Mental Health Community treatment order

[Gdvffh]

Hi bluelighters how are you all doing

I am on a community treatment order and have been since march 2021. It got renewed once already. I tried to fight it but i lost my hearing and they told me they plan to just keep renewing my community treatment order indefinately. So i am writing to the people here who have been placed on a commu ity treatment order. Were you able to get off it? Did they force injections on you? Any bit helps

So once a month i have to go to a mental hospital and get an injection of something called flupenexiol. Or however you spell it. It makes me feel horrible. I feel really slowed down and dumbed down on it as well as i am depressed all the time and lay in bed most of the time. I do infact hear voices and i believe i would be better functioning living with hearing voices and no medication vs not hearing voices and being on medication. But my family and doctors dont want me doing this.

So this thread has been created for all CTO-community treatment order talk. Thanks.

 

[December Flower]

Isn't CTO just that you don't have to stay at the hospital, but still receive treatment?

 

[Nurse Ratched]

Isn't CTO just that you don't have to stay at the hospital, but still receive treatment?

I think it is just a Court order ( as opposed to voluntarily doing it ) that requires you to take psychiatric meds. So you have to report to a clinic ( or Dr.s office ) to receive your meds and they probably make sure you take them right then and there. It's also for people that won't take their meds if left to their own devices so they have to be mandated

I read a thread where people are trying to get off of the Court order but they still can't be trusted to take their daily meds. They are usually getting a monthly injection as they can't be trusted to take their 30 pills per month ( daily AP ). I'm not real sure though all the legalities of it but when the Court has to get involved the person was obviously non-compliant.

 

[Gdvffh]

yeah i have been to a mental hospital 6 times, i always refuse medication because it makes me feel like shit, low energy dumbed down etc. i am getting an injection called Flupentixol. i know i am schizophrenic because i always end up hearing voices again after getting off medication, then my parents call the cops on me cause im hearing voices and they take me to a mental hospital where i stay for 2 weeks. Then they administer an injection and then im not taking anything and feeling like shit from the injection. After a while i recover from the medication and then i wound up hearing voices again and then the process repeats. Then in March 2021 i got put in a mental hospital again, my plan was to just recover from the pills they put me on which takes around 6 months to a year but instead they put me on a community treatment order. ive never consistantly have been getting injections for what is now 9 months straight. i desperately want to get off the community treatment order as i hate antipsychotics. i know there are other people here who have been on a community treatment order. Any comments from you following people?

 

[Jerry Atrick]

I spent ~3 months in a state hospital back in 2005 - 2006 and was ordered by a judge while inside to receive Risperidone injections. Once I was released from the hospital, my psychiatrist on the outside trusted me enough to take me off the injections and put me back on pill form medication.

Sounds like the injections are giving you anhedonia. If you hear voices and are experiencing psychosis, I don't think it's a good idea to keep quitting meds all the time. I say this from my own experience with schizoaffective disorder. Sometimes if you stay on the meds long enough, these symptoms will work themselves out and go away. But you have to give them time to work, which can often take several months. If several months pass and you still have the same side-effects, then I recommend asking your psychiatrist to change meds. But like I said, you have to give them time to work before anyone can truly determine if they don't work. I hate that this is how the current mental health system functions however I don't know of any better way.

Saying you hate anti-psychotics, as valid as that sounds with what you are experiencing, is not going to help you in the long run, especially if you want to get off the CTO. All I can really say is, you should be prepared to take some sort of medication for the rest of your life. Unfortunately there is no cure for people like us, only maintenance of symptoms. If you were diabetic, would you quit insulin? No. Insulin would be your lifeline for the rest of your life. Same with psych meds. The sooner I was able to accept this, the sooner I began communicating with my doctors and finding the right combination of meds to keep my symptoms as well as side-effects at bay.

I hope you can find a medication regiment that works for you and can help suppress the voices. Peace!

