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Clozaril Alternatives

Last Updated on September 22, 2023 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD

Clozaril alternatives are available to help a person enjoy a stable recovery. Rather than continue wrestling with medications and substituting other drugs, we help a person safely transition over to natural mental health methods, without the need for prescription drugs for the vast majority of our clients.

Often, a prescription of a drug like Clozaril may leave a person feeling they are without other options. Alternative to Meds Center provides Clozaril alternatives that promote a resurgence of natural mental health.

Do Your Symptoms Require Clozaril?


successful clozaril alternatives
Alternative to Meds Center has provided expertise on medication management for many years, and our published evidence shows consistent success. Did you know that there are much less toxic ways that can address symptoms effectively? Whether your prior medical treatment left a medical condition undiagnosed, misdiagnosed, or provided a premature diagnosis, we search for the factors that need to be resolved effectively without medications. Medications are demonstrably not effective over the long term. Clozaril alternatives can help greatly.
Clozaril users no longer have to endure horrible side effects and symptoms because we have developed clinically proven antipsychotic alternatives that can reduce or eliminate past unwanted symptoms. Alternative to Meds Center has developed many helpful ways that have people feeling good again, and also able to participate more fully in life without suffering from Clozaril withdrawal side effects.

Effective Clozaril Alternatives

Natural alternatives to Clozaril include:
  • holistic clozaril alternativesUpgrade the diet to include nutrient-dense foods 19
  • Avoid caffeine, junk food, MSG and neurotoxic chemical food additives, Aspartame©, etc.7,20,29,30,31
  • Restrict sugars, high glycemic foods to maintain blood sugar levels 21
  • Use of tryptophan 22
  • Omega-3 fatty acids 23
  • Remove toxic accumulations 24,25,18,35
  • Correct nutritional deficiencies 26
  • Therapeutic use of vitamin C & niacin 28
  • Exercise regularly 27
  • Adequate exposure to sunlight.36
  • CBT 37

Some of the alternatives to Clozaril that are provided during treatment include massage and spa services, meditation, yoga, Qi Gong, cranial-sacral massage, equine-assisted therapy, and more. Counseling services are also provided and include CBT and other genres of psychotherapy. Blending counseling and adjunctive therapies can greatly assist in the withdrawal of antipsychotic medications, allowing for a stable resurgence in natural mental health and well-being.

Long-Term Treatment Liabilities of Antipsychotics vs Clozaril Alternatives

antipsychotic psychosesOften a crisis is unfolding rapidly when a physician prescribes an antipsychotic medication such as Clozaril (generic clozapine). The drug may provide some immediate and much-needed relief where symptoms such as psychosis, hallucinations, or mania need to be dampened and brought under control. However, beyond the use for acute symptom control, there is much evidence that demonstrates antipsychotic medications are not the only choice for long-term treatment. Studies are showing that natural substances can often provide relief and remission when drugs may not.1

There has been a concern for the emergence of drug-induced movement disorders after long-term use of antipsychotics, as discussed by Kane et al in their article published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The authors note that the majority of cases of tardive dyskinesia occur in the first 5 years of treatment, but caution that many cases of TD continue to emerge many years after beginning treatment with neuroleptic drugs.33

Researchers Alvarez-Jiminez et al report in their 2016 article published in the Journal of CNS Drugs, that in reviewing the results of a seven-year follow-up, there was evidence of higher functional improvement after antipsychotics were discontinued compared to long-term continuation of the medication over the same time frame. They also found that the relapse rate was unchanged between those who discontinued after 3 months, vs those who remained on their medication, though this rate varied at other intervals of follow-up. They concluded that in particular, young people diagnosed with a first episode of psychosis with a 3-month period of remission and strong psycho-social support, would be good candidates for discontinuation of antipsychotic medication.32

One might compare taking antipsychotic medications like the fire hose when a fire is raging and about to burn the house down. However, after extinguishing the fire, there remains the clearing out of char and debris, rebuilding or at least refurbishing the interior of the home so one has a comfortable place to live. There is also the discovery of what may have started the fire, and a need to fix the faulty wiring, the gas leak, or whatever the causes might have been to prevent the same catastrophe from repeating. While the analogy is admittedly simplistic, antipsychotic medications should probably be primarily used as emergency or stop-gap measures, that can allow for a more in-depth address of the issues that need to be repaired for overall and sustainable improvements. This is our specialty at Alternative to Meds Center, and we’ve been doing it for just about 2 decades now. Examples of some effective Clozaril alternative therapies are given further below, and a more comprehensive list can be found on our services overview page.

