Posted by allisonf on August 19, 2003, at 4:16:31
As is usual for most, I have been on and off a whole list of meds since I was diagnosed BP II two years ago. Most of the drugs seem to help for the first 8 weeks or so, and then I have another episode. I've ended up staying on a lot of drugs that I don't think are working just b/c "we can only do one experiment at a time" (has anyone else heard this?) (ie. if we're upping the dose on one thing, we don't want to change anything else in the mix until we know what will happen). I'd really like to try getting off some of this stuff, but I've not been in the greatest shape recently--some rapid cycling, mixed episodes, suicidal ideas, etc. My feeling is that this proves the drugs aren't working, so why shouldn't I start clean? My therapist is of the opinion you shouldn't go off any drugs when you are in a bad way. I just don't want to do what I did last year and wait until the fall to mention it. Last yr my pdoc and therapist informed me of the general medical practice to never take anyone with mood disorders off drugs in winter. Is this true?
Someone on the bd recently suggested I try to do a drug holiday. That appeals to me--I don't want to chuck meds entirely, in fact, if I found one that worked I would be very pro-medication. Right now I just want to clean out my medicine cabinet a little. I don't have any room left in there for the bandaids and such. Any thoughts or experiences are appreciated...
poster:allisonf
thread:252060
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030818/msgs/252060.html