Posted by 49er on January 20, 2011, at 4:19:03
In reply to can you taper and thrive?, posted by Christ_empowered on January 18, 2011, at 19:12:20
> I've been off meds before--I stopped them suddenly, did OK, then had a period of agitation, parranoia, and psychosis, so I had to not only go back on the medication, I had to go on a higher dose to get the problems under control.
>
> Now, I'm wondering...does there come a time when you can safely, slowly taper off your meds? I don't want to waste my life being crazed or end up in a mental institution, but I do wonder if at some point, after maybe a couple years w/o depression, mania, or significant psychosis, I could slowly taper off and live w/o meds and psychiatrists?
>
> Any thoughts?Of course your mileage will vary but for me, the answer is yes, by doing it very slowly. I tapered off of a 4 med cocktail generally at 10% of current dose every 4 weeks. I have not had any relapses in spite of dealing with issues like a relative's death and job instability.
Were you diagnosed with BP or schizophrenia prior to being placed on meds or where these symptoms as the result of cold turkeying meds?
49er
poster:49er
thread:977368
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110115/msgs/977509.html