Motoko Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with splitting their Zyprexa dose into a nighttime dose and a daytime dose. I get an annoying effect where my levels seem to drop off between 4-6pm, resulting in an increase in symptoms until I take my meds at night (about 3-4 hours before bed), and I was curious if I could mitigate that by splitting my dose, or if that would just result in overall reduced effectiveness. I don't want or need to take a higher nighttime dose because I already have issues with lethargy and motivation, but it would also be nice not to spend a few hours each evening engaging with "the enemy within". BTW, this is for bipolar I with psychotic features, although I need to have a discussion with my pdoc about changing that to schizoaffective disorder, since I have psychotic symptoms without mood symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 21 hours ago, Motoko said: I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with splitting their Zyprexa dose into a nighttime dose and a daytime dose. I get an annoying effect where my levels seem to drop off between 4-6pm, resulting in an increase in symptoms until I take my meds at night (about 3-4 hours before bed), and I was curious if I could mitigate that by splitting my dose, or if that would just result in overall reduced effectiveness. I don't want or need to take a higher nighttime dose because I already have issues with lethargy and motivation, but it would also be nice not to spend a few hours each evening engaging with "the enemy within". BTW, this is for bipolar I with psychotic features, although I need to have a discussion with my pdoc about changing that to schizoaffective disorder, since I have psychotic symptoms without mood symptoms. I had that afternoon gap too, especially in the time after my diagnosis (BP 1) where we couldn’t nail down a steady regamin if meds to get through the day. I know that a few people on zyprexa will reserve a bit of they dose as a PRN to take if necessary during the difficult stretches of the day. There are certainly people on here who have tried it... I think @Wonderful.Cheese Does it with zyprexa zydis (Apologies if I tagged the wrong person). Personally, it didn’t help me, but it has certainly been done before Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 On 5/9/2020 at 6:16 PM, Motoko said: I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with splitting their Zyprexa dose into a nighttime dose and a daytime dose. I get an annoying effect where my levels seem to drop off between 4-6pm, resulting in an increase in symptoms until I take my meds at night (about 3-4 hours before bed), and I was curious if I could mitigate that by splitting my dose, or if that would just result in overall reduced effectiveness. I don't want or need to take a higher nighttime dose because I already have issues with lethargy and motivation, but it would also be nice not to spend a few hours each evening engaging with "the enemy within". BTW, this is for bipolar I with psychotic features, although I need to have a discussion with my pdoc about changing that to schizoaffective disorder, since I have psychotic symptoms without mood symptoms. Hi. I am diagnosed treatment resistant SZA bipolar type and zyprexa is my miracle med. I am prescribed to take zyprexa 10 mg twice daily. I take it all at bedtime, however, due to hunger increase unfortunately. I’ve tried it twice daily and I just can’t get past the bad increase in appetite. I can’t afford to gain the weight back. I don’t think I even noticed a difference to be honest when I tried it twice daily but I didn’t give it a fair enough trial either I believe. I think I could handle 5 mg AM and 15 mg bedtime. And I might ask my pdoc about trying this. I notice too, as you do, the “drop off” period where my meds seem to stop working in the evenings about a few hours before bed. I have yet to find a solution to this problem. Despite trying to take different AAP’s at different times during the day. Evenings are hard for me too. But for now, what works best is taking all my total 20 mg dose at bedtime and having 5 mg, up to two times a day as needed or PRN of zyprexa. I have never had to take more than one 5 mg PRN pill in a single day as of yet. But it’s nice to know that they are there as an option. These PRN zyprexa pills are an immense help. I just took one earlier today in fact. I hope you find a solution to this “drop off” problem. If you do, be sure to let us all know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Motoko Posted May 12, 2020 Author Share Posted May 12, 2020 5 minutes ago, Wonderful.Cheese said: Hi. I am diagnosed treatment resistant SZA bipolar type and zyprexa is my miracle med. I am prescribed to take zyprexa 10 mg twice daily. I take it all at bedtime, however, due to hunger increase unfortunately. I’ve tried it twice daily and I just can’t get past the bad increase in appetite. I can’t afford to gain the weight back. I don’t think I even noticed a difference to be honest when I tried it twice daily but I didn’t give it a fair enough trial either I believe. I think I could handle 5 mg AM and 15 mg bedtime. And I might ask my pdoc about trying this. I notice too, as you do, the “drop off” period where my meds seem to stop working in the evenings about a few hours before bed. I have yet to find a solution to this problem. Despite trying to take different AAP’s at different times during the day. Evenings are hard for me too. But for now, what works best is taking all my total 20 mg dose at bedtime and having 5 mg, up to two times a day as needed or PRN of zyprexa. I have never had to take more than one 5 mg PRN pill in a single day as of yet. But it’s nice to know that they are there as an option. These PRN zyprexa pills are an immense help. I just took one earlier today in fact. I hope you find a solution to this “drop off” problem. If you do, be sure to let us all know. Right now my pdoc and I are going to try 7.5mg at night and 2.5mg in the daytime, and if that's not enough to tamp down the daytime trouble, I'll try 5mg night/5mg day and see how that does. I should take it immediately before bed instead of a few hours before, and that way I might avoid the inevitable munchies that come a couple of hours after I take it. I've put on weight since being put on it last year and don't want to gain anymore. I'm also going to ask my pdoc about taking 5mg PRN like you do, since I do that anyway sometimes and it does seem to help for temporary increases in psychotic symptoms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderful.Cheese Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 15 minutes ago, Motoko said: Right now my pdoc and I are going to try 7.5mg at night and 2.5mg in the daytime, and if that's not enough to tamp down the daytime trouble, I'll try 5mg night/5mg day and see how that does. I should take it immediately before bed instead of a few hours before, and that way I might avoid the inevitable munchies that come a couple of hours after I take it. I've put on weight since being put on it last year and don't want to gain anymore. I'm also going to ask my pdoc about taking 5mg PRN like you do, since I do that anyway sometimes and it does seem to help for temporary increases in psychotic symptoms. I take it immediately before bedtime. I don’t get the munchies that way. I also find it knocks me out pretty well. I hope the new dosing helps you! And if you can get a PRN even better! It really helps me so I hope it helps you too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceberg Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 39 minutes ago, Motoko said: Right now my pdoc and I are going to try 7.5mg at night and 2.5mg in the daytime, and if that's not enough to tamp down the daytime trouble, I'll try 5mg night/5mg day and see how that does. I should take it immediately before bed instead of a few hours before, and that way I might avoid the inevitable munchies that come a couple of hours after I take it. I've put on weight since being put on it last year and don't want to gain anymore. I'm also going to ask my pdoc about taking 5mg PRN like you do, since I do that anyway sometimes and it does seem to help for temporary increases in psychotic symptoms. Just a suggestion- i cant remember if i did this but i probably should have... if you do get a prn you might want to try out 2.5 first, might reduce side effect potential. and hey, if it doesnt work or if you think its a waste of time, go for the 5! i just remember that as i came down off mania my tolerance for the sedation gradually reduced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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