Why do people decided to go off medication?

When I ask this I dont mean stopping medication due to side effects. I also dont mean stopping medication when in a manic state or refusal. I am talking about people who are stable, or content and decide they " should" stop medication because things are good. Should the goal with medication be to get better and then stop?

Maybe it's just me, but I view mental illnesses like bipolar ( I am BPII) as chronic, life long conditions that require daily treatment in order to control and manage it. Sure there are times when things are going well, and for some people those periods being well can last years and years even to the point of completely controlled. If that is the case and meds did this for you why stop? Wouldnt it be safe to say the medication is what helps you manage your mental illness?

I know for me, I was hospitalized 2 months post pardom(sp) and they put me on the cocktail I am on now and within 4 days I was like a new person. It saved my life. I have had a few times were I have what I call manageable "flare ups" but nothing that required anything more than some therapy and TLC, or a dose adjustment. I have no intention of going off my medication because how I felt during that last hospitalization (15 years ago) is still fresh in my mind and I distinctly remember how badly I felt and how my family suffered.

Let me just say that I do not think there is a bipolar person alive who hasnt tried to go off meds, thinking they didnt need them. IMO part of bipolar is a condition that attempts to "trick" you into thinking you are cured and tempting you to go off medication. Many times I think this happens when someone has been on meds a year or two. I think the more time you are on medication and stable, the less likely you are to feel like that. I believe that with bipolar comes periods of non-compliance. There was one medication that I knew could make you gain weight and I didnt take the dose recommended. So I and my family had to suffer while until I finally realized that stability was more important. The medication was still in a class that is known for weight gain but it was the most weight-neutral of that class and the understanding was if things went off the rails with my physical health I could go down to a different dose or different medication.

But for the stable people who pretty much live a normal life what prompts you to want to stop your medication?
I think people get it in their heads that they shouldnt be on medication to be "normal". That the medication is a stepping stone and that therapy should replace it. Or that medication is bad long term. Or that the goal is to heal and wean of meds until you are self managing. But why do people feel that way? Mental illness is a real thing. Bipolar is about brain wiring and chemistry- it is at least biological. Its not something that covers up the "true" person. When things like bipolar are properly diagnosed and treated, isnt that like being on a dose of Blood pressure meds that works to control your blood pressure? Isnt it the same as someone who needs reading glasses?

People ( not just diagnosed people but society in general) tend to think that because mental illness symptoms manifest in ways that are emotional feelings, thoughts and expressions, that if those symptoms are managed well, that means they are not an issue any more. Like finishing an antibiotic, the infection is over so you should stop. So they stigmatize people who take regular medication somehow acting like they are superior because they dont need medication. Those types of people tend to hand out unsolicited advice on why regular medication isnt necessary or worse-harp on the idea that meds are dangerous or harmful. When this happens with family its really bad because a loved one holds more weight in our decision making.
Just like someone who needs insulin or blood pressure meds, or cholesteral meds- my BP meds and ADHD meds are life or death for me. Without them it is only a matter of time before things will slowly go down hill. Many people stop medication and do well a long time but symptoms can flare up at any time and like a flash you could end up where you were when you started medication.

Just to be clear: I am not talking about people who are in an episode stopping meds, or people that cant take them due to side effects or cant afford them- I am just asking about rational stable people deciding they do not need meds or are stable enough or 'cured'.

My husband and I both eventually stopped meds and have done well.

I held a bipolar diagnosis, but in retrospect, I suspect it was more recurrent major depression and anxiety stemming from PTSD. One of my clues was that despite being on medications for bipolar that were supposed to be preventative, every stinking time I spiraled into severe depression and ended up hospitalized, I had been taking my preventative bipolar meds consistently -- they weren't really preventing anything. I never felt that I was manic, and the closest thing to hypomanic I experienced were bouts of insomnia and some hypervigilance about certain goals/tasks -- all which could be explained in terms of PTSD. I loved my psychiatrist, but I think he missed the boat on my diagnosis.

My husband was in a similar situation. Labeled bipolar but never really displayed all the symptoms. Probably what turned the tide was that he was on lithium -- getting blood work regularly -- and went into kidney failure because of lithium toxicity. He was in the ICU on dialysis and completely psychotic because the dialysis pulled all meds off his system abruptly. It was absolutely traumatic. We nearly lost him that week.

It was at that point that I made the decision to decrease what meds we were both on to only what was absolutely necessary. Coincidentally, about that time I ended up with a horrid stomach virus and couldn't take my meds for about a week. I let my pdoc know so he could advise how to restart them, and when it came time to restart them, I just couldn't make myself take them -- this was just weeks after the issues with my husband.

I had already decreased my therapy at that point, realizing I wasn't really utilizing my sessions much anymore, and I just decided to give myself time without meds (since I had already kind of involuntarily had to stop them) to see how things went. I was at that point open to restarting if I saw problems. I let my pdoc know where I was, and he was actually very supportive of me giving it a shot.

I've never had to go back on meds -- it's been I think 8 years. I've never been depressed or anxious again to the point that I was unable to work through it pretty quickly and on my own without incident. I consider myself very stable and while I don't consider my PTSD "cured" - it still creeps in from time to time - I also don't suffer from chronic symptoms that require psych meds or therapy.

My husband also didn't go back on meds after the lithium toxicity nightmare. The dialysis had fully cleaned out all meds (rather traumatically), and when it was time to restart meds we both insisted on changes. Absolutely NO MORE lithium! We had already recognized that lamictal caused him serious memory issues, so that was out. He, too, just decided to try it without and realized he didn't need all the meds either. He also has not had to be in therapy either since then. He has a low dose of trazodone he takes to help him sleep because he has a pain disorder that makes it hard for him to go to sleep (but even that dose in miniscule at this point). His complicated health issues make it probably safer that he isn't on any additional meds if possible.

