Thinking about Living off Meds

[Faith712]

Hello everyone, I hope you guys are doing good during this pandemic, I hope you are healthy and well.

I am schizoaffective, I hear and see things that are not there and I do have some symptoms of bipolar. I am diagnosed with schizophrenia my freshman year of high school, I was 15 years old.

I was put on abilify and it worked, but I could not function. All I could do was sleep and I was so sedated and tired all the time. From 2008 to 2012 I heard no voices, or I believe I didn't hear any voices. In 2012, I was taken off my abilify because my doctors no longer thought I was schizophrenic. The voices and delusions exploded and I had to be hospitalized.

Ever since 2012, I have went through so many different medications and none of them have worked. I have not retried abilify because I can not function at all on abilify, so I have went through haloperidol, risperidone, Seroquel, Zoloft, prozac, geodon, and am currently on latuda and loxapine. Nothing is working for me.

I have been sedated and drugged for so long. I can not do the things I want to do and live the way I want to live. I am so tired of this. I am tired of sleeping all day and it being nearly impossible for me to do things like chores in my apartment and enjoy football games. Also, I have been on these meds for so long that I get "stuck" ( as one of my past doctors said) and my mind can not process things. I also have these spells where I can't stop looking up at the ceiling and my eyes roll back in my head. (My neurologist believes these are seizures though.)

I do not know what to do or how to think. Writing this, I realize if I want to be symptom free, I should go back to abilify but I also know I can not function at all on the abilify. I believe I was hearing voices on the abilify so I just don't know.

I will talk to my therapist, nurse, and doctor before I get off my meds, if I decide to give it a try. That I will do.

What do you guys think? Does anyone have something to add before I get the ball rolling?

Thank you for reading and thank you for any replies I get. Thank you.

 

[Lost4words]

You need sound medical advice. You need guidance. Nothing wrong in medication. Its a matter of finding the right one for you my friend.

May God wrap His healing arms around you and heal you of your problems.

God bless you

 

[anna ~ grace]

Sometimes medications work. But sometimes, they don’t. Do you mean that your issues with hearing voices have never improved or lessened even with medication?

What I would recommend is going slowly if you do decide to go off of medications. Talk to your doctor. Try something milder. Do not go cold turkey; that could do damage.

What has helped me has been exercise (walking), reducing unhealthy foods, prayer, sleep, avoiding media, and having a dog. I still have problems. But my problems are manageable. I would go slowly, talk to your doctor, and begin this journey by trying a milder, less intense medication. Yanking your brain and nervous system off of medications quickly might do harm.

 

[Faith712]

Sometimes medications work. But sometimes, they don’t. Do you mean that your issues with hearing voices have never improved or lessened even with medication?

What I would recommend is going slowly if you do decide to go off of medications. Talk to your doctor. Try something milder. Do not go cold turkey; that could do damage.

What has helped me has been exercise (walking), reducing unhealthy foods, prayer, sleep, avoiding media, and having a dog. I still have problems. But my problems are manageable. I would go slowly, talk to your doctor, and begin this journey by trying a milder, less intense medication. Yanking your brain and nervous system off of medications quickly might do harm.

For the most part, no, my symptoms did not get better with medication.

I agree with you, and will do that. I will take this slowly. I am scheduled to talk to my nurse and doctor Tuesday so we'll go from there.

This is just something I want to try. I understand this could cause a huge relapse and me getting hospitalized and I am fine with that. If everything doesn't go smoothly, I'll just start back to taking my meds and if I have to, I will get hospitalized.

I am willing to take the risk. I believe if I could get off of these meds, my life would be so much better.

Thank you to everyone who took the time out to read this and reply to this. Thank you so much.

 

[anna ~ grace]

For the most part, no, my symptoms did not get better with medication.

I agree with you, and will do that. I will take this slowly. I am scheduled to talk to my nurse and doctor Tuesday so we'll go from there.

This is just something I want to try. I understand this could cause a huge relapse and me getting hospitalized and I am fine with that. If everything doesn't go smoothly, I'll just start back to taking my meds and if I have to, I will get hospitalized.

I am willing to take the risk. I believe if I could get off of these meds, my life would be so much better.

Thank you to everyone who took the time out to read this and reply to this. Thank you so much.

Just take things slowly. Don't quit overnight. Talk to your doctor, and try to transitions to something less problematic, slowly. This is especially true if these medications haven't even really been helping you at all.

But take it slowly. Make other changes in the meantime, like diet, exercise, less media absorption, fresh air, prayer time, less sugar, and stuff like that. Be kind to yourself, and seek advice and help from your doctor. Expect this process to take a bit of time, but be patient. God bless you, Faith.

 

[justtrance]

My head is going to explode at the idea that someone would say go cold turkey and don't take your meds because it causes heart problems. Those are ignorant statements.

If you don't quit slowly there is a huge possibility that there will be physical and mental side effects depending on how long you've been taking them. These side effects can be life threatening to you and to others.

Please... DON'T TAKE ADVICE FROM STRANGERS ON THE INTERNET ABOUT YOUR HEALTH PROBLEMS! GO TO YOUR DOCTOR AND COUNSELOR.

 

[BookofMatt]

You definitely have to consult your doctor first and foremost. The anti-psychotics I take also make me feel sedated, but I know that if I don't take them, I will 100% relapse and my own goal is to stay out of the hospital. If you're having issues with side effects, always talk to your doctor first about it.

 

[Unqualified]

Just take less abilify.

 

[SeraphimSarov]

I also have schizoaffective along with a plethora of other psychiatric disorders. I understand how you feel. I am sick of being tired and drugged all the time. I too am considering trying life without meds to see if I can handle it.

BUT. BUT. BUT. Do NOT attempt this without a doctor. Do NOT quit your meds cold turkey. You will withdraw. You will very likely have seizures. How do I know? Because I've done it. Multiple times. It's not worth it. You need to go about this the right way, or you will end up in a psych ward, which I know is the last thing I want for myself. So have a heart-to-heart with your treatment team, and let them tell you how to go about what you want to do. It may be that you simply cannot function without meds, and there's nothing wrong with that. There are many, many medications you have not tried, and there may be a combination that does not leave you feeling drugged. Again, again, the only way to know is to work with your doctor.

I'm sorry, but the suggestion that you quit cold turkey is absolutely idiotic and dangerous, and I'm tempted to report those posts because you WILL end up in the hospital if you do that. And I don't mean a psych hospital. Antipsychotic and antidepressant withdrawal often cause dangerous medical conditions. Again, I know because I was stupid enough to do it.

 

[Jeshu]

i would advise strongly against going of your medicine unless they stopped working and then only to replace them with another.

Honest i have quite medicine scores of times always ending up in major psychosis, it has been so incredible disappointing. i tried everything including vitamins and minerals but only medicine kept me out of psychosis.

Now what i have done is go really low on medicine. Over a very long time - years - i have gone from a full dosage to 1/10 of that dosage, and that does it most of the time, though at times i have to take a little more. When something happens for example like falling sick or other things that trigger my condition.

i would love to quit my medicine altogether but i tried it only last year and suffered a psychosis as consequence, not worth it. 1/10 of a full dosage doesn't interfere half as much than going of medicine altogether.

Peace.

 

[FreeinChrist]

ADVISOR HAT

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