I’m a little nervous this week. As I shared a month ago, I’m currently in the process of weaning myself off the medication I take for my anxiety and depression. Since I am at the lowest level of one of the medications, I have been slowly lowering the dosage on the other medication until I am off it entirely, and I have finally reached the time where I go off that medication entirely – a very big step to take.
In our various appointments, my psychiatrist has shared with me that this will likely be the most difficult part of the process. There’s a good chance that while my body goes through withdrawal and gets the medicine out of my system, symptoms of my depression and anxiety could return. While he wasn’t guaranteeing anything (and did mention that all people are different), it’s a very real possibility that he wanted me to be aware of. I would be silly not to be a little scared, right?
That being said, don’t be afraid if you don’t see a post from me at the times I usually post. I will do my best to keep the blog going and keep posting, but I’ll admit that it won’t be easy. One encouraging thing is that I am in a good place to try and do this – the decision was not made on a whim. I have been on my current meds for the past two and a half years, and by taking all the proper precautions I’m ensuring that I am doing this in the safest way possible. Wish me luck this week – I’ll need all the good vibes sent my way!
Have you ever weaned off a medication (any medication) you’ve taken for a long time? Was it weird? I want to hear about it!
My Brain's Not Broken 
I can’t remember off the top off my head the name of my last medication I came off, but I had been on it I think about 2 years, although this wasn’t the original plan to be on it that long as my doctor wanted me off it by the the first year, but I felt I wasn’t in a good place at the point.
When I did get round to slowly coming off it and I was in a low dose, I do remember feeling the withdrawal effects towards the end when I got myself down to half of the tablet, to coming off it completely. It lasted about 2 weeks. It was strange and I had to remind myself I could do this so I wouldn’t get panicky on a couple of ocassions. But I did do it.
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That’s very encouraging to hear. I think that I will need to remind myself often that I can do it – it won’t work if I don’t trust it!
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Yes. It’s just reminding yourself that you are in a good place to do it too. I used that mantra too at that point. It helped to reassure me because when I did have the symptoms of withdrawal, I was wondering how long it would last and that self-doubt would try to sneak in with the anxiety. So reminding myself I was in a good place to do this and how it felt right was a good thing to remind myself about.
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I’ve come off meds a couple of times in the past. I had my reasons, but unfortunately being well wasn’t one of them. Luckily, though, I didn’t have any weird withdrawal effects.
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Yeah, he couldn’t guarantee anything but he was very adamant about it happening so I’m inclined to believe him.
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I have been taking Lamictal for bipolar depression and a mood stabilizer for 11 years. I cannot even imagine how I would be off medication. It has not caused any problems so I see no need to wean off of it. I am certainly better on the medication than I was off of it. Just my experience.
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Thank you for sharing! I know people who have been on meds for multiple decades – I totally understand where you’re coming from and to be honest that’s why I’m a little nervous to try this.
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Thanks for sharing your journey! Don’t feel like a failure if later you feel you need to resume meds. I’ve discontinued meds for my anxiety before and felt bad about needing to resume them. Just wanna prepare you for that possibility as well. Take care!
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