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Anyone on a very low dose of zyprexa? How low? Do you have any side effects on this very low dose? Does it improve your symptoms?

I've had sleep troubles while on zyprexa, is that because it isn't indicated for people with concomitant insomnia?? I wouldn't sleep on it, or i would sleep for like 10-12 hours. Because of that and because my current regimen isn't working as much is there any way to take it PRN low dose if i talk to the doctor about it? Because I can take it like once or twice and it doesn't affect my sleep.

Hello Everyone in the community, I have been a member for a few months in this website but I finally decided to write an introduction topic of what I am going through right now. I have spoken to a few of the members in the chat room and have been able to get some advice from them. My story goes as follows: I was diagnosed with drug induced delusions in January 2014. The psychiatrist I visited then prescribed me 15 mg of Zyprexa which I took for about 4 months. Then I visited another psychiatrist because I moved and he changed my meds from Zyprexa to Invega 6 mg. I was on Invega for about another 4 months until end of August 2014. This is when I quit cold turkey because I had recovered from the delusions and could not take the torture the meds were causing me. The high doses caused me side effects like akathisia, severe anhedonia which I had never encountered in my life and complete lack of motivation. These symptoms developed after about 3 months into medication and increased drastically during my use of Invega. I felt like the effects kept increasing with time and that my brain could not take it anymore. So it has been 6 months since I quit all kinds of meds cold turkey and a lot of the akathisia has significantly decreased. I am completely free of delusions and I never had any hallucinations to begin with. I never heard any voices nor did I see anything extraordinary. I hope I can get advice from anyone who has recovered from withdrawal of meds and whether or not this emotional blunting will fade away. I understand that some side effects of medication as well as withdrawal symptoms take longer to fade away than others but I feel like anhedonia and emotional blunting are hindering my progress in life. I am unable to feel motivation due to this lack of pleasure that was induced by these anti psychotics and I wish it could fade away so I can enjoy my life again. Thanks to all!

Hello everyone, my name is Nicholas and I'm a 21 years old guy from Italy. I suffered from chronic insomnia from the age of 15 and in mid-February 2017 was prescribed before bedtime the antidepressant mirtazapine at 15 mg and the antipsychotic olanzapine at 2,5 mg. I took them for 2 weeks without improvement. Therefore the psychiatrist increased mirtazapine at 30 mg and olanzapine at 10 mg. Now I believe that he thought I had bipolar disorder type 1 but I hadn’t any mental illnes. I took olanzapine at 10 mg because I think was only a tranquilizer and because I trusted the doctor. Olanzapine made me sleep for 13 hours but I was no longer myself. After 5 days I tried to split the tablet but it gave me a strange effect. So I continued for others 15 days at 10 mg because I really needed to sleep. Then in April 2017 I tapered olanzapine in 1 week because I could not live anymore like that. I took it for a total of 48 days. After this I reduced mirtazapine to 15 mg and 1 week later I stop cold turkey. At that time I took the benzodiazepine brotizolam at 0,25 mg for 2 weeks to help me sleep. The withdrawal symptoms were terrible for 4 months and I have not been the same anymore. When I was on mirtazapine and olanzapine I had eyelids fasciculation 2 or 3 times per day. When I quitted olanzapine the eyelids fasciculation ceased. 2 weeks after withdrawal from olanzapine and 1 week from mirtazapine I started to have frequently intermittent muscle twitching in the left thigh and occasionaly pulsating muscles in other parts of the body. After less than a couple of months they have decreased in frequency and intensity but didn’t stop completely. During this period I was forced to take the antidepressant sertraline and the benzodiazepine diazepam because for the new psychiatrist I had obsessive compulsive disorder with an obsession for the damage of antipsychotics. I did not have anything like that and could taper and withdraw after 3 months in July 2017. Now I think maybe that the muscles twitching have diminished because diazepam is also a muscle relaxant. In August 2017 I started to have continuous fasciculations in the legs when I lie down and less frequently when I sit while I never had them when I move. Few times a day I had pulsating muscles also in the arms and the trunc but never in the face. I never had muscle twitches in multiple parts of the body at the same time. In September the muscles twitching moved for 1 week in the lower abdominals. In October 2017 for 2 weeks the muscles twitches suddenly stopped in the legs and continued in the rest of the body about 10 times per day. When the muscles twitching returned they were milder. Sometimes the fasciculations are so mild that when I looked at my calf I saw them without feel them. In the legs they have become more single rapid muscular contractions than pulsating muscles. Soon after I started to have continuos pulsating muscle in my upper lip. The muscle twitch was very mild and lasted 2 weeks but after it I have sometimes pulsating muscle also in my face. Do you think it is a tardive dyskinesia caused by olanzapine despite I haven’t involuntary body movements? Do you think it could be some other side effect caused by olanzapine or maybe mirtazapine? It’s 8 months that I’ve it. I have been visited by several psychiatrists and neurologists and everyone said it was just stress. Even if I do not have the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia I do not know what else it could be: I’m not stressed and I do not suffer from anxiety, I do not take stimulants, I can sleep, I have had blood tests and I haven’t electrolyte imbalances or hypoglycemia, I did electromyography and had normal results. The thing that worries me most is that there is a very large amount of medical literature that associates tardive dyskinesia with cognitive impairments. If it were to be tardive dyskinesia do you think that the fact that for almost 2 weeks the muscles twitches had almost disappeared means that I am healing? Thank you and greetings from Italy.

