[cocoabeans]

I could tell you why I don't but, I really want to know why people choose to stay on meds.

I'm not asking about those who are currently in an episode desperately attempting to get better. That I get.

[Blue Poppy]

..... maybe I am overly optimistic, but I want to keep the depression away as much as I possibly can. I haven't tried all the drugs yet, as I am newly diagnosed. I haven't lost hope yet, which is a sign that I am feeling better the past week.

[Eliza Jane]

I have experiemented with going off of them and it was a disaster. Both times, I had been doing well and had been stable for a while. My pdoc supported me in trying to stop meds (but he was skeptical). I became miserable and suicidal pretty quickly. I was honestly quite surprised, I figured I had beaten my depression, but pdoc was sorta "I told you so. Chronic condition, blah, blah, blah..."

I have come to accept that I will probably need (at least a little) medication for the rest of my life. I'm working on not judging myself for that. Somehow I have an easy time being compassionate and understanding that other people need meds, but I don't extend that same compassion to myself.

Best,
EJ

[hamster-bamster]

Because they are incredibly effective for maintenance treatment. And I want to continue working, I want to be available for whatever little contact I have with my daughters, I want to have a life. That is why.

[BlueInanna]

They help me function and keep my job, ... and keep my kids, ....keeping me mostly stable.

I plan to try med-free someday when there isn't so much at risk for me.

[Kristiemarie]

When I'm on meds my husband tells me I'm more me. When I go off, I'm a different person. I don't like being unhappy or irritated all the time and I hate hurting my family. So if meds is what it takes, I'll do it.

[bluemountains]

I like being closer to stable, which is the case when I'm on meds. I have no plans of sui., which I came dangerously close to when my last set of meds gave out and I thought I could take care of myself. Every day, I consider ways to reduce my medication, but my t and my pdoc have both asked that I contact them first, and I am such a rule follower, that I will make contact if I come up with a good plan.

[Tiger_Lily]

I like being content and functional.

[Victoria'smom]

If I don't, my next episode I'll be thrown on lithium instead of lamictal. Lamictal is the only AC that has ever worked well for me. Lithium I'm scared to death of because of the possible weight gain. So I stay on. I always wished my mom "got help". No matter how horrible of a parent I'm being at any given time at least I'm getting help.

[BipolaRNurse]

Originally Posted by Tiger_Lily

I like being content and functional.

Yes. THIS. ^^

I've only been medicated for six months, but I'm as thoroughly convinced of the necessity to stay that way as I am of the need to remain sober for the rest of my life (it's been 20 years, 8 months, and 22 days, but who's counting?). I really enjoy being able to concentrate at work and take care of my residents properly. I like being in an upbeat mood more of the time than not. I also appreciate the ability to be happy without going ape****, sad without weeping hysterically for days, and/or angry without wanting to kill something.

[sugahorse1]

Because I've tried, and every time I've relapsed. And depression is too painful to go through, so I do my damndest to avoid it

[Moreta]

The last time I went off meds I had a bad manic episode with psychosis. Lost my job and almost lost my husband. Now that I'm finally on the right meds, I don't plan on coming off of them b/c I know how much could be jeopardized if I do.

[hamster-bamster]

I will go med by med. Of course, they all have a synergistic effect that I cannot describe but I will describe what I can discern.

Lithium takes care of spending. Removes the impulse to spend. I carry several credit cards with me (for the sake of improving my credit history, I use multiple cards) and I pay on time every month. I just do not get this familiar feeling of wanting to buy anymore. I cooly and calmly get what I need. I have large purchases before me - plates, bowls, silverware - and I KNOW I will not be overwhelmed by the selection but rationally, with the help of my older daughter, choose only what I need. It is a hell of a feeling, and for that feeling I think it is wonder drug. Sure, it sucks to jump out of bed each morning to take Levoxyl, a synthetic thyroid med that needs to be taken one hour before breakfast, but I am not going to die from that. As for acne... I was thinking about it yesterday and maybe there is even a benefit. Tazorac, the anti-acne cream that I have to apply every single day lest I have a breakout, also prevents wrinkles. My older daughter sometimes says with amazement "Mommy, you have no wrinkles (after 40)". Well, maybe it is Tazorac. I doubt that I would have been applying Tazorac so religiously for a vague benefit of preventing wrinkles, but now I absolutely must - the consequences of not applying it are immediate - so maybe I am actually winning here.

