Generic Name: Clozapine for Schizophrenia (clozapine)
Clozapine for Schizophrenia Reviews
Clozaril (clozapine) "My brother was also lucky to be on Clozaril. I was watching a news report on the drug on TV one day. It stated that it brought people back who had schizophrenia. It gave high percentages and stated that they were even able to carry a job. I spoke with my mother and she worked to get this drug for him. He was so normal on it, like he woke up and was himself again. He was able to live in an apartment and work a 40-hour job. On his off hours, he joined a band and played trumpet on some evenings and weekends in clubs and restaurants. He was able to go out on dates. He wanted to complete his degree in music. How wonderful it was for him to have a real life to enjoy."
Clozaril (clozapine) "This medicine works. We had exhausted every other psych medicine on the market over a period of 6 years. My daughter is functioning again. The paranoid symptoms have disappeared. It is worth the monthly lab work. She's been on for 5 years, and no side effects. I don't think our daughter would be alive if not for this medicine."
Clozaril (clozapine) "My friend has been on Clozaril (Clozapine) for nearly 18 years. He went more than 10 years without having a single psychotic breakdown, which only occurred when he lowered the dosage himself. Even though the medicine makes him feel fatigued, he has been able to hold down a 40hr/wk job. Nothing short of a God-given miracle!"
"I've been on everything to treat my disease, seriously. My condition is a little different. I'm very intelligent, but my positive symptoms kept me in constant fear and stress. I was so unmotivated and depressed I couldn't handle life. My first psychiatrist was terrible. He loaded me up on benzos and SSRIs. It was like dumping gas on the fire. I was so fed up that I switched doctors when I went to college. I've been with him for 3 years now. He did everything he could think of. Some things didn't work, some were incomplete, and some caused horrible side effects. So last ditch he wrote Clozaril. I feel wonderful. I have a $75k job, a car, and a house. Clozaril saved my life."
"Wow. I have been on clozapine 200 mg for five days and it works amazingly well. Depression easing, hallucinations easing and just a great sense of well-being. Best antipsychotic I have tried. Looking forward to what the future looks like."
"My son is in his early 20s and has schizoaffective disorder. He has been on at least five different medications for his illness, and nothing seems to help or if it did, it lasted only for a little while or he had severe allergic reactions. So he started clozapine (Clozaril) around a month ago, and it has made a big difference. The voices are gradually going away. He can actually sit and watch TV and have a conversation. He is enjoying things again. We do go for blood work every week, which he does not mind. This medicine is working, and I'm hoping his blood work comes back good every week because to see him getting better is such a relief. And I am hopeful for a happy, productive life for him. Things are looking up."
Clozaril (clozapine) "My youngest brother has suffered with schizophrenia for around twenty years, and we have also tried him on many meds - some good, some not so good. The main problem is the anguish he undergoes each time he has to be 'weaned' off one med and put on another. This is because after a while, they all lose their effect and periodically need changing - not so with Clozaril. After being on it for five years, he is still stable, although a recent lessening of his regular dose is causing some anxiety. We hope to have the dosage resumed as previous, but see no need at this time to change him from this excellent medication."
Clozaril (clozapine) "My brother's schizophrenia manifested itself in 1971 or 1972 when he was around 17. He spent maybe 25 years in a state hospital and was on everything and every combination of medicine over the years. The doctors were baffled. He was one of the first to try Clozaril when it first came out in the 1980s. Unfortunately, he was one of the few who had a severe reaction which nearly cost him his life. So sad... BUT I am very happy to read how others have found Clozaril to be such a 'miracle' for them! The trauma and grief of schizophrenia leaves years of devastation in its wake. I am still hopeful that one day he will have his 'miracle breakthrough' just as others have!"
