Zyprexa effects permanent?

I was put on Zyprexa about 18 months ago after I had a very bad break, perhaps and probably a psychotic episode, that I believe was mainly caused by Ambien withdrawal and bad bout of binge drinking (probably the worst birthday ever, in retrospect). I hated the side effects, but it did stabilize me after and then I continued to get "better" (meaning I wasn't absolutely paranoid and crazy) over several months.

I was initially on 10mg then down to 5mg and for the last several months have been on 2.5mg. During this time I had no passion for life, no sex drive, no pleasure at all. I know Zyprexa blocks several neurotransmitter systems, including dopamine, and so I know this is all expected.

About a week and a half ago I took my last 2.5mg pill and have been off it since. I haven't had some of the severe withdrawal effects others have mentioned here--mainly a persistent nausea that is getting better, but I haven't really experienced much recovery either. My hope was that I would stop taking it and get back to my old self. However, I still feel pretty much the same, emotionally, mentally and sexually blunted.

My fear is that this is permanent. I've been reading several sites talking about Zyprexa and brain shrinkage and permanent side effects. This terrifies me.

My question is: has anyone been on Zyprexa for a while and then fully recovered afterwards? And, if so, any timeline? I know I'm in the early stages, but it's out of my system now, or getting there and I'm not seeing much difference.

I started taking Adderal to get over Zyprexa's complete emotional/motivational blunting effect along with taking Clonopin for the wicked Zyprexa withdrawal reactions I experienced after I figured out Zyprexa for insomnia was causing my complete lack of motivation and inability to enjoy life. I don't recommend doing Adderal but that's what I did.

I did this for about 2 years so I have no idea how long it takes to overcome it naturally. 2 more years of psych med addiction, it was a bad plan.

Thanks for your reply, Copy_Cat. No, definitely don't want to go the adderall route. But the question is, did you get back to normal eventually?

clow wrote:Thanks for your reply, Copy_Cat. No, definitely don't want to go the adderall route. But the question is, did you get back to normal eventually?

Yes, I did get back to normal. Remember psychiatric drugs can damage your brain and nerves but your soul the "you" is beyond there reach.

I was wrongly diagnosed in Ireland and took Zyprexa. After 4 months of feeling very well I started developing serious brain side effects. I did not know they were the medicine side effects and the docs made me believe it was my brain. I was seriously depressed, which I never felt before in my life, so I did not know it was depression, my concentration constantly blocked, which made of me a debilitated individual. I had OCD. The more I complained that I could not change thoughts the more the doc increased the dosage of Zyprexa, and made me go through Quietiapine, Solian, Clozaril. For 3 years I was debilitated, pissing in my pants, salivating, overweight, with UTI. Eventually I started vomiting everything for 25 days. Thank God I happened to change country, went to a hospital in Norway and there the medication was stopped straight away. UNBELIEVABLE. After 3 years of blocked concentration and severe depression, in just a few weeks I recovered fully ( and stopped vomiting)!! Good concentration, and wonderful mood!! I found out antipsychotics block serotonin, which leads to depression and blocks in concentration. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IRISH PUBLIC DOCTORS DID NOT KNOW THAT THE MEDICINES WERE CAUSING ME THE PROBLEMS!! I dont know where they get their degree..
But I insist, with all what I have been through it SEEMS I have recovered.

valia7 wrote:I was wrongly diagnosed in Ireland and took Zyprexa. After 4 months of feeling very well I started developing serious brain side effects. I did not know they were the medicine side effects and the docs made me believe it was my brain. I was seriously depressed, which I never felt before in my life, so I did not know it was depression, my concentration constantly blocked, which made of me a debilitated individual. I had OCD. The more I complained that I could not change thoughts the more the doc increased the dosage of Zyprexa, and made me go through Quietiapine, Solian, Clozaril. For 3 years I was debilitated, pissing in my pants, salivating, overweight, with UTI. Eventually I started vomiting everything for 25 days. Thank God I happened to change country, went to a hospital in Norway and there the medication was stopped straight away. UNBELIEVABLE. After 3 years of blocked concentration and severe depression, in just a few weeks I recovered fully ( and stopped vomiting)!! Good concentration, and wonderful mood!! I found out antipsychotics block serotonin, which leads to depression and blocks in concentration. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IRISH PUBLIC DOCTORS DID NOT KNOW THAT THE MEDICINES WERE CAUSING ME THE PROBLEMS!! I dont know where they get their degree..
But I insist, with all what I have been through it SEEMS I have recovered.

