I am tapering off my meds. My doctor would not approve but this is my life my body my health. I feel like the meds are slowly killing me. I’m always feeling sick I’m not well. They made me gain so much weight too. And long term I’m sure it’s fucking up my brain.
It will take me 4 months to get off Zyprexa and after that I’ll take 4 weeks to get off Paxil. I think I won’t want to stay on Buspar either. Propanolol cold turkey it was as needed. Cold turkey another few shit meds to decrease appetite.
I’ve been on meds since I was like 15. Sick. If I could do it over again I would never have gone on any.
Does anyone want to share experiences of going off meds? Anyone successfully now med free?
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Starrlight
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Hi Starrlight, I am not antimedicine because I feel there is a time and placefor medication. However, as for my own experience in being medicated, after
it's run it's course, I too felt it was time to get off the meds that weren't really doing
anything but allowing me to sleep my life away. To me, that wasn't anything but
an escape. Some made me dizzy enough that my safety was at stake going up and
down steps.
I felt there had to be a better way to deal with anxiety then to be doped up the
rest of my life. Under the guidance of my psychiatrist, I slowly weaned off several
pills. It was done slowly and safely. Whatever the outcome I always had in the back
of my mind that if necessary I could just go back on the meds. But I believed that
I would be better in the long run.
After my brain healed from 30 years of medication, I was amazed in that I
was "me" once again. No longer walking in a cloud. I was clear headed again and
not tired. My anxiety seemed to lower as well although I did and do use Meditation
and Breathing each and every day. But if that's what it takes I'd choose that each time.
Now I just take medication for health issues. I feel good, Life is Good.
Sometimes Starrlight, too much of a good thing can start to go against us.
The only thing I would say is to stay safe by working with your doctor.
I'd be very interested in knowing down the road how much better you may feel.
Certain health conditions require lifelong medication and there is no way of going around it until a cure is discovered.That said, Im supportive of your decision and it's more gentler on your body if you weaned off instead of going cold turkey. Pls keep your doctor in the loop just for guidance sake even if they might not approve.
Wishing for you health and happiness in 2022 senorita starlight
Your body, your health, so your decision, Starrlight. 💗
I know you are anxious to be free of it all and I completely understand. You are making a very wise decision to taper slowly. Cold turkey can be a difficult process, from what I have read.
One day at a time is how I approached coming off of Clonazepam. I wasn't without symptoms, but I was able to push through. I let my symptoms dictate how slow I cut back. I needed to be able to get through my day and this enabled me to do so.
I am now med free, so it can be done. You have so many friends here to support you. ❤️
I wish you the best of luck. This is an important decision. This is not a cautionary tale, just an experience; I tried to come off Abilify and instantly I became suicidal. It was one of the scariest moments. We are dammed if we do and don't with meds. I'm so grateful and so angry about them. SSRIs have caused memory and speech gaps.
If your doctor told you you have to start on them I would get a second opinion. You should not have to deal with unacceptable side effects however doing it alone is not safe either. I did exactly that years ago. I “interviews” the doctor to see what their values are and if they align with mine.
If your taking Zyprexa... for bipolar or schizophrenia... I'd really talk to your doctor. I know that Paxil is a nasty drug with very bad effects, so I changed from that one many years ago. Buspar is a beta blocker many take for heart issues, and so on. I can understand limiting the number of drugs your taking and stop the ones not really necessary for your mental health. But some of us do need to take meds to keep mentally well... especially something as serious and bipolar or schizophrenia. Take care Star...
It would be best my friend to stop one at a time and under your doctor's strict observation... and please know that sure.... I hear ya... too much is too much, but sometimes we have to take what we need to for our mental illness to stay well. Be careful and kind to yourself...baby steps.
I reread this. Yeah I have to figure out what is necessary and what is not. I am hating my meds right now. I am going off one at a time under doc’s support. I just talked to him.
Again...please work with your doc or therapist on the process my friend, those of us w, ho understand get it, sometimes we just need to keep our meds in check... but some of us absolutely need certain meds for our mental health... I totally understand the give and take of side effects ... anxiety drugs are often addictive, I have to be extremely careful to be strictly monitored with any medication. You don't want your meds to hurt you more than what ails ya... But I have to keep my emotional balance as best as I can with my level of depression... so... I do need to take my SSRI without question, it helps me. But that's me... everyone is different.
I know your doing the right thing with crisis care... that way if anything goes sideways on coming off meds...you have someone at all times to help you. Family and friends are great when they are there for us, but usually they are not trained professionals who know how to deal with detoxing. Hang in there...