"Our son disintegrated throughout college. Went to lots of docs, given a lot of meds, allergy and asthma, anti-depressant and anti-anxiety. Of course, it was classic schizophrenia prodrome, no one bothered to say he was high risk for psychosis. After 2 breaks, 5 hospitalizations (2 by court order) and trying Haldol, Geodon, Seroquel, Abilify... suicidality. Started clozapine 3 months ago, read 1st novel in 4 years, running, laughing again, schizophrenia symptoms fading. Not working yet but more hope. Gained 40 lbs."
Clozaril (clozapine) "My older brother has had schizophrenia since he was 14 years old in the 1970s. He has been on many, many medicines with some or little success. He was then put on Clozaril in his thirties, what a miracle Clozaril was. He was able to live an almost normal life for over 10 years, and within 3 days, his life went from happy to hell again because of his blood test result. We tried to get him back on it, but due to the special list of people who have reactions to it, he is not able to ever take it again. My brother is one of the lucky ones though, he has a family that totally supports him and encourages him to live and do the best that he can. He lives in an adult facility that takes care of his needs and makes sure he gets his medicines."
Clozaril (clozapine) "My sister was diagnosed with schizophrenia at about 29 after a third suicide attempt and full-blown nervous breakdown. She was eventually placed in a state mental institution for ten years. She only got out due to Clozaril. They tried it on three patients through the National Institute of Health in Washington, DC. She was released to a halfway house within three months. Although she is still very ill, she remains on this medicine for approximately 23 or more years."
"Clozaril has given me my life back. I'm an independent and functional member of society again. I just finished trade school ahead of schedule with no interruptions because of my disorder. I can come out of my shell and make friends again without feeling paranoid. I can walk out in public without feeling that people are watching me and talking about me. I feel that Clozaril is the best antipsychotic available."
Clozaril (clozapine) "This is the only antipsychotic that worked well with few side effects. The only side effect has been tachycardia, treated with beta blockers. Almost complete recovery after 2 months. Just needs tweaking to get a bit more improvement. Voices and hallucinations gone. Personality slowly coming back. Motivation much improved. Organization skills greatly improved. The worry is that as a daily medication it can be forgotten, and decline is quick without, so it needs someone to check tablets are taken. This is after 5 months of use, but improvement came after one and a half months of use. Try not to smoke."
"I went on clozapine 3 years ago. Almost immediately, my head became quiet. Clozapine has different qualities other than anti-psychosis, including anti-anxiety and mood stabilizing properties. Weight gain is a big side effect, along with drooling (sialorrhea) and constipation. Constipation is more common than its life-threatening side effect, agranulocytosis. Colace eases constipation. I read that if clozapine is put in a Petri dish with abnormal neurons that are misfiring, it reconfigures the neurons and the firing is back to normal, so it clearly has healing effects on your brain. My cognitive symptoms and thought disorder are practically gone, and I read books all of the time. When I was first diagnosed, I lost the ability to read, and now I have gained back that ability."
"Yet another useless drug that has turned my spouse into a vegetable. Less energy, reduced mental capacity, dizzy spells where he falls over. Increased depression. OMG, the horrifying facial tics, and the doctor won't do a thing. Sleeps his life away. Developed GERD as well. I personally believe this drug is harming him."
Clozaril (clozapine) "Been on clozapine for over two years. Before this, I had tried many different oral and depot medications which helped, then seemed to have run their course with me. Although it can take a while to get over the fatigue it causes, it definitely helps with voices and delusions, as well as just making you feel normal again."
"My daughter was prescribed Clozaril as a last resort because I refused to allow her to be admitted to a state hospital. Every other med combination had been tried for 5 years during which she was constantly psychotic, in and out of the hospital. That was nearly 3 years ago and she improves in tiny increments every day. We have learned a great deal during this 8 years: that most psychiatrists don't understand how to treat mental illness because most they don't believe in neurotransmission disorders. They really think 'behavioral health' is about poor choices caused by emotional trauma. Clozaril is the only effective med and it is used as a last resort in the USA. The shame is that it is a front line 'gold standard' med in Great Britain."
