[NolaMae]

I'm suffering extreme exhaustion. All my blood tests came back normal, and they have no explanation why I'm suffering from this severe fatigue. And underneath I am so angry that I have to deal with this on top of everything.

I don't know me anymore. I have been on these drugs since 2004 and I have lost myself in the process. The drugs don't help me with a lot of my symptoms, so I figure why bother? I am so tempted to go off all of them and try to find out what I'd feel like without them. Honestly, they don't work half the time and the side effects are terrible.

I just want to find out who I am again.

[Tucson]

I can understand your feelings. I sometimes feel the same way. I still end up deciding for having my meds changed instead of going off of them. I need to be stable in order to reliably hold down a job. You may not have such a concern. You already know how you feel without meds. Must not of worked out for you are on meds now.

[Skeezyks]

Well... I'm certainly no expert. But it seems to me, as long as it's done carefully, & with the oversight of your prescribing physician, there's nothing wrong with the idea of gradually tapering off of the med's you're on, especially if they're not really working for you. You can always stop the reduction process for a while at some lower level to give yourself time to adjust, or perhaps try some different med's should you decide you still need something. Med's do have a way of losing their effectiveness over time. Perhaps you've just been taking the same thing for too long? Just approach the whole idea thoughtfully & carefully.

Here are links to 3 important articles, from PsychCentral's archives, on the subject of discontinuing psych med's:

https://psychcentral.com/blog/withdr...c-medications/

https://psychcentral.com/lib/discont...to-know/?all=1

https://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is...tion-syndrome/

Fibromyalgia is really common with bipolar-I’m just mentioning this in case it fits.

I’m so sorry you’re suffering

[tecomsin]

I'm also suffering from a remarkable lack of energy and motivation, but I don't think it is my meds, but rather a deep depression. I say this because a few months ago I was in the same low energy state and hardly taking any meds. Now I'm regularly medicated on APs and AD and still have no energy, so the meds didn't help so far. My blood test also are fine.

You can try to go off meds slowly or change them and see if it improves. It's a tough way to live life...