Our relationship is changing

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I share more about the experience of tapering my antipsychotic medication down again to the last amount before going completely off. Hopefully normalizing the notion that recovery or even remission of serious mental illness is possible. Rob and I also reflect on how these changes in my experience of my schizoaffective disorder are impacting our relationship.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Introduction
00:24 – Metabolic Mind Fresh Start Award Program
00:56 – Family race day!
04:38 – Post race thoughts
05:26 – Feeling cranky and update on withdrawal experience
08:14 – Our anniversary!
10:03 – Talking about Dr. Casey Means book ‘Good Energy’
11:02 – Cooking buffalo chicken tots
12:24 – Date night
13:22 – Reflections on our changing relationship (jump to here if this is what you’re after!)
20:21 – Scootering and the rest of anniversary date night
22:15 – On the phone with my psychiatrist
25:24 – Final reflections and where I’m at

Mentioned in the video:
Metabolic Mind Fresh Start Award Program (Apply Here!) – https://metabolicmind.org/fresh-start

Dr. Casey Means interview with Jay Shetty – https://youtu.be/t2OeZcxVVI4?si=QTUy_QB4bJHAp86u
(and/or check out her book ‘Good Energy’!)

MEDICAL KETO RESOURCES
You can learn more about medical keto for mental illnesses on the Metabolic Mind YouTube channel (@metabolicmind) and on their website https://www.metabolicmind.org/

You can find more about my keto coach Nicole Laurent and her work on her website:
https://www.mentalhealthketo.com/

You can also learn more about metabolic health and mental illness from the book ‘Brain Energy’ by Dr. Christopher Palmer – https://brainenergy.com/

HOW TO TEST YOUR KETONES (important for medical keto!)
• The Keto Mojo blood glucose and ketone monitor is a finger prick blood test to accurately measure ketone and glucose levels. You can save 15% off monitor kits purchases and help support this content by using our affiliate link, thanks!: https://shop.keto-mojo.com/discount/nji98uhbvgy76tfc?rfsn=7812923.a84dcd1&utm_source=refersion&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=7812923.a84dcd1

• The SiBio continuous ketone monitor is a wearable device we have been using to get accurate and continuous ketone levels. You can save 15% using the coupon code “LIVINGWELL15” and help support this content by using our affiliate link, thanks!: https://www.sibiosensor.com/?ref=livingwellwithschizophrenia&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=goaffpro%26utm_medium

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• Schizophrenia Peer Support Community: https://www.schizophreniapeersupport.com

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SPEAKING & CONSULTING
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https://www.laurenkennedywest.com/

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#schizophrenia #schizoaffective #schizoaffectivedisorder #mentalhealth #mentalillness #metabolichealth #keto #metabolichealth #medicalketo #medication #relationship

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26 thoughts on “Our relationship is changing”

  2. I understand about how your psychiatrist just doesn't care about what you're doing and that what you're doing is working. Boy, do I. I have a mental health disorder too and I'm also very prone to Serotonin Syndrome when given certain meds to treat my mental health disorder. My psychiatrist did not take the Serotonin Syndrome seriously! After 3 times of nearly dying in the hospital from Serotonin Syndrome, I made the decision to quit mental health meds. My psychiatrist totally disagreed with my decision. He actually fired me as his patient for going against HIS beliefs, told me I was making a big mistake, and that I'd be sorry for doing it. Why can't psychiatrists open their minds, get with the program, see the reality that there needs to be other ways of treating patients, and learn about these ways to help their patients along with future patients? So frustrating. We need our psychiatrist's support, not their criticism. We need them to believe in us, not make us feel alone.

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  5. How would you help someone with anosognosia (37 year old female, Schizoaffective with BPD1), basically with an "I'm not sick, I don't need help attitude" to consider the Medical Ketogenic Diet?

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  6. Meds are tricky sometimes you have to be off them for three to six months to get them out of your system. Then its seeing if you can sustain the stability for the next three to six months.

    Your psychiatrist is probably being overly cautious and waiting to see a three, six, and year checkup off meds. So don't feel too disappointed.

