[spring2014]

Hi everyone,
im spring 2014 and I have a very strong word of advice for anyone who is,thinking about going off on your medication . Don't do it !!!! don't even try quitting them cold turkey too. the reason why your doctor or psychiatrist put you on these meds is,because it or they are stabilizing your chemicals in your brain so that you will get well. even though it will take some time to get used to it or them
. I know from first hand experience when I started taking meds for the first time in my life I was in denial that I had a mental illness . I was very admiament not taking meds this was when I was in my late 20s . I thought I could handle it on my own w/o meds . Now that im older I know how important it is to take my meds on a regular basis . therapy and medication is a twofold process that must be taken together in order for counseling to be successful . many of you are doing counseling alone w/o meds maybe ask your therapist if you should go on meds . these two combined is helping me to deal with my anxiety and depression that I was diagnosed with last year by my therapist who is an experienced registered nurse who knows what she is talking about . she said to me that she will work with me if I went on the meds . I agree with her and went on the meds this time.

Not everyone requires medication, and even those who take medication can reach a place where it is truly no longer needed.

I agree going cold turkey off of meds is a bad plan, but going off meds is not necessarily prohibitive for everyone.

Down the road, you too may find yourself in a different place and able to manage well without meds.

[~Christina]

I was once on an ridiculous amount of medications.. I think I certainly needed them at the time.. I have Bipolar and I have been med free for almost a year. Will I need meds again one day? Yes maybe ... But for now I am medfree.

Everyone is different and taking meds or not is a personal choice.

I'm glad that your meds are working and you have someone that can help you understand how to improve your life and manage things.. meds can only do so much Obviously your treatment plan and therapy is working well. Good for you !

[Sesiley]

I can't go med free...I wouldn't have a job or my kids..

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[dillpickle1983]

IF I go med free I'll be a mess. I also used to be on a ridiculous amount of meds. 11 at one point, Now I'm down to only 4. It was hell getting down to that point, so trying to go off meds, nope. Not gonna happen. Plus I think my best friend / roommate would move out on me lol.

[Shmooey]

I can't function without meds either. It took me a long time to accept that I am personally a lifer when it comes to psychiatric medication...with a LOT of monkeying around with dosages and drugs. Whenever I try to decrease, I experience more psychosis. I actually think I need MORE Haldol and will discuss this with my pdoc on Sept 2.

[gina_re]

I tried coming down off Trileptal once and it was the worst! I was a complete *****! Had to go back and stay at my current dosage. Plus I like to have nice things. Staying on meds keeps me employed to buy said things.

[NOS-NOS]

I actually tried weaning off my meds several times, and each time I had a relapse of symptoms that got worse each time, requiring higher doses of meds. I wonder if I just never tried to come off of them would I still be at a lower dose and symptom-free. I was set to go to a lower dose until my new therapist at the time convinced me that I needed the meds and would probably need them for life. I've been completely symptom free for about 2 years and I haven't tried to play with the doses. I guess since it's been so long without symptoms I kind of wonder if I could go down on the dose, maybe just a little bit.....not sure if it's worth the try though since I've had several failed attempts. Oh and also I haven't been to therapy in over a year...I feel no real need for it anymore as I'm not in a state of crisis (mentally, there are still life stressors going on though).

[ManOfConstantSorrow]

How do you feel about people experimenting with reducing the dose just to see what happens? Maybe they will go back to full dose pretty damn quick, but maybe not.

[Jonron]

Thank you for the reminder

[avlady]

i always wondered if i wasn't put on meds in the first place, if i would need them now or at all. i was in a bad place but i wanted to go down the other road and get better without meds or holistically. i've been on almost every med until i found clonazapine and others 8 of them. i do feel better but need coffee all day almost because the meds make me tired.