How do meds affect my writing?

For a while, I've had my sights on writing a detective novel, although I have read very little detective fiction. I've enjoyed the novels of Cara Black and the stories of G.K. Chesterton, but what I really want to write is something more literary along the lines of Borges's "Death and the Compass" or Poe's "Murder in the Rue Morgue." 

To that end, a couple of months ago, I sat down to write a detective novel, but soon found that all I had in me was a long short story. It's technically sound but not very interesting. The premise of the story is taken from real life (a man is murdered by the least expected person), but somehow I created a flat story that neither educates nor entertains, according to me. 

I think I chose the wrong guy to be the detective. His name is Major, and he's predictably a retired detective who takes on cases at his own expense. He has a trusty partner, Irene, and she's as reliable as a stablecoin. The two work too well together. I realized that there is very little conflict between them, which takes away from tension and rising action. Overall, it's a dull story. Even the surprise is not really a surprise. I imagine that the reader can see it coming. I need a detective like the crafty Dupin of Poe or the erudite Lonnrot of Borges.

Part of the dilemma may be how my medications affect my writing. The antipsychotic that I take is indeed powerful and blocks signaling chemicals that lead to more vibrant and possibly imaginative thoughts. A few years ago, while on olanzapine, I traveled to the Peruvian jungle for a week-long ayahuasca retreat. I was told that I should avoid such medications months prior. About a week before I left, I tried going off the med but spiraled into a funk and had to resume my dosage, thus being medicated while I engaged with the powerful ayahuasca. Unlike those around me, I did not see spectacular lights nor did I receive visits from dead relatives. I basically just lay on my back for five hours, bored out of my mind.

Which leads me to examine how my medications (for bipolar disorder) have changed how I write. Prior to starting the meds, my stories were all very surreal. I did not plot or develop characters ahead of time. I just had an idea and ran with it, and it worked very well. After starting the meds, my writing became less surreal and required more prior thought. I actually began to plot and still have a habit of lying on the couch thinking through the details carefully. I like my writing off meds better, but I am actually more prolific on them. I've written some ten novels in the past thirteen or so years, although my story production has stalled somewhat. I've even written a well-researched nonfiction book, which explores these issues, called "Depression Since Prozac: Finding the True Self."

I have to remember, for my sake and that of my family, that off meds I am unstable, paranoid, highly anxious, depressed, and irritable. I've traded for mental wellness and more traditional storytelling, although I have not lost the darkness and frequent suffering and violence. Overall, I still like what I write, but I find that more often I have stories that fail, such as the detective piece I mention above.

If I can't write a detective novel on meds, then so be it. I have plenty of other ideas and still very much enjoy the process of imagining stories where strange things happen. Here's to keeping it strange while sane!