I know I’m new here & y’all have probably had this question before but I’m wondering if anyone has been able to get off medication without voices returning? I’m miserable on these medications. I can’t sleep & Trazodone doesn’t work. I suspect my risperidone is blocking any sedating effect from other medications & they don’t work. Melatonin definitely doesn’t work either. Also, has anyone’s voices faded over time without the help of meds?
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I was able to go from 20mg Zyprexa daily to 5mg over two years. I can’t go lower or the voices come back.
Not sure if that’s helpful.
Mine went away with meds I wouldn’t dare try to come off them.
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I’ve been able to come off meds and be mostly stable.
It’s better than being on meds,
But you put up with a lot of symptoms and no one feels sorry for you because “you should be taking your medication”.
We all know meds are an exchange,
So is not being on meds.
Meds take away some of your feeling,
When that comes back,
It can be a lot to handle in addition to increasing symptoms.
Being off meds isn’t a good plan for most.
All that to say,
No.
I don’t know of anyone coming off meds and not having symptoms.
I do know people who manage without meds and cope with symptoms.
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Oh dear.! Get your shrink to listening to your complains about your meds. There are a whole pamphlet of meds you can tryout. Make your shrink to take you seriously. Demand him to do so because the patient is always right.
I hope you are joking.
The best way to get what you want out of your pdoc is to be compliant.
Once you’ve proven you can be trusted,
It’s easier to govern your own treatment.
Still with approval, of course.
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Charles I only have got a house doc that I’ve never met.
You know life is a box of choklade. You never know what you get.
But I really like you Charles. You know in my time as investor I’ve taken some big chances for big gains.
Not to be agreeable but you are totally right and sane in all what you write.
Don’t do like the old man by the sea says but do like Charles she tells you to do.
Haha!
I’m going to have to get this signed and notarized.
Thank you.
I know I’m playing Russians roulette with 3 bullets in the chamber so you are right.
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No. Not in three decades. I have learned strategies in addition to meds that have lessened my positive symptoms and have allowed me to move to lower doses, but I have not been able to go without entirely. I did try to go off meds with the support of my doctor over the past year, and it appears to have set me back some. It was a mistake.
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Reminds me of The Deer Hunter.
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I hope I won’t have to take a bullet.
There will always be the latest batch on here who have gone off their meds and feel great. It lasts a year or two tops, and then they go back to meds. Even the ones who claim to be off meds usually just mean “no antipsychotic.” They still take other medications, or else they self medicate with drugs. Everyone ends up back on medication, in the end.
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Yup. I don’t dare go off my Wellbutrin or I become suicidal within days.
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Ninja star I’ve reconsidered my point of view and although I considered to go down to 500 mgs Qutiapine. I’m now downto 550 mgs.
I’ve made up my mind again because I was the guilty maker of people wanting to go off their antipsychotics. I must stay compliant and take the meds to avoid starting such a fire storm of non compliance.
No, but I have unsuccessfully gone off meds. I don’t recommend it. I am doing fine right now on zyprexa and I don’t mind taking an AP.
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Not personally but I’m still trying
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I’ve been off mine for about 7 months now. I did take here and there in that time but no more than a month in total.
They put me on pregabalin 75mg twice daily, it’s for pain and anxiety. I’m trying to get off that as well right now, it’s still a bit rocky off but I remember people telling me I’d never get off the other meds either and I did.
So to answer your question yes and no. I am still somewhat symptomatic but have improved a lot overall. My cognition is also still pretty poor and by that mean I am still pretty disabled, can’t work or drive yet.
But overall happier, dealing with less side effects and feel more optimistic about recovery. It’s sad to read things like you cannot recover without medications even though in the same article they will also state how everyone’s journey is different. But yeah, very close to off everything at 30 years old. Diagnosed schozoaffective disorder at 18.
20% come off first episode psychosis pretty much without.
For most others it’s a complicated thing.
I’m 53 so way older but I’m as low as I can basically go on clinical doses. I am for antipsychotic but will try next time to come down as low as I can on the antidepressant too.
I’m multiepisodic so it’s not a thing for me. I probably need meds for life but there’s new research about diet and exercise around that makes me more hopeful that we are increasing our knowledge and thus better treatments for sz.
I don’t do voices but I’m basically paranoid sz so not too far off.
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People forget what its like living with a vague prescence of always being governed by vague forces.
The sub, the con and the suss; have always been there. And when you notice it, you become schizophrenic.