JustRay978: Trouble with Olanzapine, Coming off Olanzapine

[JustRay978]

Ok so I was put on Olanzapine for sleep.  I was on it as needed for about 3 months. I didn't take it everyday, just when I could not sleep.  I wanted to get off of it so I started to discontinue use of it. I started realizing that around day 5 of not taking it I would stop sleeping. I thought this to be strange so I started researching and discovered the issues coming off it.  I contacted my doctor who told me to just stop taking it because I hadn't taken a lot of it also the med was giving me horrible apathy toward life.   I was given 5mg tablets and I would cut them in half.  So roughly 2.5mg was my dose twice a week.  When I stopped taking it I was landed in the psych ward where they put me on Vraylar. The vraylar took my symptoms away but gave me akathasia. I stopped taking it once they discharged me.  I have been off the olanzapine for a month now. At first I had anxiety but that went away after some time and I was improving. Around week 4 I lost the ability to sleep well. That is when the hell began and I have slowly been getting worse. I am miserable right now. I don't know what to do! I fear I am too far out to reinstate but I am too miserable to go on like this for much longer. I also fear getting that apathy again. Help!

Edited October 6, 2023 by manymoretodays
user name to title

[JustRay978]

Ok so I was put on Olanzapine for sleep.  I was on it as needed for about 3 months. I didn't take it everyday, just when I could not sleep.  I wanted to get off of it so I started to discontinue use of it. I started realizing that around day 5 of not taking it I would stop sleeping. I thought this to be strange so I started researching and discovered the issues coming off it.  I contacted my doctor who told me to just stop taking it because I hadn't taken a lot of it also the med was giving me horrible apathy toward life.   I was given 5mg tablets and I would cut them in half.  So roughly 2.5mg was my dose twice a week.  When I stopped taking it I was landed in the psych ward with horrible anxiety where they put me on Vraylar. The vraylar took my symptoms away but gave me akathasia. I stopped taking it once they discharged me.  I have been off the olanzapine for a month now. At first I had anxiety but that went away after some time and I was improving. Around week 4 I lost the ability to sleep well. That is when the hell began and I have slowly been getting worse. I am miserable right now. I am always horribly tired with dizzyness.  I have some restoril that I take to sleep every other night but I am afraid to be on it much longer as i dont want to get addicted to it.  When I sleep I can sort of push through, but I am still tired and dizzy all day and very weak.  I am afraid this will never go away! I don't know what to do! I fear I am too far out to reinstate but I am too miserable to go on like this for much longer. I also fear getting that apathy again. Help!

[JustRay978]

I have been using an infrared sauna and that seems to be helping my symptoms some. I find I am much worse when I dont use it. 

[FireflyFyte]

Hi JustRay,

 

Welcome to SA. Can you update your signature to include your full psychiatric drug history? You can find guidelines at How to Summarize Your Drug History in Your Signature.

 

Reinstatement generally works best within the first few weeks of stopping the medication but some people have been successful months, and sometimes years, later. We have a lot of in-depth information on the topic at About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

 

If you decide on reinstatement, I would recommend starting at a low dose and slowly increasing if needed. You could try reinstating at 0.2mg and see if that alleviates some of your symptoms.

We do not tend to recommend many supplements but we have found the following can sometimes be helpful for people in withdrawals -

• Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker
• King of supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

Would encourage you to only add one at a time to see how you react.

 

Thanks,

 

Firefly

[JustRay978]

Thank you FireflyFyte.  I would prefer not to reinstate if I can tolerate.  I dont know how bad withdrawals usually are for people.  I am able to go to work but I am fairly miserable.  Today is a better day.  I have more energy and am clearer, but I am still dizzy with fatigue.  I know that I was not on this med long and I really didnt take much of it.  I am actually shocked I am going through this much.  The doctor took me off the Olanzapine because I became horribly apathetic toward life while on it.  I would just sit in my living room and just stare at the wall, unable to do anything until I stopped taking it.  No one told me I would be going through withdrawal like this.  They said there is no withdrawal.  Now that im a month into it I am hoping that this passes.  I get different results depending on how I research.  Some sites say most people recover quickly if they havent been on it long.  Others say that some people dont make it.  I dont know what I should do.  I know I want this hell to go away and I dont want to risk the horrible apathy again.  Most days I can handle the symptoms, yesterday was a really bad day.  Today I feel almost like normal.  Ive been taking magnesium L-Threonate, Niacinamide and Omega 3 already.  I think they help, but I am not sure.  