    On a happy note, Love that you are feeling better and the family is doing great! Thank you for sharing your anniversary.🤗

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  11. Hmmm speaking from the POV of a friend/loved ones with serious mental illness, I can understand why a psychiatrist might be hesitant about their patients going off meds (especially cold turkey because it’s dangerous). I cannot imagine how awful it must be to have a patient who went off meds and had a massive episode and suicide or homicided someone! Like can you imagine trying to talk to the family afterwards and they’re like “why didn’t you stop them?!?!” I can’t imagine how traumatic that is and I would imagine possibly getting in trouble with the board? Or something.

    I have to say, the major problem I have with you and this channel is Lauren’s inability to reflect on how psychotic episodes impact people around her. It impacts us as well. I don’t like praying for my loved ones protection from the cops when they’re mentally unstable. (And please don’t come at me with “they just don’t know better “ I’m sorry but that 1 cop recognized Lauren from her recruits class and stood around while her cop partner literally SHOVED LAUREN!!! Police do not care and if they must be there, then they must be filmed the whole time and reminded to behave!!)
    And I think the other thing is that Keto for mental illnesses has not been well studied or studied for a long time. So I can understand the hesitation to I guess go with something that has murky results ? Like scientific studies for meds take YEARS! And it’s only been a few months.

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  15. Congratulations, Lauren. My advice would be to halve the 10 mgs, then halve the 2.5 mgs, then take specks of powderized tablet. The taper has to slow at the end to miniscule doses so that your brain has time to break down the excess dopamine receptors on your nerve endings. This is the real chemical imbalance the psych drugs create: it was coined dopamine supersensitivity in 1978 by Dr Seaman. Jumping off to zero from 10 mgs is like jumping over an abyss for your brain. Please, heed my advice to look into this because you will be risking rebound psychosis and it is not because your are not successful at putting your so-called mental illness into remission but because of the biochemical changes in your brain due to the drug. I am speaking from experience having been on olanzapine for almost 10 years and successfully withdrawing by a miniscule-dose taper at the end of the withdrawal. You also might want to support your COMT enzyme nutritionally to deal with the extra surge of dopamine with a methylated active B complex, SAMe, Magnesium and TMG (the enzyme is methylation-dependent). COMT enzyme also breaks down stress hormones (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and estrogen. So it is crucial to reduce stress to zero, including decreasing strenuous physical training, such as running a marathon, to a comfortable level and possibly applying progesterone cream to balance estrogen and staying away from make-up and other beauty products to reduce xenoestrogen exposure. If you have questions, you can email me at gmail with my full name, first name and last name. Good luck, I am rooting for you! ❤🎉😊

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  16. I read the comments of people being surprised or even angered by the lack of interest by you psychiatrist in your recovery. There are two reasons, I think: psychiatrists are not trained to withdraw people off the drugs and they do not believe that mental illness is curable. If the root causes are not addressed, which they are not even investigated by any psychiatrist (such as SNP’s in COMT and MAOA enzyme genetic mutations or nutritional deficiencies affecting these enzymes), they will keep on pushing the chemical imbalance myth, which they believe they are correcting with their drugs. Psychiatry is a complete pseudoscience and their livelihood depends on propagating their lies. Your psychiatrists will be out of business very fast if people get off their drugs by changing their lifestyle, which they got them into a mental illness in the first place. There is no mental illness, only a lack of mental fitness (Gary Brecka). Your psychiatrist is waiting for you to taper to zero and have a rebound psychotic episode. Then he or she can say: see, I told you so, your mental illness returned. This will be a devastating blow for you and a victory lap for your psychiatrist. Please, slow your taper so that your brain can downregulate the number of dopamine and other receptors your drug is blocking. Please, please, please! Your brain is healing. Give it a chance to reintegrate itself at the end of the withdrawal by slowing the taper!

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  21. I’m a 61-year-old man whose sister has been battling this illness for 40 years -I’m in tears watching your success story wishing that my Sister could do the same. She’s in an….institution….. I’m glad at least someone escaped the criminal matrix of our modern medical system…..😢❤❤❤❤

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  22. Psychiatrists are prescribing machines. That is how they are trained. The BS shown on TV of a psychiatrist interacting in a personable manner with their patient is just that…BS. Much blame goes to Hollywood for distorting the role of a psychiatrist.

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