Its not that they don't know, most of them are sold lies by pharma reps to keep on peddling this poison. And some of them do know but are evil greedy mofos and just keep you on it so they can keep on "treating" you and milking money away. Yes even in countrys with free medicine the doctors are still subsidized privatley

P0ci wrote: evil greedy mofos y

Want to see just how evil greedy these mofos are ? Click below to see the Eli Lilly internal E-mail .

http://web.archive.org/web/20120122013020/http://www.furiousseasons.com/zyprexa%20documents/ZY100378062.pdf

They knew about the side effects.

" I appreciate your help with this and second your suggestion that any additional resources will be a small price to pay for the molecule."

Looks like they are still online, so much of this story has disappeared http://crashrecovery.org/ton/zyprexadocs.html http://web.archive.org/web/20140420054013/http://crashrecovery.org/ton/zyprexadocs.html

Eli Lilly "Dear Doctor" 18 Dec. 2006 letter about Zyprexa

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/psych-drug-corp/eli-lilly/Lilly12-18-06DearDrLtr.pdf/view?searchterm=zyprexa

Mindfreedom has the whole story,

http://www.mindfreedom.org/search?SearchableText=zyprexa

I am grieved to say that Zyprexa ruined my life. I had been seeing a few people to get a diagnosis for a while which was Aspergers Syndrome in the end. During that time I had been given antidepressants and then a psychiatrist gave me Zyprexa telling me it was going to help me go to bed on time. I do not have Bipolar or Schizophrenia but my condition makes me follow instructions without question. So I took the medication at 16 years old. Not long after I started falling asleep all over the place and developed random twitches in my hands. I asked the doctor if the medication was causing this and he denied it though he was noting my weight at each visit. After months where I was mostly bedridden I refused to continuing taking it. Being awake was agony and my senses were dulled. I went from a A+ highly active student to an idiot struggling to do anything and being disconnected from my body. I couldn't feel it properly or get it to function and I couldn't think to figure out what was going on. Everyone told me I was imagining it to my great frustration. I couldn't even figure out how to tell them what was wrong. This happened in 2007. Now 7 years later I still struggle unable to live a normal life because both my body and mind don't work properly anymore. I've improved my body with lifestyle changes and careful monitoring. My mind however can't do anything beyond the basics which kills me because of my love for science and learning. I'm always looking for a way to improve my situation but doctors refuse to admit that there is anything wrong and won't investigate further. My own research has not been very helpful. It's ironically frustrating that if my mind worked like it had before, I could have easily found a solution

Anon399 wrote:I am grieved to say that Zyprexa ruined my life. I had been seeing a few people to get a diagnosis for a while which was Aspergers Syndrome in the end. During that time I had been given antidepressants and then a psychiatrist gave me Zyprexa telling me it was going to help me go to bed on time. I do not have Bipolar or Schizophrenia but my condition makes me follow instructions without question. So I took the medication at 16 years old. Not long after I started falling asleep all over the place and developed random twitches in my hands. I asked the doctor if the medication was causing this and he denied it though he was noting my weight at each visit. After months where I was mostly bedridden I refused to continuing taking it. Being awake was agony and my senses were dulled. I went from a A+ highly active student to an idiot struggling to do anything and being disconnected from my body. I couldn't feel it properly or get it to function and I couldn't think to figure out what was going on. Everyone told me I was imagining it to my great frustration. I couldn't even figure out how to tell them what was wrong. This happened in 2007. Now 7 years later I still struggle unable to live a normal life because both my body and mind don't work properly anymore. I've improved my body with lifestyle changes and careful monitoring. My mind however can't do anything beyond the basics which kills me because of my love for science and learning. I'm always looking for a way to improve my situation but doctors refuse to admit that there is anything wrong and won't investigate further. My own research has not been very helpful. It's ironically frustrating that if my mind worked like it had before, I could have easily found a solution

I know how you feel.

Are you still on that poison called Zyprexa?