So I will once again try to come off the olanzapine, because I can’t stand it. I’m just curious, have any of you come off it without getting the insomnia? I was only on 2,5 mg
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I was on quetiapine 500mg (olanzipines brother) I had pretty heavy insomnia, but the main withdrawal symptom was severe itchiness, especially of the scalp what I wanted to pour ice cold water onto it. Besides insomnia and itchiness I didnt have any other withdrawals
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I had insomnia for a while when I quit Zyprexa. I took it for about 7 months the first time but I didn’t always take it every night. When I took it I went to sleep around 8 PM and woke up around 6 AM but when I stopped taking it I couldn’t sleep for hours and got in the bad habit of staying up most of the night or all night. I was taking 20 mg each night.
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@Newlyborn and @anon21849028
Thank you for your answers I’m curious did you manage to get through the insomnia without sleeping pills?
Yeah I got through it without sleeping pills.
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That is awesome I Hope I can get through it too. If I succeed I will never touch That crap ever again
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There is always a risc when you drop your meds. Monitor yourself closely and if the illness surfaces then prepare your actions. Please take care.
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Yeah I managed without sleeping pills, but i wasnt working at the time
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Thank you both of you. I will be very careful.
I don’t work either so I can manage if the sleep will be difficul.
I was able to sleep without it for the first 7 years I was on it. I could skip a dose and sleep without problems. But then something changed and now I am totally dependent on it for sleep. I tried to quit one time and didn’t sleep at all for 11 days. The worst part is that I had no warning from my doctor. I didn’t understand what was happening. Now I probably know more about olanzapine than most doctors.
If you have not been on it for very long your chances to get off them are better. But I think it is actually easier to quit a pure sleeping medication than quitting olanzapine. So if you have to take a sleeping med it is probably still a step up from taking olanzapine.
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I always had insomnia on Olanzapine. I slept better once I switched to Abilify. I guess I was lucky that the insomnia did not stay after stopping Olanzapine.
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Olanzapine doesen’t work good on my sleep anymore either. When combined with the right supplements I manage to get decent sleep now, but olanzapine on it’s own doesen’t work very well. So I’m kind of forced to stay on a medication that is not working good on sleep to avoid insomnia.
I have tried switching to others meds before, but nothing has worked. There may be a few options left, like clozapine, but I’m not very eager to try it because it is considered a heavier medication than olanzapine. Except for the sleeping issues, and bad libido I don’t have a any particular problems on olanzapine. I guess I just have to settle. All AP’s have their drawbacks.
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I was on 15mg Olanzapine and still psychotic. It did almost nothing for my psychosis. Dr wanted me to try Clozapine but I refused. Now I am doing much better on 5mg Risperidone than all the meds I have tried. Latuda, Abilify, Zyprexa, Seroquel and Risperidone.
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Did you ever stop meds before? I did but relapsed after 2 yrs.
Yes I quitted seroquel in 2018, and then I was well for a couple of years
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Discuss coming off with your Dr. Thats what I did and I came off Abilify. Good luck!
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If you relapseagain maybe try other lighter meds like Abilify, Rexulti, Latuda, etc
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I quit 2.5mg olanzapine and couldn’t sleep. I took trazodone for about 1.5 months to sleep and then was able to sleep. I think @schwann just quit 2.5mg olanzapine also. I have had trouble sleeping everytime I quit an AP.
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Yes, I recently came off a low dose. Weirdly my sleep has been ok but completely different to before I took it. I used to go to bed early and get up early, now I go to bed late and sleep in. Weird.
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Oh you’re lucky. I only slept 5 hours on a sleeping pill, but then the night before I slept 11 hours. So maybe I didn’t need that much sleep tonight. I’m nervous what will happen tonight when I quit the sleeping pill. I’m only 5 days off the olanzapine, but I feel so clear headed again. Alive
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