Venkat: tapering olanzapine / Zyprexa

[Venkat]

Yes @hayduke waiting to get to 2.5mg.

 

Thanks for being optimistic about me.

 

At this rate of tapering withdrawal symptoms are tolerable, I can hardly feel them. Sleep is good, not much anxiety. 

 

Yeah , I have understood the importance of slow and steady.

 

Thanks again hayduke. 

[Venkat]

Update :  As I am approaching 2.5 mg I can feel olanzapine loosening its grip , and am seeing a lot of positives.

Cognition has improved, memory is not bad, balance while walking improving , clarity of mind/ thoughts is better.

Feeling some emotions .

Fear of going to work has reduced although I am yet to enjoy my work the way I used to before. 

Able to meditate a lot better and am able to carry meditation while in the society to some extent. 

Able to stick to a conversation with another person for quite some time. 

Focus is improving. 

Socializing is still not up to the mark , being still uncomfortable in a group. 

Able to smile , laugh a bit though not wholeheartedly. 

Able to enjoy music , some old hindi songs. 

Not much of withdrawal symptoms, sleep is good, not much anxiety. 

I was able to take life one day at a time since a few months. Now I am trying to take it from moment to moment.

 

I am able to survive with some comfort but living with comfort will take some more time. 

 

Still a long way to go but I would at this point thank SA , the moderators and friends on SA for guiding me this far without which I wouldn't probably have lived till this day.

 

Regards, venkat 

 

 

 

[BadMedicine]

@Venkat. This is a wonderful update. Really glad to see things have dramatically improved for you. It will continue to get better as you get even further down. it’s always good to see people successfully reducing this wretched drug and seeing the benefits.

I think this website is a godsend and has undoubtedly saved many lives. Sorry you have been in such a bad place because of this drug but great you are getting to a place where things are much better. 

 

[Venkat]

Thank you so much @BadMedicine , thanks for your encouragement. You too have been a source of inspiration. Thanks Badmedicine. Sincerely hope everyone suffering with these psychiatric medications get through and feel life again. 

[hayduke]

Sounds really good @Venkat you're on the way

 

Cheers

[Venkat]

Thank you so much @hayduke for your constant help and guidance, not only to me but to so many. 

 

I still feel a bit jittery and some confusion on the 3rd day after a cut.

 

Thanks once again hayduke. I will still be needing your guidance. 

[rupa]

@Venkat

Staying at one dose until four weeks is the key venkat, especially when you are cutting little bigger than 10% reduction.

As brain takes four weeks to complete one adaptation cycle.

If you change dose within that,you are zigling the process.

Every word in the forum should be taken as if we mean it.

Please take care to avoid withdrawal symptoms after reaching zero.

 

[Venkat]

Hi @rupa

 

Thank you so much for your concern and suggestions rupa . I am doing only about 5% reductions every month ( 2.5 % every two weeks )sometimes times , when I feel I am stable I do a 7.5 % reduction once a month, never ever exceeding 7.5 % a month. 

 

I have learnt many lessons from those who have been successfully tapering and from those who have successfully tapered , most importantly, being very slow and making a cut only when sleep is good and feeling stable .

 

Thank you again rupa. Hoping to be in your state eagerly. 

[Rrsfc]

Hi @Venkat I read some of your posts, I am glad you found help along the way and were able to get down safely! I too (hopefully 🤣) learned the hard way to respect my body and to go down slow enough. You have come a long way, that's so good to know. I wish you well on your journey, may you continue to be patient. I believe in time you'll go back to how you were before the drug, as your dosage goes down you'll see more and more improvements I believe. What's not so pleasant is some instability that sometimes can happen... But in the end it all is worth it.

 

[Venkat]

Thank you for the encouraging post @Rrsfc . Will be reaching 2.5 in another month. Yet to feel my original self. As you said, with lower dose things will improve. Thanks once again Rrsfc.

[hayduke]

Agreed, good to see you nice and steady Venkat.

 

Are you going to hold for a while at 2.5mg?  I found it was a nice break just to take the tablet for a while and not fuss about tapering.  Then the day came again when it was time to continue gently down the hill 🙂

[Venkat]

Thank you @hayduke

 

Yes , I am planning to hold at 2.5 for a month or two. I am yet to do the calculation from 2.5 downwards. This time the calculation may not be so difficult as I am in a better state of mind and also my wife is always there to help me out. 

She has been a rock solid support during those terrible periods. 

[hayduke]

Cool.  There are some natural points just to hold and just not worry about the taper, side effects etc.  Just hang out on the plateau as long as you like and enjoy the improved quality of life.

 

You are very fortunate to have a supportive partner.

