Into my first week of a reduction to 5mg Olanzapine and feeling really well.
My emotions and cognitive function have returned. I almost feel like I did before I was ill. I hope this lasts.
Maybe I can make a full recovery and come off of medication in the future.
Great news. Hope it continues to go well for you!
Really happy to hear. It will get better! Just stay on them and any change you wish to make, consult the doc. Trust me it will get easier from now on.
Thank you very much. I will follow your advice. Definitely don’t want to go backwards! Don’t want to feel how I did before again!
I’m glad my words impacted you positively! You take it easy, pal! Have a great day!
Yeah 5mg is a good dose. It’s what I’m taking at the time. I’m able to work part time and compared to higher doses it’s a relief. Life quality is better on low doses.
Definitely, at the higher dosage you’re sedated and can feel no pleasure. Do you ever think of coming off of medication being on such a low dose?
Yes. Doc told me I got to be stable for at least 6 months before I can try. So I’ll just have to take one day at a time. Try to act normal every day, get good habits, try to get rid of the bad habits, and hopefully in near future I can try to get off completely. So I’ll be marking my calender for each day that goes more or less well, and if I get to 6 months I’m gonna try for it.
That’s brilliant news, I hope it goes well for you! I’ve had two episodes of psychosis. Was off of medication for five months and then relapsed in February.
How many episodes have you had?
3 major episodes and a few minor. I was admittet 3 times for the major episodes, but that was like 12 years ago. But even though I have managed to stay out of hospital I do recognize that my mental health has been poor. But in recent years there has been a positive trend, so hopefully it accelerates. I don’t expect to get off the drugs ever, but it doesen’t hurt to try.
Hopefully you won’t relapse. I would be scared of that myself. Don’t want to end up psychotic and need a high dose.
I would try 3.75 and then 2.5 for a while first. Maybe a year or two.
Yeah. I take 3.75 sometimes. It’s just enough to get decent sleep. But 2.5 is a problem because it doesen’t work for sleep at that dose for me. So if I’m going off at any time my strategy would be to go from 3.75 and straight off. Possibly I might switch to a different drug if the sleep becomes a issue. Olanzapine works on 17 different brain recptors and might be the drug that works on most brain receptors. I read that it could be a good idea to switch to another AP when on olanzapine so that you “free” some of your brain receptors. The brain might have a hard time to adapt when it tries to stabilize all those brain receptors the olanzapine has worked on. So it might be a good idea to take a AP that works on less receptors first, and then go off. For example seroquel works on 10 or 7 brain receptors, don’t remember quite. Haldol only works on 2 brain receptors(but that’s a first generation AP and might cause other problems). Anyways, there are many things to consider.
That’s good to know, thank you. I feel that on a lower dose, the brain receptors are not totally blocked and can work to some degree, because of the return of emotions. I’m hoping to drop to 3.75 myself in the future. As my episode was only a few months ago though, I expect I’ll have to wait a year or two.
good to hear you feeling better =)
i hope things keep improving!
I stopped meds for 2yrs until I relapsed but even then I wasnt the same person as before sz, not much emotions and not much motivation/energy. Negative symptoms were better off meds but not even close to as before sz.
I developped negative and cognitive symptoms 2-3yrs before my diagnosis.
I should feel lucky to have improved as much as I have. Still not happy and want more.
Think yesterday was a good day, have been feeling down today.
Feeling better still, but was maybe a bit optimistic to say I felt like my old self.
Hopefully things keep improving.
With sz any improvement is considered an excellent achievement, even if you’re not as good as before sz. Also I found that with time negative symptoms gets better a bit on their own.
That’s good to know, hopefully I will continue to recover.
My partner has left me, which is causing me to upset.
All I want is my family back now, but it’s not happening.
Just have to focus on feeling more emotions and recovery.