Posted by Fungalfoot on September 27, 2006, at 10:22:06
In reply to Re: How long do withdrawal symptoms last???, posted by somedevil on September 19, 2006, at 20:57:28
Can sympathise with your suffering - I am a fellow sufferer. I took Zyprexa for just under four years. Originally started it to get a good nights sleep and it worked, but lately, the last couple of years I have been waking at 5.00 am and not getting back to sleep again. It was also making me feel sedated and wooden. So I decided to come off it on 28 August 2006. I went cold turkey - 5 mg to zero for nine days during which I was getting very little sleep from 11.00 pm to 2.00 pm. I couldn't take it any more and on the advice of my social worker I went back onto 5 mg for one night and thereafter 2.5 mg at night for 17 nights then zero. I still didn't sleep, only four hours, and so my pdoc prescribed me some Seroquel. I started with 25 mg at night - 25 mg then 25 mg then 50 mg then 50 mg then 100 mg then 100 mg and another 100 mg tonight. I am now getting nearly six hours of sleep but don't feel as if that is enough. I guess I will just have to be strong and persevere. I am not going to increase it above 100 mg, not for a while anyway.
Sorry to bore you with so much detail but I include it just in case someone should pass by who has some special knowledge or experience which they might help me with.
The point of all this is that the manufacturers of the medication should warn the user that the drug is habit forming and may be difficult to come off. Furthermore they should research the best way of withdrawing and include this in the information leaflet - advice on how to come off. Maybe somebody should slap them with a class action law suit to make them wake up. Certainly the drug manufacturers have a duty of care to their customers and they should discharge that duty by research into withdrawal followed by proper advice in the box on how to withdraw.
Your pain and suffering is not your fault. It is the responsibility of the drug companies. They should do something about it.
poster:Fungalfoot
thread:687429
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060809/msgs/689580.html