WANT TO QUIT LITHIUM AND ANTI-DEP!

Sick of feeling like I have no emotions. Never got manic - maybe hypomanic - but it was nice... I actually felt good! Now I either feel like a zombie or bad. Don't want meds anymore. Keep thinking I don't really need them - maybe I can cope without them - want to feel something again - not feeling sucks! very suicidal last time I went off Anti-depressant, but I don't care anymore!!! Feel like my head is full of gauze...

Zombie that you discribe is what I tend to call limbo for me...waiting on whether I'll be up or down...sense of insecurity as you never know....

Coping without them...I think based on your description that probably wouldn't be my first choice...

Definately time to talk to pdoc....

Maybe you need to talk to your pdoc about how you feel on your meds. Working together you may find a good combination for you. I hope you get your emotions back soon. Take care.

BB

I felt like a zombie on Depakote, too. I agree it would be a good idea to talk to your pdoc about how you're feeling and your temptation to quit meds completely. There are lots of other alternatives that can help control your moods without leaving you in limbo. I've had really good results with both Seroquel and Abilify, and many people are happy with Lamictal, to mention just a few. If you go off meds completely, you risk falling into a serious mood episode.

hey you don' know me but i thought i would drop in by 2 cents. change meds, but def talk to the doc. some meds just don't work for some people. i was on tegretol for ever not helping i would tell my doc. it took me getting toxic for her to change me so i changed doc's. but i'm on prozac, cymbalta, abilify, buspar and i feel non gauze in the head. i feel clear i can think and take care of three kids. so talk to your doc. that's it for me-onyx

I don't even know how I'm supposed to feel anymore! I think I liked some of the way I felt before better than how I feel now... Feel confused!

ouch i have been on both lithium and AD's. not for a dx of BP but mood swings. I discontinued the lithium after a while because for one I was never really convinced I needed it and it didn't seem to make a difference. The AD's I was on for a long time until I realized how emotionally numb they made me. And I still got very depressed.

So after 10 years, in Sept of 05 I went off the prozac as an experiment to see what I was like, see what how I would feel emotionally on my own.

It turned out well for me. I still have sudden mood shifts from very anxious to very depressed. I researched therapy (types of therapy, types of therapists, etc) and recently returned to therapy. I had believed it was not helpful before. But this time I am with a wonderful psychoanalytic therapist and the therapy is very different from the Behavioral therapy I had been in before.

I"m learning how I react emotionally and where that comes from. It's very interesting and the relationship with the therapist very different than I've known before.

I just wanted to post and share. Sometimes I think it's good to make a change, to explore new ideas including new ideas about ourselves with/without meds.

PM me if you wish! and best wishes to you.

Hi,

Please do talk to your pdoc and/or t about how you feel. You might need your meds adjusted. It takes a long time sometimes, but once your pdoc gets you on the right meds, what a difference it makes!

I wish you the very best,

January