[raspberrytorte]

Since I'm frustrated with the entire system, have no pdoc, have a feeling getting a pdoc isn't going to be happening anytime in the near future, I've been thinking about just going off all my meds so I don't have to worry about all of the above anymore.

I've got myself down to 50mg of seroquel a night, 1mg of clonazepam a day. I just have to start on my lamictal. That one scares me the most. Last time I went off it the withdrawals were not fun. I tapered over a month span. I felt sick the entire time, but it wasn't totally bad until I got down to about 50mg. I was so dizzy I couldn't even walk. It was like I was drunk. All I could do was lay in bed and sleep.

That was before I had a child, so now laying in bed all day dizzy and sick won't be an option.

Have you ever contemplated going med free?

If you are already med free, how is that working out for you?

I'm just sick of all of this.

[Blue_Bird]

I've considered it, but then I realized that I'm lucky because found the right combo of meds, I'm stable and have close to no bad side effects (other than a little weight gain) and am doing pretty well in life. So I figure it's best to just keep things as they are, not mess with them. I also realize if I was off meds things would get very bad and I probably wouldn't realize it until I landed myself in jail or a residential state facility.

[gayleggg]

Boy, I used to think being med free would be awesome. That was when I was just dealing with depression. I could go off for a while but the depression always kept coming back. At some point I gave up on being med free. Then I was diagnosed as bipolar II and now there are more meds and most of the time the don't completely work, but I can't see getting off of them as I would be a basket case. So I take them everyday and hope for the best.

[Disorder7]

I have hopes of being med free. But there's a difference between just quitting your meds, and learning other coping strategies so you don't need meds.
Basically, I think it's best if you are stable and you practice stuff like meditation, breathing, visualization. I think those are the people who are successfully med free.

I'm in therapy and learning different coping skills. I would like to be one of those people someday.

[cmorales]

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Having to remember to take pills every day is a pain in the butt. But I am stable and need to be on them, at least for the time being. It just sucks when they ease up a bit. The last few weeks I've been having sleep problems and I even went up a bit over the weekend. And the fact that meds don't provide immediate relief in those situations is frustrating. But off my meds I am a mess internally. I have a medical marijuana rec for sleep/depression and I'm glad I do because it helped me a lot these last few weeks for sleep and to calm my agitation. It provides more immediate relief while waiting for the meds to kick back in without interfering with them (and don't worry! I know a lot of people don't suggest marijuana for MI people, but it's not really psychoactive - does not cause psychosis - with me, more just calming and actually helps me out, so yeah). I have thought about going off med and just using mmj to manage symptoms when I need it (can't really use it too often though because it makes me soooo sleepy), but the truth is, that's not realistic for me right now. Unfortunately.
I also just bought one of those BP workbooks. It's pretty cool. Hopefully what I learn from the workbook can be put to use both with and should I ever go off my meds. Have any of you ever used one of these workbooks?

[Crazy Hitch]

Yes, I've tried to be med free about 3 years ago or maybe a little more than that (tapering down with my pdoc) and it ended up disasterously for me. For me, personally, I would never want to be med free again nor try that route. The consequences were too high. For some, it can work though. I think it would require more intense lifestyle structures. Not sure.

[Victoria'smom]

I want to be med-free which has caused me difficult to work with. I have to take 5 meds and an injection. Family, MH providers and PC people all get frustrated with me. No one wants me med free but me. However I'm (this) close to being hospitalized even on medication.

[wiretwister]

I never want the black whole of depression with sui to come back, so I vote to keep my lamictal, now the rest maybe someday ...

[Crazy Hitch]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

I want to be med-free which has caused me difficult to work with. I have to take 5 meds and an injection. Family, MH providers and PC people all get frustrated with me. No one wants me med free but me. However I'm (this) close to being hospitalized even on medication.

Yeah gotcha.

Med free + work (when working) = disaster zone for me (personally)

[LastQuestion]

Rapid taper plans can be difficult to go through. I went off my 300mg of lamotrigine at 25mg per week (12.5mg drops every 3-4 days) and it was trying. I completed the taper over a week ago and I'm far from recovered. I've withdrawn from multiple medications over the last year and did everything I could to promote recovery and recovery is still far from remotely complete. I'm currently finding it difficult to cope with experiencing emotions and agitated moods, which I attribute in large part to protracted withdrawal. It's complicated and there's little to no guidance to be had, but I have built habits and skills for coping which promote stability, such as regular exercise, a therapeutic diet, dark therapy, and meditation - I would not recommend going off of medications without first addressing the development of such habits and skills.

[Crazy Hitch]

Originally Posted by LastQuestion

Rapid taper plans can be difficult to go through. I went off my 300mg of lamotrigine at 25mg per week (12.5mg drops every 3-4 days) and it was trying. I completed the taper over a week ago and I'm far from recovered. I've withdrawn from multiple medications over the last year and did everything I could to promote recovery and recovery is still far from remotely complete. I'm currently finding it difficult to cope with experiencing emotions and agitated moods, which I attribute in large part to protracted withdrawal. It's complicated and there's little to no guidance to be had, but I have built habits and skills for coping which promote stability, such as regular exercise, a therapeutic diet, dark therapy, and meditation - I would not recommend going off of medications without first addressing the development of such habits and skills.

Yeah I'm in the midst of tapering lamotrigine too - cut by 50% day 1 but oh okay no fine now I am starting epilim which funnily enough was my mood stabiliser yearsssssssss ago when I was first dx. Not sure why I swapped for another MS. Scratching my head at the sense of that one.

[tipper1492]

Personally I do not believe being med free is possible for too long. Number one reason given for BP people to fall back into that deep hole is to stop taking their medications. I accept it's a life long thing for me. I would even worry if I were later placed in an old folks home, if they would still give me my needed medications.

[~Christina]

I did the whole Med merry go round for numerous years, tried med after med. Side effects I would not tolerate and I refuse to be a drooling zombie.. So I researched ,I read everything I could find, I talked to all the med free members I could here on PC .

I spent about 8 months preparing for going med free.

It's not been a picnic.. But I have been med free almost a year now, I have managed okay, Sure I have cycled.. At times I have white knuckled it and rode the waves.

Sure it likely that I will hit a wall and need some pharmacolgy help, but it will be a very very short term deal.

I have huge self awareness, coping skills, support and well my own stubborn self that refuses to let anything stop me from my life and how I want to live it on my terms.

Being med free is a huge deal, it's not something anyone should do unless they are dedicated. Not everyone can manage being med free. You have to weight the pros and cons and see what happens.

Med free is do-able for some people.

[Row Jimmy]

Funny you should mention this! I was thinking about it today. I have been losing my confidence in my ability to think clearly and focus on what has made me successful. But that success has come with a price - my mental stability, my relationships, and at some point, it will cost me my future. I fed off my being edgy. Hypomania gave me an advantage.

So today, I was trying to solve a complex finance problem today and couldn't get at it. Some of it was frustration in myself and I thought "get off the meds and it will be better". But I reeled myself back into reality and came to the conclusion that this won't go away on its own. I need *faith* and sometimes it is hard to find, especially when I struggle.

When all of this fails, I've always found that donuts will help.