 

[Gdvffh]

I spent ~3 months in a state hospital back in 2005 - 2006 and was ordered by a judge while inside to receive Risperidone injections. Once I was released from the hospital, my psychiatrist on the outside trusted me enough to take me off the injections and put me back on pill form medication.

Sounds like the injections are giving you anhedonia. If you hear voices and are experiencing psychosis, I don't think it's a good idea to keep quitting meds all the time. I say this from my own experience with schizoaffective disorder. Sometimes if you stay on the meds long enough, these symptoms will work themselves out and go away. But you have to give them time to work, which can often take several months. If several months pass and you still have the same side-effects, then I recommend asking your psychiatrist to change meds. But like I said, you have to give them time to work before anyone can truly determine if they don't work. I hate that this is how the current mental health system functions however I don't know of any better way.

Saying you hate anti-psychotics, as valid as that sounds with what you are experiencing, is not going to help you in the long run, especially if you want to get off the CTO. All I can really say is, you should be prepared to take some sort of medication for the rest of your life. Unfortunately there is no cure for people like us, only maintenance of symptoms. If you were diabetic, would you quit insulin? No. Insulin would be your lifeline for the rest of your life. Same with psych meds. The sooner I was able to accept this, the sooner I began communicating with my doctors and finding the right combination of meds to keep my symptoms as well as side-effects at bay.

I hope you can find a medication regiment that works for you and can help suppress the voices. Peace!

Yeah whenever im on meds i dont hear voices. But i think i can live without medication and just control the voices. I have so much energy in me when im off and recovered from meds as opppsed to being on.

In around 2 years time a new deug ulotaront is supposed to come out. I would like to take that when it gets releaed. It sounds good because it dosnt antagonize dopamine and serotonin receptors. But im a little scared my doctor wont switch it to me because its not on injection form. Which is another reason i want to get off the CTO. So i have more control over the medications im on etc.

 

[n3ophy7e]

Yeah whenever im on meds i dont hear voices. But i think i can live without medication and just control the voices. I have so much energy in me when im off and recovered from meds as opppsed to being on.

In around 2 years time a new deug ulotaront is supposed to come out. I would like to take that when it gets releaed. It sounds good because it dosnt antagonize dopamine and serotonin receptors. But im a little scared my doctor wont switch it to me because its not on injection form. Which is another reason i want to get off the CTO. So i have more control over the medications im on etc.

I completely sympathise with you not wanting to be on any injections, or on any antipsychotics at all to be honest, because they sound absolutely nightmareish. However, you admit that your symptoms come back when you're not medicated, and your parents have reason enough to have you committed when that happens. What happens when you hear the voices? For example, do you talk back to them? Do you act out on the things they say to you? Or are they just...there? Something must happen in order for your parents to be concerned enough to warrant having you committed. No parent WANTS to have to do that.

Getting taken off a CTO is extremely difficult EVEN IF you are following the order. I imagine that getting off the CTO without any plan or desire to keep taking antipsychotics is going to be next to impossible....

I too am very intrigued about this new medication that you've mentioned, and I hope you get the opportunity to trial it for yourself
In the meantime, to be brutally honest, I'm not sure you have many options but to just keep doing what the psychs/doctors/court wants you to do.

 

[Gdvffh]

I completely sympathise with you not wanting to be on any injections, or on any antipsychotics at all to be honest, because they sound absolutely nightmareish. However, you admit that your symptoms come back when you're not medicated, and your parents have reason enough to have you committed when that happens. What happens when you hear the voices? For example, do you talk back to them? Do you act out on the things they say to you? Or are they just...there? Something must happen in order for your parents to be concerned enough to warrant having you committed. No parent WANTS to have to do that.

Getting taken off a CTO is extremely difficult EVEN IF you are following the order. I imagine that getting off the CTO without any plan or desire to keep taking antipsychotics is going to be next to impossible....

