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Helping Your Loved One Treat Schizophrenia & Stay Healthy
An essential part of your loved one’s schizophrenia treatment plan is taking INVEGA. But did you know that eating well, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep may also improve your loved one’s mental health? Plus, these healthy lifestyle behaviors may also help reduce your loved one’s risk of heart disease and other common ailments.
Here are some practical tips to help your loved one create—and enjoy—a healthy lifestyle.
Healthy Lifestyle Basics
Most of the basics of healthy living are common sense! To build a healthy body—and feel really good—your loved one will need to:
- Eat regular, balanced meals with lots of fruit and vegetables
- Be physically active. More and more studies confirm that being active for at least half an hour, most days of the week, is one of the best things you can do for your health. It can be as easy as walking around the neighborhood
- Get enough sleep. While there is no "right" amount of sleep, most people seem to need about eight hours of sleep a night. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if your loved one feels well rested and can remain alert all day, he or she is probably getting enough. If not, your loved one should seek help
- Avoid drinking alcohol
- Stay away from street drugs. Illegal drugs can interfere with your loved one’s medication for schizophrenia, and make it harder for her or him to maintain emotional stability
- Manage stress levels. Practically everyone in our society suffers from some degree of stress. It’s important for your loved one to manage stress. It can be as easy as taking a walk, talking with a friend, joining a support group, or talking to the treatment team. Your loved one can ask her or his healthcare professional for suggestions
Adding Physical Activity
Please remember: before starting any physical activity program, your loved one should check with her or his doctor. This is VERY important. Your loved one should ask the doctor to recommend activities that are right for her or his age, level of fitness and health. Also, she or he should ask what activities to avoid, if any.
To enjoy the many health benefits of exercise, all your loved one needs to do is be active between 30 and 60 minutes a day, on most days of the week. The more demanding the activity, the less time your loved one needs to spend each day.
Keep in mind—your loved one doesn’t need to join a gym! He or she can get more exercise by simply working activity into your daily routine. For example, your loved one can:
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator whenever possible
- Walk to the corner store, post office or bank instead of driving
- When going somewhere by public transit, get off one stop early and walk the rest of the way
- Park a little farther away from her or his destination, and walk
- Make a short walk part of your lunchtime/daily routine
- Mow the lawn
- Wash the car by hand
- Walk the dog
Tips for Healthy Eating
Healthy eating means choosing the right kinds of food—and the right portion sizes. At first, it may be difficult for your loved one to break bad eating habits such as snacking on high-fat, high-calorie junk foods. But with a little persistence, he or she can develop healthy eating habits. Encourage your loved one to:
- Ask her or his doctor for specific advice, or referral to a dietician for expert counseling
- Drink plenty of water to keep your body well hydrated
- Try to avoid foods that are high in fat (for example, salad dressings, hamburgers or fatty cuts of meat, fried foods, butter, margarine)
- When possible, replace animal fats with vegetable oils
- Choose fruits and vegetables when snacking. Most fruits and vegetables contain little or no fat. Also, they are an excellent source of important vitamins and minerals
- Limit her or his intake of caffeine (coffee, tea, many soft drinks). Caffeine can dehydrate you. Also, because caffeine is a stimulant, it may interfere with sleep
- Limit sugar intake (sugar, soft drinks, desserts). Sugar is very high in calories. Too much sugar can lead to weight gain
- Avoid being tempted by vending machines or fast-food outlets. Healthy eating requires planning—and impulse buys aren’t part of the plan
Healthy eating starts with being organized. So suggest that your loved one plan her or his meals for the next few days and take a shopping list to the supermarket. If you go along, remember that in general the healthy foods are found around the edges of the store, while the less healthy, processed foods are in the center. Enjoy healthy eating!
INVEGA® (paliperidone) extended-release tablets are used for the treatment of schizophrenia.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION FOR INVEGA
Elderly Patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death compared to placebo. INVEGA (paliperidone) is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis.
Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS) is a rare and potentially fatal side effect reported with INVEGA and similar medicines. Call your doctor immediately if the person being treated develops symptoms such as high fever; stiff muscles; shaking; confusion; sweating; changes in pulse, heart rate, or blood pressure; or muscle pain and weakness. Treatment should be stopped if the person being treated has NMS.
One risk of INVEGA is that it may change your heart rhythm. This effect is potentially serious, and you should talk to your doctor about any current or past heart problems. Some medications interact with INVEGA. Please inform your healthcare professional of any medications or supplements that you are taking.
Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) is a serious, sometimes permanent side effect reported with INVEGA and similar medications. TD includes uncontrollable movements of the face, tongue, and other parts of the body. The risk of developing TD and the chance that it will become permanent is thought to increase with the length of therapy and the overall dose taken by the patient. This condition can develop after a brief period of therapy at low doses, although this is much less common. There is no known treatment for TD, but it may go away partially or completely if therapy is stopped.
High blood sugar and diabetes have been reported with INVEGA and similar medications. If the person being treated has diabetes or risk factors such as being overweight or a family history of diabetes, blood sugar testing should be performed at the beginning and throughout treatment with INVEGA. Complications of diabetes can be serious and even life threatening. If signs of high blood sugar or diabetes develop, such as being thirsty all the time, going to the bathroom a lot, or feeling weak or hungry, contact your doctor.
INVEGA and similar medications can raise the blood levels of a hormone known as prolactin, causing a condition known as hyperprolactinemia. Blood levels of prolactin remain elevated with continued use. Some side effects seen with these medications include the absence of a menstrual period; breasts producing milk; the development of breasts by males; and the inability to achieve an erection. The connection between prolactin levels and side effects is unknown.
People with narrowing or blockage of the gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach or small or large intestine) should talk to their healthcare professional before taking INVEGA.
Some people taking INVEGA may feel faint or lightheaded when they stand up or sit up too quickly. By standing up or sitting up slowly and following your healthcare professional's dosing instructions, this side effect may be reduced or it may go away over time.
INVEGA may affect your driving ability; therefore, do not drive or operate machinery before talking to your healthcare professional. Avoid alcohol while on INVEGA.
INVEGA should be used cautiously in people with a seizure disorder, who have had seizures in the past, or who have conditions that increase their risk for seizures.
Extrapyramidal Symptoms (EPS) are usually persistent movement disorders or muscle disturbances, such as restlessness, tremors, and muscle stiffness. If you observe any of these symptoms, talk to your healthcare professional.
Inform your healthcare professional if you are pregnant or if you are planning to get pregnant while taking INVEGA. Caution should be exercised when INVEGA is administered to a nursing woman.
INVEGA may affect alertness and motor skills; use caution until the effect of INVEGA is known.
INVEGA may make you more sensitive to heat. You may have trouble cooling off, or be more likely to become dehydrated, so take care when exercising or when doing things that make you warm.
INVEGA should be swallowed whole. Tablets should not be chewed, divided, or crushed. Do not be worried if you see something that looks like a tablet in your stool. This is what is left of the tablet after all the medicine has been released.
The most common side effects that occurred with INVEGA were restlessness and extrapyramidal disorder (for example, involuntary movements, tremors and muscle stiffness).
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Please see the Important Product Information for INVEGA.
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This page was last modified on: Jul 27 2007 at 10:44:18 EDT