... crash really does suck. But he can do it
I know you are being supportive @
Barconian, but this comment has worried me all day.
All our bodies are different. Giving that advice to keep going off or to off medication unweaned and not medically supervised is very, very dangerous.
Suiciality can increase with the increase and decreasing of medication. It is a vulnerable time and everyone in the situation needs to know what is going on. It is listed as a side effect of a lot of medication so you have to be very careful what you say to people. I experienced this first hand when going off and coming up on a medication under the detailed supervision of my psychiatrist. I almost didn't make it through October. In fact throughout last year I really struggled with si during those changeover periods.
Suddenly decrease in medication can also cause psychotic episodes as well as many other serious physical and mental responses.
Also when some symptoms arise, the serious ones, a person may need to go to casualty immediately. I had a reaction to a medication which could have resulted in permanent brain damage and neurological problems. I am never to take that class of medications again for the rest of my life.
I was lucky that I mentioned the side effects because they were pretty bad at the time. I was totally spaced out.
I was being seen by my GP twice a week at that stage and my psychiatrist once a week. And I still had a very rugged time of it.
In my opinion it is not a good idea to support unsupervised medication usage or decrease or increase. It could cost someone their life.
On the other hand I have been on several medications which at the top level means most people would be highly sedated and sleep the majority of the day away. For me it didn't touch the sides - I was still have panic attacks.
So everyone's body is very different. Some of us can tolerate some medications. Some medications have a short life and impact and some have a long life and impact.
There is a reason why doctors spend so much time in medical school. And you never know what other medications people are taking and how they can heighten adverse reactions.
I know you were being kind and supportive but that seriously disturbed me, particularly after how I was last year during all the medication changeovers. If I had done it on my own without medical advice I am quite certain I would have died as I wouldn't have realised that one set of symptoms were life threatening requiring the immediate weaning off (not total cessation at once,) but a detailed and progressive tapering off.
I would never wish the medication reactions I had last year on anyone.
Anyway that is my fear and concern response.
It was nice of you to be supportive @
Barconian but be mindful that the whole medication thing needs careful monitoring (unless you have been given medication to use at your own disgression and even then it is a good idea to write it down and show it to your professional/s as required. And responsible discussion of this medication needs to be in context of what your medical professionals have said to you about using them. I recently made this mistake and I would hate for anyone to think that I think tinkering or self medicating is okay. It is not. It could cost you or someone else their life. So we need to model best practice at all times and really err on the side of caution.)
