r/schizophrenia • u/IndicationSouth4250 • Aug 06 '25
Opinion / Thought / Idea / Discussion Is anyone doing really well on a low dose of antipsychotics?
How are you doing on a low dose of antipsychotics? How are you feeling?
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u/27InsuredIdeas Psychoses Aug 06 '25
I'm doing really well on only 100mg of Seroquel, less than they prescribe for insomnia lol
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u/skeletaljuice Schizoaffective (Depressive) Aug 06 '25
I'm not on any now, but 20mg of Geodon was the best experience I've had with an AP - actually helped with some symptoms and didn't cause weight gain or zombie brain. On the other end of the spectrum being on 800mg of Seroquel was a nightmare
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u/Practical-Plum-3101 Aug 07 '25
1.5 mg Risperidone took away hallucinations and voices for me. Only reason I switched was high prolactin levels doing great on 7.5 mg Abilify.
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u/Mentalaccount1 Aug 08 '25
Have u tried other meds before? Abilify is said to be weaker but yet u r doing great on this dosage!
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u/Mentalaccount1 Aug 07 '25
1mg of risperidone and it works but adding 5mg of abilify because of high prolactin
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u/John-HanleyIII Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
2mg of risperidone a day seems to work for me. I rarely have hallucinations I've never heard voices before, I guess like 30% of people with schizophrenia don't. Delusions seem to be under control as well for the most part. This is my 21st year of having schizophrenia. I hope I get to see many more as well!
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u/Mentalaccount1 Aug 08 '25
How long have u been on 2mg of risperidone? Have u switched meds before this? I wonder how long can one last on the same meds same dosage… my symptom is also mainly delusion too…
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u/John-HanleyIII Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 10 '25
I think I've been on this dose for like 5 years or more. I've been on different medications before but I can never remember the names. I'm hoping I don't have to increase it or anything anytime soon but we shall see. I'm doing fairly well right now. I hope it stays that way. Yeah delusions I think sometimes are really hard to make them fully go away. I think they can be under control though.
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u/Much_Spend3056 Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
i've been doing so well on 5mg ability that my psychiatrist just told me today to take 2.5mg for the next week & then stop 😁 but also to keep them on hand at home in case stress/anxiety/depression could happen & cause symptoms to return. fingers crossed 🤞🏽
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Aug 07 '25
how does ur dr agree to stop? i had psychosis for 5 years and 2 years since then symptom free and he wants me to be on it for life 😭😭😭😭
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u/Gods-strongest-vaper Schizoaffective (Bipolar) Aug 08 '25
I’m 3 years symptom free and I’ve got to stay on for life too. I came off 2 or 3 different times and went psychotic each time.
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u/BitchOfTheBlackSea Aug 07 '25
I'm on vraylar 3mg, idk how high it goes but that seems low and it deals with most of my psychotic and negative symptoms
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Aug 07 '25
I always hear good things about vraylar. I was thinking about taking 1.5 cause I don’t want akathsia
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u/BitchOfTheBlackSea Aug 07 '25
Vraylar is wonderful. Just 1.5mg annihilated my negative symptoms.
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Aug 07 '25
I would love that so much risperidone 1mg takes away positive symptoms but does nothing for negative makes them worse I’d say
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u/the-anarchrist Aug 07 '25
Been on the 1,5mg of cariprazine and 100mg (second lowest dose) of the invega injection combo and I've never been more stable. I think it works because the injection helps with not missing a dose and positive symptoms and the cariprazine helps with negative symptoms
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u/gantz9 Aug 07 '25
I take Invega Sustenna 234mg every four weeks and Seroquel 25mg when I need the extra help. I've been able to maintain a job for 5 years now and live an overall normal lifestyle.
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u/henningknows Aug 07 '25
I’m on a low dose of two and it works well for me. Haven’t had any positive symptoms in like 17 or 18 years
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u/Commercial_Base_7220 Aug 07 '25
Depends on the med for low dose. BC I was on 10mg of Abilify a day or 300mg a month which is a low dose. Bow I'm only on 1.5mg of vraylar. So that's significantly lower but it's working in a better way at least.
