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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by blueberry on December 6, 2006, at 4:38:31
Weaning off zyprexa is real tough. Probably because I've been on it so long...many years. Even though the highest dose was only 5mg. It's been 2.5mg for a couple months. Now 1.25mg for 5 days. I get more depressed with increased doses. I get more depressed as I drop the dose. I am quite depressed if I just stay at a dose. So it is like a rock and a hard place.
The primary symptoms are overall restlessness and anxiety, just general almost crippling uneasiness. Maybe a little bit of flu-like stuff such as headache and a drop in appetite.
I don't take much xanax and I don't take it every day but when I do it helps. I'm thinking of trying benadryl too.
I wonder how much the last part of olanzapine's name has to do with it all...it is a triazalobenzodiazepine...notice the benzodiazepine part. Though it has weak effects on the gaba system, it still closely resembles the benzos in molecular structure.
Posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 7:54:02
In reply to Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop, posted by blueberry on December 6, 2006, at 4:38:31
Hey Blueberry
Haven't got much to suggest really, I'm sorry your finding it so rough :(
As Zyprexa is a sedating Atypical I would have though another sedating Atypical would help, like Seroquel.
Thats all I can think of at the moment really
Posted by SLS on December 8, 2006, at 9:32:18
In reply to Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop, posted by blueberry on December 6, 2006, at 4:38:31
Kind of a long shot, but perhaps Depakote would act to prevent the kindling of an anxiety-agitation reaction. Besides, if you have never been on it, perhaps now is a good time to try it. Is there any history of affective disorder in your family?
- Scott
Posted by blueberry on December 8, 2006, at 14:31:14
In reply to Re: Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop » blueberry, posted by SLS on December 8, 2006, at 9:32:18
> Kind of a long shot, but perhaps Depakote would act to prevent the kindling of an anxiety-agitation reaction. Besides, if you have never been on it, perhaps now is a good time to try it. Is there any history of affective disorder in your family?
>
>
> - ScottHi Scott,
Nice to hear from you. I appreciate it. I have been on Depakote ER 500mg. Within 24 hours I was feeling significant relief from depression. It was unexpected and nice. Strange though, it created a mild anxiety that hadn't existed before. Within 2 weeks it didn't feel like it was doing anything. After a month I was feeling more depressed.
The problem is that during that time my doctor had me tapering from prozac to lexapro. I am pretty sure lexapro was worsening my depression, because when I tried it again months later long after depakote was gone, lexapro made me feel very depressed. So was depakote depressing? Or was it the lexapro? Or both? I don't know. Darn.
I do know that when I tried to stop depakote because it wasn't doing anything, I ended up in the emergency room with a really bad depression. I was feeling recovered somewhat from that in about 36 hours after following their orders to restart depakote. I later tapered off slower without any problem. It feels like it works short term, but longterm I don't know. I tried 1000mg and no way could I handle that. Severe confusion and amnesia. I still have plenty onhand stored in a cool place. I always save meds for the future "just in case".
Going back several generations there is affective disorder in my family traits. This is going back a long time, but from what I have heard it was depression and melancholia in great grandparents and before.
Posted by SLS on December 8, 2006, at 14:48:24
In reply to Re: Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop » SLS, posted by blueberry on December 8, 2006, at 14:31:14
> Going back several generations there is affective disorder in my family traits. This is going back a long time, but from what I have heard it was depression and melancholia in great grandparents and before.
The reason I asked is that I am wondering if there isn't some bipolarity involved in your biology. I think a strong pattern of heritability might indicate that there is. Of course, Depakote might help if this is the case. It can make some people feel more depressed. However, I think it is worth challenging yourself again with the drug without confounding the results by making any other changes to your regime.
- Scott
Posted by ronaldo on December 11, 2006, at 3:10:44
In reply to Re: Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 7:54:02
> Hey Blueberry
>
> Haven't got much to suggest really, I'm sorry your finding it so rough :(
>
> As Zyprexa is a sedating Atypical I would have though another sedating Atypical would help, like Seroquel.
> Thats all I can think of at the moment reallyHello Tom
I was coming off Zyprexa in September/October. pdoc prescribed 50 mg Seroquel for sleep as withdrawal gave me bad insomnia. It never helped me. Perhaps the dose was too high. The closest I came to relief was when I tried 8 mg of Seroquel. I tried Seroquel at 25, 50, 75,and 100 mg. Nothing worked. Ed_uk told me that when coming off Zyprexa the only medication that will work is something closely related chemically to Zyprexa. As far as I know Seroquel is not so related. Zopiclone would not work either.
I am now into round 2 of my struggle to come off Zyprexa. I am down to 5 mg from 10 mg and planning to come down to 3.75 mg next week. Last time I got down to zero for a full 3 weeks but rebound insomnia got me in the end and I had to revert to 10 mg. The relief was sweet but didn't disguise the bitter taste of failure.
....ronaldo
Posted by Sebastian on December 21, 2006, at 15:11:42
In reply to Re: Zyprexa Very Hard to Stop, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 7:54:02
Its a nice theory, but not true. I tried to switch to geodon, which is not as sedating, and no luck.
This is the end of the thread.
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