Help me quit my meds pls!

Thank you

Wish you the best of luck. Be well and be safe.

Just make sure you know what you are doing, k?

Venus, i love you, and i PR0MISE, k?

How are you this morning? Drop me a mail if u want to talk

I'm good,just a bit tired, thanks hun. How you been, you're a bit scarce...

I was on Celexa for at least 8 years and Tramadol for about 3. I decided that the tramado made me feel better than anything. I'm rapid cycling bipolar, adhd, and have fibromyalgia. Yeah, it's awesome. Not. The Celexa just triggered OCD type symptoms and made me cycle worse. I kept to just the tramadol for a couple of years then two months ago decided that I wanted off of that too. I quit cold turkey. HUGE mistake. I took a couple of Celexa, because I went into a deep depression during the first week. That was another big mistake. I felt like I was being poisoned. The entire second week I felt like I was almost doubled over with anxiety. I couldn't sleep, then my heart would start racing. I ended up going to the e.r., and fortunately got a very nice dr. that said I was having a severe panic attack due to the withdrawals. I don't ever, ever want to go through that again. However, now I'm trying to find a way to cope with my bipolar and extreme depression. I'm not on any meds right now, but I need to be on something. Given my past experiece it's definately not going to be antidepressants. Before you stop taking any drug research the withdrawal symptoms. I really wish that I had done that first. I definately understand not wanting to be on meds, especially if you feel that your depression is due to someone or something other than yourself. BUT you have to reallize that even if you see the cause as other than yourself, it's still YOU that's depressed. Keep trying to help yourself even if you don't feel like it.

Don't worry I intend taking very good care of myself. Thank you for sharing, I appreciate it very much!

Pnurse says to wait for Pdoc. I'm n0t waiting till JANUARY! Why does n0body take me seriously. Just because i'm bp d0n't mean i can't think for myself!

that sucks with gravity of blackhole.

YOu could try to explain her that the meds are increasing your distress, rather than helping you... but please don't do anything on your own.

V, i've tried reas0ning with her, she w0n't budge. Instead gave me a lecture bout how i don't want to end up in hospital during festive seas0n. They ( my new MH team) have NEVER even seen me 'unwell' they d0n't even kn0w me. Really upsets me that they won't help,but n0t suprizing in the least. Feel like such a pris0ner.

I understand how you feel. My pdocs opinion for me is meds for life. No cooperation for going off them. So I went off them by myself about 15 times and every time unfortunately I had to come crawling back to his office for more meds. Not saying that will be the case for you. Just saying I know your frustration. I wish you could get in sooner, I don't understand why they do this. ((( trippin )))

Thanks Anika. I feel like i've been cornered. It's N0T a nice feeling at all... What n0body ( except my family ) seems to understand, is that i've made up my mind. Guess i'll just go it al0ne...

Trippin, you're not alone.

Sweet Pete. Thanks for the reminder...

Even if you are doing it yourself, I would still recommend you taper off instead of going cold turkey.

I've asked every0ne i could think of. Nobody would explain how to taper. Googled it too,but my ph0ne only came up with sites that said 'c0nsult your dr'... I've never had 2 wean myself off anything so i'm doing it by ear...

this is one site i know of

http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/withdrawal-101/

I cannot speak from experience about validity of the info though. sorry.

thanks, I really appreciate it

A very general rule of thumb is decreasing in reverse of the titration rate. Better yet, even more slowly. But definitely never coming off at a faster rate than you went on, as that can create some very serious problems.
I know a site that has some good info, but it covers a lot of ground. If you could remind me what you're on, I can try to find relevant specific pages so there's not so much to wade through.

(Not saying you should go off, but... it'd be totally hypocritical, as I've done it before myself, and I'd rather see you at least do it as safely as possible...)

Just go slowly and be honest with yourself about what you are feeling. If you start getting SICK-seek help. Can your GP look over you?

IZ, I'm on Lithium,Risperidone and Prozac.
Suga the state gp's refer me 2 my pdoc. I'm N0T waiting til January. D0n't worry, i'm g0nna take go0d care of myself. Love you guys

Can't the state GP's take a bit of responsibility to monitor the tapering off process?

How do the state docs expect one to wait 3 months for help!?? What if it were a TOTALLY manic patient? My private pdoc already makes me wait about a month, and it is too much when I have an episode

I d0n't kn0w what they're thinking. Maybe they hope i'll change my mind... Newsflash: i'm d0ne trying to be s0mething i'm n0t. I'm ready to embrace me. All of me

Couldn't possibly have put it better... (And a good reminder, as honest can be hard to do when determined to do something. At least for me(!)...)
Glad to hear you are not waiting until January to see them, Trippin'. That is far too long to wait. (And to echo the eternal lament..."What the hell are they thinking?!)

Here are the pages I mentioned. They've recently revamped their site an I couldn't navigate it quite as well, but...

Lithium:
http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Meds/Lithium?from=Lithium.Lithium
Discontinuation is #9:
Your doctor should be recommending that you reduce your dosage by 300mg a day every five to six days, based on the 24 hour half-life, if not more slowly than that.

Risperdone:
http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Meds/RisperdalBasicOverview?from=Risperidone.Risperidone
Discontinuation is #5.2:
Your doctor should be recommending that you reduce your dosage by 0.25 or 0.5mg a day every 4 to 5 days, if not more slowly than that. Like all antipsychotics, you can stop taking it all at once in an emergency situation (e.g. a life-threatening allergic reaction), but you should do that only under a doctor’s supervision.
Read more about taking and discontinuing Risperdal

Prozac:
http://www.crazymeds.us/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Meds/Prozac?from=Prozac.Prozac
Discontinuation is #9:
Your doctor should be recommending that you reduce your dosage by 10–20mg a day every 3–4 four days, if not more slowly than that.
Now, if you’re one of the rare people who start to experience SSRI discontinuation syndrome then you will have to look at reducing your dosage by 10mg a day every week. If you’re prone to the worst effects of discontinuation syndrome be prepared for a longer time. It is highly unusual for anyone on Prozac to experience severe symptoms of SSRI discontinuation syndrome, but it has happened. Here’s where you really have to balance the suckiness of what you’re dealing with in the way of side effects or whatever is forcing you to stop vs. SSRI discontinuation syndrome, because you’re looking at reducing your dosage by 10mg a day every month.
If you’re taking Prozac Weekly you’ll have to switch to the regular flavor to step down, as weekly is one size fits all. However, that extra-long half-life tends to make discontinuation less harsh, so you’ll probably be able to to get off of Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) a lot sooner. In fact switching to Prozac (fluoxetine hydrochloride) from another SSRI or Effexor (venlafaxine) is a good way of dealing with the discontinuation syndrome of the meds with the shorter half-lives. As Prozac comes in a liquid form, you can always switch to that to wean yourself off the last bit really slowly, ml by ml.

I've not been on any of these, so can't speak from personal experience. I have heard many times though that Prozac is probably the easiest SSRI to come off.

IZ... You're a star! Mwah!