[Wic183]

Hello - I'm new here, but happy to have found this forum.

I was diagnosed with BP2 4 years ago after a suicide attempt that landed me in hospital. At the time my psychiatrist prescribed me Prozac 20mg/day and Lamotrigine 200 mg/day. About 2 years ago I went down to 100 mg/day of Lamotrigine and have stayed at that level since.

I am considering coming off my medication, although my psychiatrist told me he believed I might be on lamotrigine for the rest of my life. However, I am finding that my creativity is hampered and I wonder if my meds are the reason. I haven't written for 2 years and my writing is very important to me...thoughts?

Of course, I'm very nervous about coming off - the depression and anxiety was severe and at times still can be (2 weeks ago I had to retreat to my closet, curl up on the floor in order to calm myself).

Has anyone had any kind of experiences with these drugs or combination of drugs? If so, what did you notice? Has anyone come off their meds successfully?

Thank you so much for your insights. Nice to find an online community!

Wic

[Travelinglady]

Hi, Wic183, and welcome to Psych Central! I was off my antidepressants and mood stabilizer briefly, but it didn't work out. I took Lamictal for years.

Yes, drugs can affect us some mentally. Of course, with us bipolars what we see as our "creative energies" might actually be some mania.

[Victoria'smom]

I came off lamictal. There was really no withdrawal. However learning to deal with unhampered symptoms have not been fun. I Almost asked for a divorce today. I plan to keep my PRN around. I'm still very iffy on the whole me unmedicated thing and my t thinks my husband and I will 'kill' each other. My husband's therapist thinks it's a horrible idea. Have you talked to your Dr?

If it were me I'd cut your Prozac in half and then your lamictal in half.

[BipolaRNurse]

Don't do it without the approval and supervision of your prescriber. I know how tempting it is to go off meds, but try to resist that temptation and work with your doctor to see if you can do it slowly and safely. You are not on a lot of psych meds so you might be able to make it without them.

Still, I wonder whether or not they're responsible for your issues with creativity. I'm on a lot more medication than you and I'm able to write nearly every day, though I don't use as many metaphors or fancy language as I do when I'm hypomanic.
Writer's block happens to all of us, and sometimes it happens because we're not taking enough medication. Just saying.

[Chiveon]

I have been dealing with BP1 for over 20 years now -I have tried numerous drugs and have also tried without. The one thing I know for certain is that medication will always have to be part of my treatment- Good Luck Stay as strong as you can

[pawn78]

I am just going back ON Lamictal (lamotrigine). I plan on staying on it for the rest of my life if necessary...I would rethink dropping your primary mood stabilizer.

[Elisabeth256]

I was fine off of Lithium for 5 months before I had a manic episode. Although I had some major mood swings, I didn't get manic until faced with one of the most stressful situations I had every experienced in my life. 24 hours later I was in the hospital. Just be aware that it takes months for your medication to leave your system, so be prepared to have a backup plan when/if you start to notice symptoms again. Also, acupunture, supplements and homepathy might offer some alternatives or options that you can combine with your regular medication. Best of luck!

[r010159]

Originally Posted by Wic183

Hello - I'm new here, but happy to have found this forum.

I was diagnosed with BP2 4 years ago after a suicide attempt that landed me in hospital. At the time my psychiatrist prescribed me Prozac 20mg/day and Lamotrigine 200 mg/day. About 2 years ago I went down to 100 mg/day of Lamotrigine and have stayed at that level since.

I am considering coming off my medication although my psychiatrist told me he believed I might be on lamotrigine for the rest of my life. However, I am finding that my creativity is hampered and I wonder if my meds are the reason. I haven't written for 2 years and my writing is very important to me...thoughts?

Of course, I'm very nervous about coming off - the depression and anxiety was severe and at times still can be (2 weeks ago I had to retreat to my closet, curl up on the floor in order to calm myself).

Has anyone had any kind of experiences with these drugs or combination of drugs? If so, what did you notice? Has anyone come off their meds successfully?

Thank you so much for your insights. Nice to find an online community!

Wic

I am not being judgmental here.

I think you need to find middle ground here with respect the the meds. Something like "there we're times that I wanted to die so I tried to commit suicide" and "but when on meds my creativity is hampered". I think the stance of getting completely off meds is rather extreme considering all of this.

Maybe a different combination of meds are in order? Or a supervised drug holiday?

I understand this is a personal decision for only you to make. No matter the result, I hope you make the right decision. Please keep in mind that BP is a lifelong illness. But there are some that find a way to manage without meds.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Have you done anything to deal with the original issue like therapy or other life changes? So the way I see it most docs think that MI is part biochemical and part environment so you changed the biochemical part to treat it initially which is fast but have you used that time to deal with environment? Are you living a healthy life working in a good environment and surrounding yourself with positive people who have similar lifestyles? Did you change your attribution style or the way you think about things that happen in your life?

So I'm 8 months off meds...the docs have no idea what I have or had other than psychosis but they are considering bipolar right now due to residual mood symptoms. I was on meds for 2.5 years but during the first year of that time I had weekly cbt to learn new ways to process my response to the environment which resulted in lower levels of stress and anxiety for me. I also started making sure I was getting out more on the weekend...made new friends etc. I was doing cognitive remediation including brain games, art and learning a new musical instrument and even started learning a new language at one point. I realize some people need meds for life but if you are one of the ones who can get off it doesn't just happen you have to work your rear end off to change the way you interact with the world or you'll just end up back where you started. I've tried everything I read about to get better on the chance that something might work out and it did...I'm not the person I was before...I've changed and the people and activities in my life have changed.

So before you remove the meds make sure you have made your life as stable and healthy as possible and even then I was tapering about 6 months to get off my meds and that was after stopping after a partial reduction a full year before...getting of them is not a fast process but with persistence some people are capable of doing it. That being said I have no idea how long it will last....I'm still being monitored by a pdoc just in case...

[Skitz13]

Originally Posted by Wic183

Hello - I'm new here, but happy to have found this forum.

I was diagnosed with BP2 4 years ago after a suicide attempt that landed me in hospital. At the time my psychiatrist prescribed me Prozac 20mg/day and Lamotrigine 200 mg/day. About 2 years ago I went down to 100 mg/day of Lamotrigine and have stayed at that level since.

I am considering coming off my medication, although my psychiatrist told me he believed I might be on lamotrigine for the rest of my life. However, I am finding that my creativity is hampered and I wonder if my meds are the reason. I haven't written for 2 years and my writing is very important to me...thoughts?

Of course, I'm very nervous about coming off - the depression and anxiety was severe and at times still can be (2 weeks ago I had to retreat to my closet, curl up on the floor in order to calm myself).

Has anyone had any kind of experiences with these drugs or combination of drugs? If so, what did you notice? Has anyone come off their meds successfully?

Thank you so much for your insights. Nice to find an online community!

Wic

Well.. I hate Prozac for personal reasons but I've been on Lamotrigine for a year now. 200 mg a day and it's my miracle drug. It saved me. I'm looking at making some changes of my own that I'm going to post but going off Lamotrigine will not be one of them.
Everyone's chemistry is different. What works for one person doesn't always work for another.

[Wic183]

Thank you all for your input. I respect the experiences that have been shared. Not sure what I'll do at this time but will consider all the factors.

Thanks!