Quitting antipsychotics - how should I do it?

I've read online about Spiritual emergency and getting off antipsychotics. I thought about saving some money and renting a cabin by a lake for two months on the next summer to withdrawal, and to see if it's even possible.

My first psychosis was in 2009 and the second, when I tried to quit my meds, in 2011. So I've been on meds for 5 years. Now I'm taking Zyprexa, Abilify, Risperdal and Lamictal for this Bipolar/Kundalini/whatever-you-wanna-call-it - "disease".

What is probably going to happen is I'm going to go into psychosis, but I've read that it's possible to go through it without the medication. I hope it's true!

Living with antipsychotics, I fear for my health in the long-term, and feel like I've got nothing to lose in the matter. If I totally fail and have to go to a psych ward for a month to go back on the meds, at least I know I gave it my all.

I feel a bit sketchy staying in a cabin though, most likely by myself, for two months, but that seems to be the only option. Someone in my family is probably going to bring me food when I run out, but I really don't want to get them too much involved. I still believe I can do it, with willpower.

Can anyone who's quit antipsychotics give me any advice or share their experience? Thanks!

I still believe I can do it, with willpower.

Famous last words.

You are on three antipsychotics to stabilize you. This should tell you something. But if you are going to try this, I do think you are courageous. I would suggest staying in touch with someone daily who can get help if you run into trouble. Psychotic episodes may not place you in the position to do anything about it. Also, I would taper off one AP at a time and then see the results. I do not think one month is enough time to do this. But at least you can get a good start in your attempt to get off of APs.

Good luck!

Whatever you do, DO NOT quit your anti-psychotics without the knowledge and supervision of your prescriber. And don't isolate yourself in a cabin somewhere, far from help.

You cannot will this illness away. If that were possible, there would be no bipolar people because no one chooses to be this way. We do what we are able to do, we push our limits, and some of us even choose to embrace the illness. But we cannot make it go away just because we want it to.

Please get advice from your p-doc and/or therapist if you have one before undertaking withdrawal. And think of it this way: the difficulties that await you if you try discontinuing your APs may be far worse than any real or imagine health issues resulting from their use. Is it worth it to risk almost certain mania and/or psychosis? Is it worth it to risk the possibility that your meds won't work anymore if/when you go back on them? Only you can make this decision, but I think you are getting way ahead of yourself.

If you're determined to get off APs, at least get with your doctor and taper them gradually. This minimizes the risks and gives you an idea of whether or not you can live without them. Best of luck to you.

You really need to taper off the AP's with the help of your Pdoc .. Going it alone in a cabin by a lake is very unsafe on so many levels .

Roam around PC and read alot of threads about people wanting to d/c meds or have done so and how it all worked out for them . But keep in mind the multiply meds you currently take.

As BpRn said often when you cold turkey a med going back on it, it doesnt work the same and then you wind up on the med merry go round if you are infact unable to cope with out medications .

Put alot of thought and research into this plan .

Stay safe

Woah, woah, woah.

I'm not being overdramatic and I'm not actually against the idea of eventually trying to find stability without medication - I've done it myself very recently. If I was to say "No, you definitely shouldn't do that" I'd be a complete hypocrite.

However (that's a big 'however', as you can probably see from the bold font), the decision to stop ANY kind of medication should be discussed with a healthcare professional and if you disagree with their opinion, a second opinion should ideally be sought. There are a few reasons why but one of the most important to me personally is that you will need a prescription for lower dosages of your medications.

The good thing is, if your medications are slowly tapered down one-by-one, you'll most likely notice that withdrawal symptoms aren't as much of a problem. You may still experience some withdrawal symptoms but if the dosage is reduced gradually enough they may be barely noticeable. Isolating yourself is not a good way to do it - you're away from any support network you may have. You will need to avoid stress as much as you can during the first crucial month, though.

Really I can't blame you for wanting to come off your medication but there is only really one correct way among hundreds of incorrect ways to do so.

Please don't stop your meds like that. Its a really, really bad idea.

When I cut my low dose AP by half, I experienced a temporary return of symptoms immediately. I can only imagine how full blown it could go if you just stopped, especially at higher doses.

DO NOT just go off your meds without supervision and don't go isolate yourself in a cabin somewhere. That's just a recipe for disaster. If you want to go off your meds, cool. But do it the right way. Talk to you doc before you do anything.

Taper please, if you want to do it all at once go to the crisis unit to Detox.

In hospitals are many people that practiced the same idea, just stop the meds and will a solution. Like others have said, supervision and have a person close by for when you crater. I hope you remain safe.

I've seen patients try to stop cold turkey. It's scary. Please get advice from your doc!

I'm 8 months off...I tapered with my pdoc...I was only on one med abilify we cut it's dose by 1/4 my initial dose every 6 weeks. Doctor recommended to do this during a stress free time...if things get bad you can always go back up and try again later. So yeah even perfectly healthy people can become psychotic from rapid withdrawal of antipsychotics and it's not like you just snap out of it one morning....it gets progressively worse left untreated...so to give you an idea we initially cut my dose by half...it was way to fast for me...I have never felt so overwhelmed even when psychotic....the level of irritation I felt was unbearable as was the anxiety...after 2 weeks I went up to an in between dose ie from 5 to 7.5 and originally 10 mg...was stable on that an afraid to try going off again for quite some time. So if you want it to work instead of getting scared and going back on after some point of time where you aren't getting better...taper....slowly on med at a time...

I agree with what others have said. Sounds like stopping your meds on your own in a cabin is very dangerous, and could end very badly. You are on a lot of meds, so there must have been a reason for that. But if you decide it's something you really want to do, check out the Icarus Project - Harm Reduction Guide for Coming Off Psychiatric Medications. It will give you some practical suggestions, and discusses pros and cons of meds. Even with this guide book i think stopping these meds without the supervision of a pdoc is a bad idea. Stay safe

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