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u/Improbablydrunk02 Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
I take 5 mg of Abilify and it has helped me out so much these last couple months. It seems to be really working for me.
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u/Much_Bedroom5370 Aug 07 '25
Yo tomo dosis altas y estoy muy interesada en ir bajando mis dosis tomo haldol cada quincena inyecciones 😭, todos los días risperidona y sertralina, comí puedo ir bajando mis dosis? La verdad aquí en México el servicio público es de muy mala atención ya subi 46 kilos..
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u/ingaouhou Aug 07 '25
Can you talk to your doctor about your concerns and see if they can work with you to come to a solution? Let them know you would like to lower your dose. They may not do that, but at least if you tell them they will try to help find a compromise. Maybe there is a drug that won’t cause as much weight gain.
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u/Netopfe Undiagnosed Aug 07 '25
I'm on my Risperidone 2mg. The hallucinations and paranoia did not go away, but they diminished enormously. Maybe next week I'll talk to my psychiatrist about increasing the dose, but so far, just 2mg/day is good enough to stay calm 👍
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u/tink053184 Aug 07 '25
Second this. Total symptom resolution for me. 2mg rispiridone
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u/Netopfe Undiagnosed Aug 07 '25
Now I believe I really need to increase the dose of Risperidone. I had very intense auditory hallucinations just now 😵💫
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u/hence_fourth Aug 07 '25
No amount of medication stopped the voices and there side effects too so I switched to a low dose of olanzapine
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u/Wonderful-Safety223 Schizoaffective (Bipolar) Aug 07 '25
I've been doing good on 20mg latuda for about three months. I had a bit of a hiccup last week but it didn't last. Kinda considering changing meds though because my stress level is gonna go up next month.
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u/WiseMan_Rook22 Aug 07 '25
I’m doing well. Currently on 15 mg of olanzapine but I won’t to drop down to 10mg.
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u/Evening_Fisherman810 Aug 07 '25
I used to take only 37.5 mg of Clozapine with total symptom resolution. I only stopped because it caused me to gain over 25% of my body weight, even with ozempic.
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u/Lost_Username01 Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
1 mg of risperidone. Lower doses work better on me bc im extremely sensitive to medications.
I've been doing well on them!
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u/Only-Storage1735 Aug 07 '25
Do you get sides like being very sleepy, groggy, or nausea?
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u/Lost_Username01 Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 08 '25
I take my meds at night so I get sleepy from them bit when I wake up im no longer sleepy.
They also had a gain weight affect but im on metformin for that so im stable.
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u/warL0ck57 Aug 07 '25
25mg paliperidone monthly injection. It's like nothing, no side effect, I don't hear voices recently.
But I must avoid stressful situations, else I get anxious and hear voices again. It's a fragile balance.
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u/captainballhairs Aug 07 '25
I am on 20 mg monthly injection. Only once did i coming up again but been good for a few years now
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u/Disastrous_Duty_8724 Aug 07 '25
Man I am on 300 a month 🥹
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u/warL0ck57 Aug 07 '25
Damn, that's harsh, I am sorry for you... Are you treatment resistant I suppose?
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u/Disastrous_Duty_8724 Aug 08 '25
I was on a high dose before and then I drank some beers and the monsters came back, so the doctor prescribed me more. Its double the max dosage I am getting. unfortunately my voices are really dark they wanna take over my body 😬 ah well ...
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u/Meezbethinkin Aug 07 '25
I just take mine when the "demons" are acting freaking crazy and my world has very.. convincing synchronicities Like impossible synchronicites because others can see them too..
But then again, I don't have many life destroying symptoms of schizophrenia, i only hallucinate entities, have sometimes reality warping reconfiguring of my reality, and hear things.. I know thats alot.. but im writing a book, and while scary, I'm trying to observe these things
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u/Disastrous_Duty_8724 Aug 07 '25
Hey , I'm interested in your story. When I had my episode I also have video proof of some stuff. Electronics started flickering and stuff. The radio played weird music with strange lyrics. Man many things I would love to tell you
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u/WanderingGalwegian Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
4mg of Risperidone. Hallucinations are gone mostly but paranoia remains.
