Most meds have side effects. My lithium makes me forget things like when to pick up my kids or pay bills. And it makes me extra goofy but beyond that, I'm lucky. So I just put the sunroof down, breathe in the day, and make accommodations for the downside. I write things down or ask my wife 250x when to pick up my daughter at school. I also stay active - I think being sedentary and thinking about it too much makes it worse. Staying active cleans out the mind. I used to get aggravated about being an airhead but now I laugh about it. A good example - I had NO idea Monday was a holiday. I thought I had to go to work until someone told me on Thursday afternoon that we had a three day weekend. Duh.

I tried to stop taking my lithium this summer and it didn't go well. Plus I got a lecture from my wife (which in many ways is worse than stopping the medication). Then I stopped taking my Celexa and got a skull splitting headache. With all due respect, many of us (myself included) often think we're the experts and in some ways we know best for ourselves. At the same time, the expert sits on the other side of the table. If you have a top notch p-doc, they'll know what to do. The challenge is often found in having three or four doctors prescribing meds because they don't always talk to each other.