I'm debating whether to get off my meds. I've been on Paxil CR, Adderall, and Buspar for about 2 years and have been on/trying different meds for 5 years. I'm sort of wanting to get off my meds and try to adjust/deal with my mild depression and anxiety myself now that I have 5 years of therapy under my belt. I'm scared though that I'll go back to the way I was; sort of suicidal/depressed/always anxious, etc. I'm also worried that if I stop taking my Adderall, my school grades will go back to C's like they were before I was on Adderall. Any suggestions?
Think above the drugs. I went off 40mg Paxil right after high school and I went to college, and I felt a lot better! Just try and gradually go off of them or reduce dosage (esp. for paxil, step down doses) and think positively. Just don't worry about trying to impress anyone and look forward to what you know you can accomplish! Good luck bro.
Do you feel you have dealt with underlying issues while on the meds?- i mean in other ways then taking the meds..... im trying to figure out exactly how to respond but i feel i really want to say something cause i was on two medications and just recently went off of them..... first- if you decide you are gonna stop taking them- with or without a doctors advice... wean off them!!!! i cannot stress that enough.... i went through intense withdrawl my first TWO WEEKS! after i stopped totally taking my meds. even though i HAD been weaning off (tapering down) for three months..... i dont wanna imagine what it would have been like if i didnt. second- the bad things that the medication suppressed WILL come back as a part of the withdrawl... if you have your life more in order, that should go away.... like i said, those depressed and anxious feelings are really a part of the withdrawl and really before... you were kinda numb- those drugs do that and when you stop- things might hit you hard... i got depressed like i used to be when i stopped taking my meds.- thats why i do say make sure you dealt with issues when on your meds i dont mean to scare you.... just to tell you to be prepared... when i stopped my meds, i sat and cried and cried... in spells for "no reason" and felt shaky and heavy however those meds. are bad for you and that goes away. but you have to be prepared to deal with a life where you handle things differently.... maybe the right vitamins and/or herbal supplements, excercise, breathing/meditation and more i think going off meds. can be a very good thing but it can be hard....
Yes .... definately WEAN OFF OF THEM if you go off of them. Never stop taking them abruptly. interval_illusion had alot of good points. anyways ... here's 2 questions to ask yourself: Do you feel better? If so... do you think it is the result of the medication, or maybe because the depression/other problems have subsided and perhaps you have passed through that dark time in your life? Ive suffered with depression and anxiety for many years. In my 20s is when it started getting more severe. In September '04 I finally sought out treatment/counseling. Later they finally put me on a low dosage of Zoloft and I went up to 150 mgs of Zoloft, where I stayed at for about a year. It helped me. I was finally able to do things that I was unable to do before because my life had been so hindered from the "illness". I went off the med around Sept 2005. I began feeling like I could do well without the medication. (I think you will know... you will just feel BETTER, and it will feel right) ............. and I did great for several months after going off the med, in spite of bad things happening in my life (a breakup, job change, then getting fired from my next job...) ........ In december ... is when I began having problems. Maybe it was the stress of everything Id had to go through (Id also had to let my trailer get repossessed because I had lost my job and couldnt make payments, etc... and had to move out-of-state, back in with my folks, which was another stressful scenario altogether) ... maybe it kicked the chemical imbalance back in, I dont know.... but, it was wintertime, and I ALWAYS have problems with S.A.D. .... on top of that I came down with walking pneumonia shortly after moving..... so yeah, alot of bad things happened........ it was winter, I was housebound and very sick, I gained weight, I was hurting emotionally from loss, from everything that had happened the previous year ........ and .................... then it happened. I plunged back into depression. Not as severe as before, but I wasnt about to take the chance of slipping beyond that point, either. So, I went back on Zoloft immediately. I still had a supply of it on hand. But I kept the dosage low, like 25 and then 50 mgs. That was January.... and it helped, I've done pretty well this winter. Ive hit a few bad lows, but nothing like before. In fact... I am beginning to feel well enough now that I am considering going off it again. Im a stronger person now....... and I know I can cope, and I can be confident in knowing if the bad symptoms come along again.... there is always the medicinal option if all else fails. It helps to know the options. I guess my point is..... you have to know your body. If you go off the med.... you may need to resume taking it again, later. If that happens, it doesnt mean you have failed, its nothing to feel bad about and doesnt mean you havent conquered the depression/ . The victory is in being able to live and function well, in spite of these problems. If you can do so without the meds, great! If the meds help, great! But no matter what, the important thing is to not let the depression conquer YOU. Do what helps you. Be confident in yourself and listen to what your body tells you. Good luck!
free2fly.. you have to admit- ill quote you here so you know what im talking about "Do you feel better? If so... do you think it is the result of the medication, or maybe because the depression/other problems have subsided and perhaps you have passed through that dark time in your life?" i think what you later on said about knowing your body.. you are right... BUT... i mean you do kinda know if you are able but there is something about when you're on meds. not really knowing for sure if its the meds. making you feel okay and strong or that YOU are okay and strong. to me i think it can be really hard to know which one it is for sure... honestly- its prolly often BOTH and that's why you gotta make sure you really are ready and intuition does that and tells you that really and like i said before... that you are strong enough for a fight for a while afterwards... i stopped two months ago and bad stuff has happened to me since then.... these things get me upset more then when i was on those drugs- im still counting on my strength and its not supposed to be easy. but you are right, if you have to go back on them.... you said about keeping your doses low and that is key. i think you shouldnt beat yourself up but just be aware.
You are so young to be on so many terrible meds. Try and get off them. By this point you should have worked with your therapist to find what's causing all this and change it so you don't need meds.
