Weaning off of Zyprexa

[twoandfortysix]

Hi guys,

I've been on Zyprexa 10mg for a little over a month now for treatment resistant bipolar depression. I would now like to wean myself off but don't know what to expect.

I've done a lot of reading and the most common withdrawal symptom is insomnia.

So far, I have cut my 10mg into 2 (5mg) so I start taking 5mgs daily and see how it goes.

The thing is, I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and will probably psyche myself into thinking I'll never fall asleep even though it might not be the case, then I'll just say "ah screw it" and go for the full 10mg dose.

So what should I expect? Since I've only been on it for a month it shouldn't be too bad, right? Will I at least get a little sleep with the 5mg?

Of course the best advice is to have my psychiatrist arrange a weaning program but I just moved to Japan and only have a regular GP who's sole function is to prescribe the meds so I'll be doing this more or less on my own.

Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[gizmo]

When I went off of 20 mg last time, I reduced it by 5 mg a week. I didn't notice a change in my sleeping patterns. But I take xanax every night to help me sleep, so YMMV.

Chide... if you listed your meds in your sig, I could see if you had a benzo or seroquel that you could take at bedtime as needed to relax you to help you sleep TEMPORARILY and ONLY when needed while you taper off zyprexa.

If your body really freaks out about it, and this might be rare, cut the 10's into quarters and reduce by 2.5 mg a week. I can't imagine having any side effects on that.

[sorrel]

I have been on and off 15mg Zyprexa (on it a few months at a time) and have done both 10mg for a week then zero, or a week at 10 and another week at 5. I have never had insomnia or any other effect from coming off it, either way. My impression was that the gradual step-down was more to allow me to notice the return of whatever symptoms I was taking it for, rather than for reducing withdrawal effects.