Weaning of meds

[LeeA18]

Hi

i am trying to understand this horrible disease. My ex is wanting to come off his meds. He has been on them for over 1.5 years. I personally don’t think this is a good idea as he has been battling with anxiety lately. He approached his psych, who also said that he shouldn’t do it. So now he is trying to find someone that will help him. I actually think he tried to come off his meds by himself a couple of months ago.

What I want to know, so I can be prepared and supportive, what are your experiences of weaning off them. Were you successful? How long did it take? How do you manage depression/anxiety without the meds?

Thank you

[PamelaR]

Hi LeeA

Good on you for wanting to help your partner. That is so good and thank you for sharing.

Very good questions you've asked. There are quite a number of different threads in the forums about the same question which you might find useful. Try doing a search for:

• stopping medication
• medication discontinuation

Also browse through the threads under the Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition (carers)

One of the major things is - it depends on the medication your partner is taking. I think the consensus is, coming of meds is best done under the guidance of a doctor. The symptoms of withdrawal in some instances can be significant. So care is needed in how a reduction is done.

Some of your other questions:

Being prepare and supportive - Have a look at the thread Are you supporting a depressed partner? My tips from 18 years experience. You can find this under Supporting family and friends with a mental health condition (carers) forum.

what are your experiences of weaning off them. Were you successful? How long did it take? How do you manage depression/anxiety without the meds? I think all the answers to these questions can be found by browsing and looking at some of the others experiences. For myself, I've just reduced my AD's to half of what I was on. So far, so good. My aim is to totally come off, but not sure at the moment. Feeling okay as is, have energy, motivation and inspiration. A bit frightened to come completely off.

Hope some of this helps LeeA. You're not alone. Take care of yourself too. It's important that you do.

Kind regards

PamelaR

[geoff]

Hi Lee, if your ex wants to stop taking his medication because they don't seem to be working, then he should try and change them and as far as I'm concerned my opinion is not to stop them.

I only say this because we have had many people who are feeling so much better, decide they want to stop them, and on these occasions, the only reason they feel better is because of their medication, but later on, whether it's a few weeks or months they then fall back into depression.

I know from myself that if I miss taking my AD's for a couple of days, I instantly fall back into that dark cloud, that's not what I would ever want, and I'll be taking them for life.

I hope your ex can find someone who can help him.

Geoff.

[LeeA18]

Thank you!

he went away for a few days and forgot to take his meds. He had bad withdrawals. He has always been quite irresponsible when it comes to taking them.

I spoke to my psych who agrees that he shouldn’t go off them too. I just don’t think it’s the right time.

I will read up further on it and just support him. But I agree, I think that once he comes off them, it won’t take long for him to go backwards again.

Thank you.

[geoff]

Hi Lee, thank you for replying back to us, it's so helpful for people like you to let us know what's happening, that makes our job rewarding.

Geoff.