Paranoid Schizophrenia?

My mother has recently been diagnosed with paranoid szhizophrenia. When she was actually taken in to hospital and diagnosed it came as a big surprise, but now it explains so much about her behaviour over the years. Does anyone have any advice on what to expect? She is pretty bad at the moment, very paranoid, hearing voices and seeing things that just aren't there. We don't know how to deal with her at the moment and even though she's started meds she has become worse. How good are the drugs and do they always work?????

My grandmother was paranoid schizophrenic probably most of her life but wasn't diagnosed until my father had to have her put into a nursing home. With any mental disorder it sometimes takes a lot of time to find the right medicine for you but with disorders like schizophrenia sometimes it's harder because you don't really have the patients full input on what they're experiencing as well. My advice would be just to remember that sometimes the things she says to you or about you aren't really how she would feel if she wasn't caught in her own inner landscape. I have an uncle who married into the family after my grandma got worse who she was convinced was stealing all her money. He wasn't and everyone knew he wasn't but he got very very upset by her saying that....to the point that he almost wouldn't even attend her funeral. He to this day won't go to any place where her presence is largely felt. It's very sad. It also takes time for medicines to build up in your system and sometimes they don't take effect for up to a month. I would encourage you to keep trying on the medication even if you have to switch dosages or even complete drugs. After my grandma found the right medication she became a completely different person. She was never very nice to my father or my mother (they been together since middle school) and they were both always so sad that she was such a sweet person on the medication and hadn't been able to access that help sooner. Good luck and I hope your mother stabilizes as soon as possible.

It is very treatable with the proper medications. By the way did you know that it runs in the family sometimes. You might want to get checked out.
Awww.. sorry for the worry you must be going through. Though I have no experience in this matter, many times doctors must work with different drugs and the levels of them to get just the right combination that works for the specific person. Give them some time.
It might take time to find the right meds for her individual needs.

The thing that helped me the most deal with a family members illness, was to realize her odd behavior didn't have anything to do with "rationality" or her feelings or beliefs - but that it was the product of an ill organ. Leave it at that. Brain and mind are different things. She has a disorder - she is not the disorder.
I hope that makes sense.

Good Luck - You are not alone.
First of all, make sure they've done a thorough physical exam to rule out any physical disease. They should also do a brain MRI to rule out any abnormalities there. Once any other physical disease is ruled out, then you can address her schizophrenia or psychoaffective disorder. There are so many alternate labels they call these disorders. The newer meds work pretty well. The best thing you can do is to reassure her. You have to make sure that there is no added stress in her life. Any change in the environment will cause her symptoms to want to kick up. Like Christmas does it. Some new person moving into the house. A family member moving away. Any change in her life will cause her symptoms to get worse. So, try to keep things even especially until she's stable with her medication.

I have a friend who has had schizophrenia her entire adult life. She's over 50 now and stable. As long as she takes her medication she does well. She held a job most of her life. When she gets especially stressed, she usually calls me and we talk things over. She says I'm better than her psychiatrist. So, just be there to listen to her when things get stressful for her. If she feels loved and supported that will help almost as much as the meds.
Russel Crowe has a wonderful movie called , A Beautiful Mind.Rent it.It's an old movie but it will really help in understanding your mom.It's also a true story.God Bless
Jesus