Have you ever been at the doctor’s and you tell them what your previous doctor told you to do and they can’t even hide their surprise and horror? I wish I didn’t. Let me tell you.

Today I saw a new psychiatrist. I decided it was time to stop seeing my last one when the “taper” she recommended to get me off an antipsychotic spanned 5 days. Within a week I was having such severe withdrawal I was unable to function.

Of course, I started researching this medication and all of the withdrawal symptoms that go with it only to discover a scientific article discussing how antipsychotic tapers should take months, not less than a week.

Of course, this was also the psychiatrist who told me that Trazodone did not make you sleepy, it only kept you asleep, so taking it at 6pm was definitely okay. Spoiler: it most certainly makes you sleepy and you will go to bed at 7pm if you take it that early in the evening.

And once, when I was still very physically ill and not coping with being so constantly physically ill, she explained to me what I wasn’t a very resilient person. Which, sometimes people say things to me and it just doesn’t really register, and this was one of those times.

But when I looked back at some of the mishaps that had happened with her and then this horrific withdrawal that completely derailed my life, I thought to myself, I’m done. I need a new psych.

The doctor I saw today has a plan to decrease the antipsychotic by .25mg every month, until I’m off it. Barring any side effects, of course. In that case, I would stay on that dosage for an additional month before continuing to reduce the dose. Being that I’m on 1mg right now, I might be off the medication by the end of the year.

So, provided that everything goes smoothly, I would be off the medication in 4 months (technically 5 because he’s giving me another month on the full dose to stabilize). That’s 4 months, not 5 days.

Doctors are great, and I’m sure doctoring is an extremely hard job that not many people are suitable for. But doctor’s are fallible, they make mistakes, and sometimes could do more research. When you find a doctor who is amazing, hang onto them! Otherwise, Google can provide you an alternative.