I have stopped taking 2 of my anti depressants cuz they were making me feel worse.

yes I did . I just wanted to feel alive for a while. Its not worth it though is it ??? Sorry you have to go through this with your wife. I dont have anyone to answer to only myself so its easier for me to skip meds. You can win her trust back but you will have to take your meds.

I don't find that lithium is a drag...in fact it improves my mood just knowing that I won't be going into mania. That may just be differences in how we react but to me cutting down on a med without involving your doc is asking for trouble.

I have a pdoc appointment this week so I'm hoping to have my lithium lowed. It's a total drag, I mean I shake like a parkisons patient. Can barley write my name.

I would like to do what you did ,I also take lithium.But in my research on lithium I found that apr. 15-25% of the poeple who go off it will not respond to lithium anymore.

Wich would mean I would have to go back on depacote and I dont like it.

Maybee you are on to high a dosage I had to drop down to 900 mg from 1200 mg because the side efects made me feel overwelmed.

Mine was lowered from 1200 to 1000 and it did make a difference to the tremors. That said I was not as bad as you are on it

I understand about feeling like a parkinson patient. I have had store cashiers ask me if I am ok and I am at a lower dosage now.Some times I cant even see that my hands are shaking that bad but other people are noticing it.

Yes, I have skipped meds on purpose for the same reasons you listed. I always tell my husband, even though I don't think it is anyone's business. He only gets upset when I accidently forget my meds.

I'm not sure this is a trust issue. I have been married for 27 years, but some things are still personal to each of us. My meds are my business. It's his business if he wants to eat three hamburgers. If he went behind my back and ate a fourth hamburger, I wouldn't nag him. Just a simple, "You are a grown man, you know better."

Don't be so hard on yourself. Your medicine is your responsibility, and your decision to take it. It sounds like you have already learned that the hard way.

Hope things get better for you. MK

Yes, I have stopped taking a med because it made me feel horrible. I did it with everyone's knowledge and got in to see the doc quickly to get a med change.

So I don't think it was that you stopped taking lithium, it's that you weren't honest about it. Talk to your partner, be open and honest with her. And see the doc asap to get you on meds that you have no problem taking.

I also have played doctor and cut back on many of my meds stopping Lithium and others too.

I have paid a heavy price too. These are just to save my meds so they last longer since I don't have insurance anymore.

My last manic experience was downright scary and I don't want to feel that again. It was the closest I have been to drinking in almost 20 years which is a very bad place to be in.

Im not on lithium but I take my meds.. mania=crash.. for me stability is worth it to stay on the meds....the constant ups and downs.. I find they just take too much out of me and they do effect those that care about us.. I understand where you're coming from though..x

I was off a lot of my meds a few months ago due to an inability to get them and I ended up involuntary in the hospital

I do not take Lithium, but I often have the urge to go off my meds. However, if I do i know I will lose my job and not be stable enough to function.

My story goes back to 1993 when I was 1st diagnosed with BP, they called it manic depression then. . .I had been extremely depressed and was put on anti-depressants. Unfortunately it was not known that I had BP and the anti-depressants caused me to have a MAJOR manic episode. I remember bits and pieces of what happened; kind of like if you've ever drank too much and can't remember much. It was a very scary place to be; I didn't realize what was happening to me. I ended up coming back to "reality" and found myself in a psychiatric ward of a hospital trying to make sense of what happened to me. . .As a result of this experience, I take my meds. because I don't ever want that to happen to me again and thankfully I've not had to be hospitalized again. . . Caffiene is enough for me to feel more energized and perky. I do have to watch my intake of it though, because some times it causes me to stay up all night. And, I know that lack of sleep for long periods of time leads to mania. I don't like having to take meds., however, if it will keep me from ending up in the hospital again; I'm all for it.

I have stopped all my medications without a doctor more than once and ended up in a REALLY bad place within a year or two. I also made myself REALLY sick the last time.

I resolve to stay on my medications now UNLESS I come off of them with a doctor.