Has anyone ever quit treatment?

[Namechange39992772]

I'm just really sick of it all, I think that treatment is making me more ill. Every night I have to take this stupid drug that makes me trip up, but it's not really that - it is the fact that I have to take this drug every night like some kind of invalid. I'm getting moved to another team and the first time I met my new nurse she turned up with no appointment and no warning - I didn't even know I was being transferred (I knew it would happen, but I thought I would be involved, not just suddenly find a random woman on my doorstep)

Every time I try to tell a doctor my thoughts on things like medication, they dismiss it. For example, I have a minor joint problem that is made worse by the medication. It is still only mild, but bothersome, and I only mentioned it in passing, but the doctor said it isn't even a possible side effect. I looked it up and it is one of the most common.

My sex drive has decreased massively, possibly because when it was really high I was manic, but still.

Everyone tiptoes around me and talks about me behind my back - I have seen letters about me on my GPs computer.

I feel like being mental is my full time job and I am sick of it. If I can just stop being "ill" I'd be fine.

I'll be careful, obv - reduce my dose slowly, avoid triggers etc. I'll just not make appointments and the new nurse is so rubbish she will just forget.

I feel like I'm just being given drugs and left to rot - I ask about getting back to work and get fobbed off. It's like all I am expected to do is exist. If I say I feel guilty for leaving the kids in front of cbeebies I get told I am better than abusive parents. Well, of course I am, but I want to be a GOOD mum, not just ok.

Anyway, has anyone ever got better through leaving treatment? Any tips?

(I'm not advocating stopping drugs if you have just started them btw. I'm not ill any more and have been on various strong drugs for nearly five years, so I know what I am talking about.)

Namechanged to stop this getting back to people who will make a fuss - every little thing I do gets packaged up as a "symptom" and I want to avoid that - going to sort it all out myself, and, providing it goes well, can reveal then.

What I am thinking meds wise is to start taking just half and chucking away the other half. Then, once I have stopped getting withdrawals from that, start just taking it every other day. Then down to nothing. Would obv have to be careful as they are a bit OTT about these things, but I don't see any other way of getting better. Obv I want to avoid a hospital situation.

I could just chuck/flush the pills each day and nobody would know unil I decided to tell them, and that would show them that they weren't helping anyway. Any symptoms I do get are not ones treated by these drugs, and they just shrug it off when I say they are not making any difference. This way it would prove it.

Talk to someone/anyone about how you are feeling. Everything you have put there. Don't stop the meds without supervision but if you don't like your current meds there should be no reason as to why you can't try something else. I take it you suffer from bi-polar?and no, don't stop your treatment but if your not happy with the way you are being treated then tell them. They do have your best interests at heart even if you are getting lost in the system to some degree.
Good luck and take care xx

I'm sorry but I find it impossible to read your post and say 'yes give that a go'. In fact deducting that you are bipolar I think you may be starting a manic episode or at least right now are lacking a certain amount of insight in your condition.

The fact that you have been on medication for 5 years does not at all mean that you know what you are doing and your post shows that you don't.

Don't quietly stop treatment - that is a seriously bad idea.

You still are bipolar underneath the medication and can expect it to come back with a vengeance when you stop the medication.

I understand your frustration. Do you have an advocate, maybe via Mind, who can help you get heard better by the professionals?

I'm guessing that you're bipolar because you mention being manic.

I'm bipolar and frequently decide to quit my meds and each time it goes horribly wrong and I end up really unwell.

Don't do it because it really isn't worth it.