Joyce is a 30-year-old female patient who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after being referred for mental health evaluation by the police

Answer:

Joyce is a 30-year-old female patient who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after being referred for mental health evaluation by the police. She demonstrated paranoid delusions that ultimately led to such disruptive behavior at her place of work that the police were called. Her husband was able to provide a history consistent with prodromal symptoms, and in retrospect her disorganized thought and poor insight were evident over the last few months. She was initially stabilized on IM Zyprexa (olanzapine) and has been maintained on oral Zyprexa for the last 2 weeks, and has been on 10 mg daily for 1 week. Today at follow-up she demonstrates mild improvement. Her hygiene and appearance are much improved. She is still hearing voices and has delusions that communists are trying to infiltrate the company for which she works. She is open to the idea that these are delusions but still seems hesitant to accept that premise. At this point her medication management should include: intermittent dosing of Zyprexa at bedtime in an attempt to control depressive symptoms while minimizing possible EPS; psychosocial stabilization leading to ongoing psychotherapy; ongoing monitoring of cardiovascular status; ongoing neurological status; and close monitoring of dietary changes that may contribute to her weight gain and dyslipidemia

Joyce was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia and is showing mild improvement on oral olanzapine. Management will now focus on treating her symptoms so that her psychotic symptoms aren’t as disruptive for her at work and home, increasing compliance through the development of an outpatient care plan, and the maintenance of a medication regimen that most effectively helps to prevent relapse during this vulnerable stage of illness.

Today after stabilization on Zyprexa, the nurse must help Joyce (the patient) accept her diagnosis of schizophrenia. At this point, the nurse can say: I understand that you have been feeling better since your last visit. Excellent. What I want to focus on today is understanding schizophrenia and the treatment plan that goes along with it. You’ve already taken the first step – you’ve started to talk about your illness and acknowledge that it exists. This is a very important first step for recovery. At this point, we will begin to look at ways in which you can continue to take charge of your treatment and regain a sense of control in your life. We will also talk about how to cope with some of the symptoms that you are still experiencing, such as hearing voices and having delusions. Understanding these symptoms will give us a better idea of how we can work through them together.

So far so good. Controlling the symptoms is no easy task. You have increased the dose of this medication, and the side effects are still tolerable. However, you must remember that this aggressive treatment has the potential to have serious long-term effects. If this is successful, your patient will recover more quickly and with less chance of relapse. While her family history of schizophrenia is not strong, as we suspected, it does suggest her future children may be at risk for developing schizophrenia. Her family AND HER partner wants to know how to help ensure a healthy pregnancy and prevent or slow the development of schizophrenia in any future children.

Hello and welcome! Most likely your daughter will be prescribed an atypical antipsychotic medication to stabilize her symptoms. The medication that your daughter has been started on is one that many psychiatrists will use when someone is first diagnosed with schizophrenia as it has a good side effect profile, usually tolerable side effects, and can be switched to other medications in the same class if the patient doesn’t respond well to it or develops intolerable side effects. Let’s talk about some of those other medications that your daughter may be prescribed.

Olanzapine is a drug that has several uses, but one of its primary uses is to treat schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Olanzapine can be used alone in those patients with the response type known as “itchy.” However, most of the time it is given in combination with other agents to reduce some possible side effects.(Akikolu, et al., 2008).

Question:

Joyce is a 30-year-old female patient who was recently diagnosed with schizophrenia after being referred for mental health evaluation by the police. She demonstrated paranoid delusions that ultimately led to such disruptive behavior at her place of work that the police were called. Her husband was able to provide a history consistent with prodromal symptoms, and in retrospect her disorganized thought and poor insight were evident over the last few months. She was initially stabilized on IM Zyprexa (olanzapine) and has been maintained on oral Zyprexa for the last 2 weeks, and has been on 10 mg daily for 1 week. Today at follow-up she demonstrates mild improvement. Her hygiene and appearance are much improved. She is still hearing voices and has delusions that communists are trying to infiltrate the company for which she works. She is open to the idea that these are delusions but still seems hesitant to accept that premise. At this point her medication management should include: