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KatieK5: Zyprexa 25mg cold turkey


KatieK5

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Hi! I was in the hospital a couple weeks ago and was prescribed zyprexa and treated up to 25mg. Previous to the medication I was working on an art career. I hated the side effects of the medication and when I was in the hospital I could feel and see all the creative ideas I had nearly vanishing. I want to add that I was also on an antipsychotic for depression and anxiety since my mother just died. I went from a bubbly, creative, ADHD person with a wide emotional range to flat. When I came home I didn't realize I needed to titrate off the medication and went cold turkey. It's been a couple weeks and I'm terrified this is my new normal because at first I had a lot of feelings bubbling at the surface from my mom's death that I couldn't really cope with since I couldn't really sort them out like normal. My brain is foggy and I'm upset because I used to make mental connections so easily that I was working on videos and stories and an art business! I wanted to travel and loved nature! I feel like I also put too much emotional strain on myself because I was making a lot of social plans and not really focusing on my art because of the depression as a loss of my mom. I was wondering if there was any way to fix the brain damage I suffered since I've been off the medication a couple weeks now.

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Welcome to the forum. How long were you on the Zyprexa at that dose?  One of the mods will hopefully come and give you some advice soon.

200 Zoloft; 10 mg Zyprexa; 4 mg valium as of May 2021;  Valium taper: July 16: 3.5 valium; July 30: 3 mg (paused valium taper); Aug. 23: 2.5 mg
Zyprexa: July 26: 8.75 mg; Aug. 9: 7.5 mg; Aug. 30: 7.1 mg

-------
Dec 1, 2016. 10 mg zyprexa for 1.5 month. Started taper mid-Jan. 2017. Cut 1.25 mg every 2 weeks; smaller cuts 2.5 mg down. Stopped at .6 mg. May 7, 2017: zyprexa free. 
Zoloft: Dec1, 2016, 200 mg. Started taper: Jun12, 2017: 197.5 mg; Jun19,:195 mg; July 2:185mg; July 9,:180 mg; July16,: 175; July 23: 170; July 30: 165; Aug6: 160; Aug13: 155; Aug. 20: 150; Aug.27: 146 mg; Sept3: 145 mg; Sept10:143 mg; Sept17:140 mg....Nov5: 122 mg...Dec3:112.5 mg; Jan14, 2018: 95 mg...Jan28: 90 mg; Feb21:80 mg; Mar11: 75 mg; May2:70 mg; May15: 68 mg; May28: 65 mg; Jun9: 62 mg;Jun25: 60 mg:July22: 55 mg; Aug25: 45 mg. Aug28: 50 mg...Oct 28: 38 mg; Dec.4: 30 mg; Jan8,2019: 25mg; Feb6: 23.5 mg; Apr1:17.5mg; May1:1 mg; May 5: 18;  May 18:15mg; June 16:12.5mg; Sept 10:11 mg; Sept.16:10 mg; Oct. 1: 9mg; Nov. 27: 8mg; Dec.5: 7mg; Jan.1,2020, 6 mg; Feb1: 5 mg; May 1: 2.5 mg; Jn 1: 2 mg; Jy 1: 1.5 mg

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Hey Katie K,

 

I can't believe what this medication is doing to people. First of all, let us say, this happens. ALOT.

 

People on this medication find that their soul is taken from them. Creativity, memory, imagination, anticipation, thoughts, emotions, etc go out the window.

We become shells of ourselves. Anti-psychotics in particular seem to do this to people. ANHEDONIA is the main word for all of this. A new word to me recently, but I won't be forgetting it. Anhedonia is this chemically induced state.

 

I was poly drugged over a short period and lost my humanity. What an experience. I'm off meds now and experiencing glimmers of improvement. very rare hours or days where I feel more like a human. That's what we all experience, little windows before everything comes back it seems. But it is absolute torture most of the time.

