Tried to stop antidepressants

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Thank you for sharing and that's incredible you were able to get off! I did some dangerous things like stopping it cold turkey several times out of desparation. I find it hard to accept being on them like something in my mind telling me that it's limiting my mental ability. Just alot of inner conflicting voices in my mind that say "I don't want to be on this" "stop taking it" "You can do it without it". My Doctor wanted to try to switch me over to Lexapro. I've tried it but am having bad chest pains whenever I take it. A couple medical doctors mentioned they thought I might need to take it for life. That answer just really bothers me though. A part of me wants to believe I don't need this and I can find another way to deal with my issues. Sorry for the long paragraph but thank you so much for sharing it with me!

That's standard advice about that sort of thing, especially if the condition has been a long term one. I was told that about antipsychotics and it turned out to not be the case for me.

The best advice I was given from a psychiatrist on the subject is to consider whether too much or too little medication is the bigger issue. There's usually a dosage range that's safe and effective. If too little isn't a concern, you can always ask for lowering the doses until you need medication or it's low enough to not do anything.

But, it's important to have doctors that are on the same page as you about what the issue is and what the appropriate course of action is. Medication is something that's always kind of dirty in that the medical science underlying it is kind of murky and often times therapy is as effective. But, it's really case by case and it depends upon finding somebody that can provide the right therapy for the client and in some cases medication does seem to legitimately be needed for the long haul.

I appreciate you sharing Matchbox! That's great advice your psychiatrist gave! I had one I saw regularly for 16 years or so and she passed away last year. I've been going to just my primary care doctor. He's really nice and I like him but he was hesitant about trying liquid tapering. I had issues with tolerating side effects. He thought with the liquid tapering the side effects might be worse because of the half-life and absorption rate. I kind of disagreed and wanted to try but was hard to argue with him.

Sometimes I think maybe I really do need it. If I'm honest I wonder if I'm on maybe too little medication. I've been taking a low dose of Paxil for right now (25 mg extended release). I wanted to try Lexapro 10mg after not having tried it for a while and just got chest pain whenever I took it. I do notice the times I've been off medication for several days I am more "obsessive" and have more racing thoughts in my head.

I have to say that talking about it on here really helps alot and I appreciate hearing from you and everyone! I feel alot "lighter" after talking with others about it. Like a weight has been lifted. It's wonderful.

The advice was given with regard to antipsychotics, but it probably applies to most other psychiatric medications to some extent. Hence why it's best to involve a medical professional as I'm not even remotely qualified to tell people what to do with medications beyond whatever their doctor says to do and to bring up any issues that might arise.

I understand but still appreciate hearing your viewpoint! I am definitely going to continue to consult with my Doctor about it.

This is kind of off-topic and kind of not but just as kind of an update. I think I may try to switch Doctors. I ended up having a virtual Doctor's visit last night about concerns I had with my heart with an Express Care Specialist from a competing major provider and it was absolutely wonderful. For the first time since I can remember I felt like my concerns were seen and heard. I can't remember the last time I've experienced that from the providers I've seen. My Doctor I currently see is nice but just don't feel the same experience. I am seriously considering switching to this provider now as it was definitely one of the best experiences I've had in a long, long time.

I've been wondering if it isn't time to try another pharmaceutical depression control.
I'm wary of playing with my adrenergic, serotonergic and dopaminic systems and came across Spravato, which affects none of these greatly.
It seemed to be exactly what I was looking for in direct effects, but on consulting the contraindications it turns out this medication could be particularly hazardous for those with aneurysms.

Like I could expect anything other than the pointy end of a bell curve to sit on.

^ Isn't spravato (esketamine) super expensive?