bad experience
- Charmaine, i have been taking lithium for 16 yrs and after epival for 19 yrs(1500mg). Now my life being more stable(retreat) i have decreased them slowly followed by my psychiatrist. I am at 1000 one day and 750 the other day; it works o.k. for me. I should say that the stress and pressure i have is minimum. So it can work for some people. rosedebleu
- —rosedebleu
What convinced me to stay on my meds!
- summer of 2,008, I stopped seroquel, speeding thru a small town b/c I was angry, evaded arrest w/ a motor vehicle... pulled over after 3-4 miles, sobriety check, and car searched (all negative) 7 days in Harris Co. jail (Houston), and when I went before a felony court judge, my court appointed attorney, explained to the judge that I was not drunk, nor high or had any drugs in my car or on me (except for my legal script for klonopin in my purse), but that I was BP and did it b/c I was in full blown manic mode and I panicked. Outcome? They still had to put it on my record for FELONY evading arrest w/motor vehicle, and the judge said: TIME served. End of case. I could have received 1 yr. in state jail, had it not been for this judge who had compassion for me and reasoned that b/c I was and am MI, I did not belong in jail. Thank God, I had this judge, but it is my second felony. I had a prior felony from 2,002 with much worse consequences and at the time not on meds or even dxed.
- —Shartin47
bipolar husband
- Wow... my husband went off his meds for a month, it was horrible. He was either totally manic or depressed sleeping for days. With in a month he managed to get TWO dui, Totalled his truck, loose his job, and spent 1000s of dollars at a stripclub. Stay on the meds. Its awful for yourself and the people who love you.
- —Guest jodi g
I stoped lithium, depakene...
- It's about a month already. After horrible days with nightmares, vomiting, nausea, weakness, and more, I start feeling so good. No more shakings, my speech is normal, my memory is better and I feel confident myself again. I do much better talking to people, and taking decisions. Sometimes I feel a little of anxiety, and depression, but usually is only during the first 2 hours of the day. I am learning how to cope with that. When I recover from those feelings, I write them down and write how I can feel so stronger every day. If I feel down or blue, I read my own notes and give myself hope that for sure I'll be OK and I can be OK, if I fight for that. Well, I'll keep writing telling about my progress.
- —Guest margarida park
I decided to stop my meds
- first week after stopping lithium, depakene and imipramine. Headaches, cold swet, vomiting, nausea, weakness, nightmares. I feel so tired. I decided not to take it anymore any way. Nobody can help me. I'll hold on.
- —margaridaPark
Be VERY carefull quitting Lithium
- I was an exchange student to Japan and was supposed to stay for a year. I brought some lithium with me, but due to a Japanese doctor's translation error I was put on a VERY low dose. In the end I ended up staying up for 16 days. I was the most hyper I've ever been after 16 days. My blood pressure was at a dangerous level. After 16 days I went to a hospital and they freaked. I had lost control of my arms. I couldn’t read English (let alone Japanese) because the letters skipped around so much. I also couldn’t remember what happened even 5 minutes prior. During this I ended up being too scared to leave my room without an escort. When I ran out of food I went without for about 5 days. Mine was a very unusual case, but I hope that anyone who reads this will only quit lithium under a doctor’s close supervision. I'm better now with my American Doc. I experienced a hell that I don’t have time to explain in 1000 characters. You don't want to go there. Peace.
- —Guest Critical Halt
Not so bad for me
- Stopped taking them since early September, 2.5 months.I had more energy,and actually felt like I could pay attention in class more.Lost 25 lbs. Now I feel the opposite.I am completely disinterested in school.I am extremely lazy and my mind wanders.Also,I seem to be getting less social every week,not good.I wouldnt say i have agoraphobia,but dont have much interest in partying,used to every weekend.As far as mood swings go I dont feel that bad, but its hard for me to tell since ive always been this way. I play a lot of poker the $ swings cause my moods. I guess the main difference is when I was on my meds and lost $,I would get angry, now I get more depressed.Not sure if that is do to the meds or my mindset.2 days ago is what scared me though,i stayed awake for about 36 hours and had a huge winning day. I started to feel manic, felt like my brain was having an orgam-pretty cool. After that tho I had manic thoughts like I had in ER.Only lasted 10 mins tho. Thinkin bout goin back on.
- —Guest Dan
Too Stable
- I recently stopped meds gradually because I read that there must be some periods of decomposition in order to get SSDI. I had been doing great for 3 years and was afraid it would work against me. I also wondered what would happen if I went off meds. I had already broken through my meds and was manic when I made this decision. The mania continued to worsen and about a week after I totally discontinued all meds but buspar, I went into a complete rage over something stupid and broke up with my partner of 6 years. I was also very agitated and irritated. I got paranoid and delusional. Then one of my best friends died unexpectedly and I became very depressed and started having panic attacks. I also started hearing my name called when it hadn't been and seeing shadows move that didn't. It was a living hell and my decompostion was duly noted by my psychiatrist and therapists. After the panic attacks started I decided to start taking my meds again at low but increasing doses.
- —Guest Lea
Bad, bad, bad
- I also stopped my meds because I felt that I no longer "needed" them. Bad decision on my part. My life fell apart (again). I have now come to realize that I will be taking Lithium and Seroquel for the rest of my life regardless of how well I think I am.
- —Guest Heatherm
bad experience
- I don't think it is a good idea to stop your medication, decrease, or increase your medication. It can cause you to have a major relapse and your symptoms do get worse. I have tried stopping my meds, but to tell you the truth it is one of the cause many patients become suicidal. It is actually very dangerous and I don't advise anyone to even try stopping their meds even by doing gradually. You are taking a risk and I know because I have experience it in my own personal life.
- —Guest Charmaine
going off meds
- I went off of 300mgs of zoloft cold turkey because that was all I was taking at the time plus benzos. The first three days were great. Then I had that dysphoric mania. My first taste of being psychotic with all the symptoms. It was hell on earth. I got agoraphobia, couldn't eat sleep or form a coherent thought. It took many years to get on track again. I will never go off my meds again. After, all is said, I do get fleeting thoughts to go off them because I am stable. However, I will never do it again because that will mean my family suffers the most and many more hospitalizations. Clara
- —Guest clara
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