[PSY]

Hello, and welcome to TeenHelp! =)

I used to work with people who had schizophrenia, so I know how bad the side effects can be for some of the medications. Ultimately, you have to choose the lesser of two evils: take medication and risk having side effects, or don't take medication and risk hurting yourself and/or others due to the effects of untreated schizophrenia.

The good thing about medication is that there are numerous combinations you can try. It may take a while to find something that has a minimal number of side effects, but I've met a few people with schizophrenia who behave so "normally" that I would've never known they had a diagnosis of schizophrenia! They didn't give up, both medication- and therapy-wise. They communicated with their psychiatrists and other psychological professionals. Keep doing that with yours (vs. deciding to go cold turkey or something else that is dangerous without consulting first), and I'm confident you'll be able to manage the symptoms of schizophrenia with greater ease in the future. It'll never be "perfect," but it'll be better than doing nothing at all.

Something else you may want to consider doing is getting a second opinion - just to confirm that your symptoms truly are caused by schizophrenia, and not by something else. What's the use in taking medication for schizophrenia if that's not the correct diagnosis?