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Clozaril Alternatives — Treatments That Can Provide New Hope

alternative treatments provide hopeHope is returning to the field of mental health. In earlier times, patients labeled as “mad,” were locked up in institutions, injected with seizure-inducing chemicals, electroshocked, lobotomized, or exterminated, as in the 1930s Third Reich protocols.12 The symptoms of schizophrenia are mainly reported as subjective, such as hallucinations, delusions, incoherent speech and thought, paranoia, for example. Since the term was coined in the early 1900s, the condition remains somewhat of a mystery, and its pathology remains relatively obscure.13

Physicians today commonly treat schizophrenia with typical or atypical antipsychotic drugs. There are also proponents of electroconvulsive therapy who may or may not know the origins of the practice, since one has to really dig deep for the facts. ECT induces seizures as a proposed treatment for schizophrenic patients and also used in modern times to treat many other conditions such as depression, bipolar, autism, and Parkinson’s, for example.16 A 2012 article by Gazdag et al on the history of ECT published in the World Journal of Psychiatry briefly sketches out the history of electroconvulsive therapy. The authors begin with the Hungarian psychiatrist named Meduna who, in the early 1900s, noticed very few of his epileptic patients suffered from schizophrenia. Meduna decided that inducing seizures by injecting intramuscular camphor and later cardiazol may, therefore, lead to some sort of cure for schizophrenia. There are discrepancies between Meduna’s recollection of a complete recovery and his case notes on the patient, stored in the Archives of the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Budapest. Meduna’s case notes indicate that the patient who was catatonic, never became symptom-free, could never be discharged, and died in the institution after at least 4 years of this treatment.15 The practice of chemical-induced seizures later evolved into applying electricity directly to the brain to induce seizures. Known as ECT, the practice of inducing seizures with electricity remains in use today, though controversial and not well understood.

Alternative treatments have provided a wider avenue for compassionate and effective help and recovery of health without relying on pharmaceuticals or electric shock or surgical methods such as the once-popular lobotomy, long since re-classified as obsolete by current standards.16

Does a Person Need Antipsychotics for Life?

nutritional medicineEvidence shows that schizophrenia may improve on its own, or can become a chronic condition. A fascinating 20-year study published in the Journal of Psychological Medicine in 2012 reported that without medication, schizophrenic patients were less likely to have relapsed and had fewer re-hospitalizations each time a follow-up was conducted compared to those who were continued on antipsychotic medications. There were 6 follow-ups done over the course of 20 years and the results each time showed 30-40% of these patients were no longer on medications and not experiencing a return of psychotic symptoms. No treatment was specified beyond the fact that they had stopped their medication.14

Physicians typically manage symptoms of these conditions with antipsychotic medications. It is believed that the suppression of hallucinations and psychosis is related to the dampening effect that antipsychotic drugs have on certain excess neurotransmitters such as dopamine.9,10,11 However, Seroquel, Risperidone, Invega, or Clozaril alternatives, that is, non-medication-based treatments may not only manage symptoms but have produced complete remission of chronic schizophrenia, allowing the patients to discontinue their medication.17 For example, modifying the diet was reported as a medical intervention that greatly contributed to the remission. Complete remission continued for years after stopping their medication.19 A new branch of medicine called “Nutritional Medicine” is receiving much attention and success in its treatment protocols, as reported in the prestigious Lancet psychiatric publication.5

Studies have shown that improvements to the daily diet showed significant benefits in treating schizophrenic patients without relying on antipsychotic medications.2,3,19

Clozaril Alternatives for Psychosis

Bipolar psychosis or mania are other disorders commonly treated with antipsychotic medications. The NIH estimated in 2017 that 2.8% of the US population suffered from these conditions.33 Doing the math, that is millions of persons, assuming these figures are accurate. While pharmaceutical companies might relish these numbers, or even encourage over-reporting (establishing their potential consumer base), holistic practitioners and nutritional psychiatrists are working hard to find ways to help with such disorders that don’t involve heavy neuroleptic drugs.

