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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Zyprexa Withdrawls
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Zyprexa Withdrawls
by Chardon, Nov 07, 2005 12:00AM
I was put on Zyprexa for insomnia I was suffering after surgury. The doctor felt it was anthesia induced mania and usually lasts about a year. Its been 2 years now and I have been on Zyprexa for 18 months. Ive been trying to get off this stuff, however before I even get completely off I cant sleep, feel dizzy and have eradicate pulse and blood pressure. I currently have had the medication compounded at 31mg per Ml and I am reducing by one Ml every 2 weeks. Iam currently only taking .62mg. I was still getting some sleep on.675 mg of a 2.5mg tab. My question being. How long before my sleep starts to smooth out? Iam currently averaging about 1 hour at the most a night for the last 4 nights since I lowered my dose. How long does this go on? I can handle it for a few more days probally but I still have 3 weeks or more before Iam completely even off.My doc who is a Phyco Pharm says he has never seen such withdrawls. Help!
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Nov 07, 2005 12:00AM
, Nov 07, 2005 12:00AM
Why don't you ask your doctor to cover you during this transition with a short acting sleeping pill like ambien. Then you can get off the zyprexa, but still get a good nights sleep.
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I took 10mg initially, and dropped to 7.5( a 5 and 2.5 combined) then to a five, over time. I could go no lower than 5 mg, by now the drug was producing the symptoms it was primarily designed to treat, upon withdrawal. Bad sleep, screwed up dreams, and exotic phobias. So I stuck it out at 5mg's, with not much hope in sight. The avg. dose of zyprexa is 20mg's.
I learned of seroquel, designed to do almost exactly the same thing, but not in the same family at all, just the same class...atypical antipsychotics. Seroquel is cheaper, which sounded good. I figured by now I was chemically addicted to Zyprexa by now, as Eli Lilly claims untrue, but many of you confirm otherwise. Eli Lilly states that Zyprexa has not been observed to produce noticeable effects upon withdrawal. Except that whatever symptoms the sufferer(patient) already has, will return quickly, appearing to be withdrawal symptoms.
B.S.
Figuring I was addicted, I decided to switch to the other drug, which my doctor told me would not likely work. At best I would have to take some every now and again to sleep and not get paranoid. I told him I'd risk it. So I took both drugs at the same time(pharmicist said it woulnt be harmful, just pointless since they both do the same thing, and it could make you real sleepy.) After getting some seroquel in me, i tapered off the zyprexa slowly and successfully. The doc. was dead wrong.
My sleep isnt fantastic, but i can sleep without aid and for 12 hours if I wanted to. Now, I am still taking the seroquel. But my goal is to be free of this burden, the magic pill. So over time I matured my world view, kept close to christ, did everything that would prepare me for the final drop. What would be different with this as opposed to the zyprexa? This will have aided in buffering the withdrawal symptoms(I took them concurrently just long enough), treating the mess that the medicine made(simultaneously), and will have been in my system not nearly as long, making it more feasable to withdraw completely. The avg dose of seroquel is 250mg. Currently, I take 1/16 of a 25mg tab every 3 days. the moment ive been waiting for for years. And when Im done all the docs are getting letters with bold print : IT CAN BE DONE. People have problems. And my problem wasn't a lack of medicine, as a headache isnt from a lack of tylenol. Screw the symptoms, I want a cure for the problems. The problem was just not solving problems maturely which led to worry. How many people have been tested for unbalanced levels of serotonin, dopamine, or norepinephrine? The bribed psychs, should be lined up and force fed the pills they corruptly dispatch, motivated by the "re-education seminars" and other implicit bribes.
Well anyone wanting sleep, should talk to your doc(firmly i might add) about switching to seroquel, then tapering. or something else. not everone's the same. But it happened for me, and I never saw myself as an informercial testimonial candidate. heh.