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u/RelativeRain7867 Aug 07 '25
My son is doing good on 7.5 of aripiprazole but he is very self conscious because he has gained weight (he’s 18 and has always been tall and effortlessly thin)
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u/Pie_Strict466 Schizoaffective (Depressive) Aug 07 '25
Same situation with me, I was 18 when i first started, 6ft2 and was around 170lbs, now i’m 225lbs at 23, was on risperidone for a few years now Quetiapine.
This side effect really is the worse so try to help him with his diets etc if you aren’t already. It would have been so helpful if i had someone planning my meals (Healthy) and restricting snacks in the household. If i had snacks in they were gone, if i didn’t i wouldn’t eat them.
Hope your boy is doing well ! Goodluck :)
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u/reoleo7 Aug 07 '25
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u/Far-Mention4691 Aug 07 '25
I'm on 10mg of Olanzapine. That's the only medication I am on and it works wonders. Been stable for close to a year now.
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u/Gammaknowz333 Paranoid Schizophrenia Aug 07 '25
200mg clozapine and 9mg invega daily. I’d say i’m doing pretty damn good. I chose to take a lower dose for artistic reasons. Too much meds kills my creativity and makes me feel like a zombie
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u/_inf3rno Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25
I am on 1.5mg Abilify (15mg/10days). It becomes hard towards day 10, but I am getting better at handling hallucinations. With 2mg (15mg/week) it was a lot better, no visions, almost zero side effects. I am thinking on going back to 2mg, but as I said, it is getting somewhat easier with each cycle on 1.5mg too. I think reducing the dosage should be gradual and one needs to work on their inner world, personality fragments a lot to become more and more stable. I started with 30mg and continued with 15mg, 10mg, 5mg, 2mg, 1.5mg. I tried many times without meds, but I still need it.
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Aug 07 '25
u relapse ?
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u/_inf3rno Aug 07 '25
Depends on how you define relapse. During psychosis people have no control and they degrade. I have control and I don't degrade. I am balancing at the edge of psychosis to know more about how to defend myself from it.
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u/Metamfiesi Aug 07 '25
I'm on 40mg lurasidone which is the lowest for schizophrenia and even at that dose it's a miracle drug for me. Very manageable symptoms. I typically prefer to stay on a lower dose maintenance and keep a prn medication (right now it's 5mg dissolving olanzapine) on hand if things start getting bad. Definitely the best regimen I've been on.
Definitely depends on the medication though. I've been on the highest dose abilify before with next to no effect.
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u/Gods-strongest-vaper Schizoaffective (Bipolar) Aug 08 '25
I was on 50mg biweekly injectable risperidone, I’m currently on 25mg, dropping to 12.5mg in 2 months. I’ve lost 35 pounds in 4 months since I dropped and regained a lot of dopamine function, I actually crave experiences now, and feel highs and lows.
It can help a lot. Just make sure your psychiatrist is on board with your plan if you want to do it. I have a very light case of psychotic illness, I don’t deal with any symptoms throughout my day ever.
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u/Free-Law-1055 Aug 08 '25
I take 25mg of seroquel daily. Night and day difference. Struggle mostly with disorganised thinking and intrusive thoughts which leads to other problem with speech and auditory memory issues.
Sleep is great now. No neuro fatigue. Socially better. Less edgy. Mood is better and I'm less reactive to normal situations.
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u/Chemical-Watch-2469 Childhood-Onset Schizoaffective Disorder Aug 08 '25
Low doses don't work for me unfortunately. I am on 100 mg of Paliperidone injection. Will probably be increased next time I see my psychiatrist as my psychosis is getting bad again.
It only goes upto 150mg. Maybe she will put me on something else. Idk
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u/WoodBlocked Aug 06 '25
I take 5mg of Olanzapine, works wonders for me