Should I get off many of my meds?

I have always followed a doctors prescription, even though the side effects turned out to be terrible. I usually wait for my next appointment which can be months. There was one time I was able to get to a prescribing nurse who worked for the same public facility. Now, I am not sure of my medication. I have gone through some recent terrible side effects. The question is if taking my meds is worth it when the side effects can be worse than what the med does for me.

I have been having trouble with shaking hands. Hopefully, this is not permanent. I am now having various memory problems. I am even having trouble spelling simple words without lookng them up, like permenent, perscrbing, terrable. I had to look up many words to write this post. This tends to be a several year cycle. When my memory is better, I still do not remember my early past. However, this time it has been much worse. Due to the above problems, I cannot hold down a job. I need a job!

I have been thinking of getting off most of my medications. I doubt I will do this by myself. I can always have my pdoc supervise me coming off *some* of my medicatioon. I still need meds to stabilize me from hypomania. I am thinking of having my friend take care of my finances for this period of time. I can get off of one of my two antidepessents like bupropion. I can get off of Mirtazepine since that is used only for sleep. I can get off of Buspirone. My MS is causing me really bad side effects, so out that goes. I am not sure about Lamictal. It may or may not be helping me. If there are any problems, I can always go back on my meds. At the very least, I can start over with the addition of meds, which I think can be a good thing. In order to speed this up, I can go in a psych hospital. They can make substantial med changes in a short time.

Most psych hospitals seem to be more about putting on meds, not taking off...even the private ones. I don't know what that's about. my own approach was to get down to just a tranquilizer, plus antioxidants to hopefully reduce brain damage from the tranquilizer. seems to help...no TD, no EPS, etc.

Since you are not working can you go to php or iop? That way you see the pdoc weekly. Tell them that your trying to get on the least amount of medication. I was able to go from 5+ prn to 2+prn by just changing clinics. Then I switched pdoc and went down to 1+ 2 prns. It's scary but do able.

That is nice now that you are down to 3 meds, with one PRN. What does “php” mean?

Php = partial hospital program
IOP = Intense Outpatient Program

Both similar.

I guess it depends on what your dx actually is & how bad the symptoms are without medication.

I honestly feel that if medication is necessary it should be a minimum of meds that work together. So many times when takingva lot if meds they feed tino the horrible side effects.

I have horrible side effects to most meds & I don't want to tolerate side effects after all I have gone through at the beginning I felt like a guinea pig.

My pdoc put me on thorzine before my neck fusion surgery....because I was a wreck thinking about it. My neurologist had me on compozine for the nausea that my continual migraines were causing. I went into the urgent care awhile after the surgery unable to walk without help & unable to even feed myself. They realized that it was the thorzine....I quit that but a month later I was no better. Went back to my neuroligist & he realized the compozine was continuing to cause the same problem. Changed to another med & within a month I was back to normal. For myself, I am anti-meds because of how my body reacts....but my problems were anxiety & depression & actually situational....& no meds were capable of changing the situation that was causing me to react that way.

I think one has to look at the big picture. Minimize the meds & maximize the good that comes from them IF truly necessary.

Apart from your hands, how do you feel on your meds?
For example, I have hands that do anything from a tremor to a shake. My med dosages are higher than I’d like. But overall I feel very well (today), so I can live with the hand tremor.
If you feel unwell/unhappy with your meds then it’s definitely worth having the conversation with your pdoc.
Worse case scenario is that you need to be ip while meds are being changed although I’ve done that and it wasn’t too bad.

I am going through allot of depression in the mornings. I am having allot of memory problems. Depakote was helping until I cannot walk a straight. I am staggering like a drunk person. I think the meds are aggrevating my memory problems. They are aggrevating my orthostatic hypotension. I get really dizzy for several minutes. I have passed completely out a couple time in the past.

Mirtazapine, Bupropion, Fluoxetine, Buspirone, Latuda (until recently), Depakote (no more), and some such medicine for tremors. So currently I am on five medications with NO mood stabilizer like a neuroleptic. Not good. I do not know why he would not give me a rqeplacement for Latuda.

do you think you have the beginnings of TD or some other tardive syndrome? that could be why he hasn't thrown a tranquilizer in the mix...

I don't provide medical advise. I never got the license.
I can only speak of personal experience. However, when I dumped a lot of "meds", I started to feel much better.

Lithium did wonders for my depression. But my hands shake like a leaf.
Lamictal made me do the same you do. Look for spelling for simple words.
I'm still taking a small dose (50mg) thanks to my doctor. I would have dumped it many years ago.
I take PAXIL. That monster is something else. Depression crusher. At 10mg now. Started at 20. Then 30 for three day. I couldn't tolarate that much.
And .75mg of Clonazepan, which I forget to take more often than not.
Down to three from seven "meds".
In some cases, less is more. Good luck. Cheers.

I'm down to 2. Got a new pdoc that I absolutely love. Feel better than I have in years. Lamictal and seroquel has been the wonder combo for me.

Must be nice. I'm on 6 psych meds, 7 if you count the Levothyroxine my pdoc prescribed for depression. It's a good mix that works amazingly well for the most part, but sometimes I wish I could pare it down a little.