Help for OCD/BYPOLAR sufferer

Originally Posted by bluestix

First and most important is to stop taking any prescribed medications.
.

Poor idea.

It is difficult to make sweeping generalizations. This is not a one solution
fits all issue...

Many of the medications which are used for this today should not
be stopped suddenly, but tapered slowly. During the taper a close eye
should be maintained on how things are going. There might be some minimum
thresh hold, below which the going starts getting a little wierd...
At that point you should stop, maintain, and assess...increasing the dose
back up the scale if necessary.

I'm speaking as a pharmacist and as someone with a family member who
suffers from panic/anxiety/ocd.

I'm all in favor of eliminating medication when ever possible. I take nothing
myself on a chronic basis. Other treatment modalities should always be
considered with the goal of eliminating or at least minimizing medication
use. Having said that, don't throw the baby out with the bath water! The
last time we tried stopping medication cold turkey she started giving her stuff
away, had feelings of impending demise ect, ect.