Hello kobayashimaru: I'm sorry your mom is experiencing this difficulty. I'm afraid I would not really know what to tell you about this specifically. I'm not knowledgeable with regard to psychiatric medications in general. Tapering off over a period of 3 days, when your mom was 50% over the maximum recommended dosage, does seem to me to be astonishingly cavalier on her psychiatrist's part. The last psych med I was on, my pdoc had me taper off over the course of 2 weeks. I thought that seemed very quick, based on experiences I had read about here on PC. But, in my case, it worked for me.

My suggestion would be to simply go back to the psychiatrist, explain the situation, & ask him to write a prescription for smaller dosage pills that will allow your mom to taper off more gradually. If he will not for some reason (I don't know why he would object.) you mentioned this all got started as a result of your mom needing knee surgery. So I presume she has other doctors she sees besides this psychiatrist. I wonder about the possibility of your mom approaching, perhaps, her general practice doctor about writing her a prescription that will allow her to taper off more slowly.

One can taper oneself off of psych med's without any assistance from a doctor. I've done it multiple times. The problem comes in when the pills you're getting are in such a high dosage that you can't break them down enough to taper as gradually as you might wish. On the other hand, if each pill is a very small dosage, then it's much easier to just cut back by one pill per week, for example. Of course, I know you wrote that money is a problem for you as well. I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions to offer with regard to that. If your mom's knee surgery is being delayed because of her difficulty tapering off of the Geodon, that's a medical / surgical problem that is going to have to be addressed by her doctors.

I see this is your first post here on PC. So... to PsychCentral… from the Skeezyks! May the time you spend here be of benefit.

PsychCentral is a great place to get information as well as support for mental health issues. The more you post, & reply to other members’ posts, the more a part of the community you will become. Plus there are social groups you can join & chat rooms where you’ll be able to connect with other PC members in real time (once your first 5 posts have been reviewed & approved.) Lots of great stuff! So please keep posting!