Getting off medication?

[bchamp]

I've already consulted my psychiatrist about this decision and we're working on it.

I'm on Lexapro 20mg and Lamictal 200mg
Starting with Lexapro moving to 15mg right now.

Does anyone have experience working themselves off of medication? I think I can do it.

 

[Progster]

Do you mean, any medication or this specific medication? Different medications have different withdrawal effects, and they are also different for every person.

I came off Sertraline, and had a lot of brain zaps from it for a while afterwards, I just had to ride it out.

 

[ftfipps]

SSRI medication is a pain to stop cold turkey. You and your doc are spot on with moving to the 15mg of Lexapro. You are lucky you weren't put on an antipsychotic. I just got through those withdrawals. I'm not the same as I was before taking them yet but I'm getting there. Wean off and expect to feel out of sorts for a week or so and after you should be fine.

 

[Fino]

I always stopped medication suddenly because I'm special, but don't do that, it was awful and it's dangerous.

But it depends on the withdrawals. I've withdrawn from many drugs many times, most of them not prescription, and some examples of what I did would be if tiredness or lethargy was part of it, I drank lots of coffee, if anxiety and restlessness were part of it, I exercised and meditated, and I usually used various OTC drugs and supplements for a short period, alcohol frequented somewhere along in there.


There were some where I couldn't really do anything and some that were so bad that I basically cancelled my life and suffered in silence for a while.

All depends on the situation!

I had a friend who used Ecstasy for LSD withdrawals, LSD for ecstasy withdrawals and weed for small breaks in between, believing he found the secret to eternal happiness. It's a long story, but he basically went insane. We're not friends anymore. He said he'd kill me one day. I think I'm getting off topic.

Just know that any discomfort you experience is temporary, and you will be okay! Congratulations on getting off medication, assuming it's a good thing! With a psychiatrist doing it, it probably is good.

Yay, you!

 

[Southern Discomfort]

I do have to agree with @ftfipps on that first part. SSRIs can be a pain to get off for most people.

These's not a lot a psychiatrist can do if you decide you no longer what the stuff, unless you're in a hospital setting and you're a danger to yourself or others there's not a lot they have in their power to keep you on medication if you don't want it so don't worry about that.

Just take it nice and slowly because you don't want to end up at square one end.

 

[Bolletje]

I went cold turkey off of Citalopram and I can't recommend that at all. IT was a stupid thing to do. You gradually decreasing your lexapro sounds like the right way to go about it
I gradually weaned off of Quetiapine, which made me feel flu-like for a few days but otherwise wasn't that much of a bother. (I didn't take a very high dose and didn't take it for long, so that helps).

 

[Autistamatic]

Everyone is different but the cautious, medically supervised approach is by far the best. I was taken off Fluoxetine (Prozac) suddenly on medical advice after being hospitalised once and felt no ill effects whatsoever. Fresh as a daisy My wife on the other hand was put on the SNRI Duloxetine (Cymbalta) a few years ago for fibromyalgia, and cannot get off it. Even the slightest reduction in her dose brings about crippling withdrawal symptoms.
Always be cautious coming off any kind of medication that is taken to moderate your mood or behaviour

 

[George Newman]

Quick question here: if one is on medication and it helps shouldn’t one continue to take said medication? What criteria would one use to decide to wean one off of a medication? If unsupervised could this be a danger? I’ve no experience in this area but am courious. Do these medications have side effects that outweigh the positive effects or is it simply a desire to see if one can manage without them after being in them for a while and have aged a bit more? Thank you for humoring an old man.

 

[Progster]

Quick question here: if one is on medication and it helps shouldn’t one continue to take said medication? What criteria would one use to decide to wean one off of a medication? If unsupervised could this be a danger? I’ve no experience in this area but am courious. Do these medications have side effects that outweigh the positive effects or is it simply a desire to see if one can manage without them after being in them for a while and have aged a bit more? Thank you for humoring an old man.