Pharmaceuticals are relied on almost exclusively to try to dampen (never cure) these aforementioned conditions. Observations and studies show that in vast numbers of patients, pharmacological-based treatment only partially resolves the symptoms, and can cause many unwanted side effects. In addition, there are clinical studies showing that “less is more” when it comes to medicating persons recovering from psychosis. Discontinuing medication has been shown to produce more success in recovery from psychosis than continuing the medication after the psychotic episode ends.1,4

Clozaril Alternatives at Alternative to Meds Center

For many years, Alternative to Meds Center has been helping people to gently and comfortably withdraw from antipsychotics and other types of medications. But there is more to recovery after medication than simply tapering medication. In our program, clients begin with a comprehensive and thorough assessment and detailed interviews along with batteries of lab tests to ascertain the full horizon of factors that require addressing to best serve the health of the client. One of the most popular treatments to help prepare for successfully tapering from medication is a flushing out of toxic accumulations, with sauna cleanse,35 correction of diet, targeted supplementation, chelation, nebulized glutathione, IV treatments, and other gentle and easy-to-tolerate methods. After the clean-out, clients commonly report sleeping better, feeling calmer, brighter, better appetite, more energetic, and many other valuable benefits.

Beginning the Taper Process at Alternative to Meds Center

multi-prong detox at sedona drug rehabAt a stable point, Clozaril tapering can begin, presenting much less of a shock to the body done in this sequence. Continuing to support the process along the way, clients enjoy a healthy and delicious diet consisting of mostly local organic produce and a nutritious bounty of the foods that establish the backbone of recovery. Support for a healthy microbiome is also key, and it is recommended that the diet should include daily consumption of fermented foods and other microbiota supports.6

Butler et al in “Man and the Microbiome” state that the microbiome of those suffering from symptoms such as depression, anxiety, autism, and other psychiatric disorders is significantly different when compared to healthy controls. The study authors recommend a closer look at the implications of the condition of the microbiome in regards to mental health.7

Long-Smith et al also call for more research in the area of the important health implications of an impaired gut-brain axis in mental health treatment, as published in their work in “The Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology.” 8

Clozaril alternatives in supplement form are extremely helpful during withdrawal. Each client receives a targeted supplement protocol based on individual testing results. Foods and supplements are also included in the dietary regimen that can provide the raw materials needed to restore natural, correct neurotransmitter function. We have designed these and other protocols to provide the easiest, most efficient, and gentle pathways to becoming less medication-dependent, and even entirely free from medication, without returning symptoms of psychosis, mania, etc.

We encourage you to contact us at Alternative to Meds Center for much more detailed information on Clozaril alternatives and all of the protocols we offer in our programs, all intelligently designed for improved natural mental health and drug-free well-being, for yourself or for your loved one.

1 (800) 301-3753 for Clozaril Alternatives Help

Sources:

1. Hoenders, Bartels-Velthuius, deJong, “Natural Medicines for Psychotic Disorders” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 2018 Feb [cited 2021 Aug 4]

2. Aucoin M, LaChance L, Clouthier SN, Cooley K. Dietary modification in the treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A systematic review. World J Psychiatry. 2020 Aug 19;10(8):187-201. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v10.i8.187. PMID: 32874956; PMCID: PMC7439299. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

3. Aucoin M, LaChance L, Cooley K, Kidd S. Diet and Psychosis: A Scoping Review. Neuropsychobiology. 2020;79(1):20-42. doi: 10.1159/000493399. Epub 2018 Oct 25. PMID: 30359969. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

4. Arehart-Treichel, “Study Finds Less or No medication Fosters Recovery in Psychosis” Psychiatric News, Psychiatry Online [Internet] 2013 August [cited 2021 Aug 4]

5. Sarris, Logan, Akbaraly, Amminger, Balanza-Martinez, Freeman, et al, “Nutritional Medicine as Mainstream in Psychiatry” The Lancet, 2015 Jan [cited 2021 Aug 4]

6. Butler MI, Mörkl S, Sandhu KV, Cryan JF, Dinan TG. The Gut Microbiome and Mental Health: What Should We Tell Our Patients?: Le microbiote Intestinal et la Santé Mentale : que Devrions-Nous dire à nos Patients? Can J Psychiatry. 2019 Nov;64(11):747-760. doi: 10.1177/0706743719874168. Epub 2019 Sep 17. PMID: 31530002; PMCID: PMC6882070. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

7. Butler MI, Cryan JF, Dinan TG. Man and the Microbiome: A New Theory of Everything? Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2019 May 7;15:371-398. doi: 10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-050718-095432. Epub 2019 Feb 20. PMID: 30786244. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

