@ThePoet It took me 4 years to go from 40mg down to nothing, and several months of weird side effects before I was finally free of it (except for the insomnia I spoke about that is still with me 5 months after quitting). I’ve spoken to @anon8091425 about this on this website before.
Olanzapine is unlike other antipsychotics. It affects 17 different receptors in the brain, so when you finally come off it all that neurochemistry has to reset itself back to normal. It can take a long time and I think that is why people like @anon8091425, myself and many others have such a hard time.
Some people are lucky though, they can quit without problems, but there are a ton of people that do have problems. I’m not saying don’t use olanzapine, just don’t make it your first option, there are many aps to choose from and I would recommend you try those first.
@Headspark I’m so sorry to hear that you are still struggling with the insomnia. It sounds awfull. I wish I could have spoken to you previously to accepting that crap.
Thanks @anon8091425 It is definitely a struggle. The 1.5mg of clonazepam I am taking for sleep works but really tranquilizes me during the day, I don’t feel like my normal self, but it is the only way I can sleep.
I hope things get better for your girlfriend. If she does need antipsychotics, every drug is different for everyone. Olanzapine is one of the most likely ones to cause weight gain.
If her main problem is insomnia, an antipsychotic might be jumping the gun a bit. Chronic sleep deprivation causes hallucinations in every single human being. Has she been evaluated for a sleep disorder? That might be a better starting point.
I know there was recently a huge blow up in the pdoc community with people getting in trouble for prescribing seroquel as a sleep aid in patients with no psychotic symptoms.
It’s because a lot of them are strong anti-histamines. But there are other options like doxepin, cyproheptadine (Periactin), and trimipramine (Surmontil) that are not classified as antipsychotics.
All sleep meds will lose effevtiveness after a time. They work by sedating you, and the more you take them the more your body works to regain its equilibrium by no longer being sedated. That’s why they usually say things like “do not take longer than 3 weeks” or something.
Thanks @Ninjastar I’ve heard that before but I can’t sleep without some kind of pill. Clonazepam has worked really well, I’ve been on it for months now, but it has gone for 8 hours of sleep, to 7, to 6. I find it hard to function with much less than 6 hours of sleep.