From olanzapine to latuda.
In many ways I feel better already after the first day, except I got no sleep. The latuda made me relax, but I don’t think I actually slept at all.
I will try to do a twist with my supplements tonight and see if that helps. I can take a day, maybe two without sleep, but then it’s getting serious. I guess I will call my doc on monday if this turns into total insomnia.
Are you taking Latuda with 500 calories of food?
No. But I did eat food with it. Had a portion of oats with milk on it. I guess it’s not that many calories, but I did feel it working, but not so to put me to sleep. I guess I might try eating a little more tonight.
insomnia is a common withdrawal effect going off olanzapine, but I’m still hoping latuda will get the job done.
I quit olanzapine(40mg) and switched to Latuda (60mg)
I’m on Latuda, it requires 350 calories of food when you take it. I think it is Geodon that requires 500 calories.
When I quit olanzapine I developed withdrawal insomnia. I’ve been off olanzapine for over 4 months and still can’t sleep. Latuda doesn’t have a drowsy effect on me, in fact it has no side effects at all.
Latuda has been a godsend for me. I am doing better in virtually every way possible.
Yeah, I’m having a good feeling about this. I did have some side effects though. I could feel my breathing slowing down and I clenched my jaw which was the most annoying one. It subsided after a few hours though.
Much better than abilify which I did not tolerate at all. But then I tried 15mg ablifiy. This time we are starting on the minimum 20mg dose of latuda to play it safe, and we will up the dose from there if needed.
Sleep is the key here…
Yeah, I started off with 20mg of Latuda and titrated up to 60mg. My doctor wanted to go to 80mg but I refused because I felt fine at 60mg and didn’t want to risk any potential side effects going higher. I’ve been on Latuda since 2018/2019 and have been doing well. For a while I was on both olanzapine and Latuda. Once I had been on Latuda for a while, I lowered my olanzapine dose and eventually quit.
Abilify didn’t work for me. I tried in back around 2012 and became psychotic.
Sleep is very important and I can’t sleep AT ALL. I have to take 1.5mg of clonazepam every night to sleep.
Yeah, that is a major problem, I really hope your brain recovers with time. I have read stories about people suddenly recovering after 3,6,12 months. So hang in there. Also keep taking those supplements even if they don’t work right away. It’s more about giving the brain the tools to heal itself than actually finding something that gives instant sleep, with our predicament.
I might suffer the same fate though. There is a great chance I too will need a tranquelizer to get some sleep. But I have mostly been on lower doses of zyprexa for the last 10 years. Mostly on 5mg. However I did end up in the hospital for insomnia when trying to quit earlier after 10 days straight without sleep. It’s not a good idea to make a move without the doctor onboard 
Yeah, I’ve read the same thing online too. Hundreds if not thousands of stories on various other websites and forums about insomnia after quitting olanzapine, apparently there is a Facebook group for it too, but I am not a member.
When I was reducing my olanzapine from 40mg, I became psychotic and started having insomnia at 10mg. So I went back up to 15mg and held there for a while, then I slowly reduced my dosage again while titrating up my Latuda. The Latuda prevented me from becoming psychotic again and I could sleep fine all the way down to 5mg, but once I went below that the insomnia kicked in and has never gone away.
I read olanzapine affects 17 different receptors in the brain, more than other antipsychotics, so my brain is probably going haywire from quitting while trying to get back to normal. I just hope I am able to sleep naturally one day.
From olanzapine 40mg to latuda 60mg it is not the same strength you risk psychosis.
I know, it’s quite surprising, as I understand it olanzapine is considered a much stronger antipsychotic than Lurasidone. And relatively speaking 40mg of Olanzapine is a lot more than 60mg of Lurasidone.
BUT I reduced my olanzapine down to 10mg back in 2018 due to side effects but I became psychotic and was hospitalized. Shortly afterwards they put me on Lurasidone (around 2018/2019). I spent the last 12 months beginning with 5mg of olanzapine slowly reducing it to zero and have been completely off it for over 4 months now. Not a hint of psychosis since I started Lurasidone, during the whole time reducing olanzapine, or since quitting it completely. So I have been on Lurasidone for about 2-3 years and absolutely no problems to speak of.
I don’t claim to understand it or have an explanation for it but Lurasidone has been a wonder drug for me. No side effects and no psychosis. I’ve lost over 25 lbs since quitting olanzapine 4 months ago, and now have lost over 80lbs since I was on 40mg (at my heaviest I was 240lbs). I weighed myself yesterday and I am 158.6lbs, well within my BMI target (My BMI is about 24). My cholesterol, triglycerides and liver enzymes are all normal now. Olanzapine gave me a severe case of diabetes, my A1Cs were usually around 8 or 9 for years, over the last year I am now pre-diabetic with an average A1C of 6.3. My last blood test was about 6 months ago so I am due for a blood test this month, I expecting my results to be even better after losing all that weight over the last 4 months.
I also got a job that I have been at for 6 months, to put that in perspective I didn’t work for 17 years while on 40mg of olanzapine, it knocked me on my ass. I even recently got a raise at work because my efficiency rating is so good and I am not even out of the probationary period. I wouldn’t go as far as saying everything in my life is perfect, but this switch to Lurasidone has made a major difference in my life.
Everyone is different, different meds affect different people differently. It’s not a fact that if a strong antipsychotic doesn’t work you have to go on one that is stronger or increase your dose, in my case a stronger antipsychotic might have been Clozapine and one pdoc wanted to put me on that but I refused. I am proof that this hierarchy of weaker/stronger meds isn’t written in stone or necessary always true, even if I am in the minority.
My brain read the title as “made a med sandwich yesterday”
My disappointment is palpable.
I wanted drama. Good luck with the switch!
My brain isn’t up to reading today but I get your coming off Olanzapine
In short, worth the pain