Has anyone here had any experiances of psychosis/paranoia?

Bit of back ground first:
I was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 2014 while I was in hospital, although if I think about it it started when I was around 8.
I was with CAMHS first, they diagnosed me with OCD and anxiety, they didn't realise I had psychosis at that point, and I had a bit of CBT with them when I was 13. When my mental health got so bad to the point I couldn't eat/sleep etc I was admitted to hospital twice, where they added a diagnosis of PTSD and psychosis. Because of my new diagnosis, they switched me from CAMHS to EIP(Early Intervention in Psychosis). They've been 'assessing' me for like a year now, and they don't seem to be doing anything.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiances of paranoia or psychosis? Or anyone with EIP?
Thanks
K xx

Bit of back ground first:
I was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 2014 while I was in hospital, although if I think about it it started when I was around 8.
I was with CAMHS first, they diagnosed me with OCD and anxiety, they didn't realise I had psychosis at that point, and I had a bit of CBT with them when I was 13. When my mental health got so bad to the point I couldn't eat/sleep etc I was admitted to hospital twice, where they added a diagnosis of PTSD and psychosis. Because of my new diagnosis, they switched me from CAMHS to EIP(Early Intervention in Psychosis). They've been 'assessing' me for like a year now, and they don't seem to be doing anything.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiances of paranoia or psychosis? Or anyone with EIP?
Thanks
K xx

I saw the EIP for 3 years a few years ago. My "diagnosis" was also paranoid psychosis. I think it's more of a working diagnosis than a concrete one. i'm guessing you're under 18 - NHS psychiatrists don't like diagnosing young people with some diagnoses because of the stigma involved and the fact that for a lot of people their symptoms are still changing given their age. I would try not to focus on labels; as long as you're getting treatment that helps you, it doesn't really matter what it's called.

Note / - / - / - I have no idea how much I'm actually able to talk about medication I'm on and how much depth I can talk about it based on T&C of TSR as I know no external links or whatever but I have no idea about talking about the usage of drugs. And no I've never abused things I'm just stating how medical treatment wasn't helping in the case I'm in and why.

I've had experiences but nothing has actually been done to deal with it.
Lets just say I have a long list of things wrong with me and they decided to force me to take some meds that triggered every single one meaning that quite a few managed to trigger at the same time.

Stress lead to Anxiety that triggered my Paranoia and after going through a few stages I had multiple panic attacks within a space of about 5 minutes.

Their response when told this was to glance over it like it was nothing, fortunately I had enough willpower that in the middle of the panic attacks so I managed to call someone on my phone to run over to where I was.

But otherwise the way I was dealt with by CAMHS originally was kinda stupid. If you feel like researching the meds they decided to give me was Concerta.

Just for reference I'll note down a few of the instructions and I'll note how many applied to me that they ignored.



To make sure Concerta is safe for you, tell your doctor if you or anyone in your family has ever had:

depression, mental illness, bipolar disorder, psychosis, or suicidal thoughts or actions;
motor tics (muscle twitches) or Tourette's syndrome;
blood circulation problems in the hands or feet;
seizures or epilepsy;
an abnormal brain wave test (EEG); or
a history of drug or alcohol addiction.
Well lets see...Depression, mental illness, bipolar, psychosis and suicidal thoughts along with epilepsy and the EEGs I've done showing up as abnormal.
Now for the side effects...

I'll just list the ones that apply to me otherwise this will be a long post...

chest pain, trouble breathing
a seizure (convulsions)
changes in vision
unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness
feeling nervous or irritable, sleep problems (insomnia)
loss of appetite
headache.


When I decided to stop taking them (Like 6-8 months in and about a week after I had multiple panic attacks in less than 5 minutes) I felt tons better. When they originally tried to give them to me they didn't listen to my complaints and when I went back every few months to complain they kept passing it off.

Now after months of not taking them I guess I'm better but the drugs sped up my genetics meaning I now need glasses like my dad does whereas before I still had about 5 years before my eyes deteriorated enough (based on when my dad got glasses).

Bit of back ground first:
I was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 2014 while I was in hospital, although if I think about it it started when I was around 8.
I was with CAMHS first, they diagnosed me with OCD and anxiety, they didn't realise I had psychosis at that point, and I had a bit of CBT with them when I was 13. When my mental health got so bad to the point I couldn't eat/sleep etc I was admitted to hospital twice, where they added a diagnosis of PTSD and psychosis. Because of my new diagnosis, they switched me from CAMHS to EIP(Early Intervention in Psychosis). They've been 'assessing' me for like a year now, and they don't seem to be doing anything.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiances of paranoia or psychosis? Or anyone with EIP?
Thanks
K xx