8. Caitríona Long-Smith, Kenneth J. O’Riordan, Gerard Clarke, Catherine Stanton, Timothy G. Dinan, John F. Cryan. Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: New Therapeutic Opportunities Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 2020 60:1, 477-502 [cited 2021 Aug 4]

9. Strange PG. Antipsychotic drugs: importance of dopamine receptors for mechanisms of therapeutic actions and side effects. Pharmacol Rev. 2001 Mar;53(1):119-33. PMID: 11171942. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

10. Lidow MS, Goldman-Rakic PS. Differential regulation of D2 and D4 dopamine receptor mRNAs in the primate cerebral cortex vs. neostriatum: effects of chronic treatment with typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs. J Pharmacol Exp Ther. 1997 Nov;283(2):939-46. PMID: 9353417. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

11. Moran-Gates T, Massari C, Graulich A, Liégeois JF, Tarazi FI. Long-term effects of JL 13, a potential atypical antipsychotic, on rat dopamine and serotonin receptor subtypes. J Neurosci Res. 2006 Aug 15;84(3):675-82. doi: 10.1002/jnr.20972. PMID: 16810690. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

12. Torrey EF, Yolken RH. Psychiatric genocide: Nazi attempts to eradicate schizophrenia. Schizophr Bull. 2010;36(1):26-32. doi:10.1093/schbul/sbp097 [cited 2021 Aug 4]

13. Jablensky A. The diagnostic concept of schizophrenia: its history, evolution, and future prospects. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(3):271-287. doi:10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.3/ajablensky [cited 2021 Aug 4]

14. Harrow M, Jobe TH, Faull RN. Do all schizophrenia patients need antipsychotic treatment continuously throughout their lifetime? A 20-year longitudinal study. Psychol Med. 2012 Oct;42(10):2145-55. doi: 10.1017/S0033291712000220. Epub 2012 Feb 17. PMID: 22340278.  [cited 2021 Aug 4]

15. Baran B, Bitter I, Ungvári GS, Nagy Z, Gazdag G. Biológiai terápia születése Magyarországon: Meduna László “elsô” görcskezelt betegének története [The birth of biological therapy in Hungary: the story of László Meduna’s first patient receiving convulsive therapy]. Psychiatr Hung. 2008;23(5):366-75. Hungarian. PMID: 19129553. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

15. Caruso, J. P., & Sheehan, J. P. (2017). Psychosurgery, ethics, and media: a history of Walter Freeman and the lobotomy, Neurosurgical Focus FOC, 43(3), E6. Retrieved May 17, 2021, from https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/neurosurg-focus/43/3/article-pE6.xml [cited 2021 Aug 4]

16. Salik I, Marwaha R. Electroconvulsive Therapy. 2020 Nov 29. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan–. PMID: 30855854. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

17. Fenton WS, McGlashan TH. Sustained remission in drug-free schizophrenic patients. Am J Psychiatry. 1987 Oct;144(10):1306-9. doi: 10.1176/ajp.144.10.1306. PMID: 2889376. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

18. The Epilepsy Foundation, “Toxins and Drugs Reported to Cause Seizures.” [internet] [cited 2021 Aug 4]

19. Głąbska D, Guzek D, Groele B, Gutkowska K. Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mental Health in Adults: A Systematic Review. Nutrients. 2020;12(1):115. Published 2020 Jan 1. doi:10.3390/nu12010115 [cited 2021 Aug 4]

20. Plitman E, Nakajima S, de la Fuente-Sandoval C, et al. Glutamate-mediated excitotoxicity in schizophrenia: a review. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2014;24(10):1591-1605. doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2014.07.015. [cited 2021 Aug 4]  

21. Acute Hypoglycemia Presenting as Acute Psychosis Tanveer Padder MD, Aparna Udyawar MD, Nouman Azhar MD, Kamil Jaghab MD From the Department of Psychiatry, Nassau University Medical Center, 2201 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow NY 11554 USA.First Published December 2005. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

22. van der Heijden, F., Fekkes, D., Tuinier, S. et al. Amino acids in schizophrenia: evidence for lower tryptophan availability during treatment with atypical antipsychotics?. J Neural Transm 112, 577–585 (2005).[cited 2021 Nov 22]

23. Lakhan SE, Vieira KF. Nutritional therapies for mental disorders. Nutr J. 2008;7:2. Published 2008 Jan 21. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-7-2 [cited 2021 Nov 22]