"Clozapine has RUINED my life!!! I now suffer permanent brain damage after 18 years of taking it. I cannot think straight, slow thought process, memory loss, confused, terrible concentration, to name a few. I do NOT recommend long-term use of this drug!!!!"
"If it wasn't for clozapine, I would be in a secure hospital or dead. I have epilepsy and interictal psychosis organic. My seizures are controlled by topiramate. At age 19, I had a lot of seizures, which left me afterwards very psychotically unwell. Had antipsychotics. None worked. It was thought at the time I would never be well enough to live in the community. Clozapine was tried as a last resort, and though initially I had a high heartbeat and some drooling, it all settled down fairly soon. I was on topiramate initially at 450 mg alongside clozapine. It was working, and six weeks later, I was discharged from the hospital. I accept I will always have to be on it, as on two occasions I tried to come off and became psychotic again. I am on 325 mg, 25 mg during the day and 300 at night, alongside topiramate. I am under a neurologist and psychiatrist. I get regular health checks, don't smoke or drink. I don't know what I would do without clozapine."
"My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17. He was even hospitalized for 3 and 1/2 months because of this horrible disease. He tried many different medicines, and none worked until clozapine. Clozapine helped him a lot with the voices, but the weight gain is horrible. He gained over 100 lbs in 6 months! Now he is depressed and won’t leave the house because of his sudden weight gain and is refusing to take the med because of it, so now we are back to square one. It’s a no-win situation /: feeling helpless."
"In 2012, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia after hearing voices talking to me day and night and couldn't sleep. I went on Invega and then Risperidone, but they both made me feel like a zombie because I had to be on the highest dose. I had akathisia, and I was restless and tired at the same time and just wanted to sleep all day but physically couldn't and was very depressed. I would hear voices every night when it would wear off. I had intrusive thoughts as well. My doctor suggested trying 250 mg of Clozapine, but I was scared. It is a miracle drug! The outside voices went away and the thoughts that weren't my own! I have no side effects, and I am happier now! After a year, you only have to get your blood drawn once a month. Worth it to have my life back!"
"Clozapine has been the only medicine that has helped me with my psychosis. I rapidly deteriorated while in hospital to a point where I had to be on 24-hour watch. Four weeks after starting it, I was released and began studying again. As my psychiatrist said, 'it is the golden egg of psychiatric medication.'"
"My son started showing signs of psychosis right after his 14th birthday. Diagnosed with schizophrenia 6 months later. He was in a constant state of his own reality and heard voices on a regular basis. Seroquel, Zyprexa, Invega, and Abilify did nothing for him. His psychiatrist prescribed Clozapine as a last resort. I won't allow his dosage any higher than 300 mg per day for now since the side effects worry me. This drug has been a lifesaver to allow him to participate in the regular world and quiet the voices where he can focus on real people. It makes him drowsy, so he takes it at night. Weight gain is significant, but most antipsychotics will do this. Regular blood monitoring to make sure his WBC stays normal. So good, so far."
Clozaril (clozapine) "Clozaril (Clozapine) is the best antipsychotic I’ve ever tried (and I’ve tried many other medications). It lessened my symptoms and now I’m functioning better. I had drooling at night, constipation, sedation. I take Senokot for the constipation, a medication to lessen the drooling (though I don’t use it), and I take the majority of my Clozapine at night to deal with the sedation."
"Posted a review on Olanzapine on 2017-01-12 (2 years ago) on this site with same name (Invis). Got switched to Clozapine; first dose was Dec 13, 2017; 12.5 mg. I am now on 275 mg a night. What a life saver; I wish I had taken this to begin with, as I strongly believe voices would be 100% gone by now. Anyway, they are pretty much there 5-15% of the time now. Blood tests aren't an issue for me. Used to it now, but the shoulder area of the shirt and pillow are pretty wet in the morning from drooling. Weight is now 200-205 lbs, won't budge even from treadmill fast walking 20 mins/day, and pants size is now 38 from 30-32, lol. All of these are small prices to pay for being healthy again. 10/10"
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