Ok so 2 days Zyprexa very less confusing. Maybe I can get off the Seroquel. Seroquel is too intensely boring in daytime. I take one Zyprexa my house is clean and I'm chillin. No water needed. Im not a plant. Although getting to the gym Im ready.

i've been on zyprexa for 4 months now and i have gained 13 pounds, for me it wasnt a big deal since i was severely underweight but now im scared of gaining more since i dont want to stop being skinny, i felt like the hunger was really bad for the first two months but know im not so hungry but still very scared of gaining weight, does the weight gain ever stop? should i tell my doctor about it and get a med change? weight is turning into a huge issue for me and causing lots of anxiety and even some food restriction but i feel as if my doctor would not change it since im still a little underweirght and therefore no real reason exists to switch meds. (i have never struggled with an eating disorder i was just naturally really skinny)

i've been on zyprexa for 4 months now and i have gained 13 pounds, for me it wasnt a big deal since i was severely underweight but now im scared of gaining more since i dont want to stop being skinny, i felt like the hunger was really bad for the first two months but know im not so hungry but still very scared of gaining weight, does the weight gain ever stop? should i tell my doctor about it and get a med change? weight is turning into a huge issue for me and causing lots of anxiety and even some food restriction but i feel as if my doctor would not change it since im still a little underweirght and therefore no real reason exists to switch meds. (i have never struggled with an eating disorder i was just naturally really skinny)

I was on Seroquel for years and decided to change to Zyprexa hoping that the side effects would be less. Zyprexa turned out to be worse and so I changed back to seroquel and got really bad akathisia. So I changed back to Zyprexa again for a couple of months then decided to give the seroquel a try again, starting at a low dosage and increasing it slowly. When I increased the dosage to 200mg I suddenly started getting severe panic attacks and a sense of dread and anxiety that would not go away. So I changed back to Zyprexa again. This was about a month ago and the anxiety has not gone anywhere. I live with a sense of dread and panic every minute of every day. Could this be akathisia again? The last time I had it I couldn't sit still which is different now, its just a sense of inner distress that hangs with me. I don't know what to do! My doctor thinks its just normal anxiety but I really feel like the seroquel caused some kind of physiological change, its completely abnormal for me.

hello, has anyone here had any success with olanzapine (zyprexa) for depression? be it bipolar, unipolar? or heard about it being used for that? if so, at which dosage? it's a long story but i am not dealing well with maintenance ECT at all and need something to help with maintaining antidepressant effect. i thought i heard something about it being used for depression so decided to ask. i should mention seroquel used to work well for me at 300-400 mg mark but i simply can't tolerate how it feels on my brain. zyprexa i have some for panic attacks for now and it seems to be ok side effect-wise at 5 mg mark. thank you!

