Zyprexa withdrawal

[campingmama]

My dd is 17, was on Zyprexa for years (like 7 or 8 years) along with lithium carb and others than changed as time went on.  She was mostly fine on it until 2 years ago when she started to gain weight.  I had noticed cognitive dulling, she has struggled in school quite a bit, after being a straight A student for the first four years of her schooling.  We tried to get her off of it last year and it was a huge fiasco, she was a wreck for 2-3 months, alternately sobbed and screamed and rarely slept.  Tried again, by going VERY gradually, 2 months ago and it seems to have worked.  I have 2 concerns now: trouble falling asleep (long-standing problem with her), but her pdoc is working on that.  The other thing she's noticed is a problem with nightmares, like several times a night, and id often mixed in with "daymares" or fantasies while she is still awake.  This all happens at night.  She has had trouble separating fact from imagination for a long time, but this is much more pronounced and is really bothering her.  Any ideas??  Anyone else have issues like this after going off Zyprexa?  
Thanks!!

[freddie8605]

Ive heard withdraw symptoms can look like mental illness symptoms but if they continue for weeks after than probably not. I would talk to her pdoc about it, they probably can help the most.

Also when i was 17 i struggled to go to bed and sleep, it might be a age thing but I'm not a doctor so only my opinion.

Hope that helps
Freddie

[lindahand]

You may want to talk to the pdoc about adding Melatonin about an hour before bed. It is the substance in the body that tells it that it is time to sleep. So it isn't a herb but a substance that is already in the body so it isn't going to interact with meds. I use it when I am having trouble sleeping.

It sounds like the psychosis is perhaps a symptom of the mental illness. It sounds a bit, I'm not as severe, how I get when I am not taking an antipsychotic.