a week's progress

This past week I meditated and said affirmations once. I slept more. I didn't exercise. I was depressed a couple of days.

• medication: continued taking 5 mg Abilify in the morning
• sleep: slept an average of 11.4 hrs. a night
• exercise: no exercise
• diet: ate when hungry
• weight: 147.6 lbs.
• mood: anxious one morning, ok all other mornings

a week's progress

I meditated and said affirmations one day this past week. I didn't exercise at all. I quit drinking coffee, which made me more sleepy. I slept more. I was also depressed and unmotivated. I wondered if this was due to decreasing the drugs. I really think that I'm just getting more aware off of the drugs, and this awareness is bringing with it a depression. Today I feel better. I'm hopeful that I can change some of these patterns around next week.

• medication: continued 5 mg. Abilify in the mornings
• sleep: average 11.1 hrs. sleep per night
• exercise: no exercise
• diet: ate when hungry
• weight: 150 lbs.
• mood: ok all mornings upon rising

a week's progress

I didn't meditate or say affirmations this past week. My lymph nodes went down in size, though. They are almost gone. I didn't exercise very much, either.


last week --

• medication: 5 mg. Abilify in the morning
• sleep: 9.4 hrs. sleep a night on average
• exercise: lifted weights one day
• diet: ate when hungry
• weight: 147.8 lbs.
• mood: anxious 2 days, ok all other days

a week's progress

This past week, I continued meditation, 1 time a day, for 20 minutes, affirmations, 1-2 times a day, gratitude lists, before bed, and my dream journal. I didn't exercise at all, which is rare, but plan to continue next week with exercise. My lymph node swelling decreased yesterday and today, with lots of good sleep. My sleep became less restless as the week progressed.

last week's progress --

• medication: decreased to 5 mg. Abilify in the morning
• sleep: 10.1 hrs. per night average
• exercise: no exercise
• diet: ate when hungry
• weight: 152.7 lbs.
• mood: ok each day upon waking

Here is a good site to check out for info on schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders:
The International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses

lymph nodes

I noticed three enlarged lymph nodes in my body since cutting down the medication. I also had a slight fever yesterday. The lymph nodes have gotten a bit smaller since yesterday. Perhaps these are symptoms of withdrawal from the medication.

reduction in medication

On September 2, I reduced my medication to 5 mg. Abilify in the mornings. I just cut the 10 mg. Abilify in half, then take half. I have had restless sleep since then and greater fatigue in the daytime, leading to 1 hr. naps. I am very happy about the reduction, however. I decided to go ahead with my original plan, from 15 to 10 to 5 mg. to 0. Though the advice I've read suggests cutting back by between 2% and 20%, I decided to go on with my cutting back of 33% of the original dose. This is, in part, due to the ease with which you can do this. Abilify is available in 5 mg., 10 mg., and 15 mg., so there is no liquid titration involved, which is the method that must be used if one decides to reduce between 2% and 20%. So far, other than a little restless sleep and slight fatigue, I've had no real withdrawal pains. Onward!