Hello, I have bipolar and schizoaffective disorder. I have to take 30 mg Zyprexa but it's causing me massive weight gain. I was thinking about switching to either mellaril or loxapine but I don't know how effective they are. My psychosis involved people being narcissists, having my credit card information, implanting a brain reading device on my phone, and my favorite TV series being an allegory of my life. I was extremely sick and agitated. I need something that won't cause so much weight, so any advice is appreciated. I can't take haldol or risperdal because they both made me rigid.

I'm considering if checking myself into a hospital will help me or just be a waste of time and money. Things all went haywire when I tried to quit Prozac 20 mg and 1 mg Xanax (nightly for sleep) after 15 years of an SSRI plus Xanax. I went off both of them because I wanted to see if I could "get clean" so to speak and it resulted in panic attacks virtually non-stop for 2 months. Now those panic attacks won't even go away with the resumed 1 mg Xanax nightly and 5 mg of Zyprexa twice daily (10 mg total). I tried of course first to reinstate an SSRI and they all drove me crazy with increased anxiety (which is not unusual for me, SSRI's often work for me, then create tons of anxiety when they poop-out). I am shocked about the Zyprexa since I have taken Zyprexa before briefly during one of my many SSRI poop-out periods and it was overpowering me with much needed sedation (as it does with virtually everyone). 15 mg of Remeron has not worked either to sedate me enough and stop the panic attacks. Taking 1 mg of Xanax throughout the day helps a little but not nearly enough and that is of course only a short term solution anyway. I want to go to the hospital and see if they can inject me with Thorazine or something? I think I have activated some type of never ending cycle of adrenaline and fear response in my system and need something to reverse it, even for just a couple days? What can they do, if anything, to put a sledgehammer to these panic attacks? Please help. Thank you so much for any input. P.S. I do not have bipolar disorder, nor have I ever had symptoms related to mania and got brutal anxiety when I experimented with lithium and Lamictal. I have depression, anxiety, and chronic fatigue.

Zyprexa helped me immensely. It felt like my brain woke up, now 6 months later I am experiencing tightness in my legs at night plus insomnia, all new symptoms. Currently on 5 mg Zyprexa. Last night took 1/2 of a 25 mg Seroquel and 0.5 mg of Cogentin at 3:30AM and was able to sleep. I am trying to stay away from Seroquel as it causes daytime sedation, plus I am gaining weight like crazy. Talked to my psych doc today and he encouraged me to try 1/2 of the Zyprexa tablet during the day and 1/2 at dinner time with the cogentin and seroquel, giving all three time to clear my system by the time I wake up. I have a very slow metabolism. Right now experiencing dizziness and more sedation as the afternoon progresses. I feel I am out of options. Zyprexa is the only drug that helps with all my symptoms. Thank you for listening. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated. Purple.

I've been taking zyprexa for awhile and I noticed that between the Generic Teva version and the generic apotex version, there is a difference in the antidepressant effect I feel from Zyprexa. Has anyone else noticed differences in the generic versions or even when compared to brand name? I noticed that the apotex version I was more happier. I also noticed more cardiac side effects from the apotex one. Also, has anyone tried the AB(aurobindo) Prasco one? and how is it? Has anyone noticed antidepressant effects differing in their versions of Zyprexa?

Hi guys...so I had a suggestion from a comment on a vlog I did of someone suggesting I ask my Dr about switching to a combo of Zyprexa and Abilify. I currently take Risperdal and Abilify (along with Lamictal and Effexor) and the cocktail is NOT WORKING I recently started the Abilify at 5mg, then 10mg and I seem to be rapid cycling with a growing amount of paranoia and anxiety. It was suggested by the commenter that the Zyprexa will help the anxiety and some of the psychosis I'm experiencing (voices, shadow people, paranoia) and the Abilify will keep me from falling asleep all day and help with negative symptoms associated with my Schizoaffective Disorder. Please give any advice you have about either or both of these meds... I can't see my Dr any sooner than the 15th and that is about 6 days away. We have tried, and maxed out, pretty much every other antipsychotic out there and nothing lasts for long. We tried Zyprexa alone about two years ago but I COULD NOT FUNCTION....I was falling asleep trying to work, drive, etc. Not good. Don't know if it would have taken care of the symptoms had I given it a longer run, but I couldn't lose my job and so I dropped it. Anyone try it and had the sleepiness go away after your body got used to it, like a few days or so?? I'd like to try it again as I've heard some good things...other than weight gain which is hard for me as a recovering anorexic...ugh. I need feedback pwetty pwetty pwease

