Mental Health Psychosis - aphasia symptoms - medication?Anxiety?drug abuse?

[Mc greyballs]

Hi guys! first time poster here, love the content on here it’s really honest and helpful advice. I’ll try not to bore you with an biography of my life, so I’ll keep it as short as possible.

August 2016 I got diagnosed with psychosis after abusing weed and having taken a really high dose of mdma (taken irregularly). Which is when I noticed I was hearing voices so I saw doctors straight away.

I started taking ssris in November 2016 which helped with anxiety but didn’t rid me of the voices. And then started taking anti psychotics which was a god send and took away most feeling of the paranoia and completely removed any voices I was hearing.

It was all good up until when I abruptly stopped taking paxil and amisulpride for a week so I could feel the effects of mdma in May 2017 (stupid I know) I took a fairly high dose once again but it didn’t do a whole lot.

In June and July 2017 I stopped taking Paxil to help with feeling refreshed in the morning. And it did but around this same time I also noticed that I wasn’t able to find my words I wanted to use for the context appropriate and I was experiencing aphasia symptoms. It has been getting increasingly worse up until now. I have been worrying about it, which is probably not helping at all.

There our days when it’s a lot better and days when it’s really bad. One thing i found strange is when I’m on cocaine I don’t get these symptoms and when I drink alcohol it’s a lot better.

What I really want to know is what is most likely to be the cause of this? The anxiety, meds or drug abuse?

If you need to know more information to make a better judgement then let me know. Really appreciate anyone that takes the time to read this and give me their incite.

 

[LandsUnknown]

Perhaps, the anxiety is the cause of why you're unable to find words for things. However, cocaine is highly addictive and often cut with levisamole (as you likely already know). So, I certainly wouldn't advise it as a way of reducing your anxiety. Alcohol is a depressant and also addictive but less so, yet more than bad enough to cause serious issues. Not something that one should rely on as a crutch to relieve anxiety. But I've kind of been there with that to some degree. However, I'm somewhat better with that and it's not a healthy path. In fact, there is a bit of a rebound effect where I tend to be more anxious than I would be prior to drinking regularly when I'm not able to drink for whatever reason that may be...... therefore somewhat negating the "benefits" of it which is to relax. So, you could be setting yourself up for problems there to. Probably less so than the cocaine, but severe and very damaging addictions to alcohol aren't uncommon by any means, so I'd watch it if you're using it to reduce anxiety..... which many people do but it is certainly not healthy by any means.

From what you wrote, it appears that you went back on Paxil. And the aphasia did not go away. It also sounds as though the aphasia began well after your ill advised experience with MDMA in May. So, it is possible that the aphasia isn't directly related to either med changes or your past drug use. Anxiety is a possibility in my mind from what you wrote. If you are still taking amisulpride, I'm assuming that you still see a psychiatrist. So, I'd ask him/her about it. Make sure that you mention the aphasia, since it is concerning you, make an appointment about it. Perhaps, he/she will be able to give you a new med to reduce anxiety and/or solve any other problems that are causing the aphasia. Definitely make the appointment ASAP, since you've been struggling enough to feel the need to self-medicate with alcohol and a powerful upper (the cocaine). If you have a history of psychosis, cocaine is particularly dangerous as it can cause people to become psychotic due to sleep deprivation even if they weren't psychotic previously. You may have an increased vulnerability to this due to your history.

 

[SebastianSkip]

I’ve had this problem before. For me it was a physical/mental combo, here’s what I found helpful:

Sleep & overall health. As soon as I got too little sleep the aphasia would kick in. Dehydration or not eating didn’t help. I was low on B-12,taking a bunch of B-12 helped me (it’s one of the vitamins you can’t really od on). But I think some of my aphasia was related to a nervous system disorder.

Alcohol, for me,was the worst. It helps while drinking but the next day makes everything worse.

Generally reducing stress and finding tools that worked for me to manage anxiety.

Sorry this is happening to you. I know it’s frustrating!

If you can, ask for a referral to a neurologist. This is probably temporary and anxiety related but they can check you out. Whatever you do, try not to worry too much and focus on accessible goals and solutions. Our minds are pretty amazing and with the internet many of us (myself included) are only a few clicks away from hypochondria

Hearts

 

[Mc greyballs]

I did have the feeling it would be anxiety it was just alarming that it was so near to when I took mdma I kept agonising over it being a long term thing I’d have to deal with, with the rest of my life. I spoke to my counsellor and psychiatrist, they reduced my meds and it it helped for a bit but it just started getting worse when I was worrying about it. It’s really annoying because I don’t have a clear answer and there’s nothing on the internet stating aphasia symptoms with antipsychotics I’m just going to start exercising, eating really healthily and ask for some cbt and have a word with my psychiatrist.

 

[Mc greyballs]

Yeah I get my sleep in and I don’t usually go hungry or thirsty. I’m starting to definitely think it’s to do with stress and anxiety as when I get stressed I feel kinda cloudy and jittery and it gets bad. Where as when I just get immersed in a conversation I don’t notice it at all. Thanks for the reply man. On the positive side I was in a really awful place this time last year and I’ve come so far, this is the one thing holding me back, I’m positive 2018 will be my year hahahaa. Yeah I get what you mean I only drink and do a bit of gear when I go clubbing as a lot of people do just because it’s fun and makes me really relaxed/confident.

 

[SebastianSkip]

I’m glad this year is so much better. That’s an awesome thing. I have to remind myself sometimes but when I remember where I’ve been and where I am now I feel like I have the strength to deal with whatever it is I’m working on.

I hope you give yourself lots of credit for improving! We’re such adaptive animals, we can adapt to being sick and well, it’s easy to forget it was once worse and how great it is things are better

Stress and anxiety are very distracting, it makes sense that experiencing them could cause something that mimics aphasia.

MDMA is definitely not the cause. I’m sure you could get a really detailed answer if you ask elsewhere on here but MDMA would not cause the type of brain damage that would result in aphasia. Brain damage from MDMA has to do with serotonin functioning and I would imagine it’s not that difficult to heal from.

I hope you have less stress and anxiety soon or at least more coping tools (it takes time to fill a personalized tool box, still working on mine). I like the idea of 2018 being your year and am going to steal it and say it’ll be my year too!