Want to stop meds

Everyone on this site who is trying to get off gets to the 37.5 and then all hell breaks loose.  Work with your MD.  Considering your diagnoses there may be something else to help you (did you see about the prozac bridge?)  My MD scoffs at that but everyone is different and it may mean that to keep you balanced you many have to accept and live with pills.

There is no quick fix but I agree I too feel like I'm doing great like I have been then I notice where I'm slipping. Ect excessive shopping trying to boost my mood, going out all the time as don't want to be in the house. Putting myself down and thinking I'm the worst mum!! My son is 11 and after a long discussion my husband and I decided he should know about my illness as he thought we were keeping something from him. He has been great and when I have these days like yesterday he really is my rock but I don't over burden him with it as I still expect him to not worry about me and enjoy his childhood. I would ask for a medication review with the doctors sometimes it's trial and error with these medications.xx

I am so sorry to hear your story. I think you should talk to your Doctor about sorting your meds out to something that suits you. Coming off is not always the answer. We just put ourselves under pressure because we think we should. We want to be 'normal' but define 'normal' - vastly over-rated. We are, who we are and we need to love us - now that is difficult and sometimes we need help to start to like ourselves. Help is out there for a reason. It is not failure but strength to ask for help because that means we are starting the healing process by our decision to seek that help. What we forget is that, that means we are empowered not weak and out of control. You hang in there and get whatever help you can - and if this includes meds then who cares but you need to get the right meds for you and accept that you need what you need. You will be stronger for it. I am coming off my meds because I no-longer have a reason to take them. I had reactive depression and that situation was resolved many years ago. I am not saying that I won't ever need something but I know it is not the Effexor. I have taken the pressure off me, thanks to the help and support from this chat room and realising I am not alone in my symptoms. Hang in there. 

Sorry but it doesn't sound to me as if you should be weaning yourself of medication right no wat all. The medication is not the reason why you feel the way you do or the reason why you don't feel what you want to feel. Your illness is. And the illness is treatable but not when it is mixed with alcohol. Basically it combines into a different kind of drug alongside the meds that does things other than what your drug is supposed to do. It is really very simple, you are overthinking it, that's all. You need help to stop alcohol long enough for your medication to work. You can get to know who you are and feel what you 'need' to feel on medication. Chances are that if you manage to abstain from alcohol you will soon enough stabilize enough to perhaps not even need medication. But you have to be in control first. And that means no self-inflicted addictions in the meantime. You say you are now 48 - this is the worst period in your life to be drinking. You can cause irrepairable damage to your nervous system and your mood and behavior. I am not anti-alcohol, though i no longer drink at all as it does not go down well and makes me feel low for days even after small amounts. But I have seen my mother go through exactly what you are going through. As soon as alcohol was out of the equation she recovered so quickly. She no longer needed medication in fact. Once she was stable for long enough she decided to consume alcohol again. She keeps to moderate amounts now but regular nonethelsess. However, she no longer has symptoms of depression that you are describing. Look into this. Make peace with medication for now and start a war on alcohol instead is what I would advise. Wishing you the best.

and by the way, you say: "I was initially diagnosed as clinically depressed about 20 years ago ( I am 48 now) and then 12 months ago diagnosed as  Bipolar 2. The depression was probably a combination of genetics and life experiences ( so bad you wouldn't believe it) and the bipolar a combination of family history and either life or bad luck" ...

OR perhaps your updated diagnosis is consistent with depressive disorder exacerbated by combining alcohol with medication. Does your psychiatrist know you drink? Or are you, like many here, being "treated" by your GP?

Hi, I was on ven for 2 years until my doc informed me that I was only supposed to be on them for a year. I came off gradually and had horrendous withdrawals. I came onto this forum in desperation and found someone who tried Benadryl with acrivas and said it helped them. I tried it and have never looked back. It helped the brain zaps, insomnia and heightened emotions. When I stopped taking banadryl there was no withdrawal symptoms. I am now on mertazapine and so far so good.