I too am very intrigued about this new medication that you've mentioned, and I hope you get the opportunity to trial it for yourself
In the meantime, to be brutally honest, I'm not sure you have many options but to just keep doing what the psychs/doctors/court wants you to do.

when i hear voices im kind of in my head more because im listening and interacting with the voices im hearing, but im not violent or anything like that which is why i say i think i can handle living with them better then being on an antipsychotic, i could tell a doctor i plan to keep taking meds but just not keep taking the medication that might be one way to get out of it, idk really. Yeah i also want to get off the CTO because when your on one yournot allowed to leave the country. i tried leaving to poland but the cops came to the airport and took me to a mental hospital. I would like to go to poland to visit or even possibly live there. Im thinking maybe move to miami or america once i get on that other medication ulotaront and then i recover from feeling like shit and move to miami florida or poland. I would like to live in miami florida since its always warm there, seems pretty nice.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

Yeah whenever im on meds i dont hear voices. But i think i can live without medication and just control the voices. I have so much energy in me when im off and recovered from meds as opppsed to being on.

I am not arguing with you so I can only speak from my own experiences. When I was on seroquel and later risperdal, my energy was sapped. The risperdal gave me severe anhedonia as well. I still think there can be an antipsychotic that will work and still allow you to have energy. For me that medication was abilify. Before covid, I trained jiu jitsu 3 times a week since 2017, which requires a lot of energy. I would have never been able to do that on seroquel or risperdal, but the abilify is much lighter on the side effects while still keeping my psychotic symptoms at a minimum. Not saying abilify would work for you but it does offer hope that something else could be out there that would not take away your energy.

In around 2 years time a new deug ulotaront is supposed to come out. I would like to take that when it gets releaed. It sounds good because it dosnt antagonize dopamine and serotonin receptors. But im a little scared my doctor wont switch it to me because its not on injection form. Which is another reason i want to get off the CTO. So i have more control over the medications im on etc.

I've never heard of that drug but it sounds promising. Best of luck to you!

 

[Gdvffh]

Yeah ive been on risperidone and abilify. Both of those drugs zapped my energy. It is good news to hear your on an antipsychotic and still have energy. It does suggest that there are antipsychotics that may not have that effect on me. Maybe i should switch to seroquel perhaps that wont drain me the way the one im currently on does. Do you feel dumbed down on the abilify? It seems not as your able to articulate yourself rather well.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

Yeah ive been on risperidone and abilify. Both of those drugs zapped my energy. It is good news to hear your on an antipsychotic and still have energy. It does suggest that there are antipsychotics that may not have that effect on me. Maybe i should switch to seroquel perhaps that wont drain me the way the one im currently on does. Do you feel dumbed down on the abilify? It seems not as your able to articulate yourself rather well.

Thanks. No I don't feel dumbed down on abllify. Ten years ago I earned a master's degree while concurrently taking 30 mg abilify plus an anti-depressant. Graduated with a 3.8 GPA. Had been taking abilify for a few years prior to starting the grad program, so maybe I had grown accustomed to it. Now that I'm thinking about it, it is completely possible that the addition of anti-depressants could have counteracted the energy reducing effects of abilify.

When I took seroquel I was on a low dose and it zapped my energy so I only took it for a few days before telling the doctor I wanted to quit. I have heard anecdotally that higher doses of seroquel somehow do not make the person as tired as the low doses. But since I never took a high dose, I don't know personally if that statement is true.

Is there any way you would be open to trying an anti-depressant to maybe give you a little more energy? I don't know if your current meds would allow it but I think it's worth asking the psychiatrist.

 

[Gdvffh]

Thanks. No I don't feel dumbed down on abllify. Ten years ago I earned a master's degree while concurrently taking 30 mg abilify plus an anti-depressant. Graduated with a 3.8 GPA. Had been taking abilify for a few years prior to starting the grad program, so maybe I had grown accustomed to it. Now that I'm thinking about it, it is completely possible that the addition of anti-depressants could have counteracted the energy reducing effects of abilify.

