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Tapering Olanzapine / Zyprexa


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I've been taking olanzapine 2.5mg daily for two years.  I've gained a lot of weight and look bad in my clothes. :( I'm more worried about diabetes, as my brother got it when he took olanzapine.  I've been tracking my mood and feel rather stable in the last couple months, so I think it's time to quit this.    I've discussed with my doctor and he advised me to taper it over a couple months, as my dose was pretty low.

 

It's day three since my first cut and I feel rather tired and stupid, got a headache, too.  My memory isn't functioning much and I forget what I was going to do the moment I turned around.  I'm going to school right now, this is not gonna be good for my GPA.  Does anyone have experience to share or tips?  I did taper off seroquel last year.  It was going OK until I jumped, then I felt awful for a couple weeks.  But I was still taking olanzapine then so it probably buffered the withdrawal effects.  I really don't want the next couple months to be awful, but I guess I don't have any choice.  Gosh I hope I never need to take any psychiatric medicine again.  I seriously hope nothing would be as bad as quitting ativan cold turkey. :o

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My other symptoms are all gone but insomnia is starting.  I guess I can't avoid this phase.  I think the zyprexa suppressed dopamine, so a little cut means a whole lot of dopamine is now available to me.  I just couldn't get tired enough to sleep.
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Survived the first week of the first cut.  I don't feel too bad right now.  My mood has been very stable or even better than before.  It's just my sleep suffered.  I don't feel very tired however.  A little bit anxious.  We'll see how the next week goes.  If it's OK I'm going to do the second cut.
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Hi - I was taken c/t off of zyprexa when my doctor switched my “migraine” med.  I was also on 2.5 mg.  Please take it slow.  I know the pill is super small and not easy to cut.  You may want to look at microtapering.  I suffered for about 6 weeks with withdrawal.  I refused to go back on it.  For me it took two weeks after the last dose to get real sxs although my sleep had been decreasing for about a week.  Unfortunately I think it’s made my body super sensitive to medication right now.  I’m tapering off of the Klonopin I was given to help with zyprexa withdrawal and it’s been pretty rough.

 

Good luck!

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thank you Heather for replying!  I thought nobody else ever take this med. :) My second cut didn't got well, I think it was too much (33%).  It's like a bomb and released so much energy.  I've always been a energetic person, no coffee needed. I was dancing and singing in the middle of the night and doing push-ups to try to burn it off, still didn't get much sleep.  I've gone back to the first cut and will hold for a few more days until my big exam is over.  Then I'll try a smaller cut.  I read a tip from another thread about using sandpaper to rub off the pills to smaller size.  I think that can really work.  The good news is I'm cheerful and energetic ever since the tapering started.  Stress and upsetting things don't bother my mood much at all. 
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It sounds like things aren’t going so bad.  I had a lot of trouble with sleep.  I’d never heard of sandpapering.  Those pills are so small! I will say that the withdrawal from zyprexa has made me ridiculously sensitive to other meds.  I tried decreasing my dose of klonopin- had to stop and am now having symptoms from decreasing nortriptyline both of which I was put on to help with the olanzapine symptoms.  My biggest advice is to not go on any other meds to help.  I may spend a year trying to get off of two medications that were supposed to help me short term with withdrawal.

 

It had the opposite effect for me - depressed, anxious, lethargic.  Keep posting - It’s great that you are doing well and it sounds like a smaller cut is the way to go.  33% is a lot!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hey my doc told me to CT 2.5 mg zyprexa saying it's completely safe to do so..of course she was wrong..and that was 6 years ago...I am still suffering but compared to my ealier days of CT wd..I am slowly recovering

Yes it is a nasty evil drug. But I think u should recover faster and safer since u are tapering

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  • 1 month later...
How is the taper going? Did you finish? I took this drug, and looking back, I have no idea what I was thinking. It's unbelievable to me that a drug like this is considered ethical to prescribe to people with anxiety and insomnia.
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Oh I'm still on 1.25mg.  I got really sick last month and got fever for 5 days, then coughed for weeks.  Still haven't fully recovered.  :( So I've stayed on the same dose for a few weeks. 
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  • 2 weeks later...

Oh I'm still on 1.25mg.  I got really sick last month and got fever for 5 days, then coughed for weeks.  Still haven't fully recovered.  :( So I've stayed on the same dose for a few weeks.

 

Hey Sapphire,

 

Hope the rest of your taper goes well. I tapered off olanzapine and another dopamine antagonist (domperidone, which does not cross the blood brain barrier). It's a pretty difficult drug to get off of. I would go as slow as you need to.

 

After I stopped the benzo I was on (Klonopin), I became completely intolerant of almost every drug that directly affects nervous system, so I had to taper the olanzapine pretty fast. I don't recommend this. I had to stop the domperidone cold turkey. Some combination of these events resulted in dopamine supersensitivity for me. Certain physiological events would set off what was basically a 24 hour anxiety attack. It seemed purely biochemical, whenever a wave of dopamine was released, basically. I didn't know what it was at first, but I eventually figured out, by administering a very small dose of the domperidone, that it was a dopamine surge. The domperidone stopped the attack, which was basically 24 hours of a pounding heart, muscular tension, shortness of breath, insomnia and stomach cramping. Unfortunately I had a bad reaction to the domperidone, so I had to find another, gentler solution.

 

Let me know if you have any problems with dopamine supersensitivity and I may be able to help. The signs I noticed were muscular rigidity (almost so I couldn't type), impulsivity, elevated heart rate and a sensitivity to all drugs and supplements that affect dopamine, among other things.

 

It's a very powerful drug, so be careful.

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Zyprexa has made my taper easy. Down from 40 mg to 10 mg of librium a day in 2 months but when I recently tried to quit Zyprexa due to fatigue and weight gain I had a major freak out (resulting in throwing things and hurting my foot kucking a door) and got scared and went back on it.Now I'm worried getting off Zyprexa is going to be even more difficult than the benzos. This med nightmare feels like it will never end. I feel depressed and flat on Zyprexa but stable in my apathy towards life.
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  • 11 months later...
Just want to update.  I finally tapered it down and jumped.  I have gained 30 lbs on olanzapine over the last three years, and it's getting dangerous. :o Not to mention all my clothes are too small.  I hope the withdrawal won't be too bad.  My brain seems pretty resilient with these things, but my gut isn't.  At the last reduction I had diarrhea for two weeks. :(
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  • 2 weeks later...
Just an update: I've been off for 10 days now.  All the physical symptoms are better.  However the psychological stuff seem to be starting.  And the insomnia is starting. :( I have forgotten how messy my brain can be and what it's like to have deep feelings.  I think so much and feel so much.  The loss of my dad five months ago seem to really hurt now. :( I know that's probably what a real person feels like, but gosh I almost miss my brainless, fearless days.  Nothing bothered me much even though I was taking a tiny dose of olanzapine.  I don't know what will happen if this insomnia persist.  I can't function with 3 hours of sleep a night.  I'm beginning to wonder maybe without taking olanzapine, I'm just a weak and anxious person who will never be "normal". :(
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