Question:
> My psychosis is starting to bother me more than usual and despite my dislike > of psychiatric medications I am giving serious consideration to going back > on anti-psychotics for a while. My CPN has suggested Olanzapine as she > believes it to have less side effects and feels that it would better suit my > general medication intollerance. > I would appreciate any comments / experiences regarding Olanzapine. Please > post replies to the newsgroups as I feel the information may be of interest > to others. > Thanks > Tony
Works really well for psychosis. Makes you tired if you take too much. Makes you Fat. Expect to gain around 30 pounds in a couple of months. I wish someone had told me this, cause I never would have taken it. Gained 40 pounds and can’t loose it, even now that I’m off of Olanzapine. Try Seroquel, makes you a little more tired, but doesn’t cause weight gain. SP
Response:
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> On the other hand since I started Seroquel, I’ve been having terrible > night > sweats. I’m on 2 other things so I don’t know which is causing it. > Seroquel > seems to sort of upset your tum. I’ve been having bad indigestion, (which > I > never had before) and (if you will pardon my mentioning this) diarrhea, > for > months. Once again I don’t know which med is causing this. I’d be > interested to know if you have any of these problems, so I can stop > wondering if I really have some fatal illness. If it’s just the meds I can > deal with that. > SP > You mentioned not so long ago that you were drinking a lot of wine. > This could be the problem. > Michelle
Actually I was drinking allot of Beer. But I lightened up allot on the drinking because it was making me feel bad. The strange thing is that I recently switched to Wine, because you can drink less of it and still get relaxed. And I noticed that when I drink at least 2 glasses of Red Wine, I don’t have the night sweats, or I’ll only have one just before I wake up. Before I discovered the wine trick I was waking up 5 to 7 times a night completely soaked. On the other hand I don’t really want to drink Wine every night. I cant really understand why this Wine thing would be. Maybe I could take those pills that have Wine extract. Seems theres something in Red wine that is good. SP
Response:
Everyone experiences different medications differently. Olanzapine takes a long time to start working, I’ve heard, so you have to give it time. Most psychiatrists will prescribe another, faster-working antipsychotic to cover for the lag. My reaction: Olanzapine made me sleep 16 hours a day and re-activated my eating disorder immediately. There was no question. My shrink took me off it without protest. There are plenty of antipsychotics out there to try. Don’t worry — you’ll find one that works with minimum side-effects. I have tried most of the antipsychotics in existence and can tolerate most of them quite well. Now I take Seroquel, and believe it or not, Thorazine. JGr Before you buy.
Response:
My doctor has now prescribed me Seroquel and I am starting it tomorrow. From the huge amount of information that I have read about it I am confident that it will deal with my psychosis but at the same time not cause too many unpleasent side effects. Some people have even experienced weight loss on Seroquel and boy am I hoping that I will to 
Tony – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Everyone experiences different medications differently. Olanzapine > takes a long time to start working, I’ve heard, so you have to give it > time. Most psychiatrists will prescribe another, faster-working > antipsychotic to cover for the lag. > My reaction: Olanzapine made me sleep 16 hours a day and re-activated > my eating disorder immediately. There was no question. My shrink took > me off it without protest. > There are plenty of antipsychotics out there to try. Don’t worry — > you’ll find one that works with minimum side-effects. > I have tried most of the antipsychotics in existence and can tolerate > most of them quite well. Now I take Seroquel, and believe it or not, > Thorazine. > JGr > Before you buy.
