effects of zyprexa

this past weekend my son had a psychotic episode due to a toxic reaction to pcp. he has since been put on zyprexa, 10 mg at bedtime. he has a 14 day supply of this med.

before this happened he worked full time doing customer service. this morning he could not concentrate on his work and had to come back home. he has been asleep for hours. is this sleeping possibly due to the medication?

what are the long lasting effects of pcp usage, even if taken only once? how common are these psychotic episodes? help!

[HFHS MD-JM]

Pat,

   Zyprexa is one of the newer antipsychotic agents which can be helpful in treating psychotic features of any origin.  Sedation and weight gain are two of the more common side effects. In your sons case it will be important to clarify the diagnosis which will dictate treatment.  The differential is PCP induced psychotic disorder vs a primary psychotic disorder/process.  About 6% of a large sample of PCP-intoxicated patients had psychotic features without delirium.  Psychotic symptoms persisted from 1-30 days with an average of 4 days.  It will be very important for your son to have follow up care.  Hope this was helpful.

Sincerely,

HFHS MD-JM

[barbara to pain and lortab]

I am in a psych ward and am observing the psychotic patients that have been entered for different reasons and all are listless and tired and spacy after taking their anti-psychotic medications.

I understand those are some of the main side effects of those various drugs and why most individuals with psychosis often go off their medications and have relapses of psychotic episodes.

[Claire]

i was recently on zyprexa for a severe manic episode (i'm bipolar with panic disorder), and i felt heavily sedated and sleepy during the course of meds. of course, that interfered with my concentration skills. based on my experience i'd say that that's what happened to your son.

claire

[Deb]

Can anyone tell me how long before this medication relieves the effects of depression?  I have been taking the medication for almost two weeks now and still feel terrible about life.