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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by suebirds on November 19, 2007, at 9:25:38
Well it will be two weeks since I starting dropping my my 5 mgs of zyprexa on Wednesday, last night I drop my dose again went to 2.5mgs from 5mgs every other night taking 2.5 alternating it now i'm taking 2.5mgs every night will do that for a few weeks before i decide to drop it again do u think I will feel the dropping of the dose this time like I did the first time, am I doing it to fast dropping the dose. Please give me some good advice. Thank You Suebird
Posted by Zyprexa on November 19, 2007, at 22:14:25
In reply to drop zyprexa again, posted by suebirds on November 19, 2007, at 9:25:38
why are you droping the zyprexa? If you don't need it can't see why it would be a problem. Every med that did not work for me, was very easy to just stop taking, cold turky. no side effects or any problems, infact I would start feeling better!
Posted by suebirds on November 20, 2007, at 8:05:39
In reply to Re: drop zyprexa again, posted by Zyprexa on November 19, 2007, at 22:14:25
I was put on it for bad anxiety but taking paxil and klonopin as well so dr has me weaning down off of it slowly so I will not get any side effects he did tell me people stop cold turkey but im very senative to med change. I have read alot of different post people have wrote and they say do it real slow because the systoms can come back is that true and make u very sick to your stomach. I just want to b off this med.
Posted by bleauberry on November 22, 2007, at 14:14:23
In reply to drop zyprexa again, posted by suebirds on November 19, 2007, at 9:25:38
You just have to feel it out. Everyone reacts differently. Personally I think you are doing the right strategy...that is, the alternating dose thing...and the staying at a new plateau for a while before continuing down. Those strategies worked best for me, and believe me, I've done a lot of weaning off meds. Zyprexa was the toughest of them all. I friek out when people stop it without any problems. Wow. How lucky can one be!
Keep in mind you don't have to use 5mg or 2.5mg. You can alternate for example between 2.5mg and 2.0mg, or 1.75mg and 1.25mg, or whatever. You can't get the doses exactly right, but you can cut off corners of half-tabs to remove just small amounts instead of huge jumps. With alternating doses, exact doses doesn't matter anyway.
If you do have problems there are things that can help. None are likely to be miracles, but they can definitely help a lot and get you through one more day of allowing your brain to adjust. If it is anxiety/nervousness, consider valerian root or passionflower, or if you are hardcore then xanax.
If it is nausea, ginger root supplements.
If it is insomnia, valerian root and/or passionflower, or a tiny chunk of Remeron (maybe 3mg to 5mg), or 10mg to 25mg Trazodone, or a prescription sleep med like Lunesta. Benadryl helped me a lot on those nights as long as I took it once every three nights or so. I only needed a half dose to knock me out. It made me feel weird if I took it every night. Don't be afraid to use things to help on your journey. Since you will be relying on them on an as-needed basis only, not a regular everyday basis, and since it will be relatively short term, you will not have difficulties stopping them later after zyprexa is gone. Use them modestly for an aid, not for a cure, and that will avoid replacing one withdrawal while creating another future one.Only 2 meds I ever stopped cold turkey where I felt better fast without serious withdrawals. One was zoloft. I got dizziness stuff, but that was it. St Johns Wort, I got some anxiety, but tolerable. With both I felt better fast as they left my system. I think I had an intolerance/sensitivity/allergy reaction to them more than they just weren't right for my chemistry.
