Coming off Olanzapine
Posted , 94 users are following.
I have been on Olanzapine or over 6 years now from when I was diagnosed Borderline personality traits and all I can say is that I have endured 6 years of living hell. I have been taking 10mg every night for that time and piled on loads of weight, felt lethargic no confidence and started experiencing heart pains. I have had absolutely zero social life in that time and felt unable to think or communicate with other people. I decided just over a month ago to stop the treatment and now am starting to feel much better. I have lost a stone in 2 weeks and look much better ,I am now able to think clearly and have much more energy and motivation to do things. To help me stop the Olanzapine I have avoided alcohol completely (this always put me back to square one in the past). I am finding it difficult to get off to sleep without the aid of the drug but more excercise through the day is helping with this. I will never return to taking this drug again as I feel it has robbed me of 6 years of my life.
11 likes, 335 replies
marbel
Posted
what dose of olanzapine are you on?. I have just weaned myself off citalopram (anti depressant) with a great success and no side effects. yippee. took ages but worth being able to get on with life with no disturbance. I am going to come off my olanzapine this year. I am on 1.25 mg at the moment. My plan is in two months time (giving my brain time to settle with out citalopram) to start alternating 1.25 and half this dose again.
So i will take 1.25mg one day and then .625mg the next. 1.25 the next etc
I will do this for six weeks before dropping to a daily .625 for three months and then completely stop.
I know this sounds absolutely ridiculous at such low levels but honestly if i just stopped cold turkey I would be a mess even at these low levels.
I have been on a regular 2.5mg for some ten years prior to this and my body would not tolerate 5mg. I wonder sometimes that if I should be come psychotic again what will they put me on?
marbel
michael32101
Posted
Even the smallest amount of change makes a big difference so it sounds like you have the right idea.
I was on 5mg in the beggining, a couple of years to 1 year ago. For this past year I have been on 2.5mg only because I went against the psych doc who wanted me on 5mg. I am due to come off in July this year but I knew it would take a long time coming off, and I wanted to do it in the spring and summer happier sunny long day months. More chances to get out and exercise in the nicer weather.
I found it easy coming down to 1.25mg it took a 4 week period, cutting 2.5mg tablets in half. I use a new tablet everyday and just throw away the odd amount. I have not told doctor that I am coming off so I still get 2.5mgtablets.
Within the next 2 weeks I reduced to nearly half that again, so approx 0.625 but this was slightly too quick and I curled up in a ball with extreem panic / anxiety attacks lasting hours. All it took was being unable to sleep for one night and a tiny amount of everyday stress and it set them off.
I had a fear that my mental state was going back to the episode of psychosis again but I realised that this is withdraw symptoms.
With some regular gentle exercise, determination and controlling the fear I will beat this.
There is no help out there, everything I have experienced with mental health has been about money.
Limited councelling, tablets thrown at you with too high a dose, the medication is to shut everyone up.
They dont even make smaller tablets for each of us to come down off this olazapine. We have to guesssmall cuttings of tablets.
bev11
Posted
In case you're not aware of it, there is a pill cutter available at the drug stores, to help with slicing the pills.
I once tried coming off Olanzapine but am back on it. I seem to be fine with it, just had this notion I would be better off without it. I was wrong. Possibly some time in the future, I will give it another try. I don't have any worries about taking it now. Good luck!
matlor
Posted
You are right Michael you get very little help from the Mental Health system. You have to do it yourself.
To be informed to make the choice you need to know the real rates of re-occurrence of your original condition if you stop taking the tablets.As the withdrawal effects are recorded as a re-occurrence the true rate recorded by the research is not accurate. It is very difficult to get unbiased information. I just know the side effects from Olazapine such as developing diabetes, blood dyscrasias and raised blood cholesterol can be quite serious.but it was what it did to my brain when I stopped the first time that convinced me I wanted to be drug free if I could. .It has taken a couple of years but I have done it..
Good luck to everyone who decides to come off the drug.
bonna
Posted
process of getting help in changing to a depoxil (depo) injection as the side effects of the olanzapine are just
too bad.The mental health team I'am under are putting together a plan for me to come off olanzapine with 3
possibilities of either stopping completely and starting the depo injection or tapering off before or during the
switch.the scary thing for me is hearing your stories,and knowing that most of you are on a relatively low dose and have experienced absolute hell,Iv been on 20/15mg for the last 10 years and really don't know how my
body will react to the switch ... Gonna be crazy I think,with some serious withdrawal I expect,just hope I get
some good help and am not complete alone in my medication switch over.its really good hearing your stories
and just hope with gods help I can conquer this terrible drug olanzapine ... Peace n love x
dhrti bonna
Posted
marbel dhrti
Posted
Hi Sack. Thanks for your update too. I am taking 1.25 mg morning and night. Had some weird thoughts again yesterday after waking at 5am so took a quarter extra this morning. I would rather take the meds than weird thinking and more lack of sleep. Still using zizyphus as needed and in a sleep capsule if needed. Thanks for the tips!.
Marbel
dhrti marbel
Posted
Yes it's nice to be back and feeling better.
Yes, I completely understand about weaning myself off olanzipine very slowly, the main thing is that the valium is making me feel so much better and I feel hopeful about slowly weaning myself off of the olanzipine. It's nice to be a part of a group of nice people like yourself where we understand and we can support eachother.
marbel dhrti
Posted
It is such a relief when you feel you are out of the hole of struggle with worries and stress and anxiety. And generally not feeling yourself or with an anchor for the day.
I don't know if I would feel and cope as well if I did not have you all here to share with. I heard on radio this morning about a 3 year old detainee in the australian detention centre who was on antipsychotics and another youth who sewed their lips up. and I AM so thankful for the safety of my home and love of my partner and friends and amazing to be able to share with you. Still one day at a time.
magnus40841 marbel
Posted
matlor dhrti
Posted
i have got at far as 2.5mgs a week and I would rather stay where I am for a few months than start to take a different drug.
dhrti matlor
Posted
i am free of olanzipine yay i went cold turkey. only symptoms is my sleep is out of sorts, i find some good cardio exercise each day helps me sleep longer.
My doctor put me on a wonderful mood disorder drug and wow i feel great
i am currently looking into natural supplements to treat my mild schizophrenia so wish me luck.
tonia_2003 dhrti
Posted
What kind of mood disorder drug did he put you on? Mine wants me to go on Zyprexa, but I don't want to. I am on Paxil and it just stopped working all of a sudden. Now I'm up to 1mg clonazepam, just to cope, but about every 4 months I have to go up. I can't get off this Paxil!!
ann55375 dhrti
Posted
matlor
Posted
Good luck