Response:
> I have heard from some sources that Seroquel can actually cause weight loss > in some patients – I am hoping that I am one of them > Tony
It didn’t really for me. At first I lost about 10 pounds, but then put it back on. At least now I’m not gaining any more. Zyprexa also had the strange side effect of keeping me from sweating, (ever!) or being bothered by heat. I was visiting a friend in Oklahoma, in summer, average temp of 100 degrees, and up. Several times we went out to her car which had been sitting in the sun for hours, and I happily climbed in and sat there while she stood outside waiting for it to air out. That was kind of nice. On the other hand since I started Seroquel, I’ve been having terrible night sweats. I’m on 2 other things so I don’t know which is causing it. Seroquel seems to sort of upset your tum. I’ve been having bad indigestion, (which I never had before) and (if you will pardon my mentioning this) diarrhea, for months. Once again I don’t know which med is causing this. I’d be interested to know if you have any of these problems, so I can stop wondering if I really have some fatal illness. If it’s just the meds I can deal with that. SP
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Everyone experiences different medications differently. Olanzapine > takes a long time to start working, I’ve heard, so you have to give it > time. Most psychiatrists will prescribe another, faster-working > antipsychotic to cover for the lag. > My reaction: Olanzapine made me sleep 16 hours a day and re-activated > my eating disorder immediately. There was no question. My shrink took > me off it without protest. > There are plenty of antipsychotics out there to try. Don’t worry — > you’ll find one that works with minimum side-effects. > I have tried most of the antipsychotics in existence and can tolerate > most of them quite well. Now I take Seroquel, and believe it or not, > Thorazine. > JGr
Olanzapine worked for me the day after I first took it, when I was very psychotic. It also made me want to do NOTHING but sleep. And made me so complacent, that I could sit and stare at the floor or the inside of my blanket for HOURS, and not even care. It also made me so fat, some of my friends said I looked like a Bear. SP
Response:
Hi SP, Thanks for your input – it confirms what I have discovered. After input from other ng users and research on the net I have reached the conclusion that Seroquel is the best bet. I stopped taking sulpiride last year as I gained 3 stones in weight. This was really frustrating as I had lost six stones in the previous 12 months and had achieved a weight that I was happy with. Since stopping Sulpiride I still haven’t lost the excess weight so taking Olanzapine would really freak me out I have heard from some sources that Seroquel can actually cause weight loss in some patients – I am hoping that I am one of them The tiredness doesn’t worry me too much as my hypomania means that I don’t sleep more than a couple of hours each day unless I take 4 nitrazepam at night. Seroquel could be the answer to my "prayers" – reduction of psychosis, weight loss and sleep !! Tony
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> My psychosis is starting to bother me more than usual and despite my dislike > of psychiatric medications I am giving serious consideration to going back > on anti-psychotics for a while. My CPN has suggested Olanzapine as she > believes it to have less side effects and feels that it would better suit my > general medication intollerance. > I would appreciate any comments / experiences regarding Olanzapine. Please > post replies to the newsgroups as I feel the information may be of interest > to others. > Thanks > Tony > Works really well for psychosis. Makes you tired if you take too much. > Makes you Fat. Expect to gain around 30 pounds in a couple of months. I > wish someone had told me this, cause I never would have taken it. Gained 40 > pounds and can’t loose it, even now that I’m off of Olanzapine. > Try Seroquel, makes you a little more tired, but doesn’t cause weight gain. > SP
Response:
> On the other hand since I started Seroquel, I’ve been having terrible night > sweats. I’m on 2 other things so I don’t know which is causing it. Seroquel > seems to sort of upset your tum. I’ve been having bad indigestion, (which I > never had before) and (if you will pardon my mentioning this) diarrhea, for > months. Once again I don’t know which med is causing this. I’d be > interested to know if you have any of these problems, so I can stop > wondering if I really have some fatal illness. If it’s just the meds I can > deal with that. > SP
You mentioned not so long ago that you were drinking a lot of wine. This could be the problem. Michelle
Response:
>I would appreciate any comments / experiences regarding Olanzapine. Please >post replies to the newsgroups as I feel the information may be of interest >to others.
Olanzapine (Zyprexa) was one of the first atypical antipsychotics to see use for schizophrenia and bipolar. It is certainly a vast improvement over the old style APs. But…a big but…it can be powerfully sedating, many people have unpleasant EPS with it (should abate over time), it is a SERIOUS offender in the weight gain categories, and although it is less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia than the old APs, it still carries a risk for bipolars. Preliminary studies show that bipolars are more prone to TD than schizophrenics. I would ask the doctor his opinion of Seroquel or one of the other second generation atypical APs. No drug is totally free of risk (even our beloved Mother Mary :-p), but many people on these groups are having a very positive experience with Seroquel, and it seems to have a far more benign side effect profile than Zyprexa.
