Ive had enough of clozapine. I was taking 450mg clozapine but am starting to wean myself off it. Are there side effects with coming off clozapine…
i had horrible side effects from clozaril, so i can’t say that anything happening coming off was really registered. i would say your best bet is to taper off. i think i was reduced by twenty five over the course of some time…i was on 350 at my most. but i was also stuck in a hospital coming off it, so that’s likely what the standard is and not what the possiblities are, if you know what i mean.
the only side effect i’ve heard of is that your psychosis comes back or gets worse. as a side note, i was told it’s supposed to be good at reducing suicidality, but it was not that for me at all. if it has that effect on you, i’d say you want to be extra careful about removing it quickly. are you not telling your psychiatrist you’re discontinuing? no judgment, i’m just asking. i’ve done that several times and it’s worked out poorly for me. if that is the case, i hope it works out better for you.
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Yes you need to reduce slowly. Same with any AP. I would recommend talking to your pdoc and setting up a schedule to do this.
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A slow taper is preferred, unless you have low white blood cells.
Are you starting a new medication when you come off clozaril
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The smart thing to do is taper off with help and advice from your doctor. These are powerful drugs, not to be fooled with or tampered with, without a doctor monitoring you.
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I would definently taper off, you might have withdrawals in the form of trouble sleeping. A suplement such as melatonin might help you sleep in the mean time while you come off the clozapine.
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@dmdar…I see what you mean…sleep was bloody awful last nite, I slept all of 10 minutes. I kinda went cold turkey off the clozaoine. I was on 450mg on Thursday and halfed it the following day and then took just 50mg on Saturday, but I regret it as Im having bad withdrawals. Should have reduced it slowly.
450mg is way too much to cold turkey, I would go off of it very slowly. You can buy melatonin at almost any drug and grocery store, I would recommend that as it always knock me out fairly quickly and there are no side effects, you just aren’t supposed to take it for months at a time. Thankfully I’ve found that clozapine withdrawals aren’t nearly as bad as some other antipsychotics, I withdrew from Zyprexa years ago and I didn’t sleep a wink for over 170 hours, I thought I was going to die. I’ve heard other stories where people didn’t sleep at all for a month after withdrawing from Zyprexa. I’ve gone way down on the clozapine lately and I had withdrawals and couldn’t sleep for awhile but now it’s worn off and I can sleep again, it’s been a few weeks. I was able to knock myself out with melatonin on the nights when I couldn’t sleep.
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I am in the process of lowering my antipsychotic - Risperdal. My psychiatrist is going very slow - Every 2 months we reduce it by 0.5 miligrams - I was at 3 mg, I am now at 2 mg and slowly going down with caution.
Its never a good idea to cold turkey any powerful drug. Work with your doctor
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Going off fast on Clozapine, when you been on it long enough can damage your nervous system. Go as very slow as possible.
Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs
http://www.willhall.net/files/ComingOffPsychDrugsHarmReductGuide2Edonline.pdf
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I was put on clozapine after having a relapse and going into hospital, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia. I was kept on it for four years with continual blood tests every month. The psychiatrists strongly advised me to stay on it because they said I’d relapse. I’ve always been anti medication so I went against them ( they made it hard) and switched to Olanzapine. I’ve been on it for a year and a half and feel better. Olanzapine is strong so it holds me and is a good step down from cloz in terms of neurotransmitters. I Don’t feel completely happy to still be on Olanzapine with its side effects but it’s much better than the side effects and blood tests of cloz. I’m hoping to use this step down method in the future. I also meditate every day without fail and I’ve been doing that for about a year. Its like a drug in itself and has quietened my thinking, mind and I think it’s pretty much cured my anxiety disorder. I also do focus exercises. I’ve experienced supersensitivity psychosis coming off Olanzapine before and became stuck in a cycle of being put on more meds so I know I have to be careful with my next switch or wean. This is common with powerful drugs like cloz and Olanzapine, there is a d2 receptor sensitivity after being on so long. I Don’t think there should be any withdrawal symptoms with the transition from cloz to Olanzapine but it could depend on the person.
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So I am experienced in tapering down off of antipsychotic because I did it myself about 10 years ago I was on 900 mg of lithium and 200 mg of Seroquel for 4 years. My boyfriend has been on clozapine for 20 years. He was on 275 mg I’ve dropped him down to 200 mg. We’re using activated charcoal, bentonite clay, diatomaceous earth, and psyllium husks. He’s been able to go to the bathroom more often then one time a week and his drooling has reduced significantly. And he’s lost over 15 pounds. With him being on the medication for 20 years how slow of a tapering process would anybody recommend? The book I have that helped me on my journey says for every year the person is on the drug to allow one month. So that would mean 20 months. That’s a long time. I got him to quit smoking, drinking caffeine, and consuming massive amounts of sugar. Which during my research I figured out that smoking, caffeine, and sugar increases and decreases your clozapine levels. And can cause severe withdrawal symptoms and result in hospitalization.
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Any time I’m coming off any antipsychotic I start to experience intense anger. Be careful coming of clozapine
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I just asked him and last night no drooling after 20 years. Yeah !
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Are you seriously tapering your boyfriend off clozapine without his doctor’s consent and guidance?
Do you hate him or do you just hate his meds so much that you’d rather ■■■■ up his life than see him take them?
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This is seriously the most awful thing I’ve ever heard. People only take clozapine when everything else has failed. Why would you jeopardize his life?!
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Why do people revive old threads?
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Boyfriend is open to coming off meds.
DOESN’T MATTER.
Be responsible. Be an ADULT. Call his doctor!
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