Bit of back ground first:
I was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis in 2014 while I was in hospital, although if I think about it it started when I was around 8.
I was with CAMHS first, they diagnosed me with OCD and anxiety, they didn't realise I had psychosis at that point, and I had a bit of CBT with them when I was 13. When my mental health got so bad to the point I couldn't eat/sleep etc I was admitted to hospital twice, where they added a diagnosis of PTSD and psychosis. Because of my new diagnosis, they switched me from CAMHS to EIP(Early Intervention in Psychosis). They've been 'assessing' me for like a year now, and they don't seem to be doing anything.
I was wondering if anyone has any experiances of paranoia or psychosis? Or anyone with EIP?
Thanks
K xx

You are far too young to take any of these tablets and good professionals only recommend adults to take them in small amounts for a very short time under careful supervision. You sound very mature for your age anyway and you seem to have been able to defend yourself from the stupidity from mental health services. I think your parents should be aware of how damaging these medications are.
Your brain is still growing and changing till you are in your early 20s. Try to avoid them. I have heard about mind but they are a charity and still compromise too much and in my experience do not help the person as an individual. You are very young and still have so much to learn from life. ..and it is incredibly irresponsible of the MHS to treat you like this....you should not be taking such a responsibility on your young shoulders...
take care

Sorry to hear of all you've been through, K

I suffer from both psychosis and paranoia and was under the EIS (my hospital's equivalent of EIP - EIS stands for Early Intervention Service) from the ages of 21-24/25. My EIS's rule was that you were only allowed to be in that service for 3 years, so now I am in the CMHT (Community Mental Health Trust).

I had to fight long and hard to get my EIS psychiatrist - who was very nice and attentive and a good listener, so it wasn't that he was a bad psychiatrist or anything - to use diagnostic labels with me. This was partly because I had no proper medical help during my first major psychotic episode, which occurred at uni, so away from home and this EIS. By the time I got re-referred back to the EIS in London again, the psychotic episode had passed and there was no written evidence from a professional to prove/suggest that I had actually experienced a psychotic episode (even though I knew and insisted that was what it was). So for ages, the psychiatrist I saw thought I was pretty lucid and coherent... until I ended up in another psychotic episode. Then he conceded that I had psychosis but still refused to give a diagnosis. Eventually, after a lot of pressure and repeated questioning about it and having been sent to a different colleague of my psychiatrist's for a "second opinion", I was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (depressive type) in October 2011 (having been with that EIS on and off since Jan 2010 and regularly with them since July 2010).

The reason I'm writing this all out is to help emphasise Sabertooth's point that often (especially if you're young or from a particular culture where stigma is even more of an issue - I'm South Asian, for example), psychiatrists will not label you for quite a while, both to protect you from the stigma associated but also because you're young and everything is in flux and things can take a while to become fully apparent.

If you have any questions for me about my schizoaffective disorder/psychosis/paranoia, do just quote this message!

Hallo - I was with EIS (Which I think is similar to EIP?) for three years (the maximum amount of time they had people for) straight after I left child and adolescent services, I'm now with CMHT. I had my first psychotic episode under CAMHS and was immediatley placed on anti-psychotics, though it wasn't until my first hospital admission a good 4 (ish) years later that I got an actual diagnosis (which they eventually decided was Schizoaffective disorder). I'm more than happy to answer any questions you may have (about psychosis/paranoia or MH services, or anything else really), although I can obviously only relate things to my own experience :P

Hiya
Sorry it took so long for me to reply, been kinda busy with college work and everything. So sorry to hear you suffer with it too, it really is very hard to get through each day. What kind of work did EIS do with you?
at the moment all EIP are doing is sending a nurse to come check up on me and ask me how things are. Oh and reviewing my medication once in a while.
When i went into hospital they diagnosed me with it pretty quickly, like after just speaking to me for 2 hours. At first I rejected the diagnosis, I just thought my OCD had gotten so severe it was giving me paranoid thoughts. That's pretty bad, if you didn't have a diagnosis I'm guessing they couldn't give you any meds to take?
Yeah I've heard they don't diagnose anyone under the age of 18 with schizophrenia, the doctors who diagnosed me explained the reason, but also said that if i left my psychosis untreated it would probably develop into schizophrenia.
Thank you for replying and again sorry i was so late in replying back, I hope things are ok with you right now.
K x

HI
I don't know but I thought they couldn't give you medication unless you had a diagnosis, but that's just me. What is the difference between psychosis and schizoaffective disorder if you dont mind me asking? I have a friend who has that and I still dont know what it means.
If im honest CAMHS didn't do such a good job with me, thinking back I'd been having paranoid symptoms since I was 8 years old. All eip are doing now is checking up on me once a fortnight and reviewing meds.
Thank you for your reply and I hope you're doing well
K x