Forgetting Meds?

Has anyone here forgotten to take their meds for a couple/few days in a row and think "I don't think I need them anymore!" once you realized it?

I struggle with this every few months and I'm wondering how much of this is me resisting treatment and how much is it part of bipolar

My T has suggested both. She thinks part of my struggle is rebellion.

I'm on Lamictal 200mg and have finally started feeling better and now I think after missing 3 days that I am just fine without it. Last time I did this I felt great then I crashed hard after a couple weeks. Even knowing this I still struggle to keep myself on my meds.

I forget anything that has to be taken regularly... meds, vitamins, birth control pills... I just forget. Also yes, it is very common for people with all types of mental illness to hit a "I feel better, I don't need these." Just like antibiotics. You feel better so you stop taking them even though it clearly says not to stop until they are gone!

May be a bipolar thing but I think it is more human nature. No one wants to be ill taking meds.

I'm in one of those spells right now. Luckily I started keeping this drinking log but added meds to it also. been off 15 days

I think everyone forgets! But a good way to remember is setting an alarm and hit snooze until theyre taken. I do that because I know the mania that can come without my meds

I have quit the last 3 days. Personally. I want to loose weight, I stop and go alot though.

I "skip" mines now and then. I have been on my meds 3 months but the past few days I have missed my evening meds. I have been "hyper" slighty so I know its not a good thing but I dont want to sleep at night I want to feel alive!!!

I never skip my meds because if I do I feel sick almost right away. Not just mentally unwell but I get physically sick feeling. I think I function well because I always have to take my meds. I would suggest that you always take them. I know it stinks but hey, it can keep you feeling better so why not? I wish you well! Tuti

I will start coming on in the mornings again and put up the Medication Reminder thread.

My struggle is I don't want to take meds. Yes, I want to feel "normal" if there's such a thing, but I don't want any sort of label attached to me and I want to do all of this without pills, without therapy and just be left the f* alone.

I wish my "mania" was euphoric high instead of being a raging, anxious b*. I'm struggling with sui thoughts and wanting to SI more and more. Just makes me feel like a complete failure at everything.

I messed around with my meds until forgetting almost cost me everything I hold dear. My husband at the time. My PDoc. My home. My safety. My dogs. My family. Everything. And I went off the meds with my Pdocs permission. I just went so insane that I nearly lost everything in the process.

That was the Last time I every screwed around with my medicine. I now take it like clock work whether or not I think I need it. I have an Illness like diabetes and just like they have to take insulin to live I have to take my meds to live. I have to make adjustments when necessary. So I do and I follow directions precisely.

This is just my story and How I came to take my meds seriously and as prescribed.

It took me about 5 years before I became med compliant. I used to feel I didn't need them anymore or that they were causing my issues. The fallout from stopping meds became worse each time, and getting back my sanity was more difficult. The thought of having another serious episode is what keeps me on my meds.

I hate those pills, but I know I have to take them.

I think there is a residual when you take meds and forget to take them just for a few days. For a few days you won't relapse, but a longer period of time eventually you relapse. So you think you don't need them in that residual period cause the drugs are probably still affecting your system.

I struggle with this all the time. Right now my meds have been working pretty good and I'm feeling good. Hopefully I won't forget to take them anymore since this is the most level I've felt in a while.

Also, I met someone who has bipolar and they said something that has really stuck with me.

We shouldn't say we are "med compliant" because it sounds like we're forced to take them. We should use med adherence" because we choose to take the medicine for our benefit. (Basically using a positive connotation with taking medication rather than a negative!)

It has never occurred to me to resist taking my meds. I'd be more scared of not taking them, than of taking them. Especially now that I've stopped self-medicating with alcohol, and depression and hypomania returned. I can no longer deny, or worry that I'm 'faking', this illness.

They say it is progressive. So I consider that swallowing a few pills (even though they're psychotropic) is worth it to avoid the disruption caused by episodes. It's not ideal, for sure, but neither are bipolar episodes.

I have forgotten them on a few occasions - but like, one dose a day, one time or something like that - never for more than 1 day.

I've had many, many times where I feel they don't work, as we all have, or I notice no difference. But I take them anyway.

After about 8 years of struggling to accept the meds-for-life thing (before the BP dx!) I became really compliant when my life settled down and the med I was on made me feel immediately (same day) bad if I forgot. So the immediate consequences really reinforced compliance, though my last pdoc said it was extremely unusual to feel the difference that quickly for that med, especially at the high dose I was on.

I use one of those pill reminder boxes, and leave it on the table in my breakfast nook where I can see it at breakfast (which I never skip due to being hypoglycemic.) After 20 years, I do forget sometimes for up to 2 or 3 hours, but the flakiness when I don't take ADHD meds pops up and that's a very good reminder. My husband also helps remind me, and it doesn't irritate me because he's not nagging, he's trying to help look out for my well-being.

If i miss a dose of my meds, I get horrible withdrawal symptoms. So I take my meds every day as prescribed. When I decided to quit my meds last year, i ended up in the hosptial twice within 2 weeks.