I recently saw a new pdoc that's suggesting I switch off my Zyprexa I've been on for Years to Geodon, Abilify or Latuda. The idea is to desperately try to drop some off some of the weight from Zyprexa and other meds in the past. My previous pdoc who I trust more I almost want to wait because I can see him after this next teleconference with this new guy. Anytime we've even tried to cut my Zyprexa I've wigged out but now I'm positive about it and hopeful. To make a short story long, can anyone tell me which one of those three is best for anti anxiety and also drop the weight?thnx☺️

Hi, I wonder if anyone could help please... I am a 33 woman and I took Zypexa for 6 years due to very mistaken and stupid diagnosis (10mg`s for 2 years and 5mg for 4 years) and Cypralex for first 3 years. I quit Cypralex 3 years ago while on Zyprexa and quit Zyprexa 11 months ago after a 3 months taper.I am absolutely,100% drug free.I am in full withdrawal/discontinuation syndrome and I have experienced a lot of debilitating sypmtoms,severe insomnia,severe muscular pain throughout the body,uncontrolled rage,tremors,severe headaches,stiff/pain in my neck and shoulders,severe stomach pain,vulvodynia,PMS,IBS.. over 80 symptoms in total... I`ve changed my diet completely,I becomed a vegan (no meats,no eggs,milk or gluten),I eat very very clean,I cook my own meals at home and stay away from any processed foods,conservants or additives.I don`t take any painkillers,absolutely no pills at all.I manage my pain with ginger tea and a arnica based organic solution.I don`t drink coffee,alcohool... I don`t smoke. I try to live a very healthy,clean live and exercise (take gentle walks in the park).The diet change paid off and the symtomps are starting to dissapear and I am starting to have good and lasting windows.My sleep has improved a little but not so much... my night sleep depends of how my day was... if I had a stress free day and everything was fine I am sleeping 4-6 hrs... if my day was not a good one or I have something relatively important to do the next day I might sleep from 5-6 am to 11 am or not sleep at all until 9-10am! Overall I am doing fine if I stay away from cold,bad postures and stress and take care of what I eat.I have very low stress tolerance and any little arguement,contradiction or event in my life brings a very bad wave of symptomps,the insomnia returns in full swing,the muscular and head pain returns,convulsion/ tremors as well and of course the depression as a result of lack of hope.Suddenly I have the feeling that I never healed at all because the symptoms are exactly as bad and severe as when I quit Zyprexa.I am very fragile and I wonder if I will ever heal completely and have 0 symptoms exactly like the normal person I was before drugs. 11 months of endurance and pain have passed and I really want my old life and body back... no pains,no restrictions (from cold air,stress or bad postures). If anyone has COMPLETELY healed from Zyprexa and be 100% free of any psihotropic drugs please e-mail me and let me know how you`re doing,how long it took you to be normal and live a normal live again.If your stress tollerance is normal,if you don`t have any pains no matter the climate condition,if you`re sleeping well no matter how your day was,If you can eat or drink anything and don`t have any symptoms.PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT [removed email address] Many many thanks and hang in there!

