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Mental Health Zyprexa withdrawal

A

Abolaynain

Greenlighter
Joined
Apr 23, 2015
Messages
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I'm now off Zyprexa for almost 4 months. I have been on 5 mg due to misdiagnosis of having anxiety. After I got it off, I felt like I'm not my old self. I panic too much due to trivial things. Inside me, I wonder why I'm worrying. There is nothing to worry about. It's like I'm good, but when anxiety hits due to a simple situation or thought, it lasts with me even if the situation has passed peacefully. I feel shortness of breath, my shoulder muscles hurt and I feel down. I laugh hysterically due to situation that may not be that fun. Sometimes when I remember a situation that was awkward or has a lot of excitement for me, I laugh in a strange way as a try for me to overcome that instead of having negative feelings but laughter really turns bad!
What can I do? And is that ever going away? When? It's a small dose. I was on it for about 2 months.
 
Can you give us a little more information about the misdiagnosis? Did you have symptoms of anxiety before you started taking Zyprexa?

I don't think any of us can tell you whether this is a "rebound" thing or an "original symptoms coming back" thing, unfortunately.
 
I have POTS: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I went to so many doctors who weren't able diagnose me. Some of them related my fast heart rate to being anxious but I disagreed. I used to get worried just like normal people. But when I wasn't able to identify my condition, I took Zyprexa. And turned out to make my case worse so I skipped it and here came the panic attacks. So I went on it again then tapered it gradually for a month then stopped. What am I dealing with?
Thank you,
 
Zyprexa withdrawal is rough but after only being on it for two months and being off of it for four you should be feeling better soon. It took me quite some time to start feeling better but I was on it for years. But yeah zyprexa does some weird things. I'm not convinced that it doesn't give you brain damage. I still am a bit cooky after being off of it for about four months but again I was on it much longer than you.

Did you have a more serious withdrawal period earlier?
 
What do you mean it causes brain damage?
I did a foolish thing and stopped it without tappering and felt horrible. So I was on it again for a month then stopped. And now I feel confused due to simple situations. Nobody around me notices that as I tend to not talking too much but I feel negative and like there is something in my hands and legs. I don't how to express it. It's like when you are normal and hear very bad news so you can't walk on your legs.

Will that ever go away?
Thank you,
 
I think mentioning brain damage isn't going to help him here.Abol I highly doubt you have any brain damage so please don't worry yourself to death about it, also the brain when given time and proper diet/exercise can recover from a lot more than we give it credit for.

Zyprexa seems like an odd drug for what its worth.The part that worries me is:
However, despite increasing demand for safe and effective antipsychotic withdrawal protocols or dose-reduction schedules, no specific guidelines with proven safety and efficacy are currently available.
Click to expand...
That should be as much a priority when developing a drug as developing something that works, because everything doesn't work for everyone and someones going to need to come off it.Maybe should your doctor that wiki page and see if he can find someone who specializes in these drugs or something thats experienced with getting people off them.

I have 'social anxiety' or 'generalized anxiety' and felt most of those symptoms you describe especially laughing in awkward situations or when it wasn't appropriate.If I were outside and it was cold for some reason things would be worse I'd be chattering or have complete lockjaw it seemed like the cold greatly affected my anxiety.

I wish you the best of luck in your recovery, mental health issues are hell and no one understands because there are usually no physical signs or even worse they say things that just don't help because they have no understanding.
 
jammin83 said:
I agree with your post and it is very well put, esp the part about developing safe protocols for coming off of these drugs. :)

Not trying to be argumentative here but if you had been through withdrawal of this drug you would know the type of hell it that is.

I have had hallucinations, sleep paralysis, hearing voices, trouble walking, full blown mania (I am BP II and have never had a manic episode that wasn't drug induced), off the charts anxiety, uncontrollable verbal tics, profuse sweating, insomnia, suicidal depression, mixed states, reduced cognitive ability, memory problems, inability to concentrate, losing my mind, uncontrollable thoughts, schizo thoughts, paranoia, and some weeks absolute torture to be inside of my head, among other things. I have been off of it for four months after tapering it since last summer (almost a year since I began reducing my dose). I have made a huge improvement over the last month but still have some lingering issues.

The OP was not on nearly as long as I was and it may have been inappropriate to mention it but I clarified I wasn't being entirely serious. Screws with brain chemistry, absolutely. If you look at the binding affinity it pretty much takes over several major systems.

I have come off drugs before but nothing like this, this one is the longest lasting, slowest recovery of any substance I have ever come off and it is SCARY. If that is not indicative of some type of damage, albeit reversible, then I don't know what is.
Click to expand...

