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Old Jun 20, 2014, 05:50 PM
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Resident Bipolar Resident Bipolar is offline
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Member Since: Aug 2011
Location: Midlands, England, UK
Posts: 603
Woah, woah, woah.

I'm not being overdramatic and I'm not actually against the idea of eventually trying to find stability without medication - I've done it myself very recently. If I was to say "No, you definitely shouldn't do that" I'd be a complete hypocrite.

However (that's a big 'however', as you can probably see from the bold font), the decision to stop ANY kind of medication should be discussed with a healthcare professional and if you disagree with their opinion, a second opinion should ideally be sought. There are a few reasons why but one of the most important to me personally is that you will need a prescription for lower dosages of your medications.

The good thing is, if your medications are slowly tapered down one-by-one, you'll most likely notice that withdrawal symptoms aren't as much of a problem. You may still experience some withdrawal symptoms but if the dosage is reduced gradually enough they may be barely noticeable. Isolating yourself is not a good way to do it - you're away from any support network you may have. You will need to avoid stress as much as you can during the first crucial month, though.

Really I can't blame you for wanting to come off your medication but there is only really one correct way among hundreds of incorrect ways to do so.
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Bipolar life has it's ups and downs

Currently experiencing slight relapse into depressive episode but overall stability for almost a year!
Thanks for this!
BipolaRNurse