Help How to tell if meds are working??

[dogbreath]

So basically since I was 12 I've been on meds. Don't know what life is like without them. 12 year old me was an attention whore so lied about a lot like hearing voices and seeing things so got prescribed meds I didn't need. I'm 21 now and I've stopped taking my meds. Meds were for depression. Gone cold turkey. Going thru withdrawals. The doctors keep telling me I should get back on them. But I don't want to. I want to know what life is like without them.

So I wanted to ask if anyone else has stopped taking their meds and if it has helped out. How do you even tell doctors you want to stop? Each time I tell them I dont want to they tell me I need to take my meds.

 

[ForgottenAgain]

I stopped my meds 3 weeks ago, didn't go cold turkey but almost. Spent 1 week taking half the dose of sertraline and risperidone, then the next week was off of sertraline and only taking 1/3rd of risperidone which I stopped on the following week.

I stopped because meds made me gain a lot of weight and killed my libido, that has improved since stopping the meds. I felt a lot more depressed on the first week without sertraline and cried every day. I think I'm more depressed while off the meds but just like you I spent several years of my life on meds and I simply don't want meds anymore.

After the withdrawal symptoms are over it is more manageable.

 

[DyingToDie123]

I stopped taking my meds multiple times, mostly because I thought they were blunting me emotionally (they were) and I didn't like that they were inhibiting my will to die (which was the point). It's hard to say if it's helped or hurt, it's just a different life experience. I slightly prefer being off of them but medical bureaucracy insists that I'm a danger to myself when that's the case, which is true, which is why I prefer being off of them.

 

[bieatmania]

I like to search up the medications I'm taking on website like psychonautwiki, there's description for effects and I can focus on how meds are affecting me.
I have taken olanzapine for 2 month, and quit because I knew the meds are dulling my emotion and motivations and making me even more depressed, after quitting it I have recovered to my normal state.
I think it's fine to quit meds if you know it's not working.

 

[Forveleth]

Was on various antidepressants for two years. Stopped taking them because the side effects sucked. Definitely way more depressed off them but being on them wasn't fun either. It's a no-win for me.

Give it a try and see how you feel. You usually don't realize how much they're helping until you aren't on them anymore.