Posted by ronaldo on November 8, 2006, at 14:07:03
In reply to How is 5mg zyprexa different from 10mg?, posted by blueberry on November 3, 2006, at 18:04:47
> I've noticed in recent weeks that whenever someone comments on zyprexa, 5mg and 10mg are actually quite a bit different in how they feel.
>
> I was hoping as many people as possible could expand on that. I have been on 5mg zyprexa for a couple years, along with 10mg prozac, and I need more of something. I was wondering whether to increase the prozac, increase the zyprexa, increase both, or switch one to something else.
>
> Any comments on 5mg versus 10mg zyprexa will probably help me in thinking about it.I took 5 mg Zyprexa for nearly 4 years and then on 28 August 2006 I stopped it cold turkey because it was no longer doing what I originally took it for, namely as something to make me sleep at night. Back in 2002 just 2.5 mg would give me a very solid 8 hours sleep, and 5 mg would send me to sleep for 12 hours.
For the past few years, while taking the 5 mg, I have had early awakening, say 5 am or 5.30 am. Back in 2002 my then pdoc wrote in a letter to my GP as follows:"I suggested we could try a small dose of olanzapine to try and slow down his thoughts and to provide some seditive effect at night which might help him to sleep” I only agreed to take Olanzapine in order to get a good night's sleep. When it no longer afforded me this luxury I decided to stop taking it.
The first time I tried to quit was last year. I got down from 5 mg to 2.5 mg but at 2.5 mg the rebound insomnia was too much for me and I abandoned it. This year I decided to try cold turkey. I lasted 10 days after which I had to take a 5 mg tablet (6 Sept 2006) in order to get some sleep. The next night I took 2.5 mg and I was down to zero Olanzapine on 23 Sept.
Olanz. is imho a very nasty drug to come off. While I was coming off it, Olanz. gave me horrible rebound insomnia as well as face ache - sort of in my cheekbones. While on zero Olanz. it prevented other meds from working. It would not let the Seroquel work nor would it let the Zopiclone work. Now that I am back on 10 mg Olanz. the Zopiclone works OK though with the 10 mg Olanz. I don't really need it. I will try 25 mg of Seroquel tonight and see if that will make me sleep. My guess/hope is that it will. Have Eli Lilly invented a drug that prohibits the user from replacing it with something else? I wouldn't put it past them.
Seroquel was prescribed for me at 50 mg on 21 Sept. Whatever I tried, 25, 50, 75, 100, 12.5, 6.25 it just would not work for me. The Olanzapine had done something to my brain cells so that the Seroquel couldn't do its stuff. Paranoia is part of my diagnosis.
I can't say I have found much difference between 5 mg and 10 mg. Perhaps more brain fog with the ten. Ten mg does not help me with my negative symptoms: affective flattening, alogia, apathy, avolition and social withdrawal. I've been on the ten now for three and a half weeks so I don't think it is going to surprise me with some last minute miracle.
SIDE EFFECTS: I did not notice any s/e's with either 5 mg or 10 mg.
LONG TERM FADE OUT: I have to admit that my use of Olanz. for a sleeping tablet was off the label. It only worked for me for about 18 months.
All in all I do not rate Olanzapine. If I had my time again I would not touch the stuff but that's just me. There are lots of people out there who say it has worked miracles for them. What I'd like to hear is what they think of it after withdrawal. That's the other side of the coin.
I am on 10 mg of Olanzapine out of necessity, not out of choice. If I could choose I would rather have Seroquel.
....Alan
poster:ronaldo
thread:700125
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061104/msgs/701659.html