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Old 02-02-2015, 01:11 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,449 times
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My grandmother was diagnosed with sudden onset Skitzophrenia in her 50s. She was prescribed medications that she did not take. I don't believe she heard voices. For 15 years she stayed in bed and only got up to eat and then she got back in bed. She was parnoid of the bath, therefore she never bathed for 15 years. It was disgusting. She could not hold a conversation. It was unclear what she was thinking. She was like the walking dead. I never knew her to be "normal." Her breakdown occured when I was born.

My mother is 54 and recently became exactly like her mother. The only difference appears to be what she is paranoid about. She thinks that she broke an IRS law and the police are going to arrest her. She looks out of the window waiting for the police car to pick her up. Her symptoms started with hot flashes and irregular periods. She made random accusations that were chalked up to her being bitchy. She always had a way at looking at things in a strange negative light. She then couldn't sleep. She had insomonia for several nights. She started drinking beer to try to sleep. (She never did drugs or drank alcohol previously).

Then she complained about pain on her chest like someone was standing on it. She then had a high level of anxiety. She then started to complain that she had no friends. At one point, she took a loaded gun and contemplated killing herself. This was NEVER something she would have done in the past. She then became paranoid and thought my brothers and her husband were drugging her. She stopped talking. She would mutter things to herself. She stopped eating because she thought the food was drugged. She lost 45 pounds and looked annorexic. She refused to drink because she thought the water was drugged. She would sit at the table and shake her leg (her mother did this also). She would tremble. Finally, her husband took her to the hospital. She started eating and got significantly better. She was talking, etc. was almost back to her old self but could not seem to shake her fear being arrested. We were then told whatever medication she was taking stopped working. She is now worse than ever except she is eating. She goes to group talk thearpy where most of the people are drug addicts and had crazy lives. She says she cannot relate. She seems stuck in paranoia. It's horrible. They are going to try electro therapy next.

Has anyone heard of something like this? I am not a doctor but this appears to be related to menopause. I forgot to mention that they started doing Hormone Replacement Therapy, but it just feels like it was tried too late. Sorta of like giving someone CPR after they died.

If anyone knows about severe mental illness in women starting when a woman's periods are starting to become irregular and when they start having hot flashes please let me know!
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Old 02-02-2015, 01:27 PM
 
Location: Cartersville, GA
1,265 posts, read 3,448,917 times
Reputation: 1133
Quote:
Originally Posted by Help4Women View Post
My grandmother was diagnosed with sudden onset Skitzophrenia in her 50s. She was prescribed medications that she did not take. I don't believe she heard voices. For 15 years she stayed in bed and only got up to eat and then she got back in bed. She was parnoid of the bath, therefore she never bathed for 15 years. It was disgusting. She could not hold a conversation. It was unclear what she was thinking. She was like the walking dead. I never knew her to be "normal." Her breakdown occured when I was born.

My mother is 54 and recently became exactly like her mother. The only difference appears to be what she is paranoid about. She thinks that she broke an IRS law and the police are going to arrest her. She looks out of the window waiting for the police car to pick her up. Her symptoms started with hot flashes and irregular periods. She made random accusations that were chalked up to her being bitchy. She always had a way at looking at things in a strange negative light. She then couldn't sleep. She had insomonia for several nights. She started drinking beer to try to sleep. (She never did drugs or drank alcohol previously).

Then she complained about pain on her chest like someone was standing on it. She then had a high level of anxiety. She then started to complain that she had no friends. At one point, she took a loaded gun and contemplated killing herself. This was NEVER something she would have done in the past. She then became paranoid and thought my brothers and her husband were drugging her. She stopped talking. She would mutter things to herself. She stopped eating because she thought the food was drugged. She lost 45 pounds and looked annorexic. She refused to drink because she thought the water was drugged. She would sit at the table and shake her leg (her mother did this also). She would tremble. Finally, her husband took her to the hospital. She started eating and got significantly better. She was talking, etc. was almost back to her old self but could not seem to shake her fear being arrested. We were then told whatever medication she was taking stopped working. She is now worse than ever except she is eating. She goes to group talk thearpy where most of the people are drug addicts and had crazy lives. She says she cannot relate. She seems stuck in paranoia. It's horrible. They are going to try electro therapy next.

Has anyone heard of something like this? I am not a doctor but this appears to be related to menopause. I forgot to mention that they started doing Hormone Replacement Therapy, but it just feels like it was tried too late. Sorta of like giving someone CPR after they died.

If anyone knows about severe mental illness in women starting when a woman's periods are starting to become irregular and when they start having hot flashes please let me know!
Complex issues such as these can only be addressed on a case-by-case basis, by a qualified mental health professional. It sounds like she has already had some treatment. A second opinion may be in order, especially if they are considering ECT as an option. The American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) is a good resource. Her primary care physician may also be able to suggest a reputable psychiatrist, for a second opinion.

Whatever you do, do not rely on specific advice from this forum, or anywhere else on the internet. Only an individualized, face-to-face assessment from a qualified mental health professional can provide the help your mother needs.
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Old 03-24-2015, 09:35 AM
 
9,712 posts, read 7,534,804 times
Reputation: 24112
I wanted to give everyone an update.