I think bpdruins is onto something with the residual effects for some people, which of course only reinforces the "don't need them" thing. Till the symptoms do come back, sometimes with a vengence, and one is left scrambling. (Guess who's had to scramble?)

I've never forgotten more than a dose or day (which is shocking, because sooo bad with any other sort of routine), pretty much all pre-pillbox. I do get the wanting to go off sometimes for the oh-so-classic "feeling better so must not need them" or the "feeling so crap, what is the point anyway?" thing. But as soon as I get it to a too low a dosage point, let alone go off, I'm very quickly reminded why I'm on them. (And still conveniently "forget"/"not believe" this every time I'm tempted. And yes, despite abundant evidence, temptation still comes.)

Hear you on the up can be total b**** and rage land. I go both ways (ie. goes that or goes euphoric. Or both.). When it's the beyond irritable mode, it's really awful, and has produced many of my most regretted actions. For sure. Mortifiying even. It's a good incentive/reminder that I really shouldn't go off, because I don't want to go back to being so out of control in such a negative destructive way, and the meds have helped with that.

As for remembering, the day of week pillbox is right by my bedside where my phone (and therefore clock) is. Very helpful. For pm, my phone is set with the alarm to go off the same time every night. Because those are the most likely to be forgotten, as I'm not near the box and have no sort of routine at night mostly in that hours can be pretty all over the place.

I've accidentally missed several doses of my wellbutrin and have taken my tegretol and the one dose of wellbutrin I usually remember at weird times during the past week. Consequences: headache, really fast cycling, deeper depression. So now I'm really going to try to take my meds and take them on time.

My pdoc just switched me to one 300 mg wellbutrin XL tablet, so I won't have to remember to take the second 150 mg dose in the afternoon that I often forget. I can foresee this helping a lot. This may also be a good idea for anyone who consistently misses a midday dose of a med, provided that an extended-release form of that medication is available in the right dosage.

i was on meds many years ago and ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery and was there for five days and didnt have my meds so didnt bother getting back on them. i was off meds for five years and my mental health got progressively worse. my greatest fear all my life was ending up in the loony bin. well i did. i had a complete breakdown. the university psychiatrist locked me up. she had the cops transport me to hospital from the clinic. its a rule that you have to be handcuffed to be in a cop car. this was very traumatic for me. it took over 2 1/2 years to find the right med to stabilize me. despite being very antimed, i take my meds everyday because i never want to be that bad again. i read all these posts on PC, see all these people struggling with suicidal depressions and rapid cycling to remind me where i came from, to remind me why i stay on my meds. i cant go back there. i barely survived it. it is worth the few pills i take a day to not relive that misery.

I too went through periods of forgetting and then thinking i was fine without them. What we don't realize is that after taking them for a while they tend to build up in your system, so the "crash" doesn't happen for maybe a couple of weeks. But when you do crash it can be devastating, as I realized a couple of months ago. I had to be re-hospitalized and re-medicated. Now I take my meds religiously so I don't have another episode, plus it helps having a spouse who is responsible for my meds and reminds me is i do forget. What I am trying to say is please take your meds. I don't want you to go through what I went through. Maintenance is the key along with therapy. Keep safe and may you find peace and happiness.

I forget but I know it after a day or so. My moods start going everywhere and, for lack of another way of putting it, I turn into what borders on a lunatic. I strongly suspect most of the medications have a kick back effect that hits you if you start missing your meds. In other words--your symptoms will return but they will be much worst. I put an application on my IPhone that allows me to track my moods and set up med reminders. The reminders help a lot. I'm also thinking about asking my husband to remind me every night or at least check my pill minder when he gets a glass out of the cabinet. Anything that helps, right?

I always forget to take pills no matter what they are. With my lithium, I'll forget the one in the morning and end up taking all 3 at night (which my stomach does not agree with). I really should be more consistent, but when I realize in the afternoon that I forgot then I just put it off anyway. Do take your medication! You're not weird or messed up just because you have to take medicine for a disease. We are all in the same place! That's why we're here. For what it's worth, we got your back.

You really shouldn't be doing that. If you skip your lithium, just wait to take your next actual dosage. You're spiking the Lithium levels in your blood, be weary of reaching toxicity. Wondering... Did your pdoc not inform you of this?

I've been through the whole missing them, thinking I don't need them thing and the not wanting to take them thing, but from the painful experiences that followed I have Learnt the hard way that I need my meds. I'm a bit of a flake so I forget them every now and then- i dO the weekly pill box and alarms to remember them too.

thanks everyone for the replies. Something to think about and discuss with my T at our next session.

Last time I did this she made me sign a no harm contract, gave me her cell number and made me sign another contract to see my pdoc asap. She said she would have me hospitalized if she felt I needed it. That alone scares me. NO ONE in my family (except my husband of course) knows I'm in therapy or on medication. I guess I'm embarrassed by it

I do use a mood tracker on my phone called eMoods but never shared this with T or Pdoc. And I also have a pill reminder box on my dresser next to my alarm clock. Sometimes the mornings get busy with getting the kids ready for school and myself ready for work, that's usually when I forget.