NNhope Tapering zyprexa/olanzapine help?

[NNhope]

I get your point and it makes sense to better be safe then sorry. I guess I am just anxious to get off this.

 

I feel the same everyday and it's just a feeling of general unease and blah. I don't know if it's just because I'm thinking about it too much or because of withdrawal.

 

I'll waiting until the 2 month mark and see how I feel then decide. I will for sure do a cross taper to making my own liquid for at least a few weeks before even tapering. 

 

Also today I forgot to take my morning Trileptal dosages.  I'm gonna watch to see if it will cause and increase in symptom in the next few days.

[hayduke]

Hopefully that unease will pass as you hold for a bit longer.

 

Another thing worth mentioning is if you have been facing unresolved issues that may have led to being put on these types of drug, it's wise to start planning how you will approach them.  Coming off the drug can 'unmask' these again as you reduce it.  It's not necessarily something to fear, especially if you're ready for them.

 

Cheers

[NNhope]

I think I feel unease more so during the weekend and not so much during the work week. The restlessness feeling is gone now for a while. I will continue holding for a few more week then switch over to liquid suspension. I hope I don't have any problem with that as I see some people tend to run into trouble when switching from tablet to liquid. 

 

I was put on this because of my stubbornness. Now I have to deal with the consequences of it. 

 

How are you doing with your taper so far? Do you notice now that you're at a lose dosage that you have less symptoms as you cut? 

[NNhope]

Another thing I notice is I can't sleep at all during the day. Everytime I want to take a nap I slowly start to feel Amp up until I have to get up.

[hayduke]

Hey @NNhope

 

Yes, one of the big motivations to keep trudging through a taper is the gradual abatement of the drug's effects, and welcoming in sensations again that it hid as old friends.

 

Sometimes a hold is a great idea along the way to enjoy the benefits and take a break from the wd symptoms.

 

Not getting enough sleep is one of my major signs I need to hold.

[NNhope]

It's now been 2 months since I reinstated. Feeling the same daily for a while now. Don't know whether I should start crossing over to liquid yet or wait another month. 

[JohnBanes]

I agree with Hayduke.  If you are feeling at all unsure, better to wait and let things settle.  I am dealing with AP withdrawal myself, and totally get the impatience to be done with things as well as the fear of having to reinstate after an unsuccessful taper down.  There is a concept of "morbid focus" that comes up in the withdrawal literature.  It applies when tapering down takes a long time, and comes to occupy the patient's attention day to day (displacing other subjects the patient could be thinking about).  I've definitely had some morbid focus, and see how it is unhealthy.  But I don't think it's avoidable for this kind of process.

[NNhope]

I might let thing settle for another week or so before switching to liquid. 

[NNhope]

I have a dental appointment tomorrow hopefully that goes well. Going to see how things feel this weekend then decide if I will switch over to liquid yet.

[NNhope]

Decided to hold for another month before tapering. 

 

I notice I am getting no sedating effect from olanzapine. I do however sleep from 10pm to about 5 30am everyday. 

[JohnBanes]

Your sleep sounds sufficient, if perhaps not great.  But it is worrisome that you aren't getting a sedating effect.  My theory is that has to do with one's body becoming reliant on the drug to sleep, but this is completely unconfirmed.

[NNhope]

I really hope that's not the case. That would make tapering really difficult.

[JohnBanes]

I used to get sedation on anti-psychotics.  But after a while on Olanzapine, the sedation passed.  When I tapered off Olanzapine, I got severe insomnia, which has yet to resolve.  I am taking Latuda and not getting sedation (or enough sleep) from Latuda, even though when I took Latuda before Olanzapine, I got sedation from it.  That's how I came to my odd little theory.  I hope it's not true.  And I will say that while my sleep is far from where it was before I started antipsychotics, my sleep has gotten better with time after I got off Olanzapine (although if I try to come off Latuda, I get terrible insomnia).

