[HALLIEBETH87]

I worked a youth lock in at church last night and ended up staying awake the whole night. Realization true morning is I never took any of my night meds and I feel more alive and awake and alert and I love it. I almost wanna quit my meds because I feel so normal and good right now. Yes I took a few
Hour nap. But I feel so refreshed and awake and I don't wanna take. My meds. Maybe I don't need them if i feel this well.

[Guiness187055]

Going off of meds never ends well for most people.

Cutting back is tempting when it feels good but stay vigilant about all the things you are saying and doing--sometimes you do not realize you are going off the rails until you crash!

When I skip my meds for a day or two, I usually feel a lot better, but that feeling is only temporary. The longer I go without meds, the higher the risk for an episode (for me). Then I ultimately feel depressed and suicidal because I'll become manic and crash. It's not worth it for me, and this is coming from someone who has done this at least 8 times in the past 2 years.

I think if you were 100% sure that you wanted to stop taking your meds, you wouldn't have made this post to begin with. That shows that there is some doubt within you - I think the rational part of you knows from past experience, and general knowledge of Bipolar Disorder, that coming off your meds may feel good at the beginning but it generally leads to a crash one way or the other.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I made myself take them. But I really didn't want to

[bpforever1]

I know it feels weird to feel good and think you don't need meds. I've been there and done that. I ended up homeless finally. But, I learned my lesson. I am not suggesting if you go off meds, you will become homeless. I am just telling you my experience of going off meds.

[sonjaward809]

I went off meds for about 2-3 years and it was a really bad decision. My moods were cycling frequently and I ended up becoming an alcoholic in a attempt to self-medicate. Not saying this will happen to you but for me, there's no way I can go without meds. Now I get nervous when I'm getting low on meds because I know how my Bipolar is and how quickly I will become unstable. I know it's really tempting to stop them, but it's not worth it in the end.

[still_crazy]

hi. if you want to try to reduce your dosages or stop the psych drug treatment completely, try to find a doctor to work with you. ive found that im a lot better off on a lower dose of my tranquilizer and -1- mood drug than i was on the higher dose tranquilizer and a couple mood drugs.

ive gotten down to the lower doses and fewer psych drugs by working w/ the psychiatrist, not just dropping things suddenly. some psychiatrists aren't too keen on reducing psych drugs, but family doctors tend to be helpful with getting doses lower and minimizing risks ((personal experience, anyway)).

its not either/or, this or that. there's a whole lot of options out there for you to deal with your problems.