Quote:
Originally Posted by irishgirl4
Sometimes I think back to a time in my life that seemed happier, where I was on no meds and had no diagnosis of Bipolar. I often wonder if I could be her once, could I be here again? What if I went off of the meds to see how I react?
Has anyone done this?
I talked to my therapist about it. He has a philosophy that discourages his direct input of feelings and decisions in my life. When I mentioned it, he told me that he wasn't a psychiatrist-maybe it would work-maybe it wouldn't.
I asked my husband. He told me that I was like that once, but I also tried to kill myself three times in 2009-2010 and spent over fifteen months in pych wards. He didn't think that it was worth trying.
I guess I wonder if I didn't become a part of the system, would I be better? Would I have relied on myself and not on doctors and meds? What would somebody in another decade do? Wouldn't they just have to "suck it up" and work on their own to feel better?
Does anyone ever think about discontinuing their meds?
|
//
Irishgirl, I went off the meds for 13 mths after taking them for six years, as they had put a TON of weight on me. I lost all the weight overnight (that STUPID doc who lied to me said there was no relationship between the meds and the weight!); but I found that I gained tremendous mental benefits, as the dosage she had me on zombied me out.
However, the downshot to this is that I had a nasty episode last July, and I had to evaluate myself which is worse; taking the meds, or having a manic episode. My final decision: it's not worth it. I have toyed subsequently with the idea of coming off, but I really don't want to end up in a mental hospital, so that's a question you have to ask and answer for yourself. As you take the drugs, we are talking about YOU, not your hubby or anybody else. So that's the question you have to ask yourself; where you want to be. On drugs and well, or off them and take a risk.