Sertraline is an SSRI which helps to restore the seratonin correct levels in the brain, and once it has 'worked its magic' and the symptoms of depression have disappeared (after about a year but varies from person to person), then there's really no longer any need to be on it. Side affects vary from person to person - for some, the side effects may outweigh the benefits, in which case they need to switch medication. It's certainly advisable to consult a doctor before coming off a medication, but some people don't. I wouldn't recommend coming off an antidepressant cold turkey.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

Further to Progster's response, SSRIs are also known to become less effective after being used for an extended period of time, so doctors may recommend a patient to come off a medication while it is at it's most effective, so that they will be at their most able to cope with the change.

I came of Sertraline because I was coping really well and both myself and my doctor felt that I could manage without it, as I had benefited from therapy and built up healthy habits and a support network which could help me if I found it tough. We gradually reduced the dose over a few months and I didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms.

Always consult with a doctor/psychiatrist before coming off any medication you have been prescribed.

 

[Pats]

Do you mean, any medication or this specific medication? Different medications have different withdrawal effects, and they are also different for every person.

I came off Sertraline, and had a lot of brain zaps from it for a while afterwards, I just had to ride it out.

I have experienced those and hate them. I tried to describe it to my daughter as hearing this quacking in my head accompanied with a jolt and was incapacitating. She got me a stuffed animal duck that Christmas. lol

Quick question here: if one is on medication and it helps shouldn’t one continue to take said medication? What criteria would one use to decide to wean one off of a medication? If unsupervised could this be a danger? I’ve no experience in this area but am courious. Do these medications have side effects that outweigh the positive effects or is it simply a desire to see if one can manage without them after being in them for a while and have aged a bit more? Thank you for humoring an old man.

I forget what the medication was (would know it if I seen it) several years ago for depression and anxiety. If I forgot to take it, within a few hours I was getting the 'brain zaps' side effect, which felt incapacitating. I thought I'd just try to wean off, but even lowering the dose would cause the same thing. So finally I just decided to stop cold turkey, deal with the zaps for a week or so and move on. I rarely have been on meds most of my life, only a couple times in the past when I was so overcome with anxiety I wanted to just die so it would end. The second thing was an as needed, so no building up required or weaning off. But when I took it I didn't like people even more so I chose not to take any more.
Now and for the part year I take Lexapro (Escitalopram) because I couldn't stop crying over everything - guess they were meltdowns. I was told to start with 1/2 tab, but I started with 1/4 tab because I've always taken half prescribed doses. The 1/4 tab worked great and no more meltdowns left and right. After I lost my soul mate dog I increased it to 1/2 tab and it helped. If I take a whole tablet I start having anxiety, so I keep it anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 tab and doing great. I don't plan to go off this - how many years will I be taking it anyway?

 

[Tom]

There's nothing wrong with trying to come off a medication if you suspect you may not need it or that it isn't really doing much. Taking the fewest meds you need is I believe a good way to go. Just follow your doctors instructions on how to do so. The weaning off process is usually very important.

 

[Theta.G]

1 anti depressant...
1 anticonvulsant...

Anti depressants -

Spoiler

I have experience with the first one this was also around your age too when i came off... It was pretty much an on and off thing for several years because my mother sort of forced it on me. She's sweet and had good intentions but like many others got taken advantage of and completely manipulated by the healthcare system and their authority figures. Anyway. It may get a little rocky toward the end but just know it's the withdrawal "side" effects of the drug and they will wear off soon. While anti-depressants can be difficult to come off of like any other drug they're far from the worst. I do believe you can do it successfully . Still being young your body can handle the changes much better than if this was another decade or 2 down the line. Some things you can do to help yourself out is have some comfort foods, do things you like and love. Maybe have some of those favorite movies of games handy. Plenty of rest and distract yourself from the process if the nasty feelings get a little overwhelming. One of your top priorities should be studying this and see what others have experienced and find out what helped them through it. Often you'll find people who have just come off of the drug or are in the process of getting off they'll be able to provide some more insights unaffected by memory decay.