24. Environmental Exposures and Depression: Biological Mechanisms and Epidemiological Evidence Annual Review of Public Health Vol. 40:239-259 (Volume publication date April 2019) First published as a Review in Advance on 2019 Jan 11 [cited 2021 Nov 22]

25. Collaborative on Mental Health and the Environment Mental Health and Environmental Exposures from the Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative, November 2008. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

26. Understanding nutrition, depression and mental illnesses Indian J Psychiatry. 2008 Apr-Jun; 50(2): 77–82. T. S. Sathyanarayana Rao, M. R. Asha, B. N. Ramesh, and K. S. Jagannatha Rao [cited 2021 Nov 22]

27. Mittal VA, Vargas T, Osborne KJ, et al. Exercise Treatments for Psychosis: A Review. Curr Treat Options Psychiatry. 2017;4(2):152-166. doi:10.1007/s40501-017-0112-2. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

28. Hoffer A, Osmond H. TREATMENT OF SCHIZOPHRENIA WITH NICOTINIC ACID. A TEN YEAR FOLLOW-UP. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1964;40(2):171-89. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1964.tb05744.x. PMID: 14235254. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

29. Hedges DW, Woon FL, Hoopes SP. Caffeine-induced psychosis. CNS Spectr. 2009 Mar;14(3):127-9. doi: 10.1017/s1092852900020101. PMID: 19407709. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

30. Wang QP, Browman D, Herzog H, Neely GG. Non-nutritive sweeteners possess a bacteriostatic effect and alter gut microbiota in mice. PLoS One. 2018 Jul 5;13(7):e0199080. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199080. PMID: 29975731; PMCID: PMC6033410. [cited 2021 Aug 4]

31. Zahra J, Ford T, Jodrell D. Cross-sectional survey of daily junk food consumption, irregular eating, mental and physical health and parenting style of British secondary school children. Child Care Health Dev. 2014 Jul;40(4):481-91. doi: 10.1111/cch.12068. Epub 2013 Apr 18. PMID: 23594136. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

32. Alvarez-Jimenez M, O’Donoghue B, Thompson A, Gleeson JF, Bendall S, Gonzalez-Blanch C, Killackey E, Wunderink L, McGorry PD. Beyond Clinical Remission in First Episode Psychosis: Thoughts on Antipsychotic Maintenance vs. Guided Discontinuation in the Functional Recovery Era. CNS Drugs. 2016 May;30(5):357-68. doi: 10.1007/s40263-016-0331-x. PMID: 27106296. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

33. Kane JM, Correll CU. Pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2010;12(3):345-57. doi: 10.31887/DCNS.2010.12.3/jkane. PMID: 20954430; PMCID: PMC3085113. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

34. NIH, “Bipolar Disorder” fact sheet [online] [cited 2021 Nov 22]

35. Crinnion WJ. Environmental medicine, part one: the human burden of environmental toxins and their common health effects. Altern Med Rev. 2000 Feb;5(1):52-63. PMID: 10696119. [cited 2021 Nov 22]

36. Gu S, Huang R, Yang J, Sun S, Xu Y, Zhang R, Wang Y, Lu B, He T, Wang A, Bian G, Wang Q. Exposure-lag-response association between sunlight and schizophrenia in Ningbo, China. Environ Pollut. 2019 Apr;247:285-292. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2018.12.023. Epub 2019 Jan 14. PMID: 30685669. [cited 2022 June 20]

37. Rathod S, Phiri P, Kingdon D. Cognitive behavioral therapy for schizophrenia. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 2010 Sep;33(3):527-36. doi: 10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.009. PMID: 20599131. [cited 2022 June 20]

Originally Published Feb 24, 2020 by Diane Ridaeus


This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.

Dr. Samuel Lee

Dr. Samuel Lee is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in a spiritually-based mental health discipline and integrative approaches. He graduated with an MD at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did a residency in psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He has also been an inpatient adult psychiatrist at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital and the primary attending geriatric psychiatrist at the Auerbach Inpatient Psychiatric Jewish Home Hospital. In addition, he served as the general adult outpatient psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente.  He is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Pacific Union College. His specialty is in natural healing techniques that promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

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Medical Disclaimer:
Nothing on this Website is intended to be taken as medical advice. The information provided on the website is intended to encourage, not replace, direct patient-health professional relationships. Always consult with your doctor before altering your medications. Adding nutritional supplements may alter the effect of medication. Any medication changes should be done only after proper evaluation and under medical supervision.

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