It is so common to believe medication is no longer needed when a person begins to feel good and "normal". Stay on your medications. Your psychiatrist will tell you when it's time to stop taking your medications. The right time to stop taking your medications will be when you stop worrying about having to take medication. You stated yourself, .."lifetime of abuse..". It will take more than two to three years to reach a plateau of therapeutic level of your medication to overcome a lifetime of abuse.

There may come a day when you will be able to be off your medication and be happy and healthy. It takes a long time to heal from that kind of abuse and the mental scars will always be there. Everyone is individual and it may take longer for some to wean off their medications than others. Some may never be able to get off their medications.

You need to talk to your doctor about your desire to one day (and maybe soon) wean off of your medications. Together you can decide if it's time for a trial or you should continue on the same course.

Just be sure you take things very very slowly and I would suggest starting a journal or diary of how your day went and how you're feeling now. That way you can note how your feeling now compared to how you feel when you begin a trial reduction of your medication.

Remember your doctor may not recommend it at this time and that's alright. You can bring it up again six months down the road. When you do try a reduction keep in mind it may not work the first time or even the first few times and that's alright too. Listen to your body and don't sacrifice your health and happiness just to get off the medications.

Nobody likes taking or relying on medications on a daily basis but it's not worth putting yourself into an emotional tailspin. If over time you do discover you are not able to go without the medication it's ok. The benefits usually outweigh the side effects and you deserve to live a happy life, so if it takes some medication to help achieve that, well there are worse things out there.

I hope things continue to go well with you. Just be sure when you're ready to try this you do it together with your doctor and he/she follows your progress closely. You don't want to lose ground in how far you've come. Good luck and best wishes!

Because you do not have a psychosis disorder there would be absolutely no harm in doing a 'detox' period and seeing how you feel without the medication. The only harm is when people who are bipolar, schizophrenic or have other psychotic disorders that can potentially damage their ability to rationalize and other peoples' safety decide to detox because they feel better.

You have PTSD, which leads to depression and anxiety. If you are feeling like you are under control, like you have things in hand and you have support to lean on as you go off the medication - and to monitor your mood for you as it's hard to look at our own moods sometimes - then speak with your doctor about doing a slow detox. The slower you take it the more successful you will be.

Studies have shown that most get over PTSD symptoms after one year when they have a healthy and supportive surrounding. Only about 20% have PTSD for more than 6 years and that is from repeated trauma over a course of years with little, if any support from outside of themselves, in most cases. Those who don't recover from their PTSD usually know they aren't recovered even while on medication.

Talk with your doctor. If you start a detox and start feeling bad then talk to the doctor again and get back on your normal dosage. Don't let it scare you from trying again in the future though. Yes, someday you will almost certainly be able to go without the medication and feel happy and healthy. Good luck to you; I hope it's soon.

Thank you so much to those who replied. Choosing the best answer was difficult. I just found out that I qualify for assistance for my medication and that comes as a relief. Especially since Wellbutrin XL can cost upwards of $350!

Once I find a new psychiatrist I'll see if I'm ready to wean off. If I'm not, then I'm not.