Has anyone successfully come off meds with the consent of their pdoc?

I take 5mg Abilify. I guess you can’t go much lower than that… Well maybe 2.5 but do they even make that in tablet form? Since I haven’t had symptoms since my first episode four years ago, one of the option is to come off. I am scared out of my mind at this prospect. Do people recover from this illness ever?

recovery without medication is extremely rare and I would not count on it. It sometimes happens, but hardly ever. Usually, once you are diagnosed with schizophrenia, you need to take some medication for the rest of your life. That’s what you should expect. If you are doing well and not suffering from side effects, I would just stay on the meds and enjoy being symptom-free. I am also symptom free and on meds, and I dont even think about coming off of my meds.

You could try it with doctor’s approval, but you might regret it. I tried Latuda instead of my Geodon last fall and had a complete relapse. Just be careful and go right back on your meds if you have symptoms.

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Thanks for the honest response. Not what I wanted to hear but I know I needed to hear it.

I was on zyprexa intially that took away my symptoms but because of weight gain i switched to Abilify very quickly and have been ok on it. I don’t mind it but I do forget taking it a lot.

No problem. I am in the same place as you are, I take my meds and am symptom free, but I don’t like the idea of being on meds for the rest of my life. I think we have to accept that we need the medications and are lucky to have them, even though it sucks to be on medication for multiple reasons, it’s expensive, it’s annoying to have to take them so often, they cause side effects, ect.

I tell myself that psychosis isn’t worth it. I simply don’t want to relapse ever again. I carry my meds in a little pillbox so I never forget to take them. Even if I have already taken them, I still carry the pillbox in case I were to start having an episode for some reason.

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According to E. Fuller Torrey, who is pro-meds, about 25% of people can come off meds and recover. He wrote Surviving Schizophrenia, which is very pro-meds. So you might be one of the lucky few. I say give it a shot, if your psychiatrist approves. Especially since you forget taking it often, and are still symptom free. Are you one SSDI or SSI? Because they pretty much require that you stay on meds to continue to receive payments. So, in that case I would stay on the meds.

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I’m not entitled to any sort of disability allowance in the UK mainly because I don’t fulfil the requirements for it.

My pdoc and I are tapering down greatly due to neurological side effects. The goal is to get me off them entirely. Would be nice, having been taking pills for 20 years.

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You shouldn’t be scarred, maybe you don’t have schizophrenia, maybe it was a brief psychosis. Sometimes doctors don’t diagnose correctly. Give it a shot, even if psychosis comes back after few years it still worth living without med for those few years.

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I don’t know where Torrey Fuller gets that number 25% from. Maybe those people are out in the world somewhere recovered. Of the people who’ve been on this site - and I’ve been here 6 or 7 years, it’s almost unheard of. 2 or 3 have claimed it, but I don’t know about their story or long term recovery. Some people have an acute episode of SZ and that’s all.

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2-3 months ago i started dropping my olanzapine dosage and ive been completely off for two months symptom free. its nice to get off it.

however if i try to drop my benzo dosage, i start hearing voices.

so benzos are what i use to combat voices. i was on klonopin but as of today its valium. when i was on klonopin i got down to 0.5 mg, but things were a bit tiny tinyish shaky.

i tried 0.25 and weird things started happening. then i went back up to 1.0 mg. and now im taking the valium equivalent of 1.0 mg klonopin, which is 20 mg valium. i hope its equally effective.

but 5 months ago even when i was taking 15 mg olanzapine and 1.5 mg klonopin, i would wake up in the middle of the night and hear scary commanding voices. that is when i decided to stop drinking caffeine all day long. i started just drinking it, not much, in the morning, and the nightime voices went away and havent been back since.

so maybe part of my success getting off olanzapine is getting away from caffeine. then again i need benzos. maybe if i stopped ALL caffeine i could get off benzos.

anyways getting off APs can be done, but for me i need a benzo.

but it wasnt many years ago i didnt need ANY medication. stress is what i think drives a lot of mental conditions!

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I’m working with my doc to see what I can do in order to cut the dose. I’m working on giving up smoking so I can cut the dose. I’m looking into supplements and other things. Right now I’m doing really well and holding.

My meds got tapered over to Geodon a few months ago and I have NO idea how I didn’t end up in hospital that week of psychosis… I got back on my normal combo and got my head back together.

I know I can’t just stop the meds… that will land me in hospital in about two week probably. But I would love to be med free. Sadly though… not yet.

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Surprised J, in my experience caffeine was a major contributor to pyschosis, not nicotine. i snus 5-8 swedish snus pouches a day.

if i were u, since u already take benzos, severely, well maybe just allow like 200 mg or less caffeine in morning, u may be able to get off APs.

cutting nicotine wont do jack $hit in my opinion. maybe u just feel since its the socially politically correct thing to do its the answer, lol.

get off the phucking bean juice.

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Thank you for that. I wasn’t quitting smoking to be Politically correct or anything. I was just told it would help plus a pack of smokes are dang expensive lately.

But if my second love coffee is what’s doing it… I start to try and cut back… that might be harder then smokes.

Wish me luck.

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Smoking is linked to psychotic behavior?

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hey,

There’s a huge percentage of people who recover from first episode psychosis who don’t need the medications again! I forget the percentage but it’s very much a good concern…what your asking isn’t un doable…

Seriously. From years here, if you’ve had multiple episodes that is a problem. That pretty much kills you but I’ve gone off psych medications early but found them later…that is the problem…

Seriously. If you want to get off the drugs then it’s important to titrate down! Your on a low dose so take it half daily then, once every two days etc…it’s important for psych drugs to come down gradually… you get to zero then good on you but if your suffering symptoms it’s time to see that psydoc!

As a paranoid schizophrenics who does really good on meds I’ve got to say I’ve asked those very same questions! And …check your family history…you got schizophrenia in your family history your dodging bullets…

A friend in the struggle,

rogueone.

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I never have the consent of the pdocs when I come off meds. I just quit. Sure you do know pdocs have no conclusive proof that anti psychotics do anything other than sedate.

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After first psychosis i quit them, lasted about six months and it happened again.

After second psychosis i was in the hospital again and my doc had a heart attack and i recieved a new one, this guy tried me med free for two weeks and i was fine so he let me go with no diagnosis. Lasted awhile.

They always came back.

Last time i was off of meds it was for about a week or two, thats when i saw a gigantic snake made of light, i knew it was them and they knew it was them, i wish people knew it was them though.

I really can’t believe they actually have a pill for this problem, problem is in the mind, they were in my mind, so turn off the mind.

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I was discharged today from early intervention team on Monday I had second diagnosis they change to acute psychotic episode, before I had paranoid schizophrenia and schizophrenia NOS. I try to come off psychotic drugs 14 months now and is hard.
What happen in the future I don’t know.

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