Fluid retention from olanzapine

[JoannaBrooks]

Hi, I'm a bit gutted- I had a manic episode, so am back on olanzapine after years off it. It's not the end of the world as I'm fine now but I didn't think I would get ill again (I had PP after my 1st son 8 years ago). It's a wake up call really that I need to keep my stress levels down as it came after a very stressful event. The only trouble with olanzapine is it makes me swollen- especially my hands, feet and face which retain fluid from the medication. Now I'm only on 2.5mg instead of 5mg- it's not quite as bad. Does anyone else experience this as a side effect? It does say on the sheet that water retention is a common side effect. I'm thinking of discussing switching to quetiapine, as I have never tried that drug and I don't see that as one of the side effects. I'm also wondering if I'll get a bipolar diagnosis, am hoping if I'm well and eventually come off it, I can escape that diagnosis.

[Mims2014]

Oh no, sorry to hear this. I’m 4 years post pp and like you hoped it was the last of it, although they did diagnose me as bipolar.

My medication with Pp was aripriprizole but it caused me to have severe anxiety. It’s a difficult one as I think they all have sh!tty side effects so it’s about picking the one that works if you can tolerate the side effects (necessary evil). I’ll stick with the one I know next time but I guess asking to change can’t hurt

Hope you are soon 100% again

[JoannaBrooks in reply to Mims2014]

Thanks for letting me know re the side effect you had. I think olanzapine at higher doses than 2.5mg make me feel a bit low. But it's hard to know if it was the drug or the fact, I had had a high and then inevitably you get a low after.

Luckily the high was only for one night, but my brain was wired from stress for the days leading up to it and I got insomnia- so all the triggers were there for a manic event. I don't feel low anymore, I feel normal now.

Now I've gone down on the olanzapine to 2.5mg I also have less side effects and I need it as a mood stabilisor right now. I tried to come off it completely when I was on the initial 5mg but i was still unwell underneath it- I had terrible concentration and racing brain, so now they are advising I stay on it for at least 2 months. I was still under a lot of stress, so shouldn't in retrospect stopped it, but i hated how swollen the olanzapine was making me and thought i was recovered, but the drug was masking my underlying issues. Be interested to hear from anyone who tried quetiapine.

I can definitely live for now with a bit of fluid retention, but it depends if they think I need a long term drug or not as I don't fancy being on olanzapine long term. Lithium apparently works less well if you have mixed symptoms which was what I was displaying afterwards (fast brain but low mood).

Are you on long term medication for bipolar?

[Hannah_at_APP Administrator]

Hi JoannaBrooks, thanks for sharing your experience here and sorry to hear that you have experienced a manic episode 8 yrs on from PP. I am also 8 years on (nearly 9, where does the time go...) and took Olanzapine for a year post-PP. I didn't notice the fluid retention so much, but it made me feel really drowsy and hungry. I also took lithium for 3 years but not Quetiapine so can't share experiences of that I'm afraid. I hated being on meds at the time, and felt really "flat" and low in confidence, but I think that is also the illness and recovery process. With hindsight I can see how much they helped me and would like to think that if I needed to take them again, I would do (as I did for a short time after my 2nd child, and thankfully escaped PP that time round).

I've not had a bipolar diagnosis but know that others have. Here is some more info from the APP website which I hope will be useful to you (although I realise a lot of it is pregnancy specific): app-network.org/what-is-pp/...

I guess being aware of your stress and other elements such as sleep are a good way of balancing mental health for anyone, but especially when we have had previous experiences such as PP. It's sometimes easier said than done though isn't it?! I hope things are settling for you now, take care and feel free to ask any more questions.

xx

[JoannaBrooks in reply to Hannah_at_APP]

Thanks Hannah. I will check that page soon. I knew when the stress was happening it could be a trigger especially when I stopped sleeping well, so started taking some olanzapine myself that I had left (and tried to get more off the GP but our GP booking system is a nightmare.) But then one night I was so stressed and had such bad insomnia I forgot to take it and then after a whole night of no sleep had some mania for a few hours that took a few days to go away. In future I will avoid such stressful events.

And I can access olanzapine more easily now, as I am now under a psychiatrist. I'm going to discuss trying the quetiapine when I see him next. But he may rather I stick to what I'm on. Luckily on 2.5mg I feel fine again (but clearly still need it, as I was ill when I stopped it). He hasn't diagnosed me with bipolar yet (it may happen at our next meet- I have to wait 2 or 3 months cos he is so busy) but in our initial meeting he did diagnose me with PMDD, which I knew I had myself. I get such bad PMS -I always have since 14. And I had my period when I got ill and also when I tried to come off the drugs I was due on then and felt dreadful so hormonal changes are another trigger for me. Hormones and me are not a good combination.