No because he would tell me to stay on and that is not what I want. So I did extensive research on each drug and I have my plan set in place. It’s my body my mind I’ve made my mind up. My therapist and doctor will not support me. I’ll encourage myself.
Your doctor can’t force you to do anything but they do have knowledge about meds you do not have. If you do end up in a hospital as a result of side effects they are going to call them and they will not be up to date on your situation. A better strategy is to tell them it is your choice and either they help or you find a new doctor. Please don’t self anti medicate.
Hello. Boy does this sound like me. I am currently on bupropion and lamictal. And I'm going to start tapering off of that, with the help of my psychiatrist. A few years ago I was taking that along with five other medications. I have been on psychotropic medications off and on due to side effects. I fell and fractured my front teeth for example. Which just broke my heart and I had perfect teeth because I had braces. And I've had to go undergo several dental surgeries. A few weeks ago one medication caused me to visits to the ER in one week. And $300 in copays. So I got off the medication the same day. Personally, I don't feel I need it. There is no concrete evidence that depression is a disease. And mental health issues can be successfully overcome. I have PTSD too. I'm not sure about bipolar or schizophrenia or something like that. My anxiety is caused by my environment. I've been around toxic people for 30 years. And I'm working on eliminating those people from my life. I'm going to move and not give anyone in my family my forwarding address. Just my phone number to a few people. They don't add any value to my life. I deserve to be around healthy people who make me feel like I add value to the world. I would advise getting a second opinion. And not every doctor pushes medication. Your doctor should listen to you. I took Paxil and gained 30 lb. I felt so ugly because I was a fat pig. I went from a size 4 to a size 7. I was overeating and if I didn't I got hypoglycemic. And it made me super aggressive and manic. Sometimes the cure is worse than the disease. It took over 2 years, but I'm back to a size 4. The weight loss makes me feel less depressed. I was depressed because men no longer noticed me. I don't know about all the medications you listed. But sometimes when you're tapering off certain ones it can cause you to have seizures, or etc. So be please be careful.
Oh I wrote to you but it vanished. Ok so first of all I’m really sorry about your teeth. (((((Hug))))) I’m also getting rid of toxic people. I gained 50 lbs and now I’m done. Finally. And my psychiatrist wouldn’t care he’d just give another med to try to stop the gaining but I was happier at first. Took me long enough to realize no matter how hard I worked out I was still going to gain from Paxil. Damnit. I researched extensively and I’ll tapper off fine I think. I don’t know if it’even matters to tell my psychiatrist.
Thank for the ((hug)) My apologies for my late reply. I'm still learning how to navigate the site. I was looking for previous post I have responded to. So I'm going to have to check the frequently asked questions. I know it's really difficult to find the right solution. And sometimes people only need medication for a short time. I wish you the best and it's your choice. Hopefully you can find a psychiatrist who is willing to work with you. I know some of them strictly want to push medication.
Are you planning to reduce them independently? My experience may not be your experience but lamictrogine messes with me bad if I reduce by 1/8th. For me it caused me to want sugar really bad which in my case was ordering 2 pints of ice cream and having them delivered via door dash. Then eating them in 2 days. That was just one incident. In the past reduction has made me angry and manic also. Apparently I’m stuck with it for the foreseeable future.
Perhaps the most important fact to remember is medication—when effective—covers only symptoms. It doesn’t lead to growth, change, lasting improvement, or a cure. As soon as you stop taking the medication, anxiety/depression will likely come right back.
Talk therapy, meditation, healthy diet and outdoor exercise (such as walking) should be amped up once medication has ceased. Actually theses self-help tools should be used while taking medication and while tapering medication.
Sounds like you have already done your homework and research about this. You might consider using natural supplements and diet to support your tapering and after you are off the meds. You can check out the book "The anti-anxiety food solution" by Trudy Scott, it has a lot of good information about natural supplements and diet for mood support.
Hope that you remain ok. I have to take abilify depot injections and depakote for my health condition. I have been warned coming off them would be dangerous for me as they may not be able to pull me out of my illness if I do and they might not be able to get them to work for me again either. I would check out with your doctor or psychiatrist if you are under one first as you could be doing more harm than good. I would love to be medicine free however to live in the hell I was living in without the meds is even worse. Please get some proper advice.
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xx
Glitches are going around
Will never come off my meds again!
Off meds and absolutely worried / relapsing? 
Does anyone have any experiences or advice for coming off meds?
Going of anxiety meds
Going back to my passions
