Do you have olanzapine as an AP? What are your experiences with it?
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Nasty sh!t. Horrible life-threatening physical side effects like insane weight gain, high cholesterol and triglycerides. I was at risk of heart attack and stroke. Made me sleep 12+ hours a day and lazy when I was awake. It f*cked my brain when I quit it over a year ago it robbed me of my ability to sleep so now I’m on clonazepam to sleep. It also gave me diabetes which can lead to all kinds of serious health problems. I was hungry all the time, never full. It killed my metabolism.
I’m glad to be off that sh!t. All my health problems have improved and I’m a healthy weight now. My blood sugar is now at prediabetic levels. Still can’t sleep properly.
I was on 40mg of Olanzapine for about 17 years
I’m now on 60mg of Lurasidone, sooooo much better!
Olanzapine affects more neurotransmitters in your brain than any other AP so it really f*cks with your brain chemistry
It did however keep me stable and eliminated my psychosis, but at too high of a cost.
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I’ve been on it. It’s one of my least favourite antipsychotics. It stimulated appetite and was sedating. It’s the most likely of all neuroleptics to cause diabetes. That said, I was able to maintain normal weight and I did not get diabetes, but I’m particularly blessed in that regard as I haven’t gained weight on other drugs either.
-Albert.
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Wow. Sounds awful. I think ill steer clear of this one.
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Probably the worst crap ever. Please don’t take it
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Olanzapine is fuucked.
Should only be given to people as a last line of defense, same way as clozapine.
The costs tremendously outweigh the benefits.
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I was on and still am on it. Initially on maybe 10 or 15 mg for maybe 6 months. Recently 5 mg about 3 years.
No side effect apart from few kilos weight gain. Some posture issue. I had changes in shoulder posture on amisulpride as well.
Edit: It can give you diabetes. Even on low dose apparently. My doc asked me to check glucose levels despite taking sub 5 mg dose.
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As @schizornot says. Not everyone is going to see horrible effects mentioned by others. @Headspark dose to begin with is bonkers.
I never gained crazy weight on few APs I took. What made me gain weight was combination of multiple meds. Which was not much to start with. I gained maybe 10-12kg. After unnecessary meds were removed weight came down as well.
Some people’s bodies likely respond by pumping out more insulin to deal with olanzapine induced glucose level rise. Maybe mine and @schizornot did. Which can affect insulin sensitivity down the line. Or maybe some unknown factors play role.
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You’re both right.
Here’s the kicker, to both of your points…
@Schztuna Olanzapine was the first AP I ever tried and they kept me in it for 17 years. I was the one that said enough is enough and began the process of reducing my dosage.
@AhmShere Not only was Olanzapine the first AP they gave me. They started me off at 40mg. That’s double the recommended maximum dose. They didn’t even try 5, 10, 15mg, etc…
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17 years on Zyprexa is an insane amount of time to be on that medication— I was only on it for a little over a month and the damage it caused still has not gone away, so I can’t even begin to imagine what it was like for you body-wise having been on it for almost 20 years.
Zyprexa was also the first AP I was ever put on as well, and the assigned pdoc in the inpatient ward never bothered to ask about my family medical history (both type-1 and 2 diabetes), or even attempt to explain the potential side-effects to myself or my mom.
It’s shameful really, and clearly I am still pissed off about it to this very day.
From what I’ve read, @Headspark, your health is waaay better since switching APs, and you’ve been successful at reversing a lot of the damage caused by Olanzapine, which is fantastic, so that’s cause for celebration and hope regarding this specific med 
.
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Same
Same
Yeah, other than my sleep being f*cked up I’m doing much better. My diabetes didn’t go away completely but my A1Cs are consistently at pre-diabetic levels.
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I’m on olanzapine and have been taking for 10 years now. It has made me fat and tired. I’m also on vraylar to combat the fatigue.
I’m planning to quit the drug as soon as I feel better. Right now I don’t have an option.
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Olanzapine and Seroquel kicked my ass and I gained 100 lbs in 2 years. What totally sucks is that I’m doing great mentally on the clozapine, but I still weigh 274 lbs and am always hungry and can’t seem to lose an ounce. I would totally change meds if there was one that works the same as the clozapine without the weight issues, but I’ve already been on everything else…I kind of wonder if I’d rather be skinny and crazy than fat and sane.
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It’s criminal. 15
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I was on Zyprexa but I was also working and working was painful. I tried several times to stop taking my meds on my own or lowering my dose from 10 mg to half to quarter. I was younger and I feel like I could have done better in managing my illness. I could have made better decisions in life. I dont think I could be a good judge of this AP but it did make me gain weight, raise my sugar readings and I still had symptoms.
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I’ve been on Olanzapine for 16 years 7.5mg. It has kept me stable and in work. I have a few health problems but Who knows whether this is the med or my age. I have only the two previous meds to compare it to which were nightmarish in comparison.
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I’m on 6,25mg currently. Have trouble sleeping on it. And when I have tried to quit it to get on another AP I got total insomnia with absolutely zero sleep.
I recently applied to see a pdoc and got the answer today. In this letter the doctor team say that Olanzapine does NOT cause dependency. They actually wrote not in capitol leather. It’s like you want to scream. Well try taking olanzapine for 10 years yourself doctors, and see what happens when you try to get off it.
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30mg of Zyprexa a day. 10mg in the morning, 20mg evening.
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Horrible AP! It should be outlawed!!! I had an unquenchable appetite on it and gained an astronomical amount of weight like lightning fast. NEVER AGAIN!!
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