Posted by blueberry on April 24, 2006, at 20:40:40
In reply to olanzapine, posted by rachel1309 on April 23, 2006, at 15:51:45
Without any hesitation I would definitely say to get back on zyprexa, at half the dose he was on previously, and then continue the taper but very very slowly. I'm talking months, maybe many months. It took me 4 months to go from 5mg to zero. It took someone else more than 9 months to go from 10mg to zero, and that was with another antipsychotic on board to help during the process. Unspeakable torture, addiction to something else like alcohol, massive disruption of family and job and physical health, and in a worst case scenario suicide...these are things that happen with rapid tapering.
My heart goes out to him. I send you and him my deepest compassion. That post-antipsychotic anxiety is straight from hell. Even benzos or alcohol only touch part of it.
Get a sharp single edged razor blade for making custom sized doses. Whatever size pills they are, cut them in half. Swallow one half. With the other half, cut off just a tiny chunk from the corner and throw the chunk away, swallow what remains. Cut the same size chunk off, or as close as you can get, for about a week. Then the next week, make the little chunks you are cutting off a little bigger. Eventually you will be down to just half a pill. Just keep going this way until it's over. Don't rush it.
The doctor who gave you that tapering schedule...I would love to see him do that himself. Actually, I do not wish harm on anyone. I just think many doctors have no idea the intense power of these medicines and the dramatic effect they have on the brain and the entire body. It takes a lot of time to unwind all that, and sometimes can't be unwound at all. Someone at remedyfind.com said that if you are bipolar but not schizophrenic and you take an antipsychotic for bipolar or depression for a few years, you will be schizo when you stop. Personally, my experience is telling me that just might be true.
I've been off for 10 weeks. I have improved maybe 5% during that whole time. Withdrawals today are just about as bad as they were 10 weeks ago.
Do the withdrawals ever end? Do we need the antipsychotic forever? I don't know. I have heard from other people that still had bad withdrawals a year later.
Very slow taper.
poster:blueberry
thread:636680
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060412/msgs/636716.html