Ultimate irony -- Zyprexa made me anorexic!

I was prescribed Zyprexa at the age of 17. Took it for less than six months and gained more than sixty pounds. It was supposed to be for anxiety and depression. It did not help my symptoms whatsoever; just made me quiet, slow, and super-fat.

I'm 25 now, and have since lost all the weight... and then-some.

Coming off Zyprexa, I took up smoking cigarettes to speed up the weight loss. Still smoking today. After having lost the weight I gained on the drug, my physical appearance has became a source of stress that casts a shadow over everything else in my life. I have silvery remnants of stretch-marks all over my stomach, hips, and breasts; I also have a tiny ridge of loose skin above my crotch that will NOT go away no matter how thin I get; like I've had a baby or two. I haven't had any yet, for the record.

Gaining weight on Zyprexa has made me terrified of repeating the experience to the point of taking extreme measures to avoid re-creating it. Eight years later, I now frustrate and hurt my husband and friends every time food comes into the equation. I eat almost exclusively with trepidation; when I don't, it's on my mind for days. I couldn't control a thing about my body when I was being pumped full of this crap; now that control is all I can think about. I'm skinnier than I was before I took the drug the first time, but it's not healthy and it's not worth it, because it NEVER leaves my mind. The fact that people who knew me when I was fat from the med think I look "better" now makes me even more angry, but that's beside any point at all.

I've read posts from other people indicating that they believe Zyprexa permanently and negatively affected their brain chemistry. I am starting to think that this is part of that. I have been on other meds before, including Respiridol, Prozac, ativan (the only one that ever worked and had no side-effects), Celexa, and Seroquel. All of these I took as a teen; all were prescribed. But the worst one was the Zyprexa, and I'm still upset about it.

I can't get through an hour without thinking about my body, food, and how my body is metabolizing food. My husband has been supportive and helpful but I have realised recently that I am going to need more help in beating this. I just don't know where to go, because I am terrified that whoever I go to for help will try to get me back on this stuff, especially if I show up underweight.

My thinking on this gets really circular, so I'm looking for input from others; particularly your own experiences with this drug (or, hey, any others I've mentioned). Did you gain a ton of weight? Did you become more depressed/anxious/obsessive about things? How long did the drug affect you after going off of it? Anything at all you can throw at me would be greatly appreciated. The entirety of my adulthood has been consumed by this crap; it's bad enough recently that I am not working.

jaytothecee wrote:I just don't know where to go, because I am terrified that whoever I go to for help will try to get me back on this stuff

Even if they used death threats I would never take Zyprexa again. In fact suggesting I take Zyprexa would itself be basically a death threat as taking it almost killed me the first time.

If someone tries to get you on Olanzapine, the generic name they use now, show them this http://psychrights.org/states/alaska/CaseXX.htm

I don't think my eating ever returned to normal, during Zyprexa withdrawal I had this horrible nausea and vomiting when that extra hunger it caused rebounded the other way. I just had no appetite. The tired sleep all the time effect also rebounded the other way and I had insomnia from hell. I mean the real hell, with panic attacks and psychotic breaks I never ever had BEFORE taking Zyprexa.

Anyway if you are 25 and took it at 17 that was right about the time the Eli-Lilly Zyprexa Lawsuit came down. See the link I posted. It was around that time I was given this horrible unsafe drug too after those soulless psychos posing as human beings at Eli Lilly hid side effects and committed all kinds of crimes to market Zyprexa. I think some doctors wised up after their patients complained and got really sick. Or died.

I dated someone with anorexic thinking and I couldn't talk her out of it. I was not lying when I said adding a few pounds would improve her appearance and that super thin looks unhealthy.

Is Anorexic thinking a core belief ? I always liked this page below.

Identify the Core Belief
Identifying a core belief is like solving a mystery of the illusions in your mind. You have to follow some clues to get down to the hidden beliefs in the unconscious. Let’s use the example of fear of public speaking. Fear of public speaking isn’t a core belief. It is an emotional reaction to a belief. The thought a person has is that, “They will think I’m a stupid idiot.” This is the fear, but not the belief. Fears associated with what other people think of us are very common. This same dynamic can occur in the mind when asking for a raise, asking someone out on a date, or asking for what we want. More http://www.pathwaytohappiness.com/writings_falsebeliefs.htm

jaytothecee wrote:All of these I took as a teen; all were prescribed.

The psychiatric drugging of children and teens is a crime against humanity ! and they know it.

Where are all the people saying "they gave me psychiatric drugs in my youth and I am grateful" ?

Where are these people , where are the stories of childhood drugging helped me ?

All I find is an internet full of angry testimonials of psychological damages, physical sicknesses and death.

I hope you can beat the anorexic thinking , best to seek people who beat it themselves and ask them. Maybe look here anorexia-nervosa/

Zyprexa is strong for heavy deseases.