The most common reason for discontinuing psych meds NUMB , people experience a flat affect ,no highs or lows of any kind , that gets on there nerves more than "original diagnosis " sex doesn't feel good ,driving fast and taking unreasonable chances elicits no fear , a close friend dies ,they don't feel grief ,all are alarming situations that you should feel something and they don't, that becomes the new problem not feeling isn't normal or human .

I have Bipolar 1

I had lots of meds I had to stop because of side effects I think everyone does at some point.

I stopped my meds once not really thinking I was cured I just felt disconnected from the world around me. I was off then a couple weeks and I felt I was alive again, I could see , hear touch things. 6/8 months later I started to destabilize so I went back on meds.

I am currently off meds since last March... not to specific side effects. But I have a lot of physical illness that require a lot medications. I just felt chemically over whelmed. I felt so sick, ill, terrible all the time. I have a fatty liver , PsA, psoriasis and Fibro , CFS , etc etc is a long list Asthma Meds and few others

So I truly felt compelled to take a medication break off any meds possible psych or physical.

I set up a good taper schedule .. one Med at a time , factored in the half life and then time for my brain to function sans meds.

I got off 7 meds I think.. physically I felt clearer, I didn’t feel as bogged down, I didn’t really have any problems.

I had quite a bit of situational things happen but my reaction was the same as anyone’s would be.

I started Humira for my PsA but come to find out 4 months later during a 6 week battle with terrible asthma flare that Humira caused it.

So just lots of crap.

Anyway before I did stop meds , I had a long talk to my husband, I told him if I can’t see myself destabilizing then I will trust his judgment and go back on meds. I’ve had some bleeps here and there , feeling depressed for a week here and there not so much feeling up because I just have too many chronic pain conditions tamps that down quite a bit.

Will I need meds again?? Oh yeah I’m certain I will ... maybe next week or 3 months from now or longer.

I was taking such a large amount of chemicals daily I truly felt my body just needed a break , I felt like it was all mingling into a toxic soup.

I know I’ll always have Bipolar , in all reality going back in my life I was showing signs at age 6 , treated a few times in my 20’s for depression. Looking back I just went hypo:manic for months and months

I was finally diagnosed BP at 43 , I’ll be 53 this year.

Big Pharma infuriates me. I truly feel they can make more truly weight neutral meds. But why? All those companies make drugs to treat hpb, diabetes, surgeries for ruined joints from excess weigh... here take this Med oh geee sorry it gives you akathesia but it’s okay we have a Med for that ... etc etc etc Oh yeah you will get use to that hand tremor blah blah blah

As long as I am the best me I can be , go about my life, it not effect my marriage and loved ones I will stay off

One day I’ll probably wake up and think “Yep” time to get back on that train.. I’ll probably be sad of course but everyday my liver and kidneys thank me for giving them a break from chemicals.

Hope all that ^ rambling makes some kinda sense

That's like the glamorous commercials for there latest chemical for the chemicals your already taking they make Tardive Dyskinesia look neccesary .

And Bikktarvy for HIV if you listen to the commercial they say research is showing that if you stay on it ,your viral load could be so low you may not transmit the virus during sex , so trust your life and your partners life to big Pharma's private research on there 200,000 buck a year drug scam , sorry I am cynical .

Yeah I hit a wall once and it fell on me , I was given Haldol... it really helped quickly.. 3 weeks in and I had my first experience with akathesia ? Holy hell I was losing my mind.. frantic call to Pdoc , “ I’ll call in a script” I picked it up and after about a hour things calmed down, I was literally hugging my fantastic best friend cogentin.... well a month or so went by and I have a couple break through issues with it..

So for me to take THIS drug I have to TAKE that one ??? Nope , when I saw my Pdoc we tried something else.

Those damn TD commercials are scary!!!

Big Pharma is a horrible monster in my opinion

One thing I truly appreciate about you,you don't catastrophes, your always matter of fact.

my friend's mom would always go off when she was stable because then she didn't need them. BUT once she destabilized she wouldn't take them until forced to at the hospital because they were trying to poison her with them.

Then she'd get stable again repeat ad nauseam.

I went off everything in 2012 because I was doing well. Did great for a few months, then had a massive recurrence. Back on everything again.

Yeah, honestly, I fall into this category. I think I'm doing well then I "trick" myself into thinking I would be doing "better" without the meds. That's the reason. I think it's a lack of self-esteem for me. It's something I need to work on -- because I've been stable for years now. I need to trust my psychiatrist more. That's for sure. I am working on making meds a non-negotiable thing for myself. I trust my psychiatrist. So why should I go off meds at all? There is absolutely no reason for me right now. My psychiatrist will determine when and how much to reduce the doses.

For me as long as I’m on meds I will feel sick....at the mercy of doctors and medications. I only had one episode really so they weren’t even sure I had bipolar until I tapered off and even then it didn’t come back for nine months. I still wonder how frequent my episodes would be and if I could make it through without meds but it’s psychosis so not worth the risk.

Most depression meds have not been evaluated for long term use. We don't know for sure what the long term effects may be. There is growing evidence that they cause long term sexual side effects, even after discontinuation. So I think that is one reason people want to get off of them-just because we don't know what long term effects might be. Also, there is growing evidence that the longer you take them, the harder it is to get off. For me, it was because they don't work. So I guess I can't really answer your question.

I am sorry--they were hard to get off because they did not work?