[benzenering]

I was on 20 mg Saphris and 900 mg lithium for around 1 3/4 years. I decided to go off the meds as I'm having problems with tardive dyskinesia and I think my problems stemmed from hypothyroidism, not psych problems. I am continuing the thyroid meds.

I weaned myself down to 10 mg Saphris and 300 mg lithium for a week, no problems. Then I cut them out entirely.

I haven't slept in 8 nights!

No my pdoc wouldn't approve at all, but she is a pill pusher anyway so I don't listen to her.

Any thoughts as to how much longer I'll go without sleep? I'm not terribly tired, but I'll hit the wall eventually.

[Sometimes psychotic]

You should be tapering with the guidance of your pdoc, going off too fast can make things worse. If your pdoc won't help you taper off even with TD then you need a new pdoc.

[Tamster]

deciding to go off yourself is a risk. you really need a pdoc to help guide you through this and there are meds to help the process along. both saphriss and lithium take thier own time and can cause TD. I had TD in the 90s coming off MAOIs and lithium then. it can be done but each person is different and takes their own time.

[nicoleb2]

everybody is different, could be days, could be weeks

[max23]

It depends on the amount of time you've been taking the medicines, and the half life of the medicines. You shouldn't quit cold turkey at all,you'll go through hell. Make a taper schedule,either yourself(you can search online for medicine specific tapering) or better you tell your doc to do it. I know it seems like some doctors are pill pushers,but it's better to taper under their guidance.

[Trippin2.0]

Nobody can say for sure, everybody's different... Med half life, metabolism and duration of being medicated are factors to be taken into account... for me the worst withdrawls were over after about 2 1/2weeks, (although my brain re-adjusting to no meds took 3 months). I was on Risperdal and Prozac for 2yrs and lithium for just under a year (switched from Tegratol). I wouldn't advise cold turkey, but it was definitly worth it for me (unaccommodating pdoc)...

If your pdoc is unhelpful, why not google are start a thread on best tapering practices? Then again, you're already 8 days into quitting, tapering seems like a step backward at this point. Idk... I hope you can sleep soon, maybe try some melatonin to help you snooze. Best of luck

[sewerrats]

Depends what your illness is, you may need meds for life so stopping them is a bit off the wall.

[Mercury Man]

Have you tried something for sleep?

[benzenering]

Thanks for the input everyone. I approached my pdoc about getting off the meds, as I don't believe I'm bipolar II but am suffering depressions because my thyroid was out of whack. I don't have the symptoms of either mania or hypomania. She flatly turned me down. I'm not surprised...she really prescribes a pill for everything!

I'm taking generic unisom, which gives me 2-3 hours of sleep but no more.

Lucky for me, though, my tardive dyskinesia symptoms have totally gone away. It is worth it to lose a little sleep for a few weeks to stop that.

I expect my sleeping pattern to settle down soon, I was just wondering how long it would take.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Glad your TD has gone away that's pretty scary. Your pdoc sounds lousy, I'd be in the market for a new one assuming you need meds at all at this point. Good luck, and can you update the thread when you finally fall asleep so others can benefit?