Quote:
Originally Posted by Graclyn
how long will these awful symptoms last if I don't take anymore at all. Am I crazy to do it so fast?
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This depends on the particular medication, dosage, length of time on it, and the individual.
Yes, I think you are crazy (ok, maybe naive
) to do it so fast and without the help of your physician.
There are 2 ways of doing this. One is to try to space out the doses, which usually doesn't work in early stages (as you've found). The other is to keep on the same schedule, but slowly reduce the dosage until it is low enough that it spaces out on its own without your noticing it so much.
Other meds (tranquilizers, muscle relaxants, antihistamines) may help lessen the withdrawal symptoms, but care must be taken that you don't swap one dependence for another.
Another factor that may come up is that once you're through all this, you may still have pain requiring medication to be able to function. This is another reason to bring your doctor in on this decision. S/he may be aware of the reasons for your doing this, and in addition to helping you stop the one medication, may be able to rotate you to another one that wouldn't produce the bad side effects, but still control your pain - often at a much lower equivalent dosage.
My suggestions are to talk to your doctor about this, and while waiting to get in to see him/her, network with other MS patients who may have had similar experiences. Here is one MS forum:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum17.html
Doc