Posted by Elizabeth on April 20, 1999, at 3:14:42
In reply to Re: just started zyprexa and oxazepam, posted by Emily Silverman on April 19, 1999, at 19:17:25
Deborah,
First of all my congratulations to you on your career. I've always wanted to pursue music more (I sing classical) - maybe not professionally, but in amateur groups or church choirs, but my depression has kept me struggling just to get by from day to day. Joining a church choir is one of those things I'd like to do when I'm better.
Auditory, visual, kinaesthetic and tactile hallucinations - wow. Interesting combo - was there a diagnosis? And how did *that* affect your piano playing (and other areas of your life)? Have the hallucinations returned since you d/c'd the meds?
A lot of people feel emotional flattening on olanzapine (even using this to their advantage, as for affective disorders), and maybe it wasn't the right med for you, or the dose was wrong.
(How much were you taking, anyway?)It might be possible to find a happy medium where you take a moderate dose of the antipsychotic, somewhat suppress the hallucinations (maybe not entirely, but enough that you can be functional), and cause minimal problems with your emotional range.
I really do feel for you...career issues are a big one for me: I don't know what I'd do if my illness or med combination made it impossible for me to pursue my work (example would be having ECT - the risk of memory loss is slight, but still, I worry that I might not be up to my former level of academic performance (a big issue for me right now, since I'm applying to med school next year).
poster:Elizabeth
thread:306
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990401/msgs/5068.html