 

People vary in period of time for recovery. Some say 6 months, some say a year or more. In my limited understanding, Because you were on meds for a short spell that would bring hope that recovery will be sooner rather than later,

 

Things you can do to recover? BASICS. sleep, eat well, pass time,  light exercise, no meds, supportive people and plans in place to manage your mind/emotions when you become a human again ;)

late July...lexapro 10 seroquel 25.....due to mild depression......adverse reaction, suicidal thoughts, hospitalization

August....felt that meds were ripping stomach apart....docs didn't believe me..upped meds to seroquel 125, lexapro 20, mirtazapine 30, olanzapine 20....stayed on these drugs unitl mid november......severe anhedonia all the time...mid novemeber 2016 , began taper.....very small windows of emotion...Christmas....off everything by Christmas day......last six weeks, cried and laughed on a number of occasions for first time since taking initial meds....8 occasions of strong emotion over 6 weeks in ealry 2016.......doubting recovery......

BIG WINDOW IN july 2017, felt incredible, lasted a month or so, felt close to recovered...window left, september to Chrimstas 17 was anhedonic hell.....Turn of the year, January 2018, some very strong days (a window) offering renewed hope

back to hell until late February 2018, strong 10 day window....followed by anhedonic wave for 7 months straight! not a flicker of normalcy

September 2018 ...incredible window...followed by three month wave.January 2019.... a strong window

window subsided, but new baseline was higher.....life since January 2019 ( 9 months and counting) has been far better. Complete anhedonia is gone!! God, I've tears writing that. I am far from recovered, but far from hell...to use a scale, if life is rated out of a hundred, I was about minus 50 for the majority of 2 years..I know feel about 30 per cent of self, experiences intermittent flickers of normal life regularly....My days have more quality and I am optimistic of recovery. 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome Katiek5,

I'm sorry you were medicated for what sounds like normal grieving over the loss of your Mom.

 

You wrote that you were also on an anti-psychotic, was this in addition to the zyprexa? Have you taken any of these kinds of medications previously?

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

There's no need to worry, you will recover your normal brain function in time. Its impossible to know how long it will take, but usually longer than two weeks are needed for full recovery. It probably depends on individual factors and how long you were taking the drug, but I've seen it take anywhere from a few weeks up to a year. I expect you will be feeling better fairly soon though.

 

Here is the link to our symptoms and self care section, you may find some useful ideas to help manage symptoms as you recover.  Especially read the topics pinned at the top.

 

Many people find  fish oil and magnesium helpful, see King of Supplements: Omega 3 Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) and Magnesium, Nature's Calcium Channel Blocker

 

Please continue to let us know how you're doing. I hope you will add your story to our Recovery Success Stories eventually.

 

Videos

 

 

 

 

People tend to feel better and better as time goes on.

 

Petunia.

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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Hey Katie K,

 

I can't believe what this medication is doing to people. First of all, let us say, this happens. ALOT.

 

People on this medication find that their soul is taken from them. Creativity, memory, imagination, anticipation, thoughts, emotions, etc go out the window.

We become shells of ourselves. Anti-psychotics in particular seem to do this to people. ANHEDONIA is the main word for all of this. A new word to me recently, but I won't be forgetting it. Anhedonia is this chemically induced state.

 

I was poly drugged over a short period and lost my humanity. What an experience. I'm off meds now and experiencing glimmers of improvement. very rare hours or days where I feel more like a human. That's what we all experience, little windows before everything comes back it seems. But it is absolute torture most of the time.

 

People vary in period of time for recovery. Some say 6 months, some say a year or more. In my limited understanding, Because you were on meds for a short spell that would bring hope that recovery will be sooner rather than later,

 

Things you can do to recover? BASICS. sleep, eat well, pass time, light exercise, no meds, supportive people and plans in place to manage your mind/emotions when you become a human again ;)

What were you poly drugged on?

Dec 2016 Risperidone 1 mg, Seroquel 25mg, Latuda 40mg 

Jan - Mar 2017 Paliperidone (invega) 6 -9mg, Zoloft, Mirtazapine, Proprananol, Ativan

Mar - Apr 2017 Aripiprazole (abilify) 10 mg

Apr 2017 - July 2017 Olanzapine (zyprexa) 5 mg tapered to 0mg

Oct 2017 - Present Effexor 37.5mg and Prozac 10mg 

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Hi! I was in the hospital a couple weeks ago and was prescribed zyprexa and treated up to 25mg. Previous to the medication I was working on an art career. I hated the side effects of the medication and when I was in the hospital I could feel and see all the creative ideas I had nearly vanishing. I want to add that I was also on an antipsychotic for depression and anxiety since my mother just died. I went from a bubbly, creative, ADHD person with a wide emotional range to flat. When I came home I didn't realize I needed to titrate off the medication and went cold turkey. It's been a couple weeks and I'm terrified this is my new normal because at first I had a lot of feelings bubbling at the surface from my mom's death that I couldn't really cope with since I couldn't really sort them out like normal. My brain is foggy and I'm upset because I used to make mental connections so easily that I was working on videos and stories and an art business! I wanted to travel and loved nature! I feel like I also put too much emotional strain on myself because I was making a lot of social plans and not really focusing on my art because of the depression as a loss of my mom. I was wondering if there was any way to fix the brain damage I suffered since I've been off the medication a couple weeks now.