 

Cheers

[Venkat]

Thank you @hayduke🙏🙏🙏

[Lilabella]

Hi venkat,

 I am also about to taper olanzapine so wanted to say hi to you, I have been reaching out to those in the olanzapineclub so I can get some support and offer mine when and where I can. . Sounds like you are managing the taper fairly well, I hope you continue in that way. I'm sure as you get down to the lower doses you will start to feel more yourself. All the best to you. 

[Venkat]

Hi @Lilabella welcome. I happened to read your post on hayduke'a thread earlier and was pleasantly surprised you are stable at 10mg . You are sounding good too ,looks like the adverse effects of olanzapine are not very pronounced on you. Right situation to start a slow steady and a safe tapering. We are all there for each other. Good luck. 

 

Regards venkat 

[Lilabella]

Hi venkat, thanks for your message. I do feel very sedated and not quite myself on the olanzapine but I think I'm in a good position to reduce. I have to trust I will heal from this in time. All the very best to you. 

[hayduke]

It's so good to see you doing well with the slow and steady taper Venkat.  I think it gives a lot of heart to other people who might have had a few bumps on their first go to see you are safely on your way.

 

Cheers

[Venkat]

Thank you @hayduke ,by the grace of existence, I am doing fairly ok.

 

How can one thank Dr Peter Breggin for seeding the idea that the drug itself could be the problem and not any illness and that tapering and stopping the medication itself would get one out of the gutter. 

 

But ofcourse it was SA which guides us to do a slow and safe taper.

[Venkat]

At the time I first joined SA I was  miserable. My mind wasn't functioning, utter confusion, wasn't even a human being. Always wanting to end my life, but did not want to die in that state .Then came SA to guide me ,  literally holding my hand. Today I feel like I am 60 to 70% towards normalcy. Somewhere close to 2.5mg appeared to be the magic number for me. Will start tapering down from 2.5 from April 2022 after 2 months hold .But I am going to continue to be cautious by being slow and safe till I reach 0.

 

Early morning walk , followed by 20 minutes meditation, 20 minutes of yoga ( shifted from restorative yoga to pathanjali yoga )in the evening and good diet keeps me going. Work is good though yet to enjoy it thoroughly. 

 

For those of you who are still groping in the dark never lose hope, you are at the right place in safe hands , and you will start to taste normalcy. Just don't hurry, taper slowly and just hang on you will start to see hope.

 

Regards,venkat 

[Rrsfc]

I am so glad you are thriving, things will get even better. I love yoga and walks too 😊 they really help my mood. I believe there are many desperate people in need of help with their meds, I hope they can be inspired by your posts.

[Venkat]

Yes @Rrsfc ,every time I see the positive changes happening, I remember yourself, Badmedicine, hayduke and rupa telling that it would happen that way . Supporting each other during the taper is priceless. Thank you Rrsfc , wishing you a smooth journey ahead😊

[BadMedicine]

Hi @Venkat. Great to see you doing so well. Sometimes it feels like a long journey but keeping it slow and patient with this drug is definitely the way forward. But thankfully as you have discovered you get the improvements on the journey as your drug burden reduces. So pleased you feel like you are getting back to normal. There is still much more improvement to come. I have found a huge difference between 2.5 and 1.875mg. Look forward to seeing even more recovery for you as you get even lower. I agree with you that without the knowledge of a slow taper that this website provides we would all probably be still stuck at higher doses feeling trapped. 

[Venkat]

Thank you for that much needed encouraging post @BadMedicine. I am now hoping to see more improvement as I lower down from 2.5 . I too am happy for you that you are sailing smoothly and with so much improvements . I am sure it will be a good guide and and an inspiration to all those behind you, myself included. Thank you 😊.

[Rrsfc]

Hi @Venkat how have you been doing? Just wondering how things are going with you, hopefully well ☺️.

[Venkat]

Thank you so much for enquiring @Rrsfc.

Day by day olanzapine seems to be loosening its grip on me and I am doing better and better. 

 

Glad that you are stable even at the higher dose , and October is not too far away. You will make it to 2.5 comfortably. Take care😊

[Venkat]

It was smooth sailing from 2.5 to 2.13 at the rate of 2.5% every two weeks and I thought I was done with withdrawal effects. But when I came down to 2.07 insomnia struck and I thought I would'nt improve because even 10mg zolpidem did not put me to sleep but after 3 days started to sleep well naturally although feeling a bit shaky because of the thought that I will have to face similar situations in the future. I even gave a thought to the idea of taking 2.5 life long. Fortunately I am recovering and this incident has reminded me that I should not be taking things for granted and to continue to be cautious in my self care.

