Hi i was only on small doses aswell, I started on 2.5 then upto 10mg eventually.
Excellent drug for crisises in my opinion
Very large appetite and weight gain, and heavy sedation, but appetite and sleep can be just what you need during a psychosis, it helps the recovery
for me great in crisis, not great for maintenance
I'm currently taking 5 mg of Zyprexa for over a year now. It really helped mellow me out as I am bipolar 2. I don't have my highs anymore but was severely depressed from Oct to August, when my depression started lifting. I've gained 45lbs on Zyprexa and I'm thinking about switching to something similar without weight gain being a side effect.
Ziprexa was like a miracle drug for me. I took it and for the first time ever my brain was quiet. I wasn't bothered by the static. I felt normal. It was wonderful. Now unfortunately it spiked my triglycerides off the charts so I had to quit taking it. Even if it made me as big as a whale I'd take it if I could.
From what I remember from when I was on Zyprexa as my psychiatrist told me it has a long half life (meaning time it takes to build up in the blood stream) so it showed at least a month before it showed any started to show full efficacy although I could feel some effect from the beginning. Also I don't believe that 5 mg. is a full clinical dose. However each person responds differently to each medication and it depends on what your psychiatrist is trying to treat. The main concerns I had with that were sedation and weight gain and those are not uncommon although as before each person's reaction is different. It would be worthwhile to discuss all this with your psychiatrist though.