Zyperxa (olanzipne) experience? I used it for years after risperdal bad it made this years and lost too much time in it ? Anyone experience with?
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I was on it for over 15 years. I am slowly weaning off it. Right now I am on 1/2 a 2.5mg pill. So 1.25mg/day. Maybe in a week or two I will be going completely off it. The problem I am having now that I quit is severe unrelenting insomnia.
It has been a bit of a disaster. Major weight gain,diabetes, high cholesterol and triglycerides.
Now that I am on such a low dose, and will be going to zero soon I have lost most of the weight I gained, my blood sugar is at pre-diabetic levels now, my triglycerides and cholesterol are at healthy levels. But I can’t sleep.
When I was on a high dose I had no energy or motivation and slept a lot.
Latuda is my main AP now.
That’s tough.
I hope you make it through the titration.
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I was on zyprexa for one or two years.
I gained weight on it.
Insomnia is a common withdrawal effect.
My advice is just go through it, maybe use sleep meds if it gets bad.
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Thanks.
Even after I am off it I don’t expect to sleep anytime soon. I was reading a Mad in America forum thread about Olanzapine withdrawal insomnia and people were saying they still experienced insomnia after a year of quitting. I came across one post that said they recovered only after 2.5 years. Recovery posts about this problem are hard to find. There are only a few of them.
The only med I have found that lets me sleep 8 hours is 2mg of Lorazepam(Ativan). I may have to become dependent on benzos just so I can sleep. It’s a tough spot to be in.
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Wow. I wasn’t aware on that medication, it would take that long.
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Yeah, if I had known I would have refused to take Olanzapine back when they started me on it. It’s a major problem, from what I have read it goes far beyond withdrawal insomnia common in other psych meds. The internet is full of people going through the same thing I am.
To add insult to injury virtually all of the people on these forums say they talk to their pdoc about it but the pdocs just say its not the med, its your mental illness, my pdoc said the same thing, that olanzapine doesn’t have withdrawals. In the end there is no point in arguing with them, you just have to go along with it, agree its my mental illness, but get him to prescribe something for sleep…
I took 100mg of Benadryl last night and didn’t sleep at all, after 5 hours I took another 75mg. Didn’t sleep for 1 minute. I’m tired today.
Hypnotic drugs put me to sleep for about 4-5 hours on average, sometimes shorter, sometimes longer. Ativan has been the best, but everything I know about Benzos tells me I don’t want to become dependent on them again, but I may not have a choice. I was depended on clonazepam once, and that was a long process to come off it, I don’t want to go through that again but I may have too. I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.
That drug ruined my body physically
I went from 59 kg to 96 kg in 2 years
When I found out it was the drug, I quit cold turkey and had my third episode
Yeah, same, At my heaviest I was 240lbs (~105kg). I’m now down to 175lbs (~80kg)
Glad you have lost a lot of the weight.
What AP do you take now that has allowed you to lose the weight?
Reducing my Olanzapine and the weight just melted off.
I am now on Latuda and it doesn’t cause any weight gain.
165lbs (~75kg) is my BMI weight.
That’s a good drug - I took it for about 18 months
Amisulpride has helped me lose a lot of weight
Feel really self conscious at the moment as I put on 2 kg from eating too many take out foods recently
My weight stabilised at 69/70 kg, but now I am 72 kg
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Yeah, about a week and a half ago I reduced my Olanzapine from 2.5mg to 1.25mg and I have already lost 6 lbs. It quite amazing how fast the weight just melts away for me when I reduce my dosage. No extra exercise, no change in diet, just a reduction on dosage.
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Zyprexa gave me terrible dystonia can’t take it.
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Slept 16+ hrs a day and gained weight every week, I don’t remember much of the time I was on it only that I didn’t like it, I was on 30mg
I have a pretty good theory that the reason olanzapine causes such severe insomnia is that it has put the hormone and cell system in the brain in shambles. I have been taking it for almost 15 years and experimented a lot with stuff.
You might get better sleep in you try to introduce the supplements GABA and L-tryptophan/5-htp into your diet. The only problem is that GABA might cause tardive dyskinea. But you could still try a small dose like 250mg and see if it helps. I am able to take 250mg and relax a lot better, but higher doses caused my left hand to move without control. L-tryptophan or 5-htp will raise your serotonin levels which in turn produces the natural sleep hormone melatonin. But it’s dangerous because it might cause a relapse, but again, if you try a small dose it might be enough to make you sleep, but prevent a relapse.
These hormones GABA, Serotonin and Dopamine are the AP’s main course of action to supress because their imbalance causes psychosis. But getting too little is bad also…
Did you try zolpidem and trazodone also for sleep? I had to use sleep meds when I quit just 2.5 mg of zyprexa. It was making me lethargic. I am on 120mg of latuda now.
I’ve tried upwards of 1000mg of GABA and it didn’t do anything. I have also tried 5HTP and it didn’t do much either. I haven’t tried l-tryptophan. I have tried melatonin, from 300mcg to 10mg, No effect.
Zolpidem loses effect after 2 or 3 nights, and only puts me to sleep for 3-4 hours. Trazodone didn’t work at all, tried up to 125mg. Gabapentin didn work either, tried up to 600mg.
I am on 60mg of latuda