How did you get off your meds?
Posted , 8 users are following.
I have been on and off of anti-depressant medication for the past 8 years. Multiple diagnosis's have been dished out and not a single psychiatrist has been able to effectively help me. By the time any of them start to develop a clear understanding of me and my condition, a new one takes their place as they seem to do a 9month rotation.
What I'm always left with is a new set of eyes translating my symptoms into what seems to be a different understanding of my condition altogether, every time. This then results in new medications and to be quite frank, I'm sick of being a guinea pig. I understand they are just trying to help, but I'm just sick and tired of it all. I'm sure they help millions of people every year, but for myself, it has never truly been the case. They don't even fully understand how the medication they dish out works. They just know it seems to work for some. I have given this system a good 8 years of my life and I feel it is time to walk away and return once they have a more concrete idea of how this all works. I cannot afford to be a zombie that is knocked out every night before bed, and spend 2 hours trying to fully wake up from a self inflicted coma.
My brain fog is taking over and I have never felt so off balance in all my years. My hand eye coordination has gone out the window as well.
Right now I am currently taking this combination on a daily basis:
800mg of Lithium carbonate.
225mg of Venlafaxine
40mg of Mirtazapine
I have been on all sorts before this.
How does one safely come off of this California rocket fuel cocktail with some added lithium on top?
I fully understand that my psychiatrist is meant to be the one to guide me here, but I would would greatly appreciate the insight of a community like this as well.
Thanks
1 like, 4 replies
sam18386 KyleP
Posted
Hi Kyle, do you have someone to reach out to to help you? You need some support and soon. Who do you trust that can help you properly. I think you can't do this on your own, it's too complicated! You can't just pull off all of these in 1 go, you need to be weaned off them. Why have you got so many you need to find that out 1st - maybe off someone independent. I hope you sort this out, for your sake. I refuse to take ANY medication except for the stuff that removes the acid from my stomach and the bowel softener. Good luck.x
donald14046 KyleP
Posted
I was on 150 mg of venlafaxine and 100 mg of the generic Seroquel for 10 years. After ten years with the same psychiatrist, my diagnosis was changed from major depressive disorder to bipolar disorder. She tapered me off of the venlafaxine. In place of Seroquel, she currently has me on Zyprexa 10 mg. I'm still dealing with inconsistent sleep, usually less than 8 hours.
My issue is different than yours. I have insomnia. The Zyprexa is designed for bipolar disorder which is supposed to indirectly address sleep, as bipolar affects sleep patterns.
Overall, getting off medication is not easy. For me, it was replacing medications with other medications instead of going off all medications. Whatever your decision is, consult with your doctor first and then avoid cold-turkey withdrawal.
Hope this helps.
ann55375 KyleP
Posted
well, how good it is to find another person who has had many different medications thrown at them with no success. it has been going on for so long for me i am fed up with it all. mirtazapine for over two years was the longest and i couldnt get dose up as i felt worse. dr took me off. after several,lthers i am left with diazepam and still not well. i dont think for me and others these meds really work. turn you into a zombie. im not having that, so left without. there must be something out there for people who cannot tolerate these meds and dont get better on them. as for your refime, that could be me, i had all that and told them eventually i was not continuing, you cannot domit overnight and drs arent much help but there is help on websites, the mirtazapine withdrawal one is very good. you can keep in touch and pm me if you want. i wish you luck with these witch doctors
sandydandy KyleP
Posted
I went cold-turkey from 14 years of 600 mg Seroquel, 300 mg Lamictal, 1 mg Klonopin and 2 mg Prazosin, overnight. Sorry if spelling etc mistakes. During those years (Seroquel 600 mg being the constant), there was one problem about which I NEVER EVER EVER spoke to a living soul about was sleep/night-time activity. 14 years equals 5,000 nights. Imagine that. One particular night-time event occurred, which prompted, and forced, me to go cold turkey on all the above drugs immediately. I'd been suspicious about Seroquel for years but kept my thoughts quiet, as everyone else knew what was best, and because I didn't want to cause any more pain, I agreed that Seroquel was best for me, and therefore, them. I'd been taking 8 psychiatric pills every day for 14 years as well as about 8 prescription & OTC side-effect pills, which equals approximately 15 pills a day. Simply because I am perceived as being emotionally and behaviorally dysfunctional as is acceptable for the aggregate . Anyway (sorry, am ashaamed because that was a personal exclamation of self-centered frustration). Immediately, I spent 8 to 10 weeks with two hours of sleep a night. You can imagine that. No vomiting, no stomach upset, no nothing. I had vomitting, stomach, thyroid, triglyceride, cholesterol, osteoporosis, during the 14 years. NOTHING after stopping Seroquel (generic). Just light-headedness (probably because of complete loss of appetite (lost 20 pounds). It has taken 6 months to finally reunite with the incredibly imperfect, but human person I used to be. Oddy, my family is so much happier that the old 'me' is back and not the Seroquel Sandy. Thank you for listening.