When I took seroquel I was on a low dose and it zapped my energy so I only took it for a few days before telling the doctor I wanted to quit. I have heard anecdotally that higher doses of seroquel somehow do not make the person as tired as the low doses. But since I never took a high dose, I don't know personally if that statement is true.

Is there any way you would be open to trying an anti-depressant to maybe give you a little more energy? I don't know if your current meds would allow it but I think it's worth asking the psychiatrist.

Yeah i dont want to get on an antidepressant. Im sure there similar to antipsychotics in that they drain your energy away. That would just be adding fuel to the fire.
I think im a stay on what im on now. And when the new antipsychotic ulotaront comes out i will switch to that.

It sucks having to wait 2 years for this new drug to come out but im hoping it will be a miracle drug and will heal all my problems. When that happens ill start living again. Finishing my degree, moving out of my parents place. Maybe even get married and have a kid. Really looking forward to it. Just another 2 years of hell then this drug will come out and solve my problems. Even if it dosnt solve everything. Im sure it be better then the current med im on as it dosnt antagonize serotonin and dopamine receptors.

 

[Jerry Atrick]

Yeah i dont want to get on an antidepressant. Im sure there similar to antipsychotics in that they drain your energy away. That would just be adding fuel to the fire.
I think im a stay on what im on now. And when the new antipsychotic ulotaront comes out i will switch to that.

It sucks having to wait 2 years for this new drug to come out but im hoping it will be a miracle drug and will heal all my problems. When that happens ill start living again. Finishing my degree, moving out of my parents place. Maybe even get married and have a kid. Really looking forward to it. Just another 2 years of hell then this drug will come out and solve my problems. Even if it dosnt solve everything. Im sure it be better then the current med im on as it dosnt antagonize serotonin and dopamine receptors.

I'm not trying to argue with you, I just want you to think about the actual word "antidepressant." The prefix "anti" means "not." So "anti" depressant = "not" depressant. Therefore in reality, a medication that is "not" depressant is actually "pro" energy. So an antidepressant is less likely to drain one's energy like an antipsychotic. In fact, I would go so far as to say that some antidepressants at certain doses can actually lift one's mood, thus living up to it's name.

But you know your mind and body better than anyone else, so you do what you think is best for you. If you can hold out for two years, I really hope the new medication works out. Just remember, there is no cure for what we suffer from, only maintenance of symptoms. No matter what medication you choose, I think you are going to have to go all in and invest yourself in a solution that is long term, not a short term bandaid. Peace!

 

[n3ophy7e]

Just remember, there is no cure for what we suffer from, only maintenance of symptoms. No matter what medication you choose, I think you are going to have to go all in and invest yourself in a solution that is long term, not a short term bandaid. Peace!

This is pretty much what I was going to say as well. Medications can assist with symptoms and improve quality of life, but there is no cure-all medication.
@Gdvffh as I've said earlier I really hold high hopes that ulotaront helps you. 2 years is a long time to wait so I would strongly suggest that in the meantime you cooperate with your psychiatric care team and the courts.

I'm going to close this for now @Gdvffh because discussing anything legal such as court orders and CTOs goes beyond the scope of this forum (it's actually in the Mental Health forum guidelines so please feel free to read them again to familiarise yourself), and please inbox me if you have any questions about this.

**EDIT**
@Skorpio wanted me to add in this very important point:

I would be conservative about this drug coming out. 10% of all drugs make it through phase 3 trials, and this drug works through a totally novel mechanism (so theres no precedence for it working). I hope it works, as the antipsychotic field is very non-diverse, and TAAR is a very interesting target that has some hope of being a little bit more subtle than current antipsychotics.

@Gdvffh I do worry about you putting all of your eggs in one basket with a drug that hasn't even finished trials yet. So even though it does sound promising, please continue to try and improve your situation whilst you're waiting for the next couple of years