Hi, Leo, and welcome to PC!

As a nurse, I would tell you to taper your antidepressant only with your doctor's knowledge, and to do it exactly as he tells you. As a patient....SSRI withdrawal SUCKS and you don't ever want to do so if you can avoid it, at least not without support.

Last summer I was having a great deal of trouble with mania so my psychiatrist asked me to attempt tapering my small daily dose of Celexa to every other day for a week, then every 2 days for a week, and then stop it altogether. I didn't even make it to week two before I hollered.......I was losing my mind!! I was hostile, irritable, and still manic as hell, and during my more lucid periods I feared my family would throw me out of the house.

Finally, I called my pdoc, said "I give up!" and was put back on my 10 mg dose. I was not, and never will be allowed to increase that dose because he does NOT like to prescribe SSRIs to his bipolar patients, and he knows the 'normal' dose will flip me right back into full-blown mania again. If I need help with depression he increases my Lamictal instead.

Now, about meds: Everyone has his/her reasons for accepting or not accepting medications, but be assured that the right med(s) will not change your personality or make you less than you are. Part of what makes us bipolar are the extremes in emotions and even the way we interpret the world; we tend to see the vivid colors of life and smell its intoxicating aromas with more intensity and appreciation.

If you're on the right stuff, that doesn't change! I'm on four different psych meds myself, and I haven't lost a bit of my enjoyment of beautiful music, art, and nature. In fact, I believe I enjoy these things even more because my mind isn't always racing onward to the next thought, the next thing to do, the next adventure.

Your mileage may vary, of course, and only you can make this decision. Just don't go off your SSRI without help, OK?