I've been suffering for the past two years thinking I am going crazy for having visions, seeing orbs, and waking up hourly to strange dreams. The visions are strange, i know what is going on around me in reality but in my minds eye I am witnessing other realities. Ive seen bits of the future and had premonitions but about strange details that dont seem to have underlying meaning to them. So there is something to be said about altered states of mind but It has gotten worse the past year because when these episodes happen normally right after I wake up Ive started sometimes smelling things that arnt there. Very strongly. To the point of throwing up. It causes all sorts of weird physical sensations like energy is going haywire in me, pressure around my head, hair standing on end, ringing in ears... Do any of you suffer from this? my md thinks i have gone crazy and wants me on zyprexa but i have body dysmorphia and low self esteem and a plethora of reasons that the medication scares the shit out of me. I took it for the first time last night and finally slept through the night but i felt like a brick waking up. i cried for hours. I felt so irritated but couldnt muster the energy to deal with saying anything about it because my boyfriend just throws in my face that i try to go to the doctor but never take what they give me. its hard trusting a doctor to do the right thing. ive been on every class of med and nothing has worked. I swear paxil made me this way. thats why i tried to quit taking everything three years ago but this past year these problems have driven me back. idk what to do. i used to pay so much meaning to my dreams and believe in all sorts of things but now that ive "come back to earth" so they say i feel so depressed that my beliefs are just subconscious bullshit. I wish I had someone to talk to about this. I feel as though im drowning.

So I have been on quite a medication journey the past few months, which began with my first hospitalization may of last year. I started taking zoloft (eventually 150mg) when I was in 7th/8th grade for ocd and depression. Worked pretty well for about six years, had normal/good energy level and not too many bad days. My senior year of high school I started to feel the zoloft was no longer working so added wellbutrin for around 2 weeks but felt no different. (looking back, I probably should I have given it more time). Made the transition to college, adjusted pretty well, but then zoloft stopped working completely and abruptly. Over the next few months, I tried brintellix, effexor, celexa, abilify, trileptal and some xanax and klonopin here and there. Ever since I stopped the celexa I have felt completely depersonalized and like my brain is in a fog. A little over a month ago I started prozac and lithium. I added buspar a few days ago for the crippling anxiety I have been dealing with. The first week of the prozac I felt a little better, more energy to get up and do things but still really depersonalized. Did generally better than I had been doing before on the prozac, but seemed to be loosing energy quickly. Fast forward to this week (4 weeks after I started Lithium and Prozac) and I feel absolutely awful. Thoughts of suicide, lots of sadness, 0 energy and incredibly depersonalized. Extremely hard to get out of bed and do stuff. Walking a few blocks seems like a marathon and I feel more fatigued than I ever have before. I've had trouble concentrating on things, reading, getting work done for a while now but it feels even worse these past few days. Wondering if anyone has any guesses what this might be about. I am up to 40 mg prozac, 600 mg lithium, and 15 mg buspar per day, and I am a pretty small woman. I'm worried about feeling this bad after 4 weeks on prozac because it seems like most people notice positive changes around 4 weeks and I seem to have taken a turn for the worse. I feel pretty defeated and am interested in trying some atypical antipsychotics, namely zyprexa or seroquel. If anyone has any experience with these in terms of unipolar depression/ major depressive disorder I would be really curious to hear your input. I was thinking of possibly starting zoloft again and adding one of those atypicals, but obviously I have to talk to my dr. I know that I should ultimately make these decisions with my doctor, but any input that could help me make some decisions would be great. Thanks.

I'm really nervous about starting zyprexa as I'm scared I'll have a reverse effect. Any words of wisdom or stories are greatly appreciated!!

