1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Olanzapine

Help, SOS, PLEASE !!!

Posted , 4 users are following.

anne32859
anne32859

Greetings from Calgary AB.

​Where to start I'm the new kid on the block so please have patience with me.  (Lots of patience). My shrink just put me on Olanzapine and the first two days were great.

​I was lucky to say that I have not had any side effects.  Today I noticed a bit of dry mouth.  That I can do, however I was on a 1200 calorie diet and lost 8 lbs.  Great? not really I need to take this med its a real miracle drug for me.  However in the last 3 days I put five lbs. on.  Is that even a possibility.

​Being a woman I have to make up my mind if I want to be thin or ill.

​What a dilema, I believe I'm vain enough to give up my meds and stay paralized on the couch eat and watch t.v.and give up the holy grail that my doc gave me.  So anyone who can address these decisions I would truly be gratgeful

Sending good vibes your way.  Thanking you in advance.

Anne

 

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • Sack
    Sack anne32859

    Posted

    Hi Anne, I was on this stuff for 10 years. You will need to stay very active to stop gaining weight on this medication. The problem is i makes you inactive. I gained 30kg because I didnt do anything active wise. Ive lost it all now. Seriously, you will need to get off the couch and get out on the pavement if you want to stay slim otherwise within 18 months you will be a beachball. This is NOT a drug to be taken lightly or played around with. Either get off it or get active permanantly. If you stay on this drug it wont be easy to maintain your activity levels so you need to be disciplined and strong. And that is in itself the key to getting off this drug IMO. You start to take control of your life, make routines etc based on your vanity. It sounds ridiculous I know....but it works. From what I read on your post you are sitting around on the couch doing nothing watching tv and eating only a small amount of food....for what? to stay thin. If thats all you are going to do the drug will make that 10 times worse only now you will be twice as big. Probably wont be much fun mentally and physically doing that if you are 40lbs heavier.

    Anyway...you asked for help...there it is.

    Let me just say this. I am not saying stay off meds. If you really need them then you need them. But you need to be active. You need to get off the couch and get outdoors and work your body and clear your mind. Otherwise it's a recipe for disaster.

    Regards,

    Colin

  • anne32859
    anne32859

    Posted

    Hi Colin

    ​I'm not sure if this message will reach because I couldn't find a space to reply.  Thank you very much for taking time out to reply to my post.  It was a definatel a "Tough Love" reply which I will definately put in practise.

    ​The reason my doctor gave me this is because I was paralized emotionally and I couldn't do a thing.  Depression like I never knew existed and put bipolar on top of that and some addiction problems I was ready to take on the world.  It was so bad that suicide was starting to look real good to me.

    ​The thing is that I knew weight gain could be an issue however the opposite has happened I can't sit still for a minute and loving every minute of it.  I never knew life could be this good.  (By the way the Doc gave me 5 mil)

    Being active is the least of my problems plus I own a treadmill and have started that up and been doing 30 min.  I've been so busy that my biggest problem is that someone is going to say you must stop now.

    ​I sure hope that you get this because I'm replying to myself, and if you do get it once again I thank you because not many people at least not the ones I know that will help.  So yes I was surprised that you answered,  Oh yes and food is not a problem for me because I don't have much of an appetite but eat just the same.

    Take Care

    anne

    ​P.S. Now I'm worried that perhaps I'm not active enough, life, its one damn thing after another.

    • Sack
      Sack anne32859

      Posted

      Hey Anne, got your message. 

      My apologies, It sounded from your original post that you were basically just sitting around. It's great that you are very active then as you will need to be. All the stories I have heard from people who are on this drug have had a weight gain component it just seems to go with territory.

      If you have a good diet and keep active you should be able to maintain yourself better though. I spoke to my Doc before I came off this drug and he actually said "we are in the business of making people fat" so there you go. I read once that the drug slows you metabloism or something which is why people have weight gain. This is why people also get less active it seems. But from the sound of you recent post you are buzzing around so it might not be as much of an issue for you. There was another person on this forum once who said they never had any weight gain at all....so there are cases, it's possible that it might be the same for you?