The teen suicide rate is around 11 / 100,000.
But among users of Prozac, and other anti depressants like it.
Moves from 11 to 718 / 100,000.
6500% increase.
While the exact figures can be debatable / can vary a little, that's beside the point and pointless argument because it is well known that suicide and suicidal tendencies and/or thoughts are common side effects for anti depressants. Why do i bring this up? Because you made the decision to come off and you'll be a free man soon if any of that happens to crop up while you're coming off (suicidal thoughts or tendencies) just realize and tell yourself that is the effect of the drug. It's working it's way out of your system. It's only momentary and soon enough you'll be done with those extreme thoughts and feelings.And you are strong enough to get past this.


From 20mg to 15mg. How many times daily?
20 to 15 seems reasonable. When you get 10 down to 5mg and it if it becomes a little too difficult / too much of a reduction you can see a compounding pharmacy about getting that reduced to 7.5mg then after a couple weeks there when you stabilize go to 5mg and see how it goes.

anticonvulsants

Spoiler

I don't have any personal experience with these. So I'm not sure which parts of the body the drug goes into and inhibits. Before and while you tackle this problem.(Reducing the Lamictal). Try to find the root cause of the issue. If this drug is reducing the severity and/or rate of convulsions odds are that will come back when you get off of them. Do your studies and research on other people who came off of this drug. off of this class of drug. Then you'll know what kind of risks are involved. You'll get an idea of how to deal with the withdrawal effects associated with it. You'll also get some insights into what to do to treat your condition from people who have successfully come off and found healthy alternatives.
I would recommend using the search engine Gibiru.
When it comes to google and duckduckgo finding accurate information surrounding pharmaceuticals and coming off of them is scarce as it's heavily suppressed.

I wish you the best.

 

[Bedlamite]

Taking the fewest meds you need is I believe a good way to go.

Just to throw into the mix my opinion as well as my experience, I think it would be better if people would forgo ingesting any form of toxins and poisons. Don't even attempt to argue semantics with this logic. The "theory" that you can create an artificial immune system or ward off biological maladies by injecting or ingesting "any" foreign substances into a biological entity is still a theory and will always be a theory as long as "death" is one of the adverse side affects.

 

[Tom]

Just to throw into the mix my opinion as well as my experience, I think it would be better if people would forgo ingesting any form of toxins and poisons. Don't even attempt to argue semantics with this logic. The "theory" that you can create an artificial immune system or ward off biological maladies by injecting or ingesting "any" foreign substances into a biological entity is still a theory and will always be a theory as long as "death" is one of the adverse side affects.

To fairly add my experience, I'd have been certainly dead 2 years ago of Accute Leukemia unless I had ingested massive quantities of said 'toxins and poisons'. Medical Science is still a valid science, with theories at the leading edge as they push into new areas.

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Quick question here: if one is on medication and it helps shouldn’t one continue to take said medication?

Well medication isn't supposed to be indefinitely used. Ideally you'd want to get well enough that you can understand what has happened to you and put in places where you can manage a better lifestyle and therefore stop ill mental health from returning. What that could be can be things like exercise, joining clubs for a better social life and eating less unhealthy food.

 

[Pats]

1 anti depressant...
1 anticonvulsant...

Anti depressants -




I wish you the best.

Lamictal is also used for bipolar.
I take Trileptal, which is an anti-seizure med, but it's to slow down nerve impulses to treat trigeminal neuralgia.
Often meds are used for other than intended purposes.

 

[Pats]

To fairly add my experience, I'd have been certainly dead 2 years ago of Accute Leukemia unless I had ingested massive quantities of said 'toxins and poisons'. Medical Science is still a valid science, with theories at the leading edge as they push into new areas.

Glad you are still with us.

 

[WereBear]

I transitioned off Gabapentin in a few months instead of the 18 month taper schedule my doctor gave me by supplementing with chelated magnesium. Start small: they are known to have a laxative effect once you are getting the proper amount, and then you just back off a bit.

Did WONDERS and I'm still taking it because it is so good for mental state support.

 

[Lemon Zing]

Make sure you eat good food, too.