Hi! I am writing on behalf of my son, who is 7 years old. He is currently on Depkoate (500mg) and Seroquel (400mg), along with some other stuff (Tenex, Clondine, supplements). His diagnoses are ever-evolving and changes with each hospitalization, I think. He was placed on the Seroquel during a hospitalization, after having tried Risperdal for 9 months, but continuing to have periodic hallucinations, extremely high anxiety, and high levels of fear, plus akathisia. He reacts very poorly to SSRIs. The Seroquel was magic for him -- his anxiety decreased, he was able to start learning again, and there is even talk about him moving back into public school in a self-contained class with some inclusion. However, a couple of weeks ago, he started becoming extremely anxious & fearful again. He was afraid to walk around the house without looking behind all the doors, not being able to be in a room without an adult, locking doors behind him to keep things from getting him, telling a peer that monsters were at his house, etc. We also believe he has been hallucinating again for many reasons, though it can be tricky as he does have a mild to moderate speech-language impairment which can get worse during these times. Anyways, long story short, we have been giving him his Zyprexa PRN (5mg) daily for one week, and we are definitely beginning to see some improvements. We see his psychiatrist this week. I'm not sure whether to advocate for an increase to his Seroquel, continue to take the Seroquel plus the Zyprexa dose, or whether we should just switch to Zyprexa. I know adult experiences are different from child, but I would love to hear if anyone else has had to switch from Seroquel to Zyprexa, and how that went. We work really, really hard to keep him from being hospitalized whenever possible because we have had not great experiences in the past, but I find that I have to be really well-informed in order to do that.

My first episode psychosis started June 2013, after a very stressful period which lots of problems happened at the same time and after some sleepless nights. For one week I was living in another world! I completely isolated myself and had lots of delusions and paranoid thoughts. I was thinking there was a conspiracy and all my family and friends are plotting against me. I was thinking they are controlling my internet and watching me through hidden cameras. I thought that I had a tumor or very dangerous illness and they are not telling me the truth. I was thinking they have spoken with a psychologist and he is telling them what to. All Facebook posts and emails I was receiving was a part of that plan. I didn't know what I am doing and I was writing crazy stuff on Facebook, thinking everybody is following. I also had a very strange and strong headaches and I was taking whatever pill I could think of, but none of them was working. I also had some recurring thoughts, for example reading the same comments 100 times or listening to the same music from dawn to dusk. My brain was like in a loop with obsession to specific thoughts. I didn't really know what I was doing. After that horrible week, one night I slowly remembered what I did and wrote. I realized that something is wrong with me but I didn't know what! I thought that I am becoming crazy and I cried a lot. In the morning I was calm and I thought that everything is finished. I was very happy until the headaches started again in the evening. At this point I went to the ER, and after many tests including brain MRI and Lumber puncture, the neurologist said I don’t have any physical problems and probably I have psychosis. I didn't accept that and until the end of August I still believed that I don’t have psychosis and the doctors are not telling me the real problem. They started treating me with Abilify which made me tired and after several days I had restlessness. I can say it is the most horrifying feeling in the world. I had some strange dream-like feelings and I was thinking I’m dying. Every day I was thinking of how to kill myself. I never thought that I could become better. My situation got worse and doctor stopped the Abilify and started Risperdal. After a while I had restlessness again and some very devastating feelings. Doctor reduced the dose and with this change the situation became manageable. But the problems with Risperdal was that it blocked my brain. I couldn't do anything and I was just lying in bed waiting for time to pass. After some weeks I had very severe anxiety and many panic attacks. I was thinking I was becoming crazy and I was suicidal. Doctor gave me Lorazepam and Valium on demand. I also had problems sleeping, having nightmares and night terrors. Doctor gave me some addictive sleep aid pills so I could sleep. In this horrible three months, I was still delusional and I was still thinking people are following me wherever I go, or monitoring me through cameras and so on (But I was thinking everybody is trying to help me!). Doctor said probably I have paranoid schizophrenia but he wasn't sure. Last week of August, I was less delusional and the doctor stopped Risperdal because I couldn’t do anything and my body wasn't adapting to it. But soon after, that strange headaches started again. So doctor started Zyprexa 5 mg and warned me about the weight gain and diabetes possibility. I started a diet and going to the gym. Fortunately, not only I didn't gain weight but I also lost 7 kilograms on it. Zyprexa was a miracle drug for me and all the delusions disappeared and I finally accepted my illness! My anxiety and panic attacks also get better. I reduced the dose to 2.5 mg after a while and I could sleep without sleeping pills. But after a while, I went into a severe depression and mode swings. I didn't have motivation for doing anything and I was sleeping 12 hours a day. Doctor gave me Cipralex (Lexapro). After just a week I had a terrible anxiety so I discontinued but the anxiety didn't go away! After that I struggled with anxiety for several months. I was using Xanax, Valium, Rivotril, etc. to calm down. In March, doctor started 10 mg of Prozac and my depression and anxiety got better after several weeks. In May, I reduced Zyprexa to 1.25 mg and after 2 weeks I stopped it. But severe anxiety and bad feeling started and I restarted taking 1.25 mg again. Since 2 weeks ago (July) I reduced to 0.625 mg and had a little anxiety and insomnia. But it went away after some days. I’m now quite well but still tired in the mornings. I can do my everyday tasks but I still have problems with concentration. I am planning to stay at this dose and after some weeks make it every other day and then cut it off. Is this a good idea to stop taking Zyprexa since I didn't have delusions or paranoia for about one year and am feeling normal? My other question is I don’t know what exactly my illness is!! If I had a first episode psychosis and fortunately I will not have another episode, or I am Schizophrenic? Thank you for reading my long story. Any comments would be appreciated.