 

Able to continue Yoga and meditation.

Able to continue with work although not efficiently. Thankful to existence for the good sleep. I remembered Alto saying somewhere that no matter how bad the situation appears during tapering, we will be amazed by how we bounce back and feel better when we hold ( although not the exact words) .Thank you Alto.

[Rrsfc]

Hi, I'm happy you were able to get your sleep back, that is a very good sign. Withdrawal is different for everybody, we never know what is going to happen. Keep it up, you're doing really well!

[Venkat]

Thank you for your encouragement @Rrsfc, in a few more drops I will decide if I will continue to taper or updose to 2.5 and stay there.

You have been an inspiration all along. Thank you again. 

Hope you are doing well . Take care. 

[Rrsfc]

Hi @venkat, these days haven't been so positive. We are having a heart wave and this is very taxing on my system. I want to tell you that I believe you can make it. I couldn't but my story is very complicated, I had multiple crisis. Give yourself a real chance of getting off the drug, you can make it. You can go as slow as you need, you can make long holds... Don't be afraid, I believe things will work out for you. I hope this helps. 

[Venkat]

Thanks @Rrsfc , if a couple more drops turns out to be bad maybe I will do 2.5% once a month instead of twice a week. Thank you, hope you get through the heat wave soon and feel more comfortable. 

[BadMedicine]

Hi @Venkat. Just wanted to say you are doing really well. I think it is almost impossible to get off this drug without a few symptoms appearing and from my experience between 2.5 and 1.875mg there is a large change in the functional effect of the drug. Try not to let this dishearten you. You recovered your sleep with a short hold so hopefully any future problems will be short lived as well. There is no harm going more slowly if you feel that will help. As rrsfc said there is no rush to get off. A smooth comfortable safe ride is the way forward. I didn’t think that I’d be able to get to 1.875mg either but by going slowly I have made it that far. Whether I can get lower is another matter but 1.875mg is better for me than 2.5mg so worth the effort.

[Venkat]

Thank you so much for the encouraging post @BadMedicine . It was just that the wave, during that cut, seriously hampered my work and made me jittery and I wasn't feeling like myself and so was not sure if I could continue facing the waves for another year, being too tired of facing them since 2019. ( suffering since 2015 the effects of medications)

As you said I will take it slow from here , even if I have to do 2.5% every month. Now I am planning to make the cut on Friday evening so that I can stay at home on sat and sun and if required call in sick on Monday.

Thank you Badmedicine 🙏

[hayduke]

On 7/14/2022 at 5:52 PM, Venkat said:

It was smooth sailing from 2.5 to 2.13 at the rate of 2.5% every two weeks and I thought I was done with withdrawal effects. But when I came down to 2.07 insomnia struck and I thought I would'nt improve because even 10mg zolpidem did not put me to sleep but after 3 days started to sleep well naturally although feeling a bit shaky because of the thought that I will have to face similar situations in the future. I even gave a thought to the idea of taking 2.5 life long. Fortunately I am recovering and this incident has reminded me that I should not be taking things for granted and to continue to be cautious in my self care.

It's not a straight line, it's like coming down the mountains.  There are rocky passes, the snow melts at some point, the vegetation changes, different wildlife, different weather, different obstacles...you get the idea.

That's an analogy which sort of addresses the different receptor affinities you will encounter unpeeling as you go.

If you have a look at the graph of my taper, you'll see I got stuck for ages right around 1.2mg.  Even after a month holding there, things didn't settle quite right.  Something to do with mood/sleep/perception.  I am sure one of the sedative properties of the drug was just below a threshold at that point.

Where I am going with that is that you might find even the smallest updose will see you through this.  I went from something like 1.21 to 1.25 and within just a few days everything was wd normal again.  I held for a bit longer there then had no more trouble with further cuts down through that threshold.

Going to a higher dose than would actually have been harmful, or at best very unhelpful.
 

[Venkat]

Thanks for that much needed insight @hayduke. Right now I am doing ok with good sleep. Hope I will be able to handle it well in future as I continue tapering. Will definitely keep the option of slight updosing if need be. 

     

Seeing my activity my friends and relatives think I have recovered and expect much from me . They have no idea about the difficulties of tapering and that I still have a long way to go. 

 

Thanks hayduke 

[hayduke]

14 hours ago, Venkat said:

Seeing my activity my friends and relatives think I have recovered and expect much from me . They have no idea about the difficulties of tapering and that I still have a long way to go. 

 

Thanks hayduke 

 

Oh man, I know that feeling.  It can be difficult to express how you would like extra support to them sometimes.

You're welcome!