quitting all meds

[autumnn]

Hi All- I know that this is a weird thing to post about- I hate admitting all the meds dry eyes have propelled me to- but, I am at a bit of a standstill with my progress and have decided to give up my anti depressants, anti anxiety, and sleeping pills. I know that this sounds scary- but- it has been three days without them all and my mental well being is no different (not great, but not any worse). I figure that these meds cant be helping my dry eyes-

My question is- has anyone had any experience stopping medications and having it help their eyes? I am at a loss of other things to try.....

I am still holding out hope- once most of us had eyes that werent painful-I believe that this means (hopefully) that we can get back to that place.

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Autumn

Just a word of advice (not medical of course), be very careful stopping everything at once.

I did that once myself with anti-depressants and found I went along well until one day the bottom nearly fell out of my world only to discover that my GP was more than happy to help me systematically reduce the dosage until I ceased completely.

Some of those drugs are very powerful and ceasing them without supervision may do more harm than good.

I am just concerned for your well being and from my experience, this approach can be a little daunting.

I wish you well on your endeavour anyway.

Regards

Ian

[suneetk1]

Hi Autum,
I agree with Prattstar, please seek the advice of your Dr before you stop everything all at once, it can be really dangerous to do so.
I would imagine its better to wean yourself off them...less of a shock to the body.
Take care

[autumnn]

Thank you for your concern! I agree with your wisdom.
With your warning, I will keep one antidepressant in the mix and contact my physician about the rest.
It is the sleeping pills and antianxiety meds that I think I can do without....has anyone noticed anything positive from weaning off of "drying" meds?

[Guest]

Autumn

I am more comforted by your post now, better strategy then the halt everything approach, in my opinion.

I found that sleeping tablets (temazepam) had horrendous drying implications whenever I took them, I had to peel my eyes open of a morning.

I think a good discussion with your GP is paramount, discuss your concerns and your findings with them. If you don't understand them, ask questions.

Regards

Ian

[bernmee]

Hi Autumn,

If you are thinking of stopping your meds have you considered seeing a naturopath to see if they can offer you some help.

Just a thought...it's good to have someone helping and guiding you whatever approach you decide to take to your healing.

Bernadette

[eva b]

hi autumn,

like everyone else, I'm concerned by your decision to stop everything - as many have already said, a lot of drugs need to be tapered, anti-deps and certainly benzodiazepines (which include most anti-anxiety and sleeping pills) you need to come off very slowly.

I do have some personal experience: was taking diazepam (for the pain and anxiety of dry eyes...nothing else would touch it!) and found it helped me a lot - yes, they do list dry mouth as a side effect, but quite frankly I didn't notice that much difference, and certainly my eyes felt more comfortable.

Lets put it like this: the stress of putting up with the pain of dry eyes is more likely to make them feel worse than the drugs you might take it to get some relief.

I took diazepam for several months, then had to start a very slow taper (which I'm still doing) to get off them otherwise you can get awful withdrawal symsptoms. Because the drugs stay in your bloodstream for a very long time (several days) it may be a few days before you feel any adverse effects...and then wham!

so please do take care and talk to your doctor before you do anything drastic

best of luck
dorota

[autumnn]

Thank you for your responses! I will take care and be careful during this time. And, I will look into more natural ways to address what is happening inside.
Still, I am wondering if anyone noticed any benefits from stopping "drying" medications???
Ever feel like you are running out of ways to "help" your dry eye? I am at that point right now

[eva b]

silly me

just noticed I signed my post "dorota"...a name I use on another forum...

sorry for the confusion....