I am sure Lithium takes care of impulsivity on non-shopping fronts as well, it is just that in shopping, the difference is so stark.

Geodon No delusions, helps with mania. Severe side effect, so p-doc will try a substitute

Depakote Prevents migraines. Leads to weight gain, but what can I do - I would not be able to work with the number of migraines I would have been getting without it.

Prozac Removes suicidal ideation, gives positive energy, makes grass green and skies blue, makes me smile and improves self esteem, provides for an ability to have spontaneous (non-manual) orgasms the way I used to before meds. In short, restores me in a mild form to the hypomanic pre-med state.

Temazepam Gives 8 hours of sleep. Enough said.

because... we may have bipolar disorder, but that doesn't mean we should just roll over and give up without a fight. You can see my posts on here, and you can see me fighting this every step of the way. One day I hope to be stable and happy with my life, and I can't do that on my own. If you have options, and you can fight for stability and happiness, then why wouldn't you?

[Red_Cyclops]

Agree with some of the other posts - great for maintenance. I have come to accept the fact that if I don't stay on them, I won't be able to function normally and be successful at my job, as a parent, and as a husband. I'm also just so much happier since my meds are working for me. Being depressed and having severe mood swings just destroys me.

[hamster-bamster]

I was pondering whether to post... and finally decided to go ahead. So at the risk of jinxing it, I am taking meds to save my life. I am statistically at high risk of suicide because the best predictor of suicide is a prior suicide attempt. Unfortunately, I react with suicidality to major situational difficulties. The combo of Lithium+Prozac, knock on wood, seems to be doing the trick. Prozac does not even produce side effects if it is carefully balanced out with anti-manic agents. So why not take such a good combination of meds that can be life-saving? What is the purpose in denying oneself help?

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by cocoabeans

I'm not asking about those who are currently in an episode desperately attempting to get better. That I get.

And I don't. The point for me is to find maintenance treatment and not have episodes. Otherwise - what, live from episode to episode medicating one's way out and then dropping the meds just to get another episode? Pointless, I think, and sad.

[dillpickle1983]

For one, It keeps me out of the hospital. For two, it keeps me feeling better than not on my meds.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by chandlerT660

For one, It keeps me out of the hospital. For two, it keeps me feeling better than not on my meds.

I think it is very well said. Succinctly said. OT, but to me the dx's in your signature are mutually exclusive. Are you sure you are all of that AT ONCE?

I have a nine year old daughter.

[BlackPup]

Everytime I go off it ends in disaster.
I'm happy and balanced on meds.
I want a fulfilling life.
I want to be a good wife to my husband and hopefully soon a good mother to my baby.

YOUR TURN COCOABEANS! Why do you not take them???

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by landskaperdan

YOUR TURN COCOABEANS! Why do you not take them???

Maybe she has not found a good combination and the cost of foregoing hypomania was not justified by the (absence of) good things brought by the drugs.

maybe. idk

[owllover99]

Well, I guess now because I'm married (I got married to my first husband again in 2009. the first time we were married was 1977-1984.) I had to retire because of physical problems. They said I was too good of worker when I was just bipolar to get medical disability. I'm working on getting it for everything I got through SS.
I guess to stay sane but I think I'm crazy meds or no meds. But my pdoc is great, and my T said I didn't need to come see him. But Lithium has screwed up my thyroid,and I'm not sure what else because it could be it, or my autoimmune disease.