How long were you on your zyprexa? I'm sorry to hear that you're going thru all that and having your mom pass. That's just awful.

Dec 2016 Risperidone 1 mg, Seroquel 25mg, Latuda 40mg 

Jan - Mar 2017 Paliperidone (invega) 6 -9mg, Zoloft, Mirtazapine, Proprananol, Ativan

Mar - Apr 2017 Aripiprazole (abilify) 10 mg

Apr 2017 - July 2017 Olanzapine (zyprexa) 5 mg tapered to 0mg

Oct 2017 - Present Effexor 37.5mg and Prozac 10mg 

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Pls help...was poly drugged on four meds....zyprexa seroquel mirtazapine lexapro. Scary mix I know and completely unjustified.

late July...lexapro 10 seroquel 25.....due to mild depression......adverse reaction, suicidal thoughts, hospitalization

August....felt that meds were ripping stomach apart....docs didn't believe me..upped meds to seroquel 125, lexapro 20, mirtazapine 30, olanzapine 20....stayed on these drugs unitl mid november......severe anhedonia all the time...mid novemeber 2016 , began taper.....very small windows of emotion...Christmas....off everything by Christmas day......last six weeks, cried and laughed on a number of occasions for first time since taking initial meds....8 occasions of strong emotion over 6 weeks in ealry 2016.......doubting recovery......

BIG WINDOW IN july 2017, felt incredible, lasted a month or so, felt close to recovered...window left, september to Chrimstas 17 was anhedonic hell.....Turn of the year, January 2018, some very strong days (a window) offering renewed hope

back to hell until late February 2018, strong 10 day window....followed by anhedonic wave for 7 months straight! not a flicker of normalcy

September 2018 ...incredible window...followed by three month wave.January 2019.... a strong window

window subsided, but new baseline was higher.....life since January 2019 ( 9 months and counting) has been far better. Complete anhedonia is gone!! God, I've tears writing that. I am far from recovered, but far from hell...to use a scale, if life is rated out of a hundred, I was about minus 50 for the majority of 2 years..I know feel about 30 per cent of self, experiences intermittent flickers of normal life regularly....My days have more quality and I am optimistic of recovery. 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

how are you now Katie K??

late July...lexapro 10 seroquel 25.....due to mild depression......adverse reaction, suicidal thoughts, hospitalization

August....felt that meds were ripping stomach apart....docs didn't believe me..upped meds to seroquel 125, lexapro 20, mirtazapine 30, olanzapine 20....stayed on these drugs unitl mid november......severe anhedonia all the time...mid novemeber 2016 , began taper.....very small windows of emotion...Christmas....off everything by Christmas day......last six weeks, cried and laughed on a number of occasions for first time since taking initial meds....8 occasions of strong emotion over 6 weeks in ealry 2016.......doubting recovery......

BIG WINDOW IN july 2017, felt incredible, lasted a month or so, felt close to recovered...window left, september to Chrimstas 17 was anhedonic hell.....Turn of the year, January 2018, some very strong days (a window) offering renewed hope

back to hell until late February 2018, strong 10 day window....followed by anhedonic wave for 7 months straight! not a flicker of normalcy

September 2018 ...incredible window...followed by three month wave.January 2019.... a strong window

window subsided, but new baseline was higher.....life since January 2019 ( 9 months and counting) has been far better. Complete anhedonia is gone!! God, I've tears writing that. I am far from recovered, but far from hell...to use a scale, if life is rated out of a hundred, I was about minus 50 for the majority of 2 years..I know feel about 30 per cent of self, experiences intermittent flickers of normal life regularly....My days have more quality and I am optimistic of recovery. 

 

 

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