Spookypaws: Has anyone successfully tapered off zyprexa?

[Spookypaws]

Hello all, it's been awhile since I've been here but I'm tapering my meds again and needed some advice.

 

My new pdoc says I don't need the neurontin anymore, and he wants me to take it every other night for two weeks. I've read that magnesium helps with this, but I can't find out how much to take. Anyone have a recommended amount?

 

Also, I've been weaning off the zyprexa I'm down to 1.25 mg now melatonin with l-theanine has helped tremendously. Obviously I'll hold here until after the neurontin taper, but it feels good to be making progress.

 

Spookypaws

[JanCarol]

Topics Merged:  This last post was from "Magnesium supplement for neurontin taper..how much?" where Spookypaws asked a personal question.

 

This question is better suited to your personal thread.

 

Where - we would refer you to our Magnesium thread.

 

We're not naturopaths and cannot "prescribe" supplements.  We can only make suggestions for you to decide.

 

With magnesium, one approach is to start small, and build up gradually.  If your dose is so strong your bowels get loose, then go back to the prior dose.

 

Listen to your body, is the best answer to "how much?"

[Spookypaws]

Well I'm officially off zyprexa, have been for a week. My sleep has been fragmented but at least I get some sleep. All the mess I'm taking made me gain 40lbs and completely messed with me. I'm hoping being off two of them for now will help me be more myself.

 

I'll keep you posted.

[Plshelp]

Has anyone successfully tapered off zyprexa? Has anyone gotten off and not have insomnia anymore?

[Plshelp]

Well I'm officially off zyprexa, have been for a week. My sleep has been fragmented but at least I get some sleep. All the mess I'm taking made me gain 40lbs and completely messed with me. I'm hoping being off two of them for now will help me be more myself.

 

I'll keep you posted.

Spookypaws

I definitely want to hear more about your withdrawal. Keep me posted.

[Spookypaws]

I can tell you that I had been taking 1.25mg of zyprexa before I jumped off. That might be too big a jump, I don't know,before when I'd try and quit I'd immediately be filled with anxiety and insomnia. Now it just seems to be fragmented sleep, but of course I've been sick as a dog this week. I take melatonin and 5htp to help as well. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Spookypaws]

I've weaned off all of my medications with barely any side effects, which is a miracle considering a year ago when I tried I was a total mess. I was taking Luvox, Zyprexa Gabapentin and Trazodone. The only one I'm still taking, but weaning off is Trazodone. My current dose is 200mg. Today when I woke up I was completely lightheaded and slightly dizzy and I've been like this all day. Could this be caused by the trazodone, or withdrawl from the other meds? I've never felt like this before, so I'm kinda scared.

 

* moved from Tapering section

Edited May 22, 2017 by bubble
added note

[Donkey]

Hi there, Just saw your post regarding zyprexa.

 

Could you please share with me how did you get from 2.5mg to zero?

was it one shoot or you tappered somehow?

 

Can you share also how long the insomnia lasted? i am afraid that i will not be able to sleep and want to learn how many days i may need to suffer

 

Thanks for your time

[Spookypaws]

Hello.

I've been tapering for a couple of months off of some pretty strong drugs (200 mg Luvox, 2.5mg zyprexa, 100mg gabapentin and 200mg trazodone). I know I've tapered too quickly, but until last night I've been symptom free, losing weight I gained from these drugs, and started feeling human again. I was gabapentin and zyprexa free, taking my last cut of Luvox the night before last, and made a cut from 200 to 150 of the trazodone

Last night was terrible, I would only sleep a hour or two at a time and not a deep sleep. Around 4 in the morning I started having anxiety that lasted a few hours, that is just now starting to subside a little.

 

What should I do, please help I don't want to end up in the hospital again, sleeplessness is hat landed me there in the first place.

[Spookypaws]

Well folks, here I am...zyprexa and gabapentin free, but struggling today because I think I tapered too fast off of my Luvox. I did not sleep last night, and had a wave of anxiety hit me around 4 or 5 in the morning which did pass. All day I've felt like I should get up and do something, like I can't be still. This is how I felt before I was hospitalized a few years ago. I made an appt. for tomorrow morning to see the nurse practitioner that prescribes me my meds to see what I should do. I dont want to go to the hospital, I want to stabilize. How do I know what I'm experiencing withdrawl from? Is it the Luvox I tapered and dropped pretty quickly, or is it the zyprexa from a month ago? I hope to get some answers I am just so scared to go back on all these meds, and to the hospital. My husband has threatened to leave me if I go back.

 

* moved from Tapering section

[bubble]

Hello Spooky,

 

I have moved a few threads you started in the Tapering section to your thread where the whole of your story is.

 

I went through it and unfortunately it is not a good one.

 

You have repeatedly ignored the advice to slow down your taper to prevent the kind of situation that you have find yourself in.

 

Here is one of the last pleas before you went and did it your own way.

Spooky, I learned recently that racing to get to 0 mg and ignoring advice to the contrary is very, very common with drugs like Zyprexa (neuroleptics, anti-psychotics).  There are at least 2 other members here at SA who have raced to 0 despite advice to slow down and they got hit with some very intense withdrawal symptoms. You could almost consider this insistence to go fast a symptom either of the drug or of withdrawal. 

 

I know that this is the last thing you wanted to hear but after reading through your thread I couldn't help noticing.

 

We will continue to support you hoping that you will learn your lesson. In order to be able to offer any advice we need a detailed drug history (your drug signature hasn't been updated since 2016).

 

When did you stop taking Zyprexa? It seems that you jumped off of 1.25 mg (which is a high dose for stopping To add insult to injury you started tapering Luvox. How did you reduce Luvox (starting dose and current dose)? And some time you also stopped taking Gabapentin?

