Wim1952: paroxetine

[Wim1952]

Hi,

i’m new here i am stable now but had a difficult three years behind me Meds: 40 mg paroxetine 15 mg mirtazapine 2,5 mg olanzapine lithium 400 mg diazepam 10 mg How do i taper olanzapine pill Cannot be cut in half? Nu the way i am grom the Netherlands

[Wim1952]

Topic title:  Wim1952: taper of olanzapine

 

Hello,

 

First of all my meds:

whwn I wake up 40mg paroxetine 

Before going to sleep mirtazapine 15 mg , diazepam 10 mg , lithiumcarbonaat 400 mg Olanzapine 2,5 mg

 

Three years ago I tried to get rid of 20 mg paroxetine so I tapered very slowly it took me several months to go to 10 mg. At ten mg all hell broke loos I had strong and deep fears a racing heart 24/7. I thought I was never going to get better. This situation lasted for 3 months. In the meanwhile I ended up with the crisis service . The psychiatrist and my MD said that I was relapsing because thirty years ago I had a depression. Because I was really going through hell I was repeating that I thought i was never going to get better. My doctor more the psychiatrist said that I was in a psychosis and the psych put me on 40 mg paroxetine and 7,5 mg olanzapine. They weren’t ware that I had severe WD symptoms from paroxetine. I never believed that I was in a psychosis.After 12 weeks the heart racing was over but the fears were still there. It lasted 23 months to get rid of the symptoms when the psych added lithium and mirtazapine to my cocktail. Sinus then I’m stable thanks lithium. I tapered olanzapine cold turkey from 7,5 to 2,5 mg.Now I would like to go with olanzapine from 2,5 mg to zero. How do I do that split the pill ? They are very small. Can you handle this with a pill splitter? What should be a good starting dose.?

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging 2 Intro topics

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Wim1952

 

Here is our topic Tips for tapering off olanzapine (Zyprexa)

 

How are you sleeping?

[Wim1952]

Thank you so much altostrata,

 

Excuse me for my English.

Thank you for the link. I’ m going to use it.

I’m sleeping very good. Hope it stays that way.

 

Greetings from Holland.

Wim

 

 

[Wim1952]

Good evening all,

 

i am hesitating and and trying to make up my mind about whether or not to taper olanzapine. My meds 40 mg paroxetine 400 mg lithium, 15 mg mirtazapine, 2,5 mg olanzapine10 mg diazepam every day the paroxetine in the morning the rest before sleeping. Im 68 years old. I am stable now sleeping very good exercising every day.

i still am trying to make sense of what happened to my CNS three and a half years ago. At that moment I was retired and using only 20 mg paroxetine. Because of a depression 28 years ago. It seemed a good moment to taper off paroxetine. I started in June and in September I was at around 7 mg. 

Than because of the too fast taper all hell Brooke loose. From one moment to the next I got very very anxious and my heart rate went through the roof. I had bad insomnia so that’s what the doctor gave me Valium for. I was in a terrible state not realizing what was happening to me. So I immediately reinstated paroxetine again. 20 mg.The first two months it didn’t help a thing.I was very very anxious slept little or not and thought I would never recover. After three or four months the heart rate calmed down but the anxious state stayed. I saw my doctor and a psychiatrist who both had not the slightest idea about withdrawal symptoms i was in. I myself had no idea neither. 

Now the psychiatrist advised me tu updose paroxetine slowly from 20 to 30 and than to 40 mg. When things go better you can always go down with your dose (!)I took those meds as prescribed but it didn’t help much against the anxiety which was the main problem. Because I was often talking about my fear that I would never recover the psychiatrist prescribed 7,5 mg olanzapine.thinking I was in psychosis. Which I was definitely not .It helped with sleeping but the anxiety and depression( one gets depressed when recovery takes 23 months) stayed with me. The psychiatrist didn’t understand why recovery lasted so long so she said let’s add 15 mg of mirtazapine. It didn’t help. I got therapy it didn’t help. I was at the end of my rope and seriously thought of making an end to myself.

i decided to try one extra medicine: lithium . From day one it was a success. I felt myself again. Lithium as augmentation worked for me.

 

Questions

 

what happened to my cns was the paroxetine not working anymore? Should I have reinstated at a very low dose

Why did it take 2 years before stabilizing?

i hate the olanzapine I take now 2,5 I am afraid if I taper off to come into a new WD. I’m 68 And I had my share

should I taper off olanzapine or should I enjoy being stable now. That’s the dilemma.

 

Thank you for remarks or support or advice

 

[arbor]

Dear @Wim1952 I am glad to hear that you are sleeping.  Perhaps you could share what are the problems you are having with olanzapine, and then how you might wish to proceed to avoid WD as much as possible.  There is no certainty as to how WD will effect you, but you can try to minimize the disruption to your system.

Best wishes to you,

Arbor

[Wim1952]

Hello Arbor,

Thanks for youre Message

Currently holding because we planned a vacation to Austria

I want to be Stable then

We are waiting for the date of nu wifes second COVID vaccination so that makes the date unsure. We hope to go in july. When i start tapering Again ill

let you know