jt07 Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Has anybody been tempted to go off meds because the meds aren't working? Sometimes I think I would be better off without meds because I just don't feel like they're doing anything for me. I feel like it's a waste of money. My treatment resistent depression just defies anything that I throw at it. In fact, I don't even get side effects. You can tell by my sig that I'm on a butt load of meds so the fact that I don't get side effects probably seems impossible. But it's true. I must have taken so many meds in my life that I'm immune to everything. I've heard of people who begin to feel better on meds and then go off of them thinking that they are cured. But I've never heard of anyone going off meds because they don't work. I remember when I wasn't on meds. I didn't feel much different than I do now. Perhaps I'd keep the carbomazepine because that helps a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveoak Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 Nope. I would call my doctor and tell him that they are not working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dani Posted July 23, 2011 Share Posted July 23, 2011 I have done that so many times..and its always bad bad bad. Just call your pdoc and Demand a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damik Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I get the same feeling a lot. Except that I do get the side effects and often don't feel the benefits. I know I have to be patient and work with my pdoc but sometimes it is frustrating. I keep telling myself it will get better, we will find the combination that works. There is something out there that will help you. If this isn't the right combination work with your pdoc and try something else, but I wouldn't suggest going off your meds without support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Change to what? I've taken everything, and I can't afford Viibryd. My current pdoc is old fashioned and a fan of a trycyclic + lithium. But I was on that combo years ago and it didn't help then and I doubt it will help now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Damik Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Change to a new pdoc? You may have been on everything but have you been on everything in every sort of combination? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evey Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Do you do any therapy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuttlefish Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I'm actually tempted right now. Always nice when someone else makes a post you can relate to when you need it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Emperor Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Yeah, it happens to me frequently, every time I fall into some kind of depression or long lasting SHITTY mood. Then I think about coming off of them because they're just fucking making me fat and not helping the miserable part. Yeah, I can relate to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
december_brigette Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I have. The most recent was abilify. I was coming off of it anyway. but pdoc was content keeping me at 2mg. Note that I had gone all the way up to 30mg, worked my way down, with pdoc guidance, and I was on 2mg for awhile. Anyway, i went to the pharmacy to pick up my refill and was advised my insurance doubled the price to $80. I said no way in hell and I didn't get it. I didn't have any ill effects because it was such a low dosage that I'd been on awhile after coming down from 30. yes, i know im repeating myself. At my next pdoc appt I told him I wasn't gonna pay that much money and the plan was to come off it anyway. He was totally cool about it. I love him, db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Vapourware Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I've had the same thoughts in the past, when I felt like I was getting unhelpful treatment. For me, it felt dispiriting that my treatment wasn't working, hence my wanting to get off my meds. I also thought that perhaps I could induce a hypomanic episode and feel better, because I tend to get euphoric hypomanias. Being on meds made me feel slowed. However, I'm glad I stuck with treatment. I'm doing a lot better now and I'm fairly stable at the moment. Someone asked If you are doing therapy. I think that's a very valid question. IMO the best treatment plan involves a mix of therapy and medication. Also, you may want to get a second opinion on your med options. Sometimes it's not what meds you've tried but what combo you use as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dedoubt Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I did. I had been thrown onto a lot of new meds all at once by an idiot pdoc and ended up with horrible, horrible SEs (so bad I could barely get out of bed to work or care for my kids). Right after that, I lost my insurance and couldn't get all of the meds discounted. The whole thing seemed horrible and pointless-- my symptoms weren't controlled, the SEs felt like walking death, and then I coudn't pay anyway. I did a very stupid thing and tossed them all at once. The universe must have been looking out for me, because I didn't end up really sick from stopping so quickly. Oddly, I had a really good year. It wasn't perfect, but I didn't feel crazy and my moods weren't too bumpy. Then I had a hypomanic period, and since I know that tosses me back down into the bottomless pit, I went back to a different pdoc and we began the meddy-go-round again. It took awhile (um, five years), but I seem to be stabilized, and not feeling really awful from SEs. Though I was lucky and ended up with one good year, I could just as easily have gone back in the bin, or worse. I wouldn't recommend emulating my past behavior, but you really should talk to your pdoc, or get a new one. Have you ever done a chart of which meds you've taken & in what combinations? That could be useful to see if there is another combination you could try, or a med you didn't know about. Even if you go back to the TCA + lith., you could try a different TCA than you have before.... I really hope you find something that works. In addition to the therapy, do you exercise? Have you looked at dietary changes you could make? Supplements? Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I'll feel "normal" one day and think I feel fine, I don't need all these stupid meds. Then I realize, Hey, stupid, what do you think is making you "normal"? I've wanted to stop all meds, but I know where I'd end up. It SUCKS. I did do the TrueHope EMPowerplus thing. HELL ON EARTH. (Allergic!) I was never so grateful to get back on meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 I'd find a neuropsych. if you can afford one. Therapy matters too, as well as lifestyle. But if you've tried to conventional stuff, then you need a neuropsych, and if that doesn't work, be looking at ECT and shit. Anna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Do you do any therapy? Yes, I'm currently in therapy, and I've done therapy off and on for extended periods in the past. It just doesn't help me. It helps me worse than meds. I don't seem to have the problem of exaggerated and distorted thinking that CBT deals with, and all other types of therapy I've been in has just been me talking as if I can talk myself out of feeling so bad. As an example, in the last session I had with a therapist, I walked out feeling MUCH worse than when I went in. Why I pay for such treatment, I don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 I'd find a neuropsych. if you can afford one. Therapy matters too, as well as lifestyle. But if you've tried to conventional stuff, then you need a neuropsych, and if that doesn't work, be looking at ECT and shit. Anna How do you find a neuropsych? I can't even find a psychopharm. They don't advertise, and they