After my sister in law was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my brother insisted on digging deeper to find a cause. Turns out her body was producing extreme amounts of testosterone. She had a partial hysterectomy a few months ago and is back to her normal self! Hard to believe. We're so thankful.
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Old 03-24-2015, 09:42 AM
 
Location: So Ca
26,574 posts, read 26,433,288 times
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Originally Posted by KaraG View Post
Turns out her body was producing extreme amounts of testosterone. She had a partial hysterectomy a few months ago and is back to her normal self!
Amazing! Thanks for the update.
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Old 03-24-2015, 11:45 AM
 
Location: Utah
5,118 posts, read 16,541,675 times
Reputation: 5341
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaraG View Post
I wanted to give everyone an update.

After my sister in law was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my brother insisted on digging deeper to find a cause. Turns out her body was producing extreme amounts of testosterone. She had a partial hysterectomy a few months ago and is back to her normal self! Hard to believe. We're so thankful.
Great news. So glad to hear this. Thanks for the update.
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Old 08-17-2015, 06:54 PM
 
2 posts, read 4,449 times
Reputation: 10
Yes, it happens. My grandmother had sudden onset of paranoid skitzoprehia in her 50s and just last year the same thing happened to my mother in her 50s during menopause. My grandmother's symptoms never improved and she died in her 70s. My mother has been in a hospital since her onset for the past year. It is terrifying having this family history. To my knowlege it has not affected any males in the family. My mother has two older brothers-- both do not have it. However, one must have some mental issue because he has had problems with teh law. The other brother was a police officer who raised a successful family of four children. Three are girls, but not near the menopause age yet. I hope nothing happens. I think I have the highest risk since I am female and my mother and grandmother had it. I hope that my mom being somewhat younger when I was born (21) is protective over some of the mutuations. It's so scary. The type of disease my mother/grandmother have is 100% disabling with zero quality of life. Whereas, I know lots of people with skitzoprehnia and bipolar who are able to enjoy their lives with of course issues, medication, etc. My grandmother/mother just stare out the window all day. I wish they would spend more money on research. It is my understanding that severe mental illness affects 1 out of 100. It's time people start talking about their mentally ill family members and not hiding in shame. That is part of the problem.
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Old 08-21-2015, 03:43 AM
 
Location: Purgatory
6,353 posts, read 6,210,705 times
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Schizophrenia affects about 1 in 100. Major depression, PTSD, etc, affects many more.
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Old 08-27-2015, 08:38 AM
 
Location: Elsewhere
87,957 posts, read 83,773,798 times
Reputation: 114139
I see that the OP's family member's situation was resolved, thankfully.

Another thing I thought of was early-onset dementia. This happened to a coworker. She was in her early fifties, and she began acting oddly. Earlier, she kept having trouble using the wrong word and everyone, including herself, just laughed about it. But then she started sending nasty emails to people that didn't make sense about conversations they'd never had. Her long-time boyfriend and she split up--maybe because of her change in personality, not sure--and she got her own apartment. Then she started knocking on neighbors' doors in the middle of the night with nonsensical conversations, and eventually, someone called the police. They realized she needed a medical evaluation, and here she was well into dementia at age 53 or 54. She's in a nursing home now. Not even 60 years old.
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Old 08-27-2015, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Planet Earth
2,776 posts, read 3,036,420 times
Reputation: 5022
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaraG View Post
I wanted to give everyone an update.

After my sister in law was diagnosed with schizophrenia, my brother insisted on digging deeper to find a cause. Turns out her body was producing extreme amounts of testosterone. She had a partial hysterectomy a few months ago and is back to her normal self! Hard to believe. We're so thankful.
good news~~~
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Old 01-06-2016, 12:58 PM
 
2,755 posts, read 4,379,941 times
Reputation: 7524
This is an amazing story.

FYI - there are new discoveries in Neurology recently that sometimes the bodies immune system (usually after a recent mild infection/cold/flu) can inappropriately make antibodies that instead of just fighting the infection, also cross react with the person's own brain/neurons. When they bind/cross-react with the person's own brain/neurons, they can cause them to dysfunction. They call this an "autoimmune encephalitis".

If you ever see a person who has sudden onset of behavioral changes, or sudden onset lots of seizures when they never had these before...... especially if they have had a recent infection or if there is any chance they could have cancer..... they need to have a thorough work-up with a Neurologist. This usually means a brain MRI and a spinal tap / lumbar puncture.

And sometimes these "autoimmune encephalitis" syndromes are caused by something OUTSIDE of the brain that is indirectly causing these bad anti-bodies to be made. So sometimes they have to do CT scans of the body to look for something (mass/tumor/infection) and remove that.

It sounds like the OP's SIL may have had this. It is common to sometimes have masses on the ovaries that can make abnormal hormones and lead to abnormal antibody production and cause symptoms just like the OP describes. Once it is removed, you often go back to normal.

So any sudden, absolutely new change in behavior needs a thorough work-up. And unfortunately, this is so new that many psychiatrists do not know about it so it can get missed. Also, even neurologists don't always know about it. So you need to try to get to the biggest academic hospital you can to get help, where it is more likely they would know about these disorders, whenever you can't get your questions answered.
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