Help Anyone considered quitting meds as a last ditch attempt to improve?

[Aardwolf]

Hey,

I've been on anti depressants for a while. They certainly helped in the beginning but now Im not sure if they help or hinder.

Previously when I tried to get off them it was pure hell, I literally couldn't take it and when I had tried previously I was in a much better place. I could never try while having a job because it just messes with my mind too much for too long.

So next week Im going to hand in my notice at my job of 12 yrs then when the money runs out I plan to ctb. I should be able to keep my finances going for at least 3 - 4 months so I am tempted to quit the meds and see what happens but at the same time I don't want to drop the massive source of pain in my life at the moment (the job) only to create new pain with withdrawals.

Any thoughts?

P.S I love this community, ya all so damn friendly. Why can't the rest of the people of the world be the same?

 

[Superfluous]

Talk to your doctor so he can explain how to taper off your meds. The first time I took anti-depressants, I decided one day I didn't want to continue them and went cold turkey. Really bad idea.

P.S I love this community, ya all so damn friendly. Why can't the rest of the people of the world be the same?

Because we're special

 

[Aardwolf]

I did taper last time, still really bad although that does make me think maybe I should try it but taper slower then see if I see any sign of improvement. Im curious if anyone has quit the meds and then felt a significant improvement.

 

[Superfluous]

Well, my doctor told me how to taper off (dosages, time frames) and that was over 25 years ago. It worked for me, but my condition may not have been as serious as yours, and the meds would have been different.

 

[anna-morphosis]

kinda wish i could get anyone to prescribe me proper antidepressants, but with my history of mania, psychs just put me on mood stabilizers or antipsychotics, which either seemingly do nothing in particular to actually control my mood or fuck with my mind in ways too seriously upsetting to be sustainable. this year i've gone cold turkey from both lamictal and latuda at different points of desperation and the effect seemed to be either minuscule or benign. antidepressants could be super different though, i can't speak to that directly at all. though i gotta say, even when i'm suicidally depressed, i think i still feel somehow more "like myself" in a way i appreciate when i'm off the more heavy-handed meds. figuring out a taper that works is probably the responsible thing to do if going off them before was nightmarish and you wanna avoid that

 

[Soul]

I stopped some meds that no longer seemed to be doing anything; tapering off had a few bumps in it so I was glad I was doing it during a break from work; and in the end I felt no better or worse than I had on the meds.

It's worth a try, right? If you feel worse without them you can taper back on.

 

[SinisterKid]

My first head doc got me started on sertraline. GP added propranalol and head doc introduced mertazapine. I was already on long term amitriptolene. After my 2nd attempt and admittance to a psych facility, the head doc there reduced everything to minimum dose, in effect, making me go cold turkey and the result was terrible. I could not eat or drink, could not focus, could not sleep, had no energy, felt sick constantly and the smell I was giving off just would not go away. I can still get a whiff of that smell when I think about it.

My little head doc was highly annoyed when he found out what happened and instantly put me back on the doses I was taking under his care. I still take those doses today, minus the Ami. I am pretty sure the meds help in some ways, but sometimes, when the void is there, I doubt anything medication wise could stop me entering.

But no, no intentions of stopping medication anytime soon as I do not want to go through that experience again.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

I was on meds for several years but quit them earlier this year and to be honest I regret it. I've had all my bad symptoms slowly creep back up on me, and it seems to be getting worse. The withdrawals weren't so bad initially because I weaned myself off gradually. But now I feel like even my physical symptoms are worsening. So I suppose there must be a psychological element to them.

I guess I wanted to feel like I could be normal without pills, and I was sick of being treated like garbage by mental health services, so I was trying to stop the cycle. But it's looking like something about them did me some good, which I took for granted or else thought was just my default/baseline. I was wrong. So I would say if you sort of feel decent, like you can cope, then stick with what's keeping you stable.