are just all psychiatrists according to the hospital referral line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enlightened_plutonian Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 When I was on AD a few years ago and it wasn't helping me, I would repeatedly return to the doctor and say that I wasn't getting any better and my anxiety was getting worse. I wanted to come off them because I sucked on them. Though, because I am not a doctor and don't really know what I am doing when it comes to meds, I would not come off them on my own. But the doctor would always say that I needed to stay on them for longer, even when I had been on them for years. Personally, looking back now (with what I know now) I think that the AD alone was not enough for me and what I really needed was a combination of AD, AP, and therapy. I do get tempted to come off my AP quite often as well. This is mainly because I get feelings that I am being controlled by my meds and I don't want this to happen, or that I do not have psychosis and it is all a conspiracy of my relative influencing my pdoc. But I can in those times tell myself that I take my meds for either anxiety or sleep and that will make me take them. Though now I know that I am much better on my meds than off them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 ... Though I was lucky and ended up with one good year, I could just as easily have gone back in the bin, or worse. I wouldn't recommend emulating my past behavior, but you really should talk to your pdoc, or get a new one. Have you ever done a chart of which meds you've taken & in what combinations? That could be useful to see if there is another combination you could try, or a med you didn't know about. Even if you go back to the TCA + lith., you could try a different TCA than you have before.... I really hope you find something that works. In addition to the therapy, do you exercise? Have you looked at dietary changes you could make? Supplements? Good luck! Thanks for your suggestions, especially about charting my meds. I haven't done that, and I should. I won't go back to TCAs + lithium because when I was growing up, there were no such things as SSRIs, and so they tried every type of TCA (except imipramine) and even a MAOI on me. I just hate the side effects from TCAs. They all make me feel sleepy and drugged. I've often said that each psychiatrist who prescribes TCAs should be forced to take them and to see what torture they are. For me they were like Benadryl on steroids. I was on a supplement kick a few years ago, but I never found one that worked, and I probably spent a thousand dollars on them. I kept thinking that I must be lacking in something and that the lack was causing my depression. But I never found anything that worked. SAMe seemed to help me physically, but not mentallly. Diet? Yes, I should try that. I need to go back on a starvation diet, because the only time that I ever felt good in my adult life was the time I was on a starvation diet. It's just so hard to get started. By the way, I know what you meant when you said diet - changing the foods that I eat and not trying to lose weight, but changing the foods doesn't help much. Exercise? I have an extremely difficult time just doing what I need to be doing. I am adverse to exercise, and it would be just another thing that "I must do." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blart752 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I'm not sure that going on everything and every sort of combination is the smartest idea. I've been tempted to go off meds, and did. Much to my chagrin. The main med I went off that really affected me was lexapro, maybe cause it was working. and although I did have a good year, when I look back it wasn't that great. I think if you find an actual AP that works, just keep it especially if hallucinations or delusions are your problem), even SSRIs, your better off just sticking with and trying to treat or augment whichever side effects comes with them. I know that there are some unhealthy habits that aren't good with me, like energy drinks and things like that. They make it a little easier when you're trying to eat less. I even tried just plain taurine for a bit, it did actually help a little, for my muscles and focus. Fish oil is a go to for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justme04 Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I have gone off meds before b/c i didn't feel like they were working very well. Even right now, i feel like my med is nothing but a sugar pill sometimes, it's not helping at all. but, as tempting as it is, don't get off your meds, and talk to your pdoc and tell him/her that it isn't working. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obscuremachine Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 I feel like going off my meds at this very moment. For the last 2 weeks or so the depression has returned and my pdoc wants me to wait till my appointment on Thursday before we adjust anything. My guts say "screw it! you don't feel any different than you did before the meds. But yet, I am still rational enough to know the depression is all "in my head", so to speak. So, I will stay on the current prescription program. Sudden changes in medication have usually negative results. Stay on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveoak Posted August 14, 2011 Share Posted August 14, 2011 I have a generalized question. Why do people come on here and ask us if it's ok for them to stop their meds, when they can just call their doctor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LunaRufina Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 It's not necessarily that simple. Sometimes doctors just seem detached and unavailable. Or a person may feel they don't want to be a bother. Or they think they will get put inpatient. Or, or, or... There's fear, distrust, anxiety. I'm not saying it's a bad idea to talk to your doctor. That's the best idea when facing feelings of noncompliance. But no one wants to "be yelled at", and though that is not the typical reaction, the fear of it can be enough to keep people away. Generally doctors are there to help you, many of them have seen many different situations. And keeping open communication with them is the best way to help yourself. They may not fully understand, but that doesn't mean they will be unkind, or haven't encountered people wanting to stop their meds before. Talking to your doctor is really the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooker Posted August 15, 2011 Share Posted August 15, 2011 Nope, I'd probably kick my pdoc in the balls to stay on my meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liveoak Posted August 16, 2011 Share Posted August 16, 2011 Generally doctors are there to help you, many of them have seen many different situations. And keeping open communication with them is the best way to help yourself. They may not fully understand, but that doesn't mean they will be unkind, or haven't encountered people wanting to stop their meds before. Talking to your doctor is really the best option. I'm glad you brought this up. Since it's a very common symptom or behavior, I'll bet pdocs see people every day who want to stop their meds. You won't shock them, disappoint them, or otherwise impact them. I used to worry that I would shock my therapists, but nope. Nothing ever did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted August 16, 2011 Author Share Posted August 16, 2011 I have a generalized question. Why do people come on here and ask us if it's ok for them to stop their meds, when they can just call their doctor? I never asked if it's ok to stop my meds. They're my meds and it's my body. If I want to stop my meds, I will regardless of what anyone says or doesn't say, and that includes my doctor. I asked if anyone were tempted to stop their meds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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