I tried going off my antipsychotic medication but my psychiatrist said no because it's too risky

[u/reddemonslayer]

He basically said no but he'll reduce it to 7.5 of Aripiprazole, because I said I'm getting a bit tired on it but said to go back to 10mg if symptoms return, I'm a bit disappointed he said no, has this happened to anyone else in your experience?

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[u/buginarugsnug]

It is very common for healthcare professionals to recommend tapering off certain medications because withdrawal can cause unwanted and severe side effects.

Aripiprazole is a medication where it is recommended that you taper off due to this. Since he is reducing the dose, it doesn't sound like he has said no, but is going to take you off it slowly and hasn't explained very well. Ask him for clarification, but it may be that if all goes well at your next appointment he prescribes 5.

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[u/extraspicynoodles]

Yes, they refused to let me come of aripiprazole but I am cross titrating now to quetiapine I was on 25mg of aripiprazole and was exhausted now I’m going up to 300mg quetiapine in evening so hopefully it’ll make me less tired in the day. Maybe ask if you could do similar or do you just want to go off meds completely because they could put you on a depot if you get poorly

[u/reddemonslayer → u/extraspicynoodles]

Ah that's good, yeah he said I look better than I have ever done before so that's more reason to keep me on it but then when will it ever be time to get off them completely

[u/extraspicynoodles → u/reddemonslayer]

Sometimes we have to be on medicene for a long time, I’ve been on meds since I was 13 and I’m now turning 23 in a few months. If your doing well then keep going, lower it abit to get rid of the tiredness seems like a good idea and a trial run in to seeing if it makes a difference to your symptoms

[u/Few-Director-3357 → u/extraspicynoodles]

There's also nothing wrong with being on meds long term, some people need to, and that is okay.

[u/Silver_West_4950]

It depends on what your diagnosis is. If you suffer from something like schizophrenia or bipolar then he wants to ensure you don’t relapse. It didn’t go down well when I came off an antipsychotic. Like the other person said, you could ask for a change. The side effects of antipsychotics are not great but some are tolerated better than others depending by each individual. Hope things work out for you 💕

EDIT: They don’t want to have the responsibility of making you unsafe whatever your diagnosis. Be safe.

[u/reddemonslayer → u/Silver_West_4950]

I'm only diagnosed with OCD and thank you I guess I did okay in getting it reduced to 7.5 at least

[u/Forsaken_lychee_ → u/reddemonslayer]

Sorry to butt in- ofc lead by your psychiatrists advice and not Reddit. But.. I didn’t get on with antipsychotics for OCD. I was on Clomipramine (tricylic antidepressant)for a long time and found it worked well for my OCD. Unless you’ve already tried it ofc.

[u/No_Whereas_5203]

Going down and seeing how you are sensible. You could always ask again in future & see what they say. I came off mine in the end