Can treatment ever be stopped?

[Suzi12255]

I have had no luck in getting an answer to what is to me, a very important question.  Once you decide on your course of treatment (in my case Lamictal 175mg twice daily) is it possible to ever be able to stop treatment?
Thank you for any help.

[painterchic]

I stopped. I tapered a bit, not as slowly as I should have, I know, but I did it with not much more than some headaches and mood swings. I was taking Cymbalta to extend the effectiveness of the Lyrica, so maybe the Cymbalta messed up my moods, or I just felt lousy, who knows. All I know is that they weren't working that great anyway so I no longer could justify the side effects. I told my neuro after the fact, he wasn't thrilled I was on "nothing" and played guinea pig with myself, but agreed that there was no point in continuing if it didn't work. He then put me on something new, Vimpat. So far, no side effects but too soon to say if it works. My advice is this: don't mess with stopping drugs, especially the anti-convulsant/depressants without talking to your doctor first. Ultimately you will know what feels right for you though. I always wondered how would you know if you are better/in remission if you always take the drugs?

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you for your question. If it is prescribed along with other medications for seizures then if relief in your symptoms may require tapering of the dose and it might be stopped if no seizures in two years of taking it. Additionally, if it is prescribed for bipolar (mood disorder) then you may require life-long treatment. Though if there is no relief your treating doctor might think to change with another group of medicine, Please consult with your treating doctor for a better insight of the situation. Hope it helps.