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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by SandraG on October 26, 2005, at 17:07:45
I am withdrawing from Zyprexa and very concerned about tardive dyskinesia. My lips feel very weird and I have a compulsion to lick them frequently. They feel sort of like the dentist has numbed them a little bit.
Do I have anything to worry about?
Posted by Guy on October 26, 2005, at 21:14:46
In reply to tardive dyskinesia, posted by SandraG on October 26, 2005, at 17:07:45
Have you been on any other anti-psychotics (neuroleptics) in the past? Sometimes TD manifests itself even after discontinuation of the older meds. Zyprexa, an atypical AP, generally has a reputation for causing little in the way of TD...but you can never be entirely sure. I take Z and have been lucky so far. Perhaps someone who has had experience with TD can comment on your symptoms.
Posted by SandraG on October 27, 2005, at 1:49:53
In reply to Re: tardive dyskinesia, posted by Guy on October 26, 2005, at 21:14:46
No, I was never on any other neuroleptics.
You're lucky, but I wouldn't count on Zyprexa being so safe in regards to TD. I met a woman who got it from Zyprexa. That's why I'm weaning off of it.
> Have you been on any other anti-psychotics (neuroleptics) in the past? Sometimes TD manifests itself even after discontinuation of the older meds. Zyprexa, an atypical AP, generally has a reputation for causing little in the way of TD...but you can never be entirely sure. I take Z and have been lucky so far. Perhaps someone who has had experience with TD can comment on your symptoms.
Posted by blueberry on October 30, 2005, at 19:08:55
In reply to tardive dyskinesia, posted by SandraG on October 26, 2005, at 17:07:45
What dose were you at before you started weaning down? How long were you on it? How fast or slow have you been weaning? How small or big have the weaning steps been?
I am also weaning off zyprexa, 5mg for 5 years. I started weaning a month ago. Each night I use a knife to shave off just a tiny eensy weensy little bit more than the previous night...maybe shaving off about .05 or .10mg. I cut the pill in half first to make it easier to shave off little bits.
Most doctors I think would have a patient go from 10mg to 5mg and then to 2.5mg and then stop, over a period of a few weeks. Just my opinion, but I think something like that is way way too aggressive for an antipsychotic.
Tardive stuff can happen when a dose is lowered too fast or in increments that are too big. And if that's the case, it can be reversed by returning to a previous dose. You could try going back up in dose for a few days, using a knife, and then get real good with that knife in dropping the dose in the tiniest little steps you can.
I don't know if what you are experiencing is tardive related. But when withdrawing from an antipsychotic, I just think that if anything weird happens, anything at all, it's a sign to me to slow down, maybe back up, and restart more carefully.
Just a thought.
This is the end of the thread.
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