Posted by Huxley on May 31, 2010, at 22:38:40
In reply to Re: Zyprexa: Withdrawal help, posted by bleauberry on May 31, 2010, at 17:31:00
> I can sure relate. Zyprexa for 8 years at 5mg. Have been off it now for 3 years.
>
> Like you, the most traumatic times were when ditching the last little crumbs of it.
>
> What I found helpful. Take another crumb or so every other day, every third day, every fourth day, whatever, or whenever needed. Don't mark on the calendar a day when you will be done with it. Just set your sights on seeing how far you can get without it. When the going gets too rough, take your .3mg or .2mg or whatever. Don't take it again until you reach the point you just can't make it any longer without it. What I found was that the time between those emergency doses got longer and longer. Eventually I got a point where it was once a week.
>
> I also used herbals to help cut the edge. Lemon balm, passionflower, skullcap, and valerian were helpful. Either alone or in experimental combinations, they allowed me to get through rough moments and go yet another day without zyprexa.
>
> The total time for me to get from 5mg to zero and be able to survive without it was about 3 months. The total time after the last dose until it felt like my nervous system had reached a new place of stability without zyprexa, to where I no longer needed it any more, was about 3 months (after the last dose). In other words, the brain changes that antipsychotics do are quite profound and take the body some time to rebalance when they are withdrawn.
>
> Be patient and don't be shy to employ some common inexpensive cheap herbals on an as needed basis. If you just can't stand it, take another tiny dose of zyprexa. Eventually you won't need it any more. You are just buying time for the brain to readjust.
>
> Keep in mind, there is an outside chance that if the zyprexa was helping you a lot, you just might not be able to go without it. If a mere .3mg is all it takes to keep you in a decent state of control, geez, there is practically zero risk and zero toxicity in that small of a dose.
Lou,Thanks for the advice, I'm sure you mean well but I don't think Juadism is going to help me out here.
And yes my dr is a terrible person who has alot to answer for in my books. I have an appointment with a new doctor tomorrow.
IF the new doctor tells me there is no such thing as zyprexa withdrawal I think I am going to burst into tears.bleauberry, thank god I have found someone who has actually successfully stoped Zyprexa. I have searched the internet far and wide.
Everyone I find in forums talking about this have eventually given up and just started taking the Zyprexa again.Or then there are those who
just stopped taking it and didn't have any problems at all.I am pretty confident that I dont need the zyprexa. I was fine without it. Mildly depressed.. but I would take that over where I am now.
I have made it 4 days into withdrawal cold turkey. I could quite easily go through three months of that If I was sitting at home with the support of my family.
But going to work/ carrying on everyday life is out of the question.I have a few questions, hope you dont mind.
After you stopped taking the Zyprexa, during the three month withdrawal period did it slowly get better? Or were the withdrawals pretty consistant and
then one day they just stopped?4 days into the withdrawal I felt like the symptoms were staying pretty linear as in not getting worse or better. Is that as bad as it is going to get? in the first
few days? or does it get worse?Did you find that you completly recovered? As in reverted back to the state you were in before you started the zyprexa? Do you have any lingering long term side effects?
Would benzo's help? Arn't they addictive too?
poster:Huxley
thread:949587
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100524/msgs/949679.html