Thinking of stopping all psych meds

[bloodybushman]

What I'm currently taking, for reference:

Bupropion 300mg
Venlafaxine 150mg
Propranolol 10mg (might keep this one?)

I've been medicated since I was 12. I feel like I don't know who I really am. I want to know what and who is under all the medication. Am I a drugged up zombie and don't even notice it? How can I compare unmedicated vs medicated if medicated is all I've known during and after puberty?

I also can't get rid of this idea that my meds are making me worse. That if I stopped taking them, I would finally feel normal. I know this is an unrealistic expectation, but it's been hard to shake off.

I don't feel like I'm in an irrational state of mind. I just want to see what it's like. What's the worst case scenario here? I'm talking things along the lines of threats to my life, not, "You might feel sad :("

I'm not sure if I can taper the Bupropion. I think I've only got the 300mgs around, and they can't be cut as they are extended release. I'd have to scrounge around the family med cabinet to see if someone left my old lower doses in there. I've been on the Bupropion for maybe 2 years now. Would this be catastrophic if I were to go cold turkey? I've previously gone cold turkey on some psych meds when switching, and never experienced side effects. The Venlafaxine can be tapered to 75mg, at least.

Yeah, I'm aware this isn't a bright idea and just makes me sound like I need to be on meds even more. I don't really care.

If I do end up going through with it, I'd be willing to document the journey on here if anyone is curious. If it goes bad, at least it'll be a good way to convince someone else not to follow in my footsteps.

Thanks for reading, even if you decide not to reply :)

 

[whitetaildeer]

Please don't do it. Nearly all of my problems are directly or indirectly caused by me going off medication for 5 years. I know what it's like to feel like you aren't whole or even yourself on medication, but I'd still take that over getting off my meds. Talk to your psych or doctor about how you're feeling and how you think your meds are affecting you.

Also sidebar, I'm sorry, but I love your profile theme. I used to be into TF2 over a decade ago. It's nice to see someone on here who likes it.

 

[usernamesarehard]

What's the worst case scenario here?

I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice, please don't make any decisions based solely on my opinion.

From a cursory search it looks like bupropion and venlafaxine are 'safe' (in that you won't die) if you go cold turkey.
I did go cold turkey on bupropion a year ago. I don't really remember too much from that, but I'm pretty sure I had really bad headaches for a while. I was on 200 mg at the time.

Propranolol on the other hand looks really dangerous. Side effects include high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, chest pain and could trigger a heart attack.

If I were in your position I'd go cold turkey on the bupropion and venlafaxine (I'm not saying to do this. It's a really bad idea, I'm just a dumbass and would be too scared to talk about going off meds. I also have a tendency to quit seeing my doctors sometimes.) and taper off the propranolol. If I thought my doctors wouldn't let me go off, I'd find new doctors, fake that I'm feeling better and don't need the meds and come up with a plan to taper off the propranolol. (But if you're going to do that, you might as well as just taper off everything.)

Personally, I strongly advise talking to your doctor about tapering off all the meds and if they don't agree to help you, go to a different provider and pretend you feel better and don't need the meds anymore.

Part of me is curious about your journey, but part of me really doesn't want you to do this because we have tons of research on the side-effects of going cold turkey on these medications. You really don't have to be a human guinea pig for drugs we know the side-effects of.