[bewise93]

I was on haldol, lithium, lamictal, valium, remeron, zoloft, and seroquel. I was depressed and so lethargic. Just lad on the couch all day looking at the ceiling. My doctors were so crabby and honestly kind of stupid. The nurse practitioner knew nothing of what she was talking about and the staff at the pharmacy angered me so much. So I took matters into my own hands because she wouldnt listen to me about the meds making me lethargic beyond words. I cold turkeyed the zoloft, remeron, haldol, and valium. The valium was a bit mistake so I went back on it, but i had mild depression withdrawing from high doses of zoloft and remeron, and a somewhat high dose of haldol. After a week, the depression went away and I now have more energy just being on lamictal, lithium, seroquel, and valium as needed. I was getting so upset with the way things were going with the medical system I was about to stop all meds and move to cambodia with a medicine man who helps people get off meds. I guess all I needed was a tweaking. I feel better now, more irritable without the haldol, but I'd rather go through anger management than go back on that med. I now take NAC, which in studies has a really good track record on bipolar depression and some anti-manic effects. I also take fish oil and a multivitamin. I literally am not that tired anymore like I was. There's definately a point where too many meds is counterproductive.

[All Is Revealed]

I'm so happy you stood up for yourself! I'm just tired of doctors over-prescribing meds. I could only imagine how robotic and inhumane you felt.

You have a right to self-advocate. You can refuse to take a certain medication if it's not helping you. All my therapists have told me this.

[Wild Coyote]

I'm glad you are feeling better.


WC

[tecomsin]

Good for you!

Psychiatrist often just want to add medications and not take them away. That is how some people can end up on a multitude of medications all of which have side effects especially if taken at high doses for a long time. Then they give medications to counter the side effects so a person can end up on a dozen medications all of which have long term side effects that are rarely considered.

[zbmom]

I would not recommend going cold turkey off anything. Always better to titrate down off things. I'm glad you're doing OK but you got lucky. I've ended up in the hospital trying to self adjust meds before. It's important you let your treatment team know about the changes.

[bioChE]

If you’re so concerned about being lethargic, why did you keep the Seroquel?

[xxblackrosesxx]

It's good that you decided not to be treated as a door mat . Well done you for standing up for yourself

[glennk]

Going cold turkey off many of these meds will cause serious withdrawal symptoms. Thankfully, Haldol is a fast acting anti-psychotic. So if you run into trouble, I'd add it back.

Maybe consider changing doctors. If the one you have isn't listening, you need to move on. I have fired more than one psychiatrist for not listening, prescribing meds wildly and suggesting hospitalization for what I didn't consider necessary.