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Old Feb 12, 2018, 11:46 AM
SparkySmart SparkySmart is offline
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Member Since: Oct 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 295
I'm down to two meds also (Geodon 20 and Lamictal 200). Polypharmacy was necessary in the short term but risky for maintenance (waaay too many side effects), and I did a lot of very gradual tapering on my own*. In my case, multiple drugs just created confusion, because it was impossible to know which ones were causing problems.

I thought my pdoc might dismiss me from his practice when I saw him last week because I had been noncompliant/nonadherent, and he had advised me not to deviate from his recommendations without his knowledge and consent. To my surprise, however, he was delighted that I was looking so calm and balanced! Also, I decided to stop therapy and join a health club, so my weight and blood pressure are both down. One unexpected benefit was that my pdoc said he now had a "baseline" on me to use for comparison in the future; he had only seen me in crisis prior to this, when hospitalization was necessary.

I told my pdoc that I know my own body, and I feel like I know when I'm overmedicated. For myself, I believe that high doses of antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, anxiolytics and antidepressants are reasonable for acute episodes, and I trust him to make those decisions, but otherwise I would rather take fewer drugs, and in the smallest dosages possible, so that my mind and vision are clear and I don't have a tremor or brain fog. Based on my history (acute episodes followed by extended periods of extremely high functioning), I suspect that the time will come when I'll need the high doses again (temporarily), but hopefully this won't happen soon. For now I'm doing great!

*Please note that I don't recommend altering meds without close medical supervision. Withdrawal symptoms are agonizing and possibly dangerous.
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