Scared to go off meds

Are you scared to go off your meds?

I'm on FIVE. Way excessive.

I want to ask if I can go off of one of them, but I'm terrified it'll destabilize me.

The med I want to go off of is trileptal. I'm on THREE anticonvulsants. I take trileptal, lamictal, and gabapentin. I just think being on three is a little ridiculous. I either want to go off of trileptal or lamictal, but I'm even more terrified to go off of lamictal!

I don't know what to do. I hate this!!!!

I'm scared of going off of my recipe. Besides the setback I had beginning of the year, I've been doing well in this combo.

I wouldn't care if I was taking 10 meds. If I were stable, I wouldn't need with it at all, but that's just me

I'm currently switching from zyprexa (which I've been on for 4 years or something!) to rexulti. I'm worried that I'll have the same thing I'm switching for: high lipids. Good news is, the rexulti doesn't seem to give me any weird side effects like I feel like I ate radiation (like geodon did). So that's good! I was stable enough on zyprexa yeah, but the side effects! I also gained a ton of weight. Trying to lose it at present.(Don't worry: Depakote gave me a head start in the weight gaining department; I've been off that for many years.)

I have to switch meds due to cost and side effects and I'm worried. I've been stable for almost a year on this combo and I haven't had a manic episode in two and a half years thanks to invega and now I have to go off of it. I'm so mad at my insurance company for refusing to cover it. I'm worried I'll destabilize. My pdoc says we try it and if I destabilize I can try the invega pills (which my insurance might cover but I'm not sure) but I'm just so worried. I absolutely CANNOT go back to the hospital. It will severely emotionally damage my son. And I can't **** up at this job. So yeah, I'm worried.

I was but then I went ahead and stopped one, just the one though.

I hear ya. I'm on 1200mgs Trileptal, 100mgs Lamictal, and I can take up to 200mgs gabapentin per day. Oh, and I take 30mgs Abilify and 400mgs Wellbutrin. ugh.

Thing is, I think anticonvulsants are making me slower, mentally. I doubt the 30mgs of Abilify is helping in that department, but the anticonvulsants (I take the trileptal+lamictal daily, the gabapentin is as needed) really seem to keep me zoned out and mellow.

Based on what (very) little I know and can remember from years past, tapering trileptal wasn't that hard, and it improved my concentration. That was over 10 years ago, though. I hear stopping Lamictal can be hell on earth. Gabapentin tapers probably cause problems if you've been on high doses and/or taking it daily for an extended period of time.

ugh. I am sorry about your situation. B-vitamins seem to help me with the congitive stuff, btw.

I'm on 2400mg of gabapentin (taken daily), 400mg of lamictal, and 1200mg of trileptal (going down to 600mg). I'm in trouble with lamictal and gabapentin. High doses. Been on lamictal for five years, gabapentin little over a year.

I've tapered off lamictal before. It sucked, but wasn't too bad. I've had worse.

I've read horror stories about gabapentin though.

I'm so scared of withdrawal!

My biggest concern is my mood stabilizer, followed up closely by my Haldol. At my current dosage, Lamictal has done a pretty good job of managing my mood-states. If that was taken out of the picture without something of comparable effectiveness, I don't even know where that'd land me. Haldol is the MVP for managing my psychosis, though I take a lower dosage when I'm stable. I'm not sure if losing my Abilify would be an absolute dealbreaker, but if my insurance gets screwed by the incoming administration, Abilify would likely be the first thing to go, as it's far and away the most expensive medication I take.

You have to be your own advocate. If you don't think it works for you, I would be explaining why to the pdoc. I had to do that with Lamictal. I felt like once I was on it and the dose was moved up, it just made everything worse. I lucked out that at my next appointment my pdoc was on maternity leave and the other doc allowed me to come off of it. It was rocky at first, but I turned out alright. I know you really hate Trileptal. I hope you are able to get off of it. Take care!

I would personally be concerned with being on three different anticonvulsants. To me, that kind of reeks of a doctor just throwing everything possible at the wall in hope that something sticks, but I'm no expert. Have you considered getting a second opinion about your treatment? My pdoc sent me for a second opinion at one point because he wanted fresh eyes on my case and treatment. It helped confirm what he was doing (for both my pdoc and myself) as well as offering a few helpful suggestions.

If my pdoc told me I had to get off my clozapine I would be petrified. Not so much with the lithium though. I did just taper off topamax and I was a little scared but it went well. Good luck.

My current pnp inherited me and my current med situation. The only thing she's prescribed me is a vitamin d supplement. She thinks I'm on too many meds too, but I've only had three or four appointments with her and she's the slowest moving provider I've ever had, and at my last appointment was finally talking about taking me off of something, but I'm leaving this area at the end of April and have what is my last appointment with her at the end of March, so we're not going to have time to do anything. So some other doctor is going to get dumped with me and my problem.

I've had four doctors over the last year.

Trust me. I have no problem advocating for myself. My advocation has gotten me in trouble in the past.

I hear you. Every time I change meds I keep taking a little dose of the old ones, hehe. Scared shitless of suffering.

I think based on your states ability to tie your hands just because your unwell , I would just stay on what your prescribed .

Think of the end game and getting your freedom back ((( hugs )))

As you can see from my signature, I'm on a LOT of meds. But I'm pretty stable. I work a full-time job and do well with it. I wouldn't dare tell my pdoc I wanted to get of one (except the Xanax, I want to wean off that ASAP, when my anxiety gets under control, since it is so addictive and harmful) because I need all of them for now. Things may change in the future and you may not need that many, but "if it ain't broke don't fix it," right? Of course, if you're having a lot of bad side effects, that's another thing. Just my two cents' worth.

Can you wait until after you've moved in April? My pdoc's policy has generally been that I have to be fairly stable for several months before we change anything. When Seroquel XR came out it made such a difference for me that after maybe 6 months on it she let me wean off depakote over a number of months. Now that I've been on clozaril a while we tried weaning topamax and discovered it is how I don't have panic attacks in the night so I went back on it. Maybe with time it would have been ok but I'm not bothered by taking it. Next up will be klonopin which she expects to take up to 2 years to get off of. As Clozaril with gabapentin and Emsam is so effective we're kind of cycling through my meds to see what I can go off or lower on the dose.

I'm on 5 psych meds plus several PRNs and I'm fine with that. I've been on more and I've been on less. I just am so glad that I have meds that are working for me. Ideally we will eventually get things adjusted so I'm not so sleepy but I seem to need a clozaril dose that means sedation for me right now.

Whatever works is my motto, learned the hard way.

christina - my hold is up today. Yea! I'm free!

rainbow - waiting until april is a good idea.

Knowing what I know at this point in my life, yes I'm afraid to go off the meds. I may only be on 2 of them, but I don't know if I wanna take a risk.

I choose to stay on them, but I'm not afraid to go off of them either. I've spent more of my life with BP off meds than on them.

I've gone off a few meds before, but I wouldn't recommend it without a doctor's help. I could've put myself into some real hurting status.

OhHellYeahDamnFantastic !!!!!

I am so happy for you. if I were you I'd stay on the a bit longer , just in case you were to backslid.

So happy for you

Thank you christina. Time to celebrate!