getting off zyprexa, and having baaad withdrawals

ok i didnt know where to post this and this is the only forum i could even get to work, i tried tons of other forums and had no luck, and i wasnt even sure if this is the right topic for this forum but...........here goes........ill give you a breif history to make things a little clearer..

i was having some bad sleeping problems, i threatened to kill myself by overdosing on some pills because i couldnt sleep, so my dad took me to the hospital, a psych ward, where i stayed for a month......i was having the same sleeping problems there for a while, until my sleep started to gradually become better without the use of any meds, i even pocketed the meds they gave me because i didnt want to be on meds, i was fine mentally, had no schizo, bipolar, or anything, just a bad sleep problem.......my sleep was becoming fine and i was on my way out of the hospital, i could eat fine and everything......until about week 3 they said they had something that could make my sleep even better, so the doctor prescribed zyprexa, 15 mg, and practically insisted that i take it, so im like, well, ok..........it was typical at first, i did sleep a lil better but nothing awesome, then i started getting a lot hungrier and even started eating 4 full meals a day, 2 lunches.....i gained about 30 lbs which isnt much compared to some other people, about 2 years later i somehow managed to lose all the weight i gained without even trying, but after 4 years i was sick of the constant hunger and all the side effects it was giving me, and i even started remembering what i was like before i was on meds...fine except for a lil sleep, so i decided it was time to stop.......i was diagnosed with schizophrenia and mental illness at the time, altho i showed no signs of anything.....i just didnt put up much of a fight when they diagnosed me....when later found out that it was the meds i was on that made me mentally ill, i told my new doctor i want off zyprexa and she said she would wean me off it....she weened me down to 5 mg and my sleep wasnt all that great and i still had hunger, but besides that everything was fine....then the last time i saw her i talked to her for a good hour, she said she saw no signs of any mental illness and that she would let me get off zyprexa........this coming from a woman that a month earlier she said mental illness lasts forever and once your on meds, your on meds forever, which i never believed in the first place...anyway i got off zyprexa, the first nite was fine, altho i didnt sleep all night and fell asleep at 10 in the morning, this lasted for about 4 days, i noticed that the sleep i was getting off zyprexa was way better then the sleep i ever had the whole time i was on zyprexa, which i believed all along that natural sleep would always be better, without any proof, i just somehow knew it.....about the 4th day i didnt fall asleep that night and then most of the day, then i started to feel horrible and really sleep deprived, i think it was only 22 hours of not sleeping, which i know most people can handle, but i guess im not good at handling sleep deprivation...i went to the store and bought some tylenol pm, and have been taking it ever since, it puts me to sleep but i feel like total crap while im sleeping and after i wake up, wishing i could just do the natural sleep thing again, my eating has gotten so bad that i feel like throwing up all my food, i still have the constant starvation its just not as intense, i felt like throwing up my dinner last nite by just looking at it, so i decided not to eat, then for an hour i kept having bad gagging episodes every 10 minutes until finally i gagged so hard my stomach just filled up with stomach acid and stopped gagging and i felt a lot better for pretty much all of the night, i took the tylenol pm to sleep but must have woken up 30 times during the night, then woke up feeling like crap, then most of the day i felt like crap and felt like i didnt even knew who i am anymore, its like ive totally lost my personality and have no "self", i feel like my mind is so blank most of the time that i am just an empty shell of a person, i am very irritable all the time and dont even want to be around my friends anymore, and am sposed to go to college soon but really doubt i can do it, it was NEVER this bad before i was on zyprexa, and im running out of patience to put up with these withdrawals, mostly because i dont even believe or know that it will ever get better, i dont even know what normal is or feels like anymore, i feel like i have a complete lack of control of my mind, and my body, but i feel like i still do have myself trapped somewhere deep inside of me it just cant come out at all, but i feel its still there hiding............the reason i dont want to tell my doctor any of this is because she will put me on more meds, and i DONT want meds because anytime in my life a doctor has put me on meds i have taken myself off of them by myself and maybe had 3 days of withdrawal tops, and then gone back to my normal happy self and felt perfectly fine......except this time i had to get doctors approval to get off zyprexa and this has been the worst withdrawal ive ever gone thru........i live in a boarding home for mentally ill and when your doctor prescribes meds, you HAVE to take them or you get kicked out, i have no where to go cause i cannot handle a job right now i am doing too bad, so i do have to stay here until this gets better if it ever does, i tell the people in the boarding home what im going thru and they dont really understand a thing of what i say or how i feel..............i would love to hear someone who took zyprexa for maybe 4 years or however long and successfully got off it without substituting it with another med, and what withdrawal symptoms you had and if they ever went away, how bad you felt , your sleep, your eating, etc.....i need some positive guidance here on staying off zyprexa but this is very hard, this drug should be banned completely and no one should have to take it, if it helps people they should make another med like it that doesnt have near as much sideeffects ....if anyone is out there , please give me some feedback!!!!!!!!

nwb1,

I am not a doctor, I do take an anti-psychotic like zeprexa.
It stablizes my mood and does a great job.
I tried to stop all my meds after 18 months. I figured that I would and did get better. I was done. ALL meds. cold turkey. My anti-psychotic shizo med too. Two weeks later, no sleep, no meds I was a raving lunatic. Were I had been on the top of the world just 2 wks before.

You cant stop taking that just cold turkey and that and the anti psychs I dont know if ever. But See Your Doctor.
If u cant sleep there is ambien but they dont just put you on an anti-shizo for sleep.
I am sorry you are going through withdrawal,
I just did it myself off of Tylenol for headaches.
I had a Migraine that only sleep would ease for about 16 days.
They were called Rebound headaches so becareful with take the OTC stuff too. The Best thing is see your GP.

Good Luck, I wish I could help you more.
red

The more I read about the meds that are handed out to some people the more sad I feel.

I took Zyprexa (for psychosis). Came off it gradually (had horrible side-effects, so we changed to another medication). First week, we cut the dose by a quarter. Then again the second week, again the third... it took six weeks or so to come off it altogether. I had no problems with withdrawel at all. (You do need to take into account that we also introduced the new pills as I was coming off it, though).

Stopping dead is never a good idea. Cut it down slowly, give your body and mind time to adjust each time you cut a bit out. If you need to cut pills into pieces to halve them, do that.

And it would also be worth looking at ways of dealing with the withdrawel you've had before they happen; read up on relaxation techniques and ways of getting a good natural night's sleep (warm milk works for some, exercise is always good, a light supper before you go to bed - that kind of thing).

Good luck.

Isme those are all great suggestions.
There are as many psych drugs as there are people it seems.
Getting the one that works for you is really hard some times.
When I was feeling totally icky, a nice warm bath would give comfort. When I did not think I could hold on one minute more crying and scream in the shower helped.

But never just stop taking them cold turkey. I know it is a pain, but the tapering is far better than this.

I hope you are feeling better. Thanks Isme for offering support.
How kind.

peace.
red