Will ask for use of gabapentin off label for sleep. I read somewhere that in the US 95% of perscription is off label. I guess it can be used for a lot of things.
I will also inquire about asenapine. I want off olanzapine. I guess another drug in the pine family maybe wont be too hard to transition to. I also read on drugs.com that asenapine receive substantially higher ratings.
Saphris has an average rating of 7.4 out of 10 from a total of 316 ratings on Drugs.com. 69% of reviewers reported a positive effect, while 18% reported a negative effect. Zyprexa has an average rating of 5.8 out of 10 from a total of 408 ratings on Drugs.com.
Coming off Olanzapine is hard. Tons of horror stories online of people not being able to get a single second of sleep for days after quitting. I hope it goes well for you. Good luck!
I see a doctor for sleep medicine in June. I may talk to my pdoc before that and ask for gabapentin if it helps with sleep. I’m open to propranolol too.
I think gabapentin is a wise option to try out since it causes less dependance then benzos for example. Hopefully it wont be hell to get off them later.
Well, I got the gabapentin, so that’s something. I won’t be getting the asenapine because doc has no experience with it. It’s almost not in use over here in Norway. I think it’s because we are not in the EU.
But doc is inquiring the pdoc team about options for a different AP. I doubt they will come up with anything good though. Last time they said nozinan, but I’m not keen on that one.
Check under society and culture any group of people who are taking these drugs recreational to get high at normal dosages speaks volumes about the issues with using these drugs medicinally. Same with morphine and amphetamines.
Clearly if you think you might enjoy it then taking it is not a good idea. Some people can but addiction does not discriminate. Also don’t fool yourself into think it’s any better then benzodiazepines, it’s probably not.
Asenapine probably isn’t a bad but every drug has pros and cons.
The drug.com ratings are not representative sample size of the user base. Many issues with the ratings as to why Asenapine is rated higher, namely it’s newer so people have a better outlook on taking a newer drug. You can see this echoed in the hype for new drugs in the forums. If you try read say 30 or so of these actual reviews you will see the information and insight you are getting back from the users isn’t great. A lot of people genuinely lack insight especially more so in other discussion spaces and antipsychotics don’t work for everyone
I’m only using 300mg at night which is a very low dose. No plans to use more although the doc said I could increase to 600mg if needed. I have not had a drink of alcohol for soon a year, so I have pretty good self control.
I won’t be getting the asenapin. It’s almost unavailable in my country on account of not being part of the EU.
I might ask for Solian instead though. I understand it possibly can be sedating. I need a AP that can replace sedation of Zyprexa, because I get severe insomnia without it. Already tried Seoquel and Latuda.
First I will see what the gabapentin does to me in the long term though. I will try it for at least 1 month, then reasess.