You've discovered the unfortunate truth that sometimes your drug may be your problem.  Actually, a psychiatrist named Peter Breggin wrote a book with that title ("Your Drug May be Your Problem: how and why to stop taking psychiatric medication").  These drugs are toxic, cause unpleasant side effects, and occassionally brain damage or death.  I'm very happy that you removed these dangerous drugs from your life.  Psychiatry is not the answer to your problems....

I am very happy for you. Drug therapy isn't for everyone. If you needed them for a while, or not at all, it is fortunate you took the chance and tried living without meds. I pray that is the case.

However. I, not unlike most bipolar people, have done just what you did, and with horrible results. I have quit entirely twice in my life, and discovered both times that life on them was much better than not taking them at all.

Please watch out for two kinds of people: those that think that psych meds will solve EVERYTHING, and those who think these meds are a waste of time and money. You are a unique person, and you and your doctor (or pDoc) can make these decisions.

God bless you, I pray that your med days are gone forever, and that if (and/or when) you need to begin taking them again, they will help control whatever problems you are facing.

peace,

Winston C. Smith

Hi, GR8life. Congratulations! One of the biggest fallacies about bipolar is that we need to be on our meds the rest of our lives. A lot of people do - don't get me wrong. But the brain - like any other organ - is capable of healing. Also, over the years, as we learn to restructure our lives and manage our illness with recovery techniques, meds become less vital to us.

I know some people who have told me in strict confidence they are not taking meds. They feel they can't go public because people would prejudge them harshly, such as "you're acting that way because you're not on your meds."

I am on one med at a very low dose. I feel much better than I did than when I was on a high dose. But at a certain time in my life I needed the high dose. I needed my brain slowed down until I picked up the skills to manage my illness.

Unfortunately, psychiatry has little faith in our ability to manage our illness. I strongly believe many psychiatrists err on the side of over-medicating us, then leave us on these high doses, even though we are not in crisis.

I'm going to assume you went through some kind of physical and spiritual healing. I'm also going to assume you are very smart about how you manage your illness, and that if you did see a need to go back on a med - even if for a short time - you would not hesitate to do so.

I strongly encourage you to keep posting here at BipolarConnect to let others know how you successfully manage your illness. Our community badly needs to hear from you. In fact, please feel free to contact me here through my BipolarConnect mailbox. I blog here as an "expert patient," and I would love to write a piece on how you manage so well.

Once again, congratulations and talk to you soon -

Hey there . Would you take a second and read the question I posted today . Don't you love asking a uestion and not getting an answer but a question instead . See if my description  seems familiar . I'm like you in that I really like feeling alive . My experience with mood swings is a reality but I have gotten  older and wiser . I feel fenced in by the way the Lamictal makes me feel .