Anyone ever purposely stop their meds?

[Toobrokentofix]

I've quit mine. I hate them. They take away my feelings until I just feel numb and empty. Have been on various antidepressants since I was 13. I'm now 39 and swear they messed me up though my GP just tells me I need them and they help me! If the "experts" had have helped me deal with the life shit I was going through at the time, instead of Pumping me with meds, I might by now have some concept of my emotions and actual manage to use the therapy I've been paying for for the last decade!

 

[Rocket1Rocket1]

I have tried quitting with Lexapro but after 3 days I give in because of the headache I get. Maybe it's for the better, I think I'm better of with it.

 

[Werewolf]

Yeah I've been on pretty much everything the past 12-15 years. These days I don't use anything, part from the occasional benzo now and then.
Antidepressants just screw with your mind, and with the withdrawals, side effect, I'm never going down that road again. I still suffer from side effects over 2 years later.

Worst I think was when I was convinced I was bipolar and doctors put me on quentiapine combined with xanax and some snri I can't remember. The following 6 months I went into full zombie mode with autopilot on and I basically have zero memory from that time.
Would not recommend

 

[miguel6565]

Ive stopped taking my anti psychotic meds because all they do is mask how i really feel and stop me from expressing it, alongside that they give you horrific side effects.

which type of side effects?,been taking risperidone 2mg every night for 3 weeks now,i just feel myself detached from reality

 

[Seafoam]

I did a few months ago after my stay at the hospital. They were way too strong for me and didn't make me feel any better. Though I started taking my old medicine (Sertraline) that I had left a few days ago since I've been super depressed. I'm upset because I don't really want to be on medication but without it I'm even worse off.

 

[Wisdom3_1-9]

Yes, I did this a few months ago. The first few weeks off were terrible... insomnia, mood swings, pains, etc. Eventually, I settled down and I actually liked not being on my meds. I thought I was fine without them, but my husband found out and told my doctor. Now I'm on different medication. I don't know if it's any better. I don't care that much because I feel like I'll be gone soon.

 

[Metalhead]

Hi, I'm diagnosed with bipolar 2 and have been on many anti-depressants and mood stabilisers. It's pretty much always been the same as soon as I feel good I stop my meds and end up going hypomanic only to be followed by the inevitable crash and depression strikes. Then it's back on the meds again and this cycle just keeps repeating but the depression lasts longer each time.

 

[Acopia]

I'm supposed to be on 3 antidepressants. They've kept me stable for years, but with all this covid I developed horrific depression + anxiety again. I've asked and asked and asked my GP & MH team for a meds review, because I feel like the pills I have to take the time out of my life to swallow three times a day, aren't working. Even if they just reviewed my meds and felt that there was no alternative, I'd be pacified. But every sod has point blank refused to even look and what the NHS dictates I have to put into my body.

So yes, balls to them. I've stopped taking one of my meds and I've tapered down another; they're not making me feel any better so I don't see the point of putting up with the side effects.

- Acopia :3

Yes, I am in the process of coming off Sertraline (Zoloft). I decided I didn't want to deal with the side effects anymore and I am quitting. This is me right now:

View attachment 39578

Sertraline was a bitch when I came off it, good luck to you!

- Acopia :3

 

[BipolarGuy]

Sometimes it's like subconsciously i'll want to feel like my "real" self. Idk I'm weird? Lol

Only because I felt as though I was being given meds and then left without any support.
It's not because I didn't think they were helping.

 

[Mr2005]

Sometimes it's like subconsciously i'll want to feel like my "real" self. Idk I'm weird? Lol

I get it. Have a good old cry. Plus I just don't care enough, I never should have been put on them in the first place. Been off them over a month now. I was taking them so irregularly I had to make my mind up so I did

 

[andy69]

Doctors tried to put me on all kinds of medication for depression. None of them worked. I am depressed because people treat me terribly. I can't find a job. How do drugs help with those things? Antidepressants made me sleep twelve to sixteen hours per day.

 

[iftheworldwasending]

i've started decreasing on some and felt worse and worse and i like feeling worse. i want to get to a place where i don't want to feel or be happy anymore. who knows. but i have been thinking about this, so thank you for posting this.

 

[Dystopic_Momento]

Yes. The last one caused scary hallucinations and weren't supposed to be given for insomnia.

Got a ton of really scary stories about drug pushing doctors/psychiatrists. That's just the last one.

Now I don't have insurance so I just get to worry about the side effects of not getting things treated.

 

[Xocoyotziin]

First when I was on citalopram because it exacerbated my anger issues and depression at once and put me in a hypomanic state at 10mg. Second was buspirone, made me so fucking dizzy I could barely stand at 10mg or whichever splits in the bars I made (5 to 20 but I don't think I ever took the whole thing). I also refused adderall as a ten ish year old lol but came to love it at 19. Over it now though.

All of this points to there being nothing wrong with my brain except for whatever alcohol, and not benzos, tried them too they're hell and I don't understand people who like them, and dissociatives can fix. I'm thankful for that.

 

[Torbasco]

I've tried many times to stop my venlafaxine because of the emotional blunting and potential other effects inhibiting my ability to think and function. But the withdrawal is too severe, it's horribly agonizing brain shocks, fuzzy weak sensations in the limbs, and general sickness for like a month straight. It can potentially kill you from the shock. I never made it past a few days. I've been taking this stuff for over ten years, I genuinely can't believe they let kids get prescribed this stuff, knowing they'll be enslaved to it for their whole lives. It doesn't even help at all at this point, I'm just forced to pay $50 a month for a pill that prevents the withdrawal of not taking it.

 

[valentine]

I stopped taking SSRIs a few weeks ago. They've never helped much and id rather be on fewer drugs. I've been on them for 7 years so I don't remember my "true self" at all.

 

[Superdeterminist]

Stopped prozac like 2 weeks in, hated the side effects and it made me feel weird. I was told to give it a month or two to properly take effect, but ultimately I wasn't willing to wait that long to find out.

 

[JSRF]

Yes, I stopped a few times, but only because they didn't work in the first place. My shrink is amazed how I just take Anti-Depressants with barely any side effects or effects for that matter. And im really trying, always take them in time, never forget a dose, don't drink alcohol etc.