> Well it will be two weeks since I starting dropping my my 5 mgs of zyprexa on Wednesday, last night I drop my dose again went to 2.5mgs from 5mgs every other night taking 2.5 alternating it now i'm taking 2.5mgs every night will do that for a few weeks before i decide to drop it again do u think I will feel the dropping of the dose this time like I did the first time, am I doing it to fast dropping the dose. Please give me some good advice. Thank You Suebird
Posted by Zyprexa on November 24, 2007, at 0:55:16
In reply to Re: drop zyprexa again/ zyprexa, posted by suebirds on November 20, 2007, at 8:05:39
I don't have any luck getting off it, at all. Always get that sick stomack, realy bad, so bad its debilitating. And none of the other AAP can help at all. Racing thoughts, etc...... I've tried cutting down slowly, quickly.. Plus, anger problems come out. I worry, so so so so so, bad that I can not leave the house, if I do its disasterous. My mind getts so side tracked. Can't eat or sleep, as if that is not enought, pain in stomack. Shaky, can't function. And on and onnnnn....... The only AAP, I have not tried is seroquel, which I see not point of even trying at this point.
Posted by suebirds on November 24, 2007, at 7:20:27
In reply to Re: drop zyprexa again/ zyprexa » suebirds, posted by Zyprexa on November 24, 2007, at 0:55:16
Well its been one week since I drop my second dose of zyprexa im taking 2.5mgs every night now and its been very hard but dealing with it, I get very sick to my stomach especially in the morning and when I wake up in the morning I wake up with my body shaking i've had it ever since i've been on the zyprexa but it seems to be worse now that I am coming off of it the p-doc wants me to drop it again in a week but I thank I will stay at this dose for a little longer so things can get better first. This is the hardest medicine I have ever tried to come off of but I am determine to come off of it. I guess I just have to take baby steps in order to get off of this medicine has anyone had sucess in getting off this medicine. If so please let me know how you sucessfully did it.
Posted by bleauberry on November 28, 2007, at 17:13:04
In reply to Re: drop zyprexa again/ zyprexa, posted by suebirds on November 24, 2007, at 7:20:27
I successfully came off 5mg zyprexa after being on it for 8 years. As you are seeing, it is hard. It took me about a month to get from 5mg to 2.5mg, and then 2 more months to get to zero.
Ginger root supplements for upset stomach. Valerian and/or passionflower for sleep. Passionflower for anxiety attacks. Those things helped me somewhat, a whole lot better than nothing at all. Not miraculous, but enough to cut the edge so as to continue the weaning journey. I used them when I absolutely had to, which was about 2 or 3 times a week.
The shakiness stuff got pretty bad for me as I was weaning down. It was mostly my fingers, thumbs, and knees. Especially in the morning. It started to ease off a little bit about a week after my final tiny little chunk of zyprexa, but honestly it took 3 months for it to mostly go away, and closer to 6 months for it to be completely gone. I actually doubted it would ever be gone, but it did. Even today though, a year later, I am made easily shakey by things, such as coffee, sugar, or any life event that gets me wound up.
I did the alternating dose thing. The doses each evening went something like this: 2.5 - 2.25 - 2.5 - 2.25 - 2.5 - 2.25 - 2.0 - 2.25 - 2.0 - 2.25 - 2.00 - 2.00 - 2.25 - 2.00 - 2.00 - 1.75 - 2.00 - 1.75 - 2.00 - 1.75 - 1.75 - 2.00 - 1.75 - 1.5 - and so on. During the final weeks I think I was alternating between things like .25mg and .50mg, very tiny chunks. None of the above doses were exact. They were estimated. The point was to reduce dose in an alternating pattern in very small steps, staying at a new lower step briefly before continuing. If at any time I went to fast, I would go back to the previous higher dose and stabilize there for a few days.
> Well its been one week since I drop my second dose of zyprexa im taking 2.5mgs every night now and its been very hard but dealing with it, I get very sick to my stomach especially in the morning and when I wake up in the morning I wake up with my body shaking i've had it ever since i've been on the zyprexa but it seems to be worse now that I am coming off of it the p-doc wants me to drop it again in a week but I thank I will stay at this dose for a little longer so things can get better first. This is the hardest medicine I have ever tried to come off of but I am determine to come off of it. I guess I just have to take baby steps in order to get off of this medicine has anyone had sucess in getting off this medicine. If so please let me know how you sucessfully did it.
This is the end of the thread.
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