Wow ok I agree theres definitely some fuckery with this drug.It's strange something like this would be let out into the wild, we're not talking a recreational drug but medicine.
 
All I can say is that Seroquel withdrawal is always a bad thing for me.The point of the matter is that these atypical antipsychotics are far from safe. Perhaps most people walk away unscathed from them, but I'm not part of "most people." I guess the point is that one needs to give themselves time after discontinuation of a medication before determining the lasting impacts of having taken a medication. It's a mess but the game is never over until it's over so we need to keep on fighting the good fight. Do I feel as though the lasting impact of taking 8+ different medications at once will be a game changer going forward, yes I do. Will I wait to see this through fair and square before I make any last calls on the impact of mass medication, yes I will.
 
Abolaynain said:
I have POTS: postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. I went to so many doctors who weren't able diagnose me. Some of them related my fast heart rate to being anxious but I disagreed. I used to get worried just like normal people. But when I wasn't able to identify my condition, I took Zyprexa. And turned out to make my case worse so I skipped it and here came the panic attacks. So I went on it again then tapered it gradually for a month then stopped. What am I dealing with?
Thank you,
Click to expand...

Zyprexa is one nasty prescription drug, am quite surprised you managed to take it for a while. I got prescribed this medication as a form of mood stabiliser for my anxiety / depression. The first day I tried it, it knocked me out right away and I was found passed out near my study desk. That was the first and last time I ever took it.

Time does heal everything though and unfortunately meds like zyprexa are similar to ssri's where it changes your brain chemistry. In my opinion learn how you can manage to get by rather than focusing on why you shouldn't have of taken it. Am living with this daily as I've been on SSRI's for the last 3 - 4 years and wish I never took them yet I still am :(
 
I should add my friend was on Zyprexa for 2 years and he went cold turkey getting off it. It took him close to a year to get back to a form of normality, so it does get better.
 
well, in the near future I'm going to come off the zyprexa and this thread ( and many others) doesn't really help or encourage me lol.
I have been on 5mg for a year. I don't suffer of bipolarism, or schyzophrenia or anything, just anxiety. I also take 2mg lorazepam everynight.
I talked to my doctor about suspending the zyprexa and he is really downplaying the "process". He says we are going to taper it slowly, also 5mg is "a very little dose", etc. I don't know if he really believes it or he is just trying to not worry me. He also says tapering 2mg of lorazepam will be easy because it is a little dose, "people take even 10mg of that stuff" ( wtf?)
Anyway, I'm going to find out soon how difficult it will be.
 
Hello, I was on olanzapine 2.5 mg tablets for 6months and just recently stopped because the medication was too sedating. I was initially worried about sleeping without it, and I saw some pretty bad horror stories about people trying to quit.. So I thought I would post an update on my withdrawal from the medication so that people can know that it's not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I stopped a week ago now, and the only symptoms i've had are minor nausea and minor anxiety. I take wellbutrin and i replaced zyprexa with trazodone 50mg for sleep. I must say, this combo has helped me a lot. Trazodone has helped me sleep and it's a different type of sleep. While taking zyprexa, every night i went to bed super early, and slept throughout the entire night without ever waking up. In the mornings, I would be so groggy that i would sleep on the bus ride to work. My first cup of coffee would help a little bit, but i'd still be tired soon after. The sedation did not ware off until I got home from work, 4ish pm. After that i would feel pretty good for the rest of the night. I decided that i didnt need the medicine anymore and it has really changed me. I feel much more normal, i laugh at things again, i'm more proactive, i have my charm back, and i'm great with people again. Maybe i never really needed it and that is why i feel so much better off of it, i dont know. But give it a try, dont be so quick to think your life is screwed. I've noticed with the anxiety, its all in my head. You can really make yourself feel sick and anxious just by over thinking something and assuming that its zyprexa withdrawal. If you have an open mind about it all, it will help you succeed withdrawal from the medication. Maybe it hasn't hit me yet? (one week off) or maybe i truly am not going to experience any overwhelming symptoms.. But i thought i would put a good post out there for others to read down the road, when they think their lives are bleak or they think they will never be the same.. Good luck everyone.. This medication isn't meant for everyone, and your doctor may have you pinned all wrong. Take care. - Tyler
 
I took 7.5 to 15 mg Olanzapin (Zyprexa) for almost 5 years. Made me a robot. Then I quit cold turkey, started smoking weed instead and within a few weeks I was back to my old self. This is not an advertisement for cannabis, just my story.
If you need some kind of antipsychotic maybe try Abilify (Aripiprazol) - it doesn't impair you on a cognitive level, gives you some kind of energy boost and works very well against anxiety (at least for me). It also made Lorazepam unnecessary.
 
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