Hi. Long-time lurker, first-time poster. Today is officially my first day off antipsychotics. I was taking 7 mg of Haldol for about 2 years, and, with my doctor’s supervision, I’ve been tapering off the drug by 1 mg every week for the past few weeks. Yesterday was my last day to take Haldol. I suffer from auditory, visual, and tactile (sometimes painful) hallucinations, but they never actually went away even when I was taking 7 mg of Haldol. I started to have signs of tardive dyskinesia - I was doing weird things with my mouth. So that prompted my doctor to get me off Haldol. Since I’ve been doing relatively well, we decided to see what would happen when I’m not on any antipsychotics at all. Maybe I don’t need them. I currently work full-time, and I’m also in grad school getting my MBA. I am feeling anxious now that the day has come where I’m off meds because I don’t want to screw up work and school. I’ve noticed with my increased anxiety, I’ve been “engaging” with the voices in my head more often, rather than just ignoring them. I take 300 mg of Gabapentin at night for anxiety because the hallucinations are always the worst when I’m trying to go to sleep. Can anyone please offer me some advice for how to handle the anxiety and increased hallucinations that come with getting off meds? I’m feeling very nervous about my decision to get off antipsychotics right now. Thanks in advance!
That’s great you’re able to work and go to school with those symptoms. You must have tremendous drive, motivation, stamina, resilience, and intelligence. Let us know how you do it, please. I hope you will be fine off medication.
Tardive Dyskinesia is a serious problem. Have you ever talked with your doctor if it’s possible to add a second generation antipsychotic? Maybe some of them won’t contribute with your TD.
For a while, you can do some activities and alternatives that may help: relaxation (I listen to relaxing songs I find in YouTube), having a clean diet (a nutrionist may help), acupuncture (I did acupuncture and it helped to feel more relaxed), art (I do it a lot and I love it), journaling, nature and puppies.
It’s definitely not easy! But I have a lot of support and I can work from home when I need to. My employer knows about my condition and is very supportive. If I’m having a bad day, I just work from home. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that getting off medication doesn’t lead to a disaster! I’ll let you know how it goes! 
Being on Haldol for 2 years, I was worried that the tardive dyskinesia might be permanent. But luckily, as I’ve gone down on the dosage, I haven’t been doing as many “weird things” with my mouth. I tried a few second generation antipsychotics a few years ago, and I quit them all because of the weight gain. I’ll admit I didn’t really give them a chance to work because I was so focused on how they were changing my appearance. I’ve recently been working with a personal trainer and I’ve lost 17 lbs in the last couple months, and one of the reasons I want to get off Haldol is because I know it will only make it easier to lose more of the weight that the drugs put on. I know it may seem like a vain reason to not be on medication, but I’m a girl and I had always been petite, so putting on the extra weight was devastating for me.
Thanks for the relaxation tips!
You’re welcome 
I don’t want to make you scared, but today I created a thread about how long it takes for psychosis to come back after stopping antipsychotics: After tapering off antipsychotics, how much time it took for your psychosis to come back? - #28 by DelusionalSoldier
Maybe this thread may help with your decision of taking antipsychotics. I would love to give you more information, but moderators are not happy with my posts, so I’m kind very cautious with them.
Ask to get on something else while you taper off?
After reading that thread, it seems like the majority of people who replied suffered psychosis fairly quickly after getting off meds. But even on Haldol at my highest dosage, my psychosis never went away. I just feel like over time, I’ve gotten used to it and handle it a lot better than I did 5 years ago when it started. That’s why I’m thinking that getting off medication might not make much of a difference for me, since my hallucinations never went away anyway. I suppose they could get louder and the voices might hurt me more, which then I will probably have to talk to my psychiatrist about getting on something else. I just dread the weight gain side effect that comes with almost all the different medications.
There are some second generation antipsychotics that may help you because they don’t cause a lot of weight gain.
Which ones don’t cause weight gain?
I know risperdone for sure, I’m on a d got fat as f*^,>. Compared to my sexy self before meds. Was 155 fit and muscular now 205 with a belly. Fu&@
Aripiprazole is a good one, but I heard it may be bad for Tardive Dyskinesia (I take aripiprazole and I lost 10kg on it). I heard Saphris or Latuda may help. Your doctor may answer it better, but there are options.
I remember trying Saphris and suffered horrible akathisia. It was miserable. I’ll talk to my doctor about Latuda. Thanks!
You’re welcome 
I heard ability if good, I’m gonna try to get on it next month afer my new insurance chicks in. In September. My new job yay.
Congrats on the new job! Let me know how Abilify goes 