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When Is Ritalin Presribed For A Patient With Paranoid Schizophrenic?
Question: why would you prescribe Ritalin for a patient that is a Paranoid schizophrenic, that is hospitalized due to severe visual and auditory dilusions??? when her other medications are not working, Zyprexa and haldol. she says the voices are worse, she has started "picking" her skin and biting her finger nails severly. nervousness.. and the dr refuses to listen to the patient, who is my mother
Brief Answer:
Potentiate action of antidepressants
Detailed Answer:
Dear customer,
Thanks for your query about your mom. Sorry that she is hospitalized. The reason to use Ritalin on top of her other medications is because in some patients, it serves as an adjuvant to enhance the effects of antidepressants, however, as you say, the side effects can preclude its use including anxiety, increased agitation, insomnia, etc. If things look worse rather than better after starting this adjuvant regimen, I would advise you to express your concerns to the treating physician and explore other regimens.
Yours truly,
Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
Potentiate action of antidepressants
Detailed Answer:
Dear customer,
Thanks for your query about your mom. Sorry that she is hospitalized. The reason to use Ritalin on top of her other medications is because in some patients, it serves as an adjuvant to enhance the effects of antidepressants, however, as you say, the side effects can preclude its use including anxiety, increased agitation, insomnia, etc. If things look worse rather than better after starting this adjuvant regimen, I would advise you to express your concerns to the treating physician and explore other regimens.
Yours truly,
Dr Brenes-Salazar MD
Mayo Clinic MN
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Thank you for the response. It does help with my concerns. I am going down there to speak with someone about her worsening condition. They ..meaning her nurses and doctor.. will not listen to her. They are not treating her for her illness. Her voices are getting worse. Her paranoia is also worsening. She has been hospitalized for a month now. Im just getting frustrated and want her to improve. Thanks again.
Brief Answer:
Best wishes
Detailed Answer:
I agree and completely empathize with your situation. In psychiatric patients, the input from family members is quite important, as truly sometimes the staff becomes habituated to disorganized behavior and not paying too much attention to it.
If you explain your concerns, I believe the team will listen to you; after all, you know her better than any of the staff, and so you can give true input about her baseline and her current status
Godspeed
Best wishes
Detailed Answer:
I agree and completely empathize with your situation. In psychiatric patients, the input from family members is quite important, as truly sometimes the staff becomes habituated to disorganized behavior and not paying too much attention to it.
If you explain your concerns, I believe the team will listen to you; after all, you know her better than any of the staff, and so you can give true input about her baseline and her current status
Godspeed
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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