[DelusionsDaily]

Will IP at a psych hospital help get off the meds?
It may sound like a silly question.However I have only ever been IP when I needed serious med adjustment/change. So, I dont know. I think I've read about it before but cant remember. If so how did you get that to happen?

Yes, if that is what your pdoc determines needs to happen.

My pdoc actually talked to me about this possibility at one point as a way to get me back to baseline and reassess what we needed to do. It ended up that we didn't have to do that, but it was certainly on the table at one point. A complete med withdrawal, particularly fairly rapidly, IS a serious med change.

My pdoc did have me go inpatient for one particular med change because in order to start the new med, he needed to pull me completely off another first and wanted me to be monitored. He always asked his patients to go inpatient for this particular med implementation because the medical issues could be serious. It also allowed the change to be done more rapidly. It was sort of a choice between a long, slow withdrawal before starting the new med that would have certainly left me in bad shape in the meantime, or a fast withdrawal and introduction of the new med which was still not going to be fun but could be accomplished faster. Kind of the lesser of the two evils I guess.

He warned me things would get pretty awful during the change up, and they did, but I was forewarned and kept very informed of what was happening, in a safe place, and monitored carefully medically, so it was manageable in about three weeks rather than what probably would have taken several months outpatient with a prolonged period of serious depression in the middle. Unfortunately, the new med (an MAOI) caused my blood pressure to tank and I wasn't able to stay on it, but at least I was being carefully monitored in the process so that problem was discovered quickly and an alternative plan could be implemented.

It takes having a pdoc who is open to the possibility of pulling a patient completely off meds. From what my pdoc said, there aren't many willing to try this, but it can be helpful in cases where a patient sort of needs to be set back to baseline and reassessed. In fact, if we had gone that route, he would not have tried it until I had seen another specialist for a 2nd opinion first. This wasn't something he would have done without careful thought and consultation with another specialist. My guess is that you would have to go into inpatient with that plan in place with a treating pdoc in that hospital. I highly doubt a psych hospital would just do this on its own without the pdoc knowing the patient rather medically intimately beforehand.

[DelusionsDaily]

Thats my fear...if I go in not knowing the doc they wont do it. Considering doing it on my own but very leery of possible complications. However, the ER is a possibility if I feel like there are problems? I guess. I don't know I just know staying on them isn't an option anymore. I know people won't agree but they aren't me. Errr...gotta come up with a plan.

Are you stable right now? If not, this is probably not the right time to do this. Get to a place of a bit better stability and then talk to your pdoc about a plan. From what I gather, you have not been at all stable recently; in fact, you've been in pretty poor shape. Going off meds when you are already unstable is not a wise decision. This is a condition that comes and goes in episodes. In the midst of an episode is not the time to make this kind of decision. You were writing recently about what to do to avoid IP. Going off meds on your own when you are unstable is a pretty sure fire way to end up IP.

How about running your idea past your therapist and getting a reality check with someone who really knows your history and condition before you do anything? You posted just a couple of days ago about how paranoid and unstable you were. My guess is that this is not a decision being made very rationally right now.

I am all for getting to a place where you can go with as few meds as needed, but you don't seem to be in that place right now and I am very concerned you are going to completely destabilize yourself; this is a very common problem with people dealing with bipolar disorder. Please check in with your therapist or pdoc about what is going on.

[DelusionsDaily]

Therapist knows. Reservations...yes. Stopping me...NO.

[DelusionsDaily]

Please remove this thread. If your a mod and u read this before I send a PM request. Thank you.