 

The most you can do for yourself at the moment is not to panic and catastrophise. You are not in any danger if your sleep deteriorates. The symptoms you describe are scary but they cannot harm you. There is no need to rush to hospital. Do you have any calming techniques you could use: deep breathing, legs up against the wall, calming guided meditation, Epsom salt baths...?

 

The only way to stop withdrawals is to reinstate a bit of the drug. Given the way you tapered it will be hard to tell which and at what dose.That's why a very detailed picture of your drug changes with times and dosages is so important.

[Spookypaws]

Yes I know, I'm so sorry I keep trying to rush through it. I thought I was good this time, I have been sleeping and feeling great for like 2 months. I started tapering zyprexa at the end of march. I cut my dose to 1.25. My pdoc told me to start weaning off the gabapentin the next week, take 100 mg every other night for a week then stop. I did that and felt fine. Around end of April I stopped the zyprexa going every other night for a week like the gaba. I was fine. Then thinking I was untouchable I started tapering luvox from 200 to 150 to 100 and then to 50, much too quickly. I was doing ok, I took my last dose of 50mg luvox on Friday night. And now this......

Should I reinstate the Luvox and see what happens?

 

Again I apologize I know I've been told, and I should listen. Please don't abandon me..

[bubble]

Since it's only been a few days, I would go to the last dose of Luvox. It should take the edge off but given all the rushed tapers you might continue to be symptomatic for quite some time.

 

I asked other mods for opinion on Zyprexa as I'm not so familiar with it. But definitely one change at a time.

[Plshelp]

I'm amazed to hear about the zyprexa taper without having insomnia. That's awesome. I hope that your recent insomnia isn't due to it. Try taking some melatonin and see if that helps.

[Spookypaws]

I went back to my full 200mg dose of Luvox last night and slept better. My original plan was not to touch the trazodone or luvox until July when my original appt. was. I think I'm gonna hold here and wait it out until July.

[bubble]

Maybe there was a misunderstanding: I meant the last dose that is 50 mg.

 

Sometimes the original dose can be too much and I hope this won't be your case.

[Spookypaws]

Thanks bubble, I took 200 mg instead of the 50 I misinterpreted the message. I did get some sleep last night and feel better today than yesterday, still some tummy trouble, but livable. But, I'm gonna just stick with this for now until I see my pdoc in July like I had intended before and then try a sloooooooooow taper like you guys recommend. I'm just glad to be off the zyprexa and gabapentin, I guess this is a small victory.

[JanCarol]

Hey Spooky - 

 

Yes I know, I'm so sorry I keep trying to rush through it. I thought I was good this time

 

Well, see, there's this Delayed Onset of Withdrawal Symptoms

 

So changes you make in April may not be fully visible until June.

 

Please update your signature to reflect when you made these changes, and what your current doses are.

 

It may be that with the reinstated Luvox, and holding everything steady, you may stabilise.  If, after the Luvox reinstatement you are still struggling, you may want to go back to 0.5 mg Zyprexa - but hold off on that until we see if we can get you stable without it.

 

There are many many people who regret going too fast.  

 

I've never met one who regretted going too slowly.

 

Remember - updosing is a change, too.  So stay on the same dose if you can, don't fiddle it around.  Hold, and hold, and hold some more.

 

When you have been a month without symptoms, then hold another month before considering tapers.

 

Remember, there are Non Drug Techniques for Coping with Emotional Symptoms to help you.  Use your toolkit - make a list of things that help, then keep choosing things from the list to get you through the day.

 

Breathe, you can get through this!

 

I hope you see the Sun today.

[Bobo32]

On 09/08/2015 at 4:36 AM, Meimeiquest said:

I took it for six years, 15 to 5 mg. I have been off a bit over 2.5 years. 2.5mg is way too large a dose to jump off from. Hopefully you have seen the Zyprexa tapering thread by now. Good luck!

 

Hello,

 

I hear you tapered off zyprexa succeessfully; I took took it last year for about 3 months and I used other drugs as well for a period over a year. Today i'm almost 4 months drug free but I still feel brain fog and restlessness as well as memory problems and cognitive issues as well.

How long have you been off the drug? Are you completely med free right now? 

Are you left with cognitive issues?

please share any experience you have about this drug because i'm really afraid zyprexa has done irreversible damage to me

 

Thanks in advance

 

[Spookypaws]

Which of these would you taper first? Luvox or Trazodone?

 

Edited June 27, 2017 by scallywag
moved from "Which drug to taper first?"

[ccb73]

% of both at same time

[wantmyhubbyback]

spooky, just note that the challenge around tapering both is that if you have a severe wd reaction, you're not going to know which drug was responsible and you'll likely end up reinstating both.  hubby's experience has been that decreasing the activating drugs first and the sedating drugs second is the best way to go. for sure trazadone is a sedating drug, but i think luvox is also.  hubby's dr seems to feel that trazadone is more "benign" -- although i don't think ANY of these drugs are benign! -- than the others so we are eliminating all the others first.

 

rhiannon is one of the mods who i believe has done a multi-drug taper successfully, but as alto has pointed out, she had a long history of understanding her symptoms and knew what to adjust.  it seems you're a relative newcomer to this world so just urging caution.  

[scallywag]

SpookyPaws, I've moved your post/question to your introduction topic so that all your information, questions and answers are in one place.

 

Please post questions about your individual situation as a reply or comment here in your introduction topic.

 

Between Luvox and Trazodone, we would suggest tapering the trazodone first because one of metabolites, the byproducts of your body processing a drug, interacts with many, many other medications.