My husband's anxiety

[Arob416]

After stopping serzone for anxiety, my husband had a reaction of severe insomnia after trying Lexapro for 3 days. His doctor suggested bipolar and put him on Zyprexa but is weaning him down gradually. He's on 7.5 mg currently. What side effects can we expect if he doesn't really have bipolar (which is our opinion) from this medication? We know the most common ones, but what if he is not truly bipolar? I can't wait for him to get off of it, but he is sleeping soundly again.

[bernie40]

As LCC has said, having a reaction like that to the serzone could well be an indicator of BP.  I would hope however that your Doctor didn't jump to this conclusion based purely on this incident.  I expect he has looked at your husbands history and spoken to him in some depth before suggesting this.  

In order to get a definite diagnosis (either way) he does really need to be seen by a psychiatrist and I would suggest you go about organising this.  It never hurts to get a second opinion anyway.

Mood stabilizers aren't just used to treat Bipolar, they are also used to treat other mood disorders such as major depressive order, so don't feel that the Zyprexa immediately labels him as being BP.

I can understand you wanting to be sure that he is on the correct medication which is why it is sensible to be asking question.

All the best

[LeftCoastChick]

Reacting quickly to a SSRI and having those symptoms is a pretty common indicator of BP - I wouldn't worry so much about the label as getting him on meds that can help him feel stable, such as the anxiety. It's a big problem with BP folks, and is my major battle still. You haven't given much info, but Im sure the doctor's gone through an extensive check list with your spouse.  What's wrong with him being put on Zyprexa if he's having postive effects from the drugs?