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I'm BP1 and want to stop my meds. My psychiatrist is not supportive, but I want to try. I have been on meds for years and feel like a zombie.
They don't seem to do anything except cause horrible side effects.
All the shrinks do is add more and more.

If you stopped your meds, how did you do it?

[Victoria'smom]

One change your pdoc to one that uses as little low dose daily medication and prn's that way they will help you get off most of your meds. Pdoc doesn't have to be supportive but he should help if you tell him you'll get off them "cold turkey". Also my pharmacist has been wonderful at answer questions about how to tering down medication. It may be because he knows how hard it's to get a hold of our pdocs. We've had to teir down my son's adhd meds because each seemed to make things worse.

One thing that has really helped me is mood/thought/event charts to recognise triggers, and normal mood charts for mood. I also keep a daily journal because I have learned my handwriting changes dramatically based on mood. I seriously also suggest finding a thearapist that is willing to work with none medicated bipolar, like seriously that should be your first question over the phone.

I know you wanted only non-medicated people to answer but I thought I could help. You maybe able to list your meds so we can help more.

[comicgeek007]

Originally Posted by Tollhouse

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I'm BP1 and want to stop my meds. My psychiatrist is not supportive, but I want to try. I have been on meds for years and feel like a zombie.
They don't seem to do anything except cause horrible side effects.
All the shrinks do is add more and more.

If you stopped your meds, how did you do it?

When I tried to stop my meds, I did it the stupid way (i.e. without doctor knowledge and cold turkey). DON'T DO THAT. You think your side effects are bad? Your brain and your body will start doing horrible things if you quit cold turkey. I had to go back on them within only a few days to quash the really bad withdrawal.

[Trippin2.0]

Cold Turkey 2 yrs ago. Pdoc shoved more pills at me instead and I was under State care, so no say in whom I saw...

Quite an unpleasant experience, spurred by the fact that I was impatient and impulsive, but it was well worth it! I suggest you taper though, I hear its safer.

Also make sure you have a toolbox full of tricks for coping mechanisms. Without the chemical safety net, it will feel like your symptoms return with a vengeance at first, so best to have some strategies handy.

A word to the wise; Besides the withdrawls, you must be aware of the fact that you will experience some erratic cycling, may even feel as if things are getting out of hand. Alot of folks mistake this for bp getting worse due to quitting meds, so they go straight back to pdoc.

This is what I call the "Adjustment Period"...
Where our brains re-adjust to being without synthetic chemicals. Part of me thought I was going nuts, I was ultradian cycling for 3 months. Glad I stuck it out though, once everything leveled out and my brain adjusted, things calmed down upstairs.

I wish you well with however you decide to proceed!

[ultramar]

Have they helped at all? I mean, since you started taking them, have you had less episodes, or milder episodes? Do they help you get out of episodes quicker than before?

Those would be the key questions for me. If I were the same before as after starting to take them (aside from the side effects, of course) I would definitely look into a different med regimen, one with less side effects and one that would hopefully work. If they're not helping, I don't see any reason to suffer through the side effects. If they are helping, but with awful side effects, that's far more complicated -that's where I am, and it's a struggle.

[manicminer]

Just up and stopped. DOn't recommend it though.

Changed my lifestyle bigtime in the process.

Don't just up and quit if your not ready to make to necessary changes to combat the causes of your symptoms

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I dont think I can go cold turkey, as I have been on these meds for at least 5 years (lithium, depakote, seroquel).
I don't want to go back to pdoc, as they just add more meds, so I intend to do one at a time. I have enough for 3 months, so hopefully that will work....

Good idea to work on other life habits to be healthy and be prepared for mood swings. I tried a couple years ago, but wasn't prepared for how I would actually feel (without meds!!)