Response:
> I would appreciate any comments / experiences regarding Olanzapine. Please > post replies to the newsgroups as I feel the information may be of interest > to others. > Thanks > Tony
– There are a few who have been prescibed this for anxiety / depression, will have to swing over to alt.support.depression.medication or cross post the question again as they are also a helpful group, just watch out for the Scientologists over there who are shopping for converts. Crazy Lou http://www.grizzadam.com/ Before you buy.
Response:
Lynda, Thanks for all the info – your hard disk must be overflowing I’ve done my research now (helped most valuably by members of the groups) and decided that Seroquel is the drug for me to try – less chance of weight gain and a good user tolerance experience. Tony
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi Tony, > I take Zyprexa on ans as needed bais for dysphoria and it works well. It > also has AD effects, too. > My psychosis is starting to bother me more than usual and despite my dislike > of psychiatric medications I am giving serious consideration to going back > on anti-psychotics for a while. My CPN has suggested Olanzapine as she > believes it to have less side effects and feels that it would better suit my > general medication intollerance. > I would appreciate any comments / experiences regarding Olanzapine. Please > post replies to the newsgroups as I feel the information may be of interest > to others. > ZYPREXA (Olanzapine) http://www.public.usit.net/quester/zyp.html > Zyprexa is an "atypical" antipsychotic with potent 5-H2 antagonism, > dopamine D1/D2 antagonism, and anticholinergic activity. Zyprexa belongs > to the thienobenzodiazepine class, and it has a profile of activity very > similar to Clozapine. Clinical trials document Zyprexa’s efficacy in > reducing both the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. With > respect to extrapyramidal symptoms and elevation of prolactin levels, > the adverse-event profile of Zyprexa may be more favorable than those of > conventional antipsychotic medications, such as haloperidol. > Pharmacodynamics: It has been proposed that Zyprexa’s antipsychotic > activity is mediated through a combination of dopamine and serotonin > type 2 (5HT2) antagonism. Antagonism at receptors other than dopamine > and 5HT2 with similar receptor affinities may explain some of the other > therapeutic and side effects of Zyprexa. Zpyrexa’s antagonism of > histamine H1 receptors may explain the somnolence observed with this > drug. Zyprexa’s antagonism of adrengegic alpha1 recetpors may explain > the orthostataic hypotension observed with this drug. > Pharmacokinetics: The half-life of Zyprexa is 21 to 54 hours (mean of 30 > hours). Steady state plasma levels are attained withing 5-7 days. > Zyprexa is well absorbed and reaches peak concentrations in > approximately 6 hours following an oral dose. Direct glucuronidation and > cytochrome P450 mediated oxidaton are the primary metabolic pathways for > Zyprexa. Although Zyprexa clearance is about 40% higher in smokers than > in nonsmokers, dosage modifications are not routinely recommended. > Adverse Reactions: The most common adverse events associated with > Zyprexa are: somnolence (26%), and dizziness (11%) and weight gain (6%). > In clinical trials, patients gained an average of 6 to 12 pounds. > Another adverse effect observed was clinically significant ALT (SGPT) > elevations (3 times, or greater, than the upper limit of the normal > range) in 2% of patients. Other commonly observed adverse events were > constipation, postural hypertension, and akathesia. > Dosage: Zyprexa should be administered on a once-a-day schedule without > regard to meals, usually geginning with 5 to 10mg initially, before bed. > The target dose is 10mg/day, within several days. The drug is being > marketed as having a therapeutic starting dose without a need for > titration in most patients. > Comments: Zyprexa is a very interesting new antipsychotic, with great > potential. If preliminary studies hold true, it appears that it might be > as effective as Clozapine, but without the potentially fatal side effect > of agranulocytosis, and, therefore, without the need for expensive and > troublesome weekly blood monitoring. > The above is for educational purposes only. If you have futher questions > about this medication, or other prescription medications, please consult > your physician. > Return to Meteorite’s Home Page– > http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/13fbf6.htm > INDIANAPOLIS, IN — October 28, 1999 — Eli Lilly and Company announced > today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an > approvable letter for the company’s antipsychotic medication Zyprexa
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