So here's the issue,

My current medication (3.5mg of Risperdal) is making my cholesterol really high, almost to the point where it's dangerous. My current psychiatrist is going to take me off this medication because I can't control my cholesterol even with diet changes.

The new antipsychotic that I was going to switch to has a lot of side effects that I don't know if I want to deal with. (Abilify. The major side effect that I'm worried about is death.) I know that the percentage of people who died while on Abilify is very low, I still feel irked about it.

Anyway, I really want to come off my medication, but my psychiatrist says I have to be more than a year without any hospitalizations/suicide attempts. He also said that since I've been hospitalized multiple times, I'm technically supposed to be on this medication indefinitely. In May it will have been a year since my last hospitalization. I feel like I'm ready to come off my medication, but my psychiatrist says that he wouldn't recommend me coming off my medication just yet.

So, would it be wise to come off my medication against my psychiatrist's recommendation? I've almost completed DBT (I've been in it for a year now) and I've learned a lot of new coping skills, so I think I'll be able to manage my so-called "psychosis" without medication. Or should I just continue on my medication for a while until my psychiatrist says it's alright for me to come off? And are there any other antipsychotics that are weight gain neutral?