![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
pdoc, with me pushing, prescribed 5 mg Diazepam to help with moderate to severe rebound insomnia with Zyprexa w/d. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea? Took it last night for the first time and today I was pretty well zonked out. My natural instinct is to reduce the dose by half to 2.5 mg. Good idea/bad idea? My pdoc's preference was for me to try some Sulpiride (related to but not the same as Amisulpiride). Any comments on that?
I am so sick and tired of feeling like a zombie. I felt slightly better when I was on 10 mg and 5 mg Zyprexa though I had a lot of negative symptoms. I am supposedly Bipolar II but I don't get very manic at least I don't think so. The problem was more with dysphoric elation - irritability, impatience, losing my temper for no good reason, rage. But on the 5 mg and 10 mg Zyprexa I did not feel alive, on the contrary I felt half dead. That is why I want to get off the Zyprexa just to feel again what it is like to be alive. :-(
Posted by laima on January 9, 2007, at 12:09:08
In reply to Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d, posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
Wow, almost funny in a sad way. I used zyprexa to get off benzo; sounds like you get to do the opposite.
Posted by cgd092 on January 9, 2007, at 14:13:08
In reply to Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d, posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
You wrote, "The problem was more with dysphoric elation - irritability, impatience, losing my temper for no good reason, rage."
I know Celexa helped me with irritability, impatience, and even rage feelings: Because when I went off it, all those things suddenly appeared when I never had those before. I went back on Celexa and they went away.
Posted by blueberry1 on January 9, 2007, at 15:23:12
In reply to Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d, posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
Maybe diazepam's halflife is too long Ronaldo? Maybe xanx would have been better. Maybe call the doc and ask him to call in a xanax prescription. Anyway, you could try reducing the dose. Try taking earlier instead of at bedtime? Or you could try reducing the dose as much as possible and combine it with a 1/2 dose (25mg) of benadryl. That sounds good to me. The benadryl sort of duplicates the antihistimine part of zyprexa, without all the other complicated zyprexa stuff, and might make it faster to get off it.
Sulpiride is not a bad option as long as the dose is low where it works as a dopamine stimulator more than a dopamine blocker. It also would probably make getting off zyprexa easier and faster.
I've been on 25mg amisulpride for about 10 days. Tried 50mg for 2 days but really want 25mg to be enough. I'll give it more time. So far it has increased motivation...I get laundry and stuff done where before I couldn't. I would say depression has improved about 20% in 10 days. I have a long way to go and doubt amisulpride alone will do it, but I'll take every little bit I can.
That zombie feeling. I have found what duplicates it. If I take more than a 1/2 dose of benadryl I wake up with the exact same zyprexa zombie feeling I used to have. Except with benadryl it goes away in about an hour after waking, where zyprexa hung around all the time. So now I'm wondering if it is that antihistimine part of it that did it.
I send you my best wishes to get some ZZZZzzzzzz.
Posted by Quintal on January 9, 2007, at 16:33:16
In reply to Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d, posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
Low dose sulpiride may make you feel over-stimulated during or immediately after Zyprexa withdrawal if taken alone. I had trouble sleeping after a while on amisulpride, but the diazepam would help with that - sort of an upper/downer combo.
Diazepam isn't the best med for sleep in a person with no tolerance. Zopiclone would be a better choice with its short half life (5-6 hrs). If you're looking for a benzo to deal with daytime anxiety diazepam is good but you may need a week or two to develop tolerance to the sedation. 5mg is a low dose anyway, but if you feel oversedated it seems wise to reduce the dose to a comfortable level. Xanax isn't available on the NHS, but Ativan (lorazepam) another short acting benzo is though doctors are strongly discouraged from using it. Oxazepam is another short/intermediate acting benzo that they may be more willing to prescribe.
Similar to laima I was offered Zyprexa as a benzo substitute (according to my learned pdoc because it is safer and has fewer side effects).
Q
Posted by Phillipa on January 9, 2007, at 17:31:31
In reply to Re: Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d » ronaldo, posted by Quintal on January 9, 2007, at 16:33:16
Even when I was 24 I needed 5mg of valium three times a day with mepbrobamate 450mg to settle me down and let's not forget the three beers. I must have the constitution of a horse. Love Phillipa
Posted by med_empowered on January 10, 2007, at 0:22:03
In reply to Re: Diazepam for rebound insomnia due to zyprexa w/d, posted by Phillipa on January 9, 2007, at 17:31:31
yeah, you'll probably need something to help you off the zyprexa. Benzos are a good choice, but after a few weeks diazepam may not be helpful enough in getting you to sleep. Still...for the time being, if it helps, go for it. Good luck.
Posted by ronaldo on January 12, 2007, at 10:08:01
Posted by ronaldo on January 9, 2007, at 11:51:22
>pdoc, with me pushing, prescribed 5 mg Diazepam to help with moderate to severe rebound insomnia with Zyprexa w/d. Can anyone tell me if this is a good idea? Took it last night for the first time and today I was pretty well zonked out. My natural instinct is to reduce the dose by half to 2.5 mg. Good idea/bad idea? My pdoc's preference was for me to try some Sulpiride (related to but not the same as Amisulpiride). Any comments on that?
>I am so sick and tired of feeling like a zombie. I felt slightly better when I was on 10 mg and 5 mg Zyprexa though I had a lot of negative symptoms. I am supposedly Bipolar II but I don't get very manic at least I don't think so. The problem was more with dysphoric elation - irritability, impatience, losing my temper for no good reason, rage. But on the 5 mg and 10 mg Zyprexa I did not feel alive, on the contrary I felt half dead. That is why I want to get off the Zyprexa just to feel again what it is like to be alive. :-(
Today 12 January 2007
I have perservered with the 5 mg diazepam. My sleep has improved. Did not sleep well on Monday and Wednesday nights (about 6 hrs) but did sleep well (about 8 hrs) on Tuesday and Thursday nights.
My Zyprexa went down from 3.75 to 2.5 mg on Thursday night.The old fashioned benzo seems to be doing its job.
I don't feel nearly as hung over the next day now.
The diazepam is not at its steady state yet imho; and neither is the Zyprexa. I hope I continue with getting some decent sleep.
Posted by Phillipa on January 12, 2007, at 11:42:04
In reply to Update - diazepam - rebound insomnia -Zyprexa w/d, posted by ronaldo on January 12, 2007, at 10:08:01
That sounds like your body is adapting. Good luck Ronaldo. Love Phillipa
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.