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Originally Posted by piano97
I'm very concerned some of you are on either way too high doses, way too many meds, or way too many meds at low doses.
IMO, medically, when I see a list of meds like some of the above, there's no way to cleanly assess what is happening clinically.
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I think you make some valid points and proper clinical assessments of medication efficacy is necessary. I know also that in my case, it was possible to eventually be taken off two of three antipsychotics I used to take simultaneously. It was nice to chop my list down. Attempting to do so showed which meds did/didn't/could/couldn't do what. Some side effects disappeared. Those that didn't were clearly from X med and could be managed from there.
I think big med lists are often just works in progress. I think going off some meds cold turkey is dangerous. So some people will be on high doses of some and low doses of other meds, but perhaps that is soon to change. Transitions. Disrupting a calm situation prematurely for the sake of "cutting" doses/meds can also be unwise. Some meds are very hard to get off of. And there are other factors. I agree that piling on meds with no good strategy is bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by piano97
My biggest concern is an acceptance of this, without having had done other interventions, such as heavy daily doses of exercise, nutrition, CBT, etc for long periods of time. This means not exercising for one day, not eating well for one day, isolating for one day, are not optional. Taking pills in lieu of those things is dangerous imo.
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I absolutely know you are right about the importance of diet, exercise, other healthy living, and therapy for people with bipolar. I strive for all these and know I do better when I meet these goals. However, meeting these goals all of the time is not possible for many (if not most) of us. It's not a matter of choice (being optional). It's natural not to be perfect at times. Plus, we can't ensure our life situations will be great and manageable all of the time. Many need medications to help. Sometimes episodes come on even when we think we've put forth 100% effort and everything is otherwise peachy keen. It would be dangerous and unfair to be blamed or blame oneself for sickness because of lack of "perfection". [/QUOTE]