Zyprexa and anxiety

[Joshgw]

I took Zyprexa last summer and fall for anxiety and it kicked in almost immediately. I took it again last night for the first time and very little effect. Has anyone else had a problem with it working or a guess why it was great 6 months ago and now for the first time since, nothing? My anxiety is really bad. Any help would be great

Thanks

Josh

[Dragonfly_50]

Hi. I haven’t tried that particular medication but I have severe anxiety & panic attacks & have had similar issues with anti depressants and anti anxiety, etc, meds. Clonopin & Xanax I understand a tolerance issue is usually at play, but for the life of me, I can’t understand why Fluoxetine, etc. works for awhile then just stops for me. I have an appointment next week with my psychiatrist & I’m going to try and get things sorted. My friend, a nurse, thinks I may need a mood stabilizer. I’m going to ask about trying the medication you mentioned & I’ll let you know how it goes if you want some additional feedback. I feel your pain, truly I do, and I hope you find something that works consistently (both of us.)

[Joshgw in reply to Dragonfly_50]

Thanks. I'm already on a mood stabilizer for a long time (lamictal) but it's not helping my anxiety

[ircam2112 in reply to Dragonfly_50]

en. wikipedia.org/wiki/ Antidepressant_treatment_tachyphylaxis. Remove the space before the “w” and the “A”

[Joshgw in reply to ircam2112]

Thanks for the info, very helpful. I think that's what happened to me with lamictal. Lamictal was also a life saver for me and I might have something drastic w/o it. But you can't do ECT while on it. I was fully off of Lamictal for 9 days. Now I'm back on it on my normal dose and I can't tell if it's doing anything. I definitely need a mood stabilizer (at one time I was on 3 of them). But ive so suicidal since I left the hospital (this past Dec.) Who knows if this ADT info you sent applies.

[Sailingtoabetterday]

Hi Josh, Zyprexa didn’t work very well for me with Terrible anxiety. It made me into a zombie. I went through three years of hell, then got a Psychiatrist who knew what he was doing. He put me in Lamictal and it saved my life. Worth a shot. Zyprexa is hell to get off of. Check out the Reddit lamictal thread and the zyprexa threads- it’s an eye opener. Zyprexa works to sedate people in the acute phase of anxiety and depression to help alleviate suicidal and psychotic issues. Good luck! Send a reply back if something works. I’m 50 male as well. Nearly lost my wife, kids, job, and probably would have cashed it in if I hadn’t found Lamictal.

[designguy]

I read where Zyprexa generally takes 2 - 3 weeks to take effect so you might get back on it and stay on it for a while to see what happens. It could be that when you first tried it last summer that you were also experiencing a psychological bump which is pretty common when starting a new med.

The only meds for anxiety that I have ever experienced and know of that are fast acting are benzos like Klonopin and Xanax

[Dragonfly_50]

I met with my psychiatrist last week. I finally told him the fluoxetine was definitely not helping. He put me on Lexapro, which I’m on day 3 of today. He’s also doing a “gene test?” I guess they swab your cheek & find out what meds metabolize best/worst for you. I have to go tomorrow for that. I’m so tired of trying so many meds and nothing works or stays working or has horrible side effects.

[Joshgw in reply to Dragonfly_50]

Hi. I too am really tired of this trial and error. I've done the gene test. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but since it's just a cheek swab there's no harm in it. And its covered by insurance. I think it does have some value. It told me that I was deficient in methyl- folate which can really boost your mood. I take Deplin, but it can take a while to work. It's a supplement, not a med.

I was also on lexapro for around 13 years but went off of it a year ago. I got tired of just feeling I was just "existing ". But my Dr's couldn't stabalise me. So, in some ways I wish I was still on it b/c this past year was hell for me. Lesser of two evils and all that. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk. Hope it works out for you.

Josh

[Dragonfly_50]

Thanks, feel free to pm me as well, it would be nice to talk to someone with the same experience. So the gene test tells you things you’re deficient in too? I had heard of the test before my psych mentioned it but I really don’t know much about it. I’d be interested to hear what more detail it goes into. I feel the same way you do. I want to feel more than just “existing.” I look at people and see them happy or having happy moments and I get so down because I feel like I’m doing all I can and I still can’t get to that place. I remember happy times but it seems like the past decade has been severely deficient in those kinds of times. Don’t get me wrong, my kids make me happy, I wouldn’t exist without them, and I try so hard to hide this from them, it’s harder to hide the anxiety and panic attacks but I talked to them about it so they understand to the degree teenagers do, but I desperately hide the depression. For about 10 days a month I can 100% count on being so sad and scared inside, that I’ll never get out from under this cloud, then the cloud passes and I’m back to “I can see that u SHOULD see the light, I just don’t see it yet.” I just turned 50 & I think my hormones are playing a part in what I have already been going through most of my life, but there’s nothing they can do about leveling my hormones because I have a blood clotting disorder so I can’t take hormones. I know if I could they would help too, it’s just so hard to watch life keep going by and knowing I can’t seem to enjoy it. I’m not suicidal or anything like that, I’m just so tired and so desperate to be happy, or at least like an active participant in this world.