinamide for severe schizophrenia with a 90% success rate.
Dr. Walsh is also very knowledgable on this topic.

This is just a suggestion of mine. This knowledge for sure changed my life.
 
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InChristAlone

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I really don’t understand what you mean by all of this. You’re making it sound like the voices are above us in some kind of way? The only thing I respect about it is the fact that it’s just something that’s impossible for us to process, rationalise and understand (for those that have gone through it). Because it seemed so real.

I had a psychotic episode and the voices I heard were abusive, degrading and out to destroy me. At the time I rolled over and took it, but upon coming out of the episode, I am left with PTSD and the negative thought patterns that now dominate my every day life. So now, in hindsight, there’s absolutely no way in hell I will respect these voices, what they said to me at the time, or what their intentions are/might of been. Thankfully the voices have disappeared but I am left with residue tactile hallucinations (physical sensations) that are now unfortunately part of me, I assume, as part of my PTSD.

Those voices, and what they said to me at the time, can kiss my big hairy behind. I respect nothing about them.
The voices are not an entity or some other thing. They are called toxic shame. Any intrusive thought has a very large emotion attached to it. Unfortunately most people do not connect it to shame because it is so unbearably painful. A book called "Healing The Shame That Binds Us" has been life changing for me. Here are some quotes.

"Toxic shame is a source of most of the neurotic and character-disordered behaviors. Violence as well."

"Toxic shame is the core of most emotional illness."

"Toxic shame is unbearable and always necessitates a cover up, a false self. Since one feels his true self is defective and flawed one needs a false self that is not defective and flawed. Once one becomes a false self, one ceases to exist psychologically. "

"Refusing to accept our 'real selves' we try to create more powerful false selves or we give up and become less than human. This results in a lifetime of coverup and secrecy. This is the cause of suffering."

"Total self love and acceptance is the only foundation for happiness and the love of others. "

"Exposure to oneself lies at the heart of toxic shame. A shame-based person will guard against exposing his inner self to others, but more significantly he will guard against exposing himself to himself."

"He becomes an object of his own contempt. As an object that can't be trusted, one experiences oneself as untrustworthy. It's experienced as inner torment. It's paradoxical and self generating."

"Shame has been called the master emotion because as it is internalized-all the other emotions are bound by shame. Repressed emotions often feel too big, like they would completely overwhelm us if we expressed them. There is also the fear of the shame that would be triggered if we expressed our emotions. "

I could go on and on, the entire book is quote worthy and needs to be read in its entirety to understand just how serious toxic shame is. It also talks about healthy shame and how necessary it is which means discretion before an action.
 
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I've had a similar experience. It's been 22 years.

I recommend she get tough, like taking a stark defiant stance in her mentality towards the voices. They could pass a Turing test, they are people, they are smarter than we are, they are older than we are. They use symbols, loaded language, ambiances, psychological technique, leveraging. They use words interestingly, saying two things at one by devices. There are plenty of them, there are different kinds, too. Assuming that they have the upper hand keeps you from underestimating.

Pursue medication free alleviation, I am biased by my experience with Risperdal, if it works without side effects, lucky you/her. Do not tolerate side effects, stop taking the pills if they hurt you, suffer the condition instead and grow to adapt.

I recommend Christianity, and resources on spiritual warfare from Neil Anderson, Victor Matthews, and Jesse Penn Lewis.

Be relentless in pursuing health. Being on this forum already means that you're curious and pursuant. Treat your health issues like projects and relentlessly seek information to refine your approach to life.

Becoming snarky, but not verbally abusive or profane toward the voices can be good.
Just curious...have you heard of V2K, DEW, etc.?
 
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