Posted by blueberry1 on January 8, 2007, at 15:41:36
In reply to Zyprexa withdrawal rebound or addition of Abilify?, posted by kotsunega on January 8, 2007, at 4:46:43
Yeah, zyprexa is a powerful seductive one. After 10 years on it (5mg) I'm not sure I'll ever sleep right again. I spent many months tapering from 5mg to 1.25mg, stayed at 1.25mg for a month, and finally went to zero New Years Day.
Sleep is so bad. I cannot sleep without benadryl. Thankfully it only takes 25mg of it to work. A lot of zyprexa sedation comes from its antihistimine effect. Benadryl sort of duplicates that, though it doesn't have the knock-out punch that zyprexa had. Definitely lets me sleep though. The usual dose is 50mg, so I'm glad 1/2 dose is working ok. Once in a while I will take .25mg xanax instead. I figure I need to go at least a month with no zyprexa before I try to see how I do without benadryl. Zyprexa adjustments take much time and patience.
With a job and family and unstable depression, I am in no position to mess around with insomnia. I do not have the option to wait it out. If I need a lightweight crutch along the way, like benadryl or xanax, so be it. At least zyprexa is gone.
poster:blueberry1
thread:720360
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070107/msgs/720521.html