How fast to taper down?

I’m currently on 7.5mg olanzapine(zyprexa), and I’m going to try to taper off. The next step would be 5mg then as there doesn’t exist anythingn between 7.5 and 5.

But on some website I read something about (if I remember correctly) that you should taper off 10% every few weeks. Well, I don’t think that’s possible then, cause from 7.5mg to 5mg is more than a 10% reduction if I don’t suck completely at math. I don’t think it’s possible to split the tablets either(to my knowledge)

When I (a couple of months ago) said to my pdoc that I wanted to wean off xyprexa, I got the impression that he thought it would be fine to go from 7.5mg to 5mg. (tbh I can’t remember the conversation completely, but that’s the impression I got, that it would be fine going from 7.5 to 5)

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Talk to your doctor ?

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I tapered olanzapine. You can split the pills.I don’t think there is a fast way to do it. You can try going fast but might run into problems.

If you want to follow the 10% rule buy a jewellers scale from Amazon that goes down tot 0.0001 grams.

And it is 10% of your PREVIOUS dose, not 10% of your initial dose every 4 weeks. But everyone is different. Some people go 5% every 5 weeks, others 15% every 3 weeks. You have to see how you handle it and personalize it to yourself. Sometimes you get down to a certain level and have problems. so maybe go up one dosage level and hold for a month to stabilize, then continue to taper after that.

When I tapered I didn’t follow the 10% rule. I just went down by a quarter pill at a time every 3 weeks…

So cut your 7.5mg pill into 4 quarters and take 3 pieces, that is 5.625mg, do that for a few weeks, then move ot the 5mg pill for a few weeks. Then cut that into 4 quarters and take 3, that will be 3.75mg. Then take 2 pieces, that will be 2.5mg, then 1 piece, that will be 1.25mg.

I jumped to zero after being on 1.25mg of olanzpaine for a few weeks.

I was initially on 40mg of olanzapine and took almost 4 years to come off it completely. I have been off it for exactly 1 month today.

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Seeing a lot of people want to come off olanzapine, it’s the worst

My old psychiatrist got me to buy a pill cutter, then he prescribed me some low dose tablets

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Thanks for the info. The pills I’m taking are called Olanazpine Teva. I don’t think the pills are meant to be split, but you can just do it with a knife for example?

i used a pill splutter I bought from amazon.

You can use a knife but when I did that sometimes they would fly everywhere.

Are those the ones that go under your tongue?

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No, those are pills that you swallow with water.

Wow, that’s a long taper btw! What med are you on now? (if any)

I went slow, I spent about 4 years coming off 40mg of olanzapine, and I still have problems.

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Yeah, it has been a long taper but I was on a really high dose 40mg. I wrote about it today on this website here

Yeah, that’s what I had, tablets with water. And yeah, you can cut them into pieces. I highly recommend a pill splitter, you can buy one from amazon, its more accurate, but a knife will work too.

I had a hell of a time coming off olanzapine… Insomnia being my worst problem. I hope your attempt goes better than mine did.

I’m on 60mg of Lurasidone now, much better drug.

I’m also on 1.5mg of clonazepam for sleep.

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Thanks. On monday I will call a pharmacy and ask if these specific pills can safely be split, just to be sure, then I’ll start tapering off slowly.

Lets just hope your pharmacists knows, if they say no get a second opinion…

Read bullet point 3 under "General:

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My pdoc said Olanzapine doesn’t need to be tapered at all. I didn’t take his advice. I don’t always trust the professionals and experts. I’ll listen to what they have to say but I’ll also do my own research. They are only human and don’t know everything.

Yeah, I think that’s a healthy attitude to have!

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I was curious what “Teva” meant. “Teva” is just the company that makes “generic” olanzapine. It contains the same active ingredients as other manufacturers so its probably safe to cut in half. If you don’t want to cut your pills in half they come as small as 2.5mg pills. BUT you would have to jump to zero from that dose, that seems like a high dose to jump to zero from, but then again you may be fine.

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Are you tapering off of antipsychotics completely? And if so how many episodes have you had?

I just tapered down from 7.5 Olanzapine to 5 mg last week and had no real problems. Felt better and more alive each day as the medication was depleted from my system.

Not sure if I’m going off completely. I think I’m just tapering off slowly to see where my limit is, if I’m lucky I can taper off completely but not sure.

I’ve had multiple episodes. Don’t now how many, maybe 3 “big” ones.

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How many episodes have you had? I’ve had two and still hoping to come off in the future.

Feeling a lot better on 5mg compared to 7.5mg

Yeah, when I was at 5mg before I noticed that I had a bit more motivation and drive than on 7.5mg.

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