Hey sweetpea - This thread caught my attention bec it is one of the many things we have had to deal with - with our oldest son.
I know it gets old hearing me talk about thyroid stuff - but I need to explain that my son was placed on several psych meds before we found his low thyroid problem. It took me awhile to understand that the mental problems he was having - anxiety, depression, mood swings - could all be caused by his thyroid problem. Once I realized that and he was being properly treated with Armour Thyroid we decided (along with his doc) to see if he could come off of these drugs.
We have had to reduce his meds, one at a time, very slowly - by using the 10% water filtration method, and he has done really well doing it this way.
I have run into a lot of people who came off their psych meds way too fast or even cold turkey, and the withdrawals - fatigue, suicidal thoughts, brain zaps, irritability - can be devastating!
In the book "Your Drug May Be Your Problem" Dr. Breggin explains the 10% reduction method, but usually, as long as you go slow enough with your reductions you will not deal with unbearable withdrawal symptoms. I just don't think that most docs realize how hard it is on a person to come off these meds and they don't usually suggest that you take it this slow. But since we are dealing with a 21 year old, I am not willing to mess with his "brain" anymore than we have to and we are taking it slow with great success.
I would be glad to copy some info here for you to explain exactly how to do the 10% reduction, but would like to suggest that you read the info posted at this forum concerning the same thing. You will see the info I posted there.
http://www.stopthethyroidmadness.com...topic.php?t=58
I hope this helps in some way.
As always, I'm here if you want to talk.
hugs,
Cathy