You may be in denial that you have bipolar disorder and are resisting the treatment. In my experience, I get sick when not on meds and get well with them so I now choose to stay on them. I went off mine once years ago and ended up in the hospital. That was my convincer. I've don't believe that being on meds shortens one's life. I'd do some research on that if I were you. Besides, if I stopped my meds I would probably commit suicide.

There are no "stereotypical BiPolar" people....we're all different, we all have different versions of BiPolar and we all manage our Treatment different.

There are many, many types of meds and brands of meds to treat BiPolar. They don't all have the same side effects, or high side effects, some don't have side effects, it depends on the med and the person taking it. They also don't all "shorten your life span".

BiPolar Disorder is though a disease that does not have a cure and for most people requires management throughout your life. I'm BiPolar of 30 years and yes I've taken meds for 30 years. Stopping and starting psych meds does tend to make symptoms worse and can affect how well meds continue to work, so that is something to think about.

The only way to treat the symptoms of BIPolar is management with meds and other therapeutic modalities, like coping skills and therapy if desired.

Kat

I wouldnt say i was in denial. I do have it, i know this. I guess its just sometimes i feel absolutely fine and dont need meds. As sometimes im like why would i ever quit taking them. Its like i tell myself the lows are temporary and it will change soon so why take meds if im going to be in a better mood in a couple weeks. And i didnt mean to insult anyone when i said stereotypical bipolar. I meant how they depict bipolar on the movies and in media.

Welcome to the board Pretty.....I don't know of anyone and that did well off of medication for bipolar for any length of time

I think appropriate treatment is a gift to you and I would work with trained professionals to discuss questions that you have to come to a healthy conclusion for you

A psychiatrist is an expert in psych medication and can address your questions and concerns..... Big hug......xo

I wonder how you will look at taking meds when a manic turns into a psychotic episode...been there done that...so not cool.

Your decision to take meds or not...I'd only offer to speak frankly with a psydoc of All your concerns and specifics of your particular symptoms.

I have been here before too. I felt like I was super capable without meds at times too. What came to me eventually was a humility about it all - learning to be self responsible - it was a hard lesson to learn. Sending good wishes.

Hi Pretty. Thank you for explaining what you meant so clearly. I am not surprised you feel fine with such good logic and comprehension. To tell the truth I'm a bit jealous of how well you can summarise and address issues. In my mind this is the impression you have created. Sensible and strong. How about that!

On to the issue of BP and meds. It is a sensitive issue and I will tell you why. I lost a good friend, as have others here, to their refusal to take meds and thinking they were cured somehow or didn't have BP. Do you think of it as refusal? Refusal of your medical professionals instructions for your health? If you don't take antidepressants then when your energy swings down into the depressed levels their is no barrier or floor to prevent you crashing into the cellar of destructive thoughts just as becky says when mentioning suicide. As you know some people self harm and there are a wide range of things people do to get "higher than the flames." Things that wind up involving the police and hospitals and suffering for oneself, ones family and ones friends.

If you haven't had these things in your past then you won't fear repeating them like someone who has. If you have you will understand peoples concern for your welfare. We all don't like one possible future we see for you if you continue to ignore your doctors advice and refuse his prescriptions.

Pretty, you didn't offend me in any way, you'll find its pretty hard to offend me actually. Just giving information.

Meds create stability, even for those who don't have severe rise and falls of symptoms all the time. Life is still quite a bit easier to life, when things are stable as opposed to waiting for that next "peak".

I personally at this point am on a pretty low dose of medication for management, it increases in the winter when my symptoms tend to get worse, but I go with the flow. For many of us, as we've lived with BiPolar for many years we learn our Triggers, learn coping skills and ways to "deal" with living a BiPolar life in conjunction with meds, we work with our Pdocs and the goal is to live as regular a life as we can, with as few peaks and valleys as we can. The meds regulate the chemicals in the brain that are at the root of BiPolar Disorder....unfortunately there isn't any other "fix" for that.

Take care,
Kat

Find a different classification of meds..why not try anti convulsants? Not everyone has severe enough symptoms-like psychosis-to be treated with anti-psychotics. Honestly I feel that is the easy answer for providers..to use a med that "covers" everything, just in case. If I were you I would ask to try an anti-convulsant like Equetro or possibly Lamictal (if your mania isn't too bad). Start with more conservative doses then build up if you need too. You have a right to have a say in your care. You don't even have to listen to me...maybe there is another med you think might work better. So go ahead and speak up, you need to be able to tolerate what you take. Plus invest in cognitive therapy if you can, get on a regular schedule and sleep routine to help further regulate your emotions.

Aww, that was nice to log in and everyone had something to say. Thank you all for sharing. I have been off my abilify for about 3 months maybe. I am bipolar type 1 so i do get manic. Thats how i felt when i got off the meds. I am just crashing now tue last couple of weeks and obviously, when we are down, thats when we realize that its not all shits, giggles, rainbows and unicorns. And i have def been here before but when ur up there, u can barely remember being down. And when u do, you justify it with saying it will be short and doesnt last forever. But anyway, without my meds, i feel this uncontrollable rage to distroy things, yell, slam, punch,hit, scream and any other negative action one can take. I have been responsible enough not to hulk smash everything in my path but I have concluded that maybe its time to take my meds again. I do think I want to try a different concoction that will work though. Ive tried a few things, only really remember abilify, but it made me gain weight and coming off was absolute insanity.

I was dx'd in 1984 as BP1, yes I was psychotic. I've never been psychotic since. I have been deeply depressed which lead to a hospitalization in 2010. I do have a few ups but never too high...my dx is now bp2.

Yes abilify does put on the weight. Like Merry said, I do take an anti convulsant...Lamictal, having to start Very Slow at a small dosage. I have rapid cycle bp 2, so I do have some ups, grateful the downs are not so deep into the worm hole

I think the chances of cutting your life short or seriously damaging yourself (or someone else) while manic should be balanced against the possibility of shortening your life due to med taking.

And I would say that last time I checked the evidence re shortening of life due to med taking was somewhat shaky - particularly when you consider the vast differences in the meds involved - lithium carbonate is totally different from something like seroquel. So that would suggest that either some other factors are involved or the decreased life span is only associated with some meds.

But as said, when you factor in life quality, reduction of suicide rates I think on balance meds come out on top.

I know every med reacts differently for different people, but abilify stopped my rage and associated behavior, so maybe you should see about getting on it or some other AP med. I took abilify for many years and about a year ago my pdoc took me off it, slowly, over a 6 month period of time and I didn't have any side effects coming off it. I now take Rexulti as I could not function without an AP. Good luck in finding answers to your problems.

Acuriousfish, thank you for the post. My husband def says the same thing. He says wouldnt you rather live a good life than a long life. Point is noted