[NNhope]

If it's gotten better with time then if you taper slow enough, it will have slight disruption then slowly improve before the next cut. It's hopeful at least.

[BadMedicine]

Just wanted to add. I am tapering really slowly - about 2.5% of previous dose every 2 weeks using water titration and although my sleep goes down to about 6 hours 4 days after a cut it returns to about 9 hours after a matter of days so tapering slowly does help preserve sleep and allows the brain which has become accustomed to needing the drug to sleep to readjust very quickly to the new lower levels.

[NNhope]

I'm going to switch to water titration next month. Going to hold at full dose for a few weeks to make sure everything is good then do a trial 2.5% taper.

 

Also with water titration, is stirring okay or should I put I in bottle and shake.

[BadMedicine]

I put it in a jar, let it dissolve for about half an hour and then give it a good shake. It created a suspension so you need it to be as evenly distributed as possible.

[NNhope]

Update:

Just switched to half liquid and half solid last night. So far so good I think. Sleep feels the same last night as most other nights. I put half a 5mg into 25ml of water and took the other half. I am going to wait a month or so to see how it goes before I make any reduction.

[Laurennnbb]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:57 AM, NNhope said:

Another thing I notice is I can't sleep at all during the day. Everytime I want to take a nap I slowly start to feel Amp up until I have to get up.

This happens to me too!! I believe it’s the cortisol spikes. I get disoriented too when I try to nap. It’s so weird

[NNhope]

@Laurennnbb from your signature I see you were hospitalized and put on Trileptal. Just make sure you don't let them put you on anymore drug especially an antipsychotic like zeprexa/olanzapine. They just cause more harm.

 

My inability to take a nap scares me that I won't be able to sleep once I taper off the olanzapine. Are you able to sleep at night?

[Laurennnbb]

@NNhopeyes I’m able to sleep at night. No naps are really frustrating me 

[morgana]

hi @NNhope just wondering how your sleep is going with your switch over to water? and how your going generally are you experiencing any symptoms?...cheers morgana

[NNhope]

@morganathank you for checking in..

since switching over to liquid my sleep is still the same. Its OK but I always wake up at around the same time and unable to get back to sleep. Also it seems i can not sleep at all during the day until I take my dose. I did also reduce by 2.5 % about 2 weeks ago. Going to reduce base on how I feel instead of going by how many weeks.

 

How about you, how has your sleep been? Have your symptom decreased any? 

[morgana]

that is awesome @NNhope, its good to hear you have had no problems moving over to water and are sleeping well still, its probably a good idea to only sleep during the night and stay up during the day anyway...i know i do not like to have a nap during the day because than it affects my ability to sleep at night... actually my sleep is still poor, for some reason i cannot tolerate changing over to water like everyone else can on this site....my hot sweats and constant need to urinate has finally stopped a couple of days ago but i still do not get much sleep, last night maybe 2 hours.. the night before maybe 3 to 4 hrs, but generally extremely poor quality of sleep if i can even call it that..but hoping with time it will eventually come good and not making any changes until my sleep is great which probably wont be until the new year which i am fine with...its great to hear you are not having many problems with your cross over and taper and yeah i would rather listen to my body than taking it by the weeks too...keep in touch..morgana

[NNhope]

@TinnitusI hope so. I can withdrawal slowly but if sleep becomes a problem than it will make it more difficult.

 

@morgana that's good that the hot sweats and urinating problem has resolved for you. There is no rush, better to go slow than risk too much discomfort.

 

[morgana]

thankyou @NNhope and @Tinnitus even thou i havnt cold turkeyed i have dropped my doses from one tablet to the next with no tapering down slowly from each tablet, just stopped taking 10mg, stopped taking 7.5mg, 5mg and jumped straight to 2.5mg so i even thou i havnt cold turkeyed i think the jumps were way to hard on my CNS and am paying the price now...all i can do now is go ever so slowly from now on...its such a relief to hear that you can come good even after a Cold Turkey thankyou morgana