      Every story is unique. This is a good site and forum for posting on. There are quite a few regulars here who have been on a very similar path to you and most of them give feedback, support etc. I always read every post that gets into my inbox as I know what it's like when youre out there...seemingly on your own. Hang in there Anne, you will be fine.

      The one thing that I did that helped me with this drug was.....after 5 years of daily meds and huge weight gain of 30kg I looked at my life and realised I wasnt doing anything different than from before I started taking this drug. I was still saying the same things, eating the same food, doing the same things, thinking the same thoughts etc.

      So I changed what I was doing. The first thing I did was gave up drinking, then I started walking daily and from there everything kind of fell into place. It took 5+ years and I am still making little changes all the time but my point is....if I had not changed me all I would ever be or do would be the person who I was before I went on this drug/medication. Nothing would change other than the fact that I was now a drug addict who was taking daily meds/drugs to mask his problems.

      And I'll be honest here...the drug masked my problem so that everyone around me could deal with me better. It didnt changed me, it just dummbed me down. People now could tolerate being around me whereas before they just did not want to.

      Once I fully came off the meds/drug I really realised the extent as to how bad this was and it took/has taken another two years to calm down. It's only now,just over a year after being drug free that I am starting to see a difference in myself, my behaiviour. Maybe there is a bit of getting older and wiser in there as well but really I think it's more about taking responsibility and control for and of yourself.

      it's not easy, at least it is not for me and I dear say I am just an average person with an average story like this so I would imagine that there are others out there who are doing it tougher...maybe you are one of them?

      This is just a forum Anne and all I can do is offer my support in any way shape or form that might be relevant. I'm now a Fitness Coach so when you talked about the weight gain and sitting watching TV that aspect of me took over...I apologise if it sounded blunt.

      Anyway, stay close and connected. I'm sure other will respond to your post as well with some more input.

      Regards,

      Colin

  • demdar
    demdar anne32859

    Posted

    Hi Anne i was on 20mg then 10mg a day for 2 yrs.i went from 7 st 2 11 in a matter of mths.Was like sum1 had pumped me up.I stopped them n slowly lost some of the weight.I heard they,re doing trials using mdna for deppression mention it 2 ur shrink.Personally I was still miserable cos i was so fat
  • angela85951
    angela85951 anne32859

    Posted

    hi Anne! I am here in the UK and have just been prescribed Olanzapine as I was getting dizzy spells on my old med which was Quetiapine. Have you had any problems with dizziness on this one? Or anyone else for that matter! Good luck with your decision - it is a tough call.........   
    • anne32859
      anne32859 angela85951

      Posted

      No problems what so ever, I had some dry mouth and even that I can live with.

      ​Personally Angela I have had nothing but positive results and It kick in about 2 days.  I was and am elated.  My mind was silent and still not hasseling me with stupid memories that happened 20 yrs. ago.

      Now I don't know much about the medication because I'm still researching it.

      ​Were all different and most illnesses are handed down to us, its called conditioning.  I hope that you will get the same results and if not there are other things.  Good Luck, keep me posted and I'm sending great vibes to you.  I also meditate and I can't say I met someone who was oppossed to that.  It calms and relaxes you so basically I just put my medicine and added a natural way of living as well.

      anne

  • angela85951
    angela85951 anne32859

    Posted

    dear Anne thanks so much for your very kind post.... it is so helpful to know that I'm not alone in this! I am hoping that the drug will help had to come off Quetiapine as I was getting dizzy spells and (sometimes) fainting. will keep you posted - good luck with your own "journey"   
    • demdar
      demdar angela85951

      Posted

      Heya olanzapine pretty much the same. Common side effects r dizzness and fainthing cos they lower ur blood pressure.but u will lash the weight on.Well maybe not u hopefully but i did,take care xx
Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.