I suffer from psoriasis but it wasn't bad cuz i could control it with basic shampoo. Now my psoriasis has gotten bad and i notice other skin issues. I was wondering if zyprexa had anything to do with it because i didn't get all theses issues until i was on zyprexa. So did anyone have skin issues with zyprexa?

I was on Latuda and it gave me akasthia (sp?) -just pure restlessness- and like restless leg syndrome I was on Seroquel 300mg and it would knock me out for 16 hours a day. The three antipsychotics I was thinking about: RISPERDAL, ZYPREXA, and SAPHRIS I am also thinking about sleeping meds: LUNESTA I was wondering if you tried any of these: What dosage were you on? what side effects you had? Which one did you feel helped you the most with less side effects? Did any of them help you sleep or interact with a sleeping med you were on? I am on neurotin right now and love it for my anxiety so will not change that. I see my psychiatrist Monday and would like to have an idea which one I want to try. Thank you for answering!

Hey y'all! I'm from the south as you can tell, and all kinds of crazy. I've been diagnosed with a list of disorders from different professionals including pd, ptsd, gad, and mdd. The newest (and I think the one that is going to stick) is DID. Have a great tdoc and pdoc. The pdoc is trying new meds with me, if been on crazy high doses of zoloft and clonopin for the longest time, and isn't helping too much with the crazy anxiety and depression. She is having me try saphris, which I took last night and it was HELL ,with all the restless legs crap, but too drunk to even sit up. I finally fell asleep after a clonpin, and I feel great this morning! She said if saphris didn't work we could try zyprexa. What do you think? Find a way to deal with the crazy legs? Or try zyprexa? I've heard mixed reviews on both.

I was put on Zyprexa about 18 months ago after a very bad episode. I have since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, though other than that time I haven't had any mania. I hated the side effects of the Zyprexa, but it did stabilize me and I did continue to get "better" (meaning I wasn't absolutely paranoid and crazy) over several months. I was initially on 10mg then down to 5mg and for the last several months have been on 2.5mg. During this time I had no passion for life, no sex drive, no pleasure at all. I know Zyprexa blocks several neurotransmitter systems, including dopamine, and so I know this is all expected. We added Lamictal a few months ago and seemed to help a bit. The plan was to get me off the Zyprexa and only on the Lamictal. About a week and a half ago I took my last 2.5mg pill and have been off it since. I haven't had some of the severe withdrawal effects others have mentioned here--mainly a persistent nausea that is getting better, but I haven't really experienced much recovery either. My hope was that I would stop taking it and get back to my old self. However, I still feel pretty much the same, emotionally, mentally and sexually blunted. My girlfriend has been more than patient with me, but it's not fair to her that I'm pretty much emotionally vacant and sexually uninterested. My fear is that this is permanent. I've been reading several sites talking about Zyprexa and brain shrinkage and permanent side effects. This terrifies me. My question is: has anyone been on Zyprexa for a while and then fully recovered afterwards? And, if so, any timeline? I know I'm in the early stages, but it's out of my system now, or getting there, and I'm not seeing much difference.