Quit antipsychotic medication

[1038947]

Hello...

I have been formally diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder and for about 5 years I have been taking a variety of antipsychotic medications. Lately - the last 7 months - I have been meeting with a new psychiatrist who have been reconsidering my case, putting me on Ritalin and lowering my dosage of Zuclopenthixol, Cisordinol. Now I have a very small dosage of 1 ml every third week. It has been three weeks since the last IM-injection and I dont feel any difference except being able to focus much better, feeling more emotionally relaxed and much less blunted.

Thus I am considering to not take the Cisordinol on monday... My brief psychotic episodes has been largely related to the use of stimulants and now when I am going for drug rehab I want to try without it. What are your experiences quiting with antipsychotics? Considering the low dosage I am taking I believe I will be fine. And I also have 10mgs of Aripiprazole, Abilify.

 

[AfterGlow]

I suggest you follow your new psychiatrist's instructions instead of playing doctor for yourself. It sounds like you're making good progress. Don't mess it up.

 

[VanWeyden]

Hey 103, sounds like you're doing a lot better recently, that is great! Now you want to reevaluate which medication you really need and which can be discontinued. Trying to stop taking Cisordinol is a good idea, but you should talk about this with your psychiatrist and a person you trust and spend a lot of time with. If you develop psychotic symptoms after stopping it, you might be unable to notice these changes yourself - that is a big and common problem with psychosis. Remember, you are also taking Ritalin, which is a stimulant and can also trigger psychotic episodes.

Good luck!

 

[littlepenguin]

I don't think that I am a good example, but when I was younger, my psychiatrist had me on every combination of antipsychotic and antidepressant and antianxiety drugs known to man(lithium, geodone, depakote, paxil & celexa [which I attempted suicide on twice each, because they ignored the fact that I was bipolar and antidepressants alone sent me into a crazy hypermania and then a rapidly nasty declining insane depression]....nothing seemed to work. They were yanking me on and off drugs and I had no clue as to what the fuck was going on. I honestly think it contributed to a significant memory loss, because there are very few things that I can remember from the ages of 13-15. Mostly snapshots of being in the hospital...anyway, my point to this story is that I woke up one day, and looked at the drugs, and said 'fuck it.' It was totally against the advice of my doctors (obviously, one is not supposed to quit anything cold turkey, but I was determined and didn't care). I felt way better after that. Although there are definitely some times that I am fully aware that I should be medicated, and I am also sure that one of these times that I sink into a deep lull of depression, I am going to accidentally axe myself, or when I am on a crazy high, I'm going to drive 90 mpg into a guard rail or something...but as with most people who have ups and downs, I find that I refuse to exist on a medium level. I can't just coast through. Normality is completely foreign to me. Things either need to be fucking amazing or hideously terrible. I know nothing else. So until I get hauled into the looney bin again, I don't plan on being on anymore psychotics.

 

[fantasyaddict]

Why are you on a stimulant when you are prone to psychosis? Ritalin makes me extremely paranoid and irritable. When I have crashed from it, I've become sweaty and panicked while being completely drained of any energy whatsoever. I believe Ritalin is one of the greater evils in the ADD/ADHD instant release class of medications. I can't imagine a psychiatrist issuing this drug to an individual who suffers from the schizoaffective disorder. Glad to hear you are getting help though and good luck to you.

 

[Alex000]

Not sure methylphenidate (Ritalin) is such a good idea, but I don't think taking anti-psychotics regularly is a good idea, either, in fact they are quite dangerous and have a large side-effect profile. I say if you feel you can do well without anti-psychotics, go for it, but keep them on hand to be used as needed if you indeed are prone to psychosis, that way if you feel a psychotic/manic episode coming on, you can take a single dose and let it do its job.