1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Olanzapine

Alternative to olanzapine

Posted , 3 users are following.

lisa43476
lisa43476

Hi my husband has been on olanzapine and fluoxetine for 6 years after suffering psychotic episodes, anxiety and depression. He has been desperate to stop olanzapine due to weight gain tiredness and feeling doped up. He has done a really slow reduction of olanzapine over about 4mths from 5mg by cutting up his tablets. He has now stopped taking olanzapine for 3mths but is having paranoid thoughts again, mood swings and is manic at times.

I am very worried about him but he is still insists he will not take olanzapine again. We have an appointment to see his gp later but I know from previous experience he is not that knowledgeable on mental health so won't make any alternative suggestions for med. Can someone please suggest something else he could try.

Thanks in advance

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • lily65668
    lily65668 lisa43476

    Posted

    Hi Lisa, Doesn't your husband have a psychiatrist or mental health team? I'm not very knowledgeable on this, having never had to take anti-psychotics myself. My only areas of experience are having formerly been a general nurse and having recently seen a friend I was taking care of go through 18 terrible months of taking three different anti-psychotics in succession, at wildly varying doses, all prescribed by different GPs who - like yours - were also "not that knowledgeable on mental health".

    There will be people on this forum who will know far more about this than me, but it seems to me that prescription of these powerful anti-psychotic drugs should never be left to a GP, but that a psychiatrist should always be involved. I realise that your situation is becoming urgent but is there no way you can insist on seeing your husband's original psychiatrist?

    • mjmdesk
      mjmdesk lily65668

      Posted

      Hi Lily,

       I am a 59 year old male who has had bipolar illness since 1991. At first I suffered from severe depression with several suicide attempts. The doctors put me on Lithium and anti-depressants. Unfortunately my system reacted poorly to anti-depressants... they made me manic to the point of being delusional. So that's why I was put on Olanzapine, to prevent the delusional thinking. Unfortunately when my 1st psychiatrist retired my new, young, psychiatrist insisted on increasing my Olanzapine to absurd levels because of my insomnia. Terible side effects. At my annual check-up at my GP he found out I had diabetes probably caused by too much Olanzapine in my system. I slowly reduced the dose to a maintenance dose of only 10 mg. morning and evening. I can tolerate that. I don't get that doped up feeling the next day anymore. The diabetes medication is doing its job well. My blood sugar level are within normal range now. The key to reducing Olanzapine is to reduce very slowly under the direction of your pharmacist. Usually a person only needs one anti-psychotic medication and it's better to start off slow.

    • Ash1234
      Ash1234 mjmdesk

      Posted

      I'm trying to reduce olanzapine slowly by I feel anxiety is worse when I decreased the dose .is this normal and how long before it settles on the lower dose ?

  • mjmdesk
    mjmdesk lisa43476

    Posted

    Hi Lisa,

     I have been on Olanzapine for many years now. I too felt doped up during the daytime. I even developed diabetes because the dose was too high. I am now on a maintenance dose of 10 mg. in the morning and 10 mg. at bed time as well as the diabetes meds. My diabetes is under control now. I am able to tolerate this low dose. It took a long while to slowly reduce the dosage. Reducing slowly is the key to getting off Olanzapine. Speak to your pharmacist about that. He may offer some positive feedback in that regard and may pass the information onto your husband's psychiatrist or GP. Good communication between the two will help. Thankfully I don't feel doped up during the daytime anymore and I have regained my apetitie which I had lost because my dose was too high.

    • Ash1234
      Ash1234 mjmdesk

      Posted

      How much did you reduce it by per month ? I'm only reduced by 1.5 mg recently but I'm feeling anxiety that is worse. Is this normal ?

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.