[FireflyFyte]

43 minutes ago, JustRay978 said:

Most days I can handle the symptoms, yesterday was a really bad day.  Today I feel almost like normal. 

 

This sounds like the The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization.

 

44 minutes ago, JustRay978 said:

Now that im a month into it I am hoping that this passes.  I get different results depending on how I research.  Some sites say most people recover quickly if they havent been on it long.  Others say that some people dont make it. 

 

No one can tell you how long withdrawal will last as it varies greatly from individual to individual. You may recover quickly or it may take months, sadly there is no way to predict which camp you'll land in.

 

46 minutes ago, JustRay978 said:

I dont know what I should do.

 

I still recommend a reinstatement of a very small dose of Olanzapine to see if it will alleviate some of your symptoms.

[JustRay978]

36 minutes ago, FireflyFyte said:

 

 

 

I still recommend a reinstatement of a very small dose of Olanzapine to see if it will alleviate some of your symptoms.

 

  

I am so afraid it will give me that horrible apathy again.  Right now, at least I can smile and go to work.  With that apathy I couldnt do anything but sit there with suicidal thoughts. Unable to work, unable to function.  I know .2mg is not much and I could probably come off it fairly quickly at that dose, if it works that is.  

[JustRay978]

Its been about a week now.  My symptoms have started to let up.  I am starting to regain feeling and strength in my legs.  I can walk longer and longer everyday.  The brainfog and dizziness is still there but greatly reduced.  I hope it stays this way.  I have been taking Tamazepan about once a week at 7.5mg if I have a bad day where I cant sleep.  I orginally was put on it for 5 days and as soon as I got out of the hospital I stopped taking it in fear I would get hooked.  It taking 7.5mg of it once a week still a risk for dependency on it?  It would be horrible to be withdrawing from them both.  

[FireflyFyte]

2 hours ago, JustRay978 said:

Its been about a week now.  My symptoms have started to let up.  I am starting to regain feeling and strength in my legs.  I can walk longer and longer everyday.  The brainfog and dizziness is still there but greatly reduced.  I hope it stays this way.

 

I am glad to hear that it sounds like you are moving in the right direction.

 

2 hours ago, JustRay978 said:

I have been taking Tamazepan about once a week at 7.5mg if I have a bad day where I cant sleep.  I orginally was put on it for 5 days and as soon as I got out of the hospital I stopped taking it in fear I would get hooked.  It taking 7.5mg of it once a week still a risk for dependency on it?  It would be horrible to be withdrawing from them both.  

 

We do not recommend sporadically taking medication as it can lead to inter-dose withdrawals. I would check out our tips on improving sleep at Tips to help sleep: so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia.

[JustRay978]

23 minutes ago, FireflyFyte said:

 

I am glad to hear that it sounds like you are moving in the right direction.

 

 

We do not recommend sporadically taking medication as it can lead to inter-dose withdrawals. I would check out our tips on improving sleep at Tips to help sleep: so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia.

 

Wow...even if you only take it once a week?! Thats frightening! Ill try to just stop taking it and hope nothing bad happens.  I would hate to have to go through all this over again.  

[JustRay978]

6 weeks out from stopping olanzapine. Days are improving. I have more windows than waves now. When I get a wave its very mild and tolerable. More annoying than debilitating. For example, today I have mild nausea. Its like hey, im here! I can get through work no problem with it though. My dizziness and anxiety are gone for the most part. My legs are regaining strength. They still feel funny, but I can walk about 5000 steps or more a day now. Sleep was waking up every hour at first, but now I sleep 4-5 hours in a solid block, wake up at like 3-4am and then I am up and down till 7. Most I ever got before all of this was 6 hours anyway, so I am not far off. I just hope these remnants disappear for good. Given my progress I have no reason to think otherwise, but anything is possible. Its been a week today since taking the Restoril.  So far there have been no additional withdrawals that I can distinguish from taking the Restoril.  My Psychiatrist has prescribed me Doxepin for use occasionally for sleep.  I have not taken any yet though.  

[FireflyFyte]

8 minutes ago, JustRay978 said:

Sleep was waking up every hour at first, but now I sleep 4-5 hours in a solid block, wake up at like 3-4am and then I am up and down till 7. Most I ever got before all of this was 6 hours anyway, so I am not far off.

 

This amount of sleep is decent for someone especially early in the withdrawal process. I would avoid taking the Doxepin as it sounds like you are heading in the right direction as far as recovery.