Getting off all meds

Im getting off all my meds. I might as well since I'm miserable on them and nothing has worked. If I'm going to be miserable I might as well do it drug free. Md has me on a taper but I'm doing it more quickly. Really glad to be getting off. Hopefully this is right decision. So far I feel good. Only one day did I get wierd so I went back up in dose by half tab which worked. I just don't want to have a seizure. Could one come on unexpectedly even tho I feel ok?

I've been considering doing that as well. All this strife over the last 6-8 monthes has given me a new perspective on life and my illness. I see my therapist today and I am going to talk to her about working up some strategies to help me deescalate. This board does that at some times and friends have been more supportive then I would have ever expected. What I need to be able to do is not let those people who feed me negatives push me into the wrong way of thinking. I have low enough self esteem without letting others down me in a way that it causes me to swing,

As far as the seizures go, if you are taking meds like that PLEASE follow the doctors instructions for slowly decreasing your dosage. I do understand the need and to be honest some of the healthiest times in my life I was off ALL meds, but of course the BPD leads me to make MANY bad decisions so eventually I need meds to stabalize until I can grasp things again.

The ONE nice thing about BPD is that unlike bipolar, it is a learned pattern of behavior, and what one can learn, one can unlearn,

I wish you the very best on your quest for a medication free life.

I wish you all the best, too. It's amazing how we can skew everything so negatively. When I take things in, it's like i have a tiny compartment to put good things in. Once that's full, good or bad, it all goes into the HUGE negative compartment. Does that make sense? It's so exhausting trying to figure out what people REALLY mean, or what they REALLY think, or how they REALLY feel. Constantly trying to discern if I believe someone is being honest of if there is an underlying untruth. It's so hard to keep those people who feed you negatives out of your head. We are like velcro. Really difficult to get off once it's on.

Good luck with the reduction of your meds. I am doing the same thing with the help of my doctor. I am reducing my anti-depressants first and have been slowly reducing them since January. I am now on my lowest dosage. I still take them every day but hope to move to every second day and then stop altogether.

My husband can see a change in me and so can I. There are positives but also negatives in reducing my meds. I hope through time things will balance out and my swings from low to high are not wild as they are at the moment.

I understand what you are saying about trying to work out what people really mean etc. It does make sense.
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Best wishes

Good luck to you! Keep us posted. Today is the first day I haven't taken anything. May have to take 1/2 tab before the day is over. I'm doing this way to quickly, but I just want to be off. So far so good!

Hi misclee,

How are you getting on? I understand your desire to be med free as this is what I so want too. But please look after yourself. I am wondering what took me so long to reach my decision to get off my meds??? I guess I was not ready until now.

Take care

Ended up having to take a 1/2 tab that day and I took 1/2 of 1/2 yesterday. So far I'm doing really good. It only took me this long to want to quit, because I finally lost hope in the meds. If they were working for me, I certainly wouldn't quit. I just need to find out what's underneath, you know? I'm actually doing really well so far, but I always do well when meds are first adjusted. So, we shall see what happens. Thanks for your support:) Good luck to you as well!

You do sound as if you know what is best for you which is great. Like yourself when I started to think about how I felt with the meds I did not think things had improved at all for me. I want to find out who I am underneath all the meds.

Hope you have a good day!
:)

Been off everything for about 5 days. Was really tough in the first few days, but I think I'm starting to emerge from the fog. We shall see. I think it will be at least a couple weeks before I have everything out of my system.

I am feeling absolutely awful. Think I need to go and speak to my doctor about my anti-depressants. I think that the reduction in my meds is having a negative impact on me now. I always thought that all the different anti-depressants I have tried have not worked for me but I feel so bad so maybe they were helping. There has got to be something better than throwing pills down my throat to make me feel better? Or maybe anti-depressants are not the drug for me, maybe something else is. Need to get this sorted.

How are you doing misclee?

Hi Miss Maisy! I"m so sorry you're having a tough time of it. I am not good on antidepressants either. My PsyD told me that many bipolars do not do well on antidepressants and that mood stabilizers are better. He did end up putting me on antidepressant, but a very mild one, and in concert with mood stabilizer. Needless to say, none of it seems to help much. I definitely had a couple brief periods where I felt like a normal human being, but the rest of the time I just felt like me messed up self, but on meds. I may end up back on meds, but I am giving it at least a month without any to see who I am when it's all out of my system. I am certainly not against medications. If mine worked, I'd be taking them like candy:) It's just that they don't.

If you were doing better on the meds, maybe you should really consider staying on them or looking at a different type of med. I'm so sorry your going through this. I just wish we could be "normal" huh?

I'm still doing ok off the meds. Not great. I'm still me. Just doing my individual and group therapies and hoping that my head will take a few days off soon. I've been off everything for over a week, so I'm just hoping to have some clarity soon.

Keep me posted on how you're doing kay?

Hi misclee

I am not doing too great at the moment. I did go and see my doc. but I insisted that I did not want to increase my anti-depressants. I went with the mindset of asking for them to be increased so I am not sure what happened to make me suddenly change my mind again. Maybe I just want my doctor to take control and say that I need X, Y and Z and if I take these then I will feel better. I guess I do not want it to be me that is saying "I think my meds need to be adjusted" because I do not know the answers. I do not know what I need.

Sorry, went on a bit there.

How are you doing?
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Maybe you should ask about the mood stabilizer rather than increase the AD? Im still off all meds. Been about 3 weeks now. It's been rough, but it was rough on the meds too. I'm gonna commit o 3 months off before I consider going back on. I'm just so angry most of the time. I hate it.

Are you in any kind of therapy?

I don't know if I'm off topic here, but i'm trying to wean off seroquel.
I've been on different kinds of drugs for 30 years. Yes, I was diagnosed with bpd in 1988. The drugs don't help me..
I hate the bpd label, as psychiatry has bludgeoned me over the years with cruel words and judgment.
Dr.John Gunderson from Boston, Massachusetts is a leading expert on borderline personality disorder. He lectured here in Canada, where I live and it was refreshing to get his perspective on the disorder.

Hi,

Been a bit quiet lately. My ADs have been increased, there may have been the smallest of improvements. I will give them a little more time but I am going to ask my care co-ordinator to organise a med review for me.

twiggy3 how are you getting on? Is your doctor aware that you are weaning yourself of seroquel?

misclee, how are you? Have you managed to stay off your meds or do you need them from time to time? How are you feeling?

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