⭐ DISCLAIMER: this is for harm reduction purposes only. if you want to come off a medication, it is best to do so with a trusted professional.

unfortunately, not all professionals know how to properly taper and may put you in danger. some may deny assistance entirely. please advocate for yourself/bring someone with you, or seek better care.

please do NOT rely solely on this post to do a self taper. i am a patient, may be wrong, and do not know you. if you can't access professional assistance, do your own research before doing anything.

- check if your medication has a withdrawal syndrome. learn about the symptoms and watch for them as you taper. if you begin to experience moderate or severe withdrawal, return to the previous dose at next dosing and reassess the tapering schedule.

- start low and go slow. the higher your dose and the longer you've been on the medication, the smaller the dose reductions will be and the less frequently you reduce the dose.

- how your dose was increased does NOT translate to how it should be decreased. tapering depends on the medication, current daily dose, and how long you've been on the medication.

- make a schedule and stick to it. do not rush. depending on your situation, it can take anywhere from days to years to come off a medication. days if you've only been on it for a short time or are on a low dose, years if you've been on it for years, and weeks to months in most other cases.

- instant release is NOT the same as extended release. instant release medications are released into the bloodstream much faster than extended. extended stays in the blood for longer. generally, you will be tapering more slowly on an ER med than an IR one.

- signs you're tapering too fast are: feeling sick, heart rate and blood pressure changes, issues with temperature regulation, distressing mental health symptoms like severe depression or anxiety, erratic mood, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, severe insomnia

- normal changes as you taper down: mild changes in mood, energy, sleeping habits, appetite; these should fade as your body readjusts to the lower dose. if they do not go away after tapering ceases, contact a professional.

And as for the question of whether or not to taper, here are some reasons people choose to taper down or off:

The meds are causing side effects that cannot be tolerated

The meds are reducing quality of life instead of enhancing it (ex: being overly sedated or stimulated)

The meds are not effective or not effective enough to warrant the risks

To lower the risk of complications from long term medication use (ex: movement disorders from taking antipsychotics)

To avoid the withdrawal syndrome

The meds interact with other medications they are on, or are going on

The meds are too expensive

To learn to cope without medication

Psych meds have helped some, but there are also many more who find them not worth the risks or cost.

While I always hope people can safely taper down with a doctor, I know this is not always possible.

If you need to come off a medication for your health but lack support, self-tapering is an option. But it's risky, and can lead to crisis or hospitalization if done incorrectly.

If you choose to self-taper, if you do nothing else, please take it slow and stay safe! Do your own research!

Remember you are a guest in this space. I don’t know a single person who would rather you shit yourself or get assaulted than use the disabled toilet, but please remember that these toilets are built and designed for disabled people after a huge amount of campaigning and activism.

Don’t touch or move things you don’t need to. If you’re not familiar with how things work or why they are where they are just leave it be. The position of a bin might not mean anything to you but it could be really important to a wheelchair user who needs to change their tampon. Don’t touch things like grab rails either – while they’re fairly tough and you’re unlikely to cause any damage it’s not impossible and if you don’t touch it, you can’t break it.

Related, but important enough to have its own point: please don’t touch the red cord. Do not tie it up, do not wrap it around anything, don’t tuck it behind a bin. Don’t touch it (The only exception to this is to untie a cord that’s been tied up) If the cord doesn’t fall freely to the floor it could prevent a disabled person calling for help in an emergency. If you’re worried about accidentally pulling it there’s almost always at least one reset button in there with you. Press that and it cancels the alarm.

If possible allow other people waiting to go first. A lot of disabilities, both visible and less apparent, can cause problems with incontinence, urgency or pain that make it difficult for someone to wait to use the toilet. If there’s someone else in the queue and you are able to do so, offering to let them go first might really help them out.

If you want to get a radar key, get it from disability rights UK or give a small donation to a disability charity (again only if you’re able to). I’ve seen a couple of trans orgs giving away free radar keys and it’s unclear how they are being sourced. Knockoffs are common but only “real” RADAR keys are from Disability Rights UK and any profits help fund their charity work. Bear in mind that most disabled people also have to pay for these keys which are about £5. (Disability Rights UK say their keys are to be sold to disabled people or organisations only, this is a legal thing they have to say about VAT relief. There is no real way of following up how disabled someone who buys a radar key is because you don’t need to claim any benefits to be eligible for VAT relief and keys are a low value item that isn’t worth anyone looking into when things like adapted cars exist. Be gay, do crime, support disabled people having rights.)

Know the difference between a standard accessible toilet and a changing places toilet. Don’t use a changing places toilet if there is any other safe option. These have a different symbol and are bigger and fitted with extra equipment for severely disabled people and our carers. That equipment is more sensitive than anything you’ll find in a standard accessible toilet so if you do find yourself in one touch nothing. Especially don’t move the hoist (lifting equipment) as it can cause it to run out of power and make the whole space functionally useless if it’s not in the right space on the track. (To be fair this is an unlikely scenario as there aren’t that many of these toilets, but just in case)

Reminder that this is not about a single event, this is a repetitive pattern that happens *regardless* of if the trans women's blogs violate tumblr's guidelines or not.

Reminder that if it's only trans women calling this out, tumblr has an easier time covering it up because they just ban them.

Reminder that you've got to speak up against this bullshit now, that you've got to be loud, that you've got to support trans women because the places where they can speak are dwindling.

Reminder that pride includes trans women and you cant celebrate pride while ignoring the way trans women are getting silenced.

The quote re-tweet is a picture of the side of someone's face, likely a screenshot of a video, with a caption edited to read, "trying not to tell my friend the problem with their relationship is that their bf literally doesnt see them as nonbinary."

"Parent's ablest responses to their autistic kids makes it reallllly hard for the parents" Zero other possibly more important things could be said about ableism and disabled kids experiences with it

"Parent's ablest responses to their autistic kids makes it reallllly hard for the parents" Zero other possibly more important things could be said about ableism and disabled kids experiences with it