What happened when you went off meds? Any success stories?

It always ended up in a trip back to the psych ward for me. The longest I remained symptom free when I went off my med’s was about six months. That was because I had taking a med shot.

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There was no success on the meds for me only powerful side effects when balancing pros and cons.

But im no good with APs I stick to ADs.

Starting to have success in reductions. Sort a hard lesson that the reality we maybe on meds for all our life. At least we can work our ass off to get the lowest need instead of just keep piling more meds on and just building more resistant’s to them.

Have known a sza and sz (only on the net) to go off meds but have had a few friends taken off meds with other diagnosis. With meds and therapy combined. So is some hope.

Was saying to someone the other day science can’t explain love, hope and determination but they have a huge impact on recovery.

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I was a frequent flyer at the psych hospital, I have 2 passports full of stamps. 25 times between 1996 and 2007.
Not pretty, not desirable.

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I am hoping with my thyroid med, I will have the energy to go to the gym. I am glad you got your meds straightened out. Being in the hospital isn’t any fun. It’s been almost a year for me, so I hope I can stay out.

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So basically not a lot of success ever going off meds, except those people that can’t take them and still struggle. My meds make me SO lethargic and blah and out of it and I am not even on a high dose! I am on almost the lowest dose of Risperidone (1mg) that a person can be on. Maybe someday I can get down to .5mg and the lethargy and fog will lift some. I also take 1200mg Trileptal for sleep but that may also be causing some of my fog. It is a mood stabilizer. The took me off of it because we realized I am not BP but put me back on because it helps me sleep. I wish I could feel good, energetic, clear minded, focused and happy. I would take that over the lottery.

Actually, I just looked up Trileptal and it is an anti-convulsent that is sometimes used as a mood stabilizer. It has some side that may be affecting me. I take it for sleep. Wonder if I could live without it? I do get insomnia…
The most common side effects of TRILEPTAL include:
dizziness
sleepiness
double vision
tiredness
nausea
vomiting
problems with vision

I think better meds are in the way. I know it’s not much consolation because we don’t know when. But I’m pretty sure someday soon we won’t be worrying about weight gain, lethargy, stiffness etc. and hopefully get better symptom control.
I know that in my case if the meds weren’t so bad. The illness wouldn’t be as bad to have.

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Trileptal is a terrible drug in my opinion. It supposedly has no side effects but it made me feel pretty lousy.

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I agree with you. If the side effects were less or not there at all, I’d be a lot better off. Matter of fact, I’d up my dose and try harder to get rid of my delusion. As it stands, we tried upping my dose and it was unbearable. Couldn’t tolerate it. I am an AP lightweight.

Yea you’re not on a lot of risperdal. That med worked well for me but man the small doses are potent. I take latuda. It isn’t any better

Oh, you tried Trileptal? I only take it for sleep. I really struggle to sleep with out help. Maybe that is my bigger problem with feeling like shyt? I know my pdoc is OK with me backing off it cuz it’s for sleep. Maybe I should try and see what happens.

How long ago is “recent”? I’m suspicious of any ‘success’ that doesn’t measure in years.

I was doing well on an extremely low maintenance dose then I relapse and now I need three times as much or more

I wanted it to work so bad because it was the alternative to tegretol and I needed a mood stabilizer.
It made me very depressed.

I tried tapering off Risperidone and onto Latuda to see if I could get rid of my delusion. er…NIGHTMARE. I was a jumpy jittering insomniac mess. did NOT go well. I went days with no sleep and couldn’t sit still. Ironically, it was after that shyt-show that my pdoc re-prescribed the Trileptal for sleep. I am seriously wondering if the Trileptal may be contributing to my fog and lack of focus. The latuda fiasco was several months ago. perhaps I could try tapering off the Trileptal. I’m kickin it around

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ya, I get afraid of that happening. I had a psychotic break on 2mg Risperidone. Now we have me stable on 1mg. I am sometimes afraid of snapping and relapsing. I guess all I can do is just keep on keepin’ on

When I go off meds, I become super healthy after 3 days and then problems come back after the day 5, I’ve done this many time but this recent time not only that not happened but also I’m getting better day after day, this recent time is for 2 months ago, I quitted smoking and learned to cope with anxiety which produces delusions in me😄

can you even try inbetween like 1.5 mgs

My doctor lets me try to go down to a low maintence dose but it seems like I am in a type of relapse now, and need the higher dose to keep me stable.

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Stress causes delusions in me and I have a lot to do, and I am craving a lot of sleep once I fall asleep.

What are some of the ways to cope with anxiety?

Sounds like you have a little succes, good to hear.

There are many points in coping with anxiety, let’s start a new thread to have all points of view, I’ll make it :kissing_heart: