Bipolar recovering alkie/addict here.....hello....

I would never stop my closely monitored meds regime and doctor visits.

I had to accept my mental disorder/chemical imbalance
just as I do with my disease of addiction...

But waking up and applying prayer and positive thinking
has helped me to recover and I believe will help me to
recover and build a happy and productive life indefinitely.

Why take a buutload of medicine every night when all you
do is whine all day...

I would bet the meds would be ineffective and the poor
mental attitude would lead to relapse....

And make everyone around me miserable...and not to mention..

how would I ever be able to reach out and inspire others?

Just MHO.....

Love,

:andy:

Sherry

Ouch. That was great, Sherry.

Something for me to sleep on. :)

Ahhhh Ten..

You know you're a lamb.

Love,

:flower5:

Sherry

This is where some of the danger lies, really- it can too easily be turned around and turned into (in most cases further) self- blame for things which go wrong- many of which you do not have a say in (I had cancer, for instance, am fine now but was not helped by the rage I felt when someone told me it was all my "inner anger" which had physically manifested). A positive attitude *is* better for you than a negative one, to be sure, but it is not going to keep you dry when it rains. For that you need an umbrella and to engage in the act of opening it.

You mentioned something about "answers". I think there is a lot of fear in not having answers. Sometimes, though, it is ok to not have an answer. In my experience it can be better to not have an answer rather than to have the wrong answer. (Example- There is a clear liquid in an unmarked bottle. Is it water? Don't know- don't drink it. Someone says "yeah, it's water" you drink it, but it's not. You're now ill.)

lol

Please allow me to share my personal experience.

I was diagnosed as Bipolar in my early teens. I have been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and treatment centers. It wasn't until I took responsibility for MY thoughts and made a concerted effort to practice love toward others and patience that I began to feel better. All the pills (the prozac, seroquel, wellbutin, ativan, klonopin, etc...) never changed the way I felt about myself. Until I realized that life was worth living and did what I needed to do whether I felt like doing it or not, that I chucked my pills too. I grew tired of being a slave to psychiatrist appointments and other people's labels. I am the only person who can define ME. I let go of resentments and practiced loving others, even those who aren't very nice people. See, I always used to think that if people would just be nice to me, I'd feel better. But when people are mean, it's really just because deep down inside they are unhappy and it has nothing to do with me. So, as a result of practicing love and tolerance and letting go of resentments, I have grown more in the last year than in all the treatment centers I've ever been in.

As a result, I am clean and sober and happier than I've ever been in my 37 years on this earth. I don't take prescription medication anymore and I feel great.

I realize not everyone can do this as they are not ready and may never be ready. I just knew that I was ready.

Thanks for the great post. Good job taking control of your life and making it better! Gotta watch out for those doctors these days....they are always trying to put pple on meds.

If it worked for you, that's wonderful.
It's also true that there are people who suffer from chemical imbalances. For them to stop taking their meds can easily mean death. It's happened FAR too often! Especially when people try to play doctor and tell them they don't *need* their meds.

All people need to do what's right for them.
Other people should not interfer with the decisions made by a person in conjunction with their own doctor.
We are not medical professionals here. We don't play doctor. It's too dangerous to screw around with another person's life.
And a *real* doctor would NEVER try to diagnose someone, or tell them they don't need meds online.

Sometimes, we gotta watch out for those who *think* they know better for someone else. Especially when they don't know the other person.

Shalom!

I work CBT as well as take Paxil. Both are very important to my recovery. I could not do it without both. Everyone is different but that is my experience.

I am very careful with medication and do a lot of my own research. I think we all should take care of ourselves when it comes to medication or medical advice. With knowledge we can protect ourselves and our families.

I've had numerous times when I have had to jump in and make my own decisions. I've seen many mistakes made by physicians with the clients I work with. I've had doctors continue medications when I told them I had serious side effects. Sometimes it's a real joke.

On the other hand there are many bi-polar patients who stop taking medication with terrible consequences. I've also seen this many times. I've seen many relapses on the forums from those who quit taking their medication. I think careful planning, informed decisions, and careful monitoring by a physician you can trust is the best way to make desired changes.

I'm very happy this has worked for you divinedesign21. It sounds like you really worked hard at it with good results. That's quite an accomplishment.

Congratulations!

Hi,

Your post is very uplifting at first blush but if I may, I would like to register disagreement with your concept of "readiness" if that implies personal progress made through one's efforts. As historyteach explained, there are many psychiatric conditions which defy all personal control, so it's important not to give readers the impression that they are still sick because they aren't ready for better.

Hope that makes sense, and apologies if I misread you! :)

I believe everyone is on their own path and will do what is needed when it is time. There is timing in life (such as it takes 9months from conception to birth). It was my time. My post implied nothing of anyone elses timing, simply my own.

The implication is that if there are "many" psychiatric conditions which defy all personal control, there are "some" which don't.

Here in the UK there is genuine concern that we are following the US and throwing pills at sadness, emotional instabilities, idiosyncracies which are well within the spectrum of normal human emotions and perfectly natural psychiatric troughs. What DivineDesign21 describes is his/her experience of applying some personal therapy from which s/he has experienced benefits. Although I would never say to anyone that they "should" discontinue medication, I confess that I'm of the opinioon that lots of people would do better working on getting well, rather than taking medication which keeps them able to cliam they're sick - "I must be ill, I have to take pills".

I write this as someone who buried a very, very dear friend who killed himself as a result of a psychotic episode. It cured me of ever using the word "depressed" about myself.

I have difficulty with your post Divine....

I have been a pillhead since my mom gave me my first Librium

at the age of 19 when I was suffering a psychotic episode of PPD.

The came the doctor visit and the Valium..for ten years..then the

Xanax for 5 more..then the drinking career and rehabs, relapses.

OH MY!

My last drink was 2/8/06. My last speed pill 6/8/06. My medical

doctor tried me for a month on Prozac on 7/1/06...at the end

of the month I was speeding into outer space...an indication

of bipolar. Seroquel helped...but I could not function well..

He referred me to Behavioral Health on 9/1/06. I did not want to

have bipolar. But they bore with me and allowed one

psychologist and 2 psychiatrists to diagnose me. What they all

agreed on was Biploar Type I!!!!! Wow. I went through the

same struggle with acceptance of mental disorder as I had with

being an alcoholic and an addict.

My own staunch NA BF feels I will get to the place where I will

throw away my "pills". And that hurts. I wonder what he would

do if I did and spun out of control?

So, please, for folks like me who have asked their Higher Power

to guide their doctors concerniong their treatment..please don't

say we are "not ready."

I self medicated the ups and downs for too many years to

throw away the help I so thankfully now have.

Love,

IO

This

I am not claiming to be better than anyone else. I felt like medication was holding me back. I can't speak as to what anyone else should do in their own life.

Again, I said it was my own personal experience and I did not claim that anyone else should do as I did or that anyone who doesn't is less of a person. That is an interpretation you made for yourself.

And the truth is, some people may never come to a place in life where they trust in something other than doctors. I don't really trust them, nor the pharmaceutical industry.

And, what I meant by "ready" was coming to a place of peace within that stands the test of time. Knowing I would be ok without them. Some people will just simply not believe that and that is OKAY!

I had a leader at an NA meeting that believed that. She died in the meeting from a grand mal seizure after stopping her medication several months prior. It is more than 'trust', and knowning more than the doctors.

The truth is also that some people have very serious chemical imbalances in their brains and need medication to lead anything approaching a normal life.

I also think there is often a quickness to prescribe, but I know from personal experience that there are a lot of people who do need that help. I also know that just "feeling ready" to let go of the pills can lead to some horrific consequences.

There are some things which you cannot wil yourself out of.

I am glad your situation was different.

Hi all having slep on my previous post I just wanted to clarify. I don't simply have a perception of the US as a pill-popping culture. Since the US has given us pretty much all of the non-chemical therapeutic systems too!

Divinedesign21, I feel like you've had a bit of a bashing, but I very much read your posts as you sharing your experience, not as you suggesting that everyone should do what you have done. People seem to get a wee bit defensive that the drugs they are on are necessary, when I didn't think that you suggested otherwise!

And I always love to read a story of people making happy progress, however they do it!

I am not on medication for seizures. I was on Wellbutrin and Seroquel for bipolar, which is considered to be a pretty serious chemical imbalance. I talked this over with my doctor and told him I didn't want to take them any more. I was weaned off slowly (except the seroquel- I just stopped taking it because it made me like a zombie.)

What I meant by "ready" is that I was ready to take the RISK of something going wrong. I arranged for time off of work and my daughter is staying with my mom for a while so that if anything does go wrong, other people will be minimally effected. So far, things are a million times better. I am focused, clear and happy without the use of a substance.

Even Candace Pert, MD, who discovered the opiate receptor, wrote in her book, "Molecules of Emotion: Why we feel the way we feel" that even when we take antidepressants, we are using chemicals to change the way we feel.

That FOR ME and ME ONLY, made sense.

This post is NOT about what anyone else should do, say or believe. It's about what I did.

I am glad to see that you are doing it responsibly, with the consideration for the effects this could have on others (particularly your daughter). That you are doing this with the knowledge of your doctor is very very good, indeed.

My aunt did it on her own, with self-medicating (cocaine, perhaps the worst possible choice for her) and, as is often the case in that situation, it did not go so well. The process you are going through seems to be one taken with caution and due consideration. I do hope it goes well. Your path is your path, of course, I never meant to suggest otherwise.