Working on Olanzipine

[vlk86]

Hi All,

How did you deal with Olanzipine sedation while at work? I'm worried it will make it harder to do my job and I struggled a bit before when I was on it at work, though I think the extremely low confidence I had at the time didn't help. I have just been diagnosed with bipolar 1 after a recent manic episode and had PP three years ago.

[amyfj Volunteer]

Hi vlk86,

Thanks for reaching out! I had the same worries too about returning to work whilst taking olanzapine.

I have found it surprisingly ok being back at work and am managing fine though. Hopefully your experience will be similar.

It can take a while to rebuild confidence for sure. I felt like mine would never return to normal but since pp and a psychotic episode since each time I seem to manage to rebuild to a stronger me.

If you ever need talk we're here or have any other questions don't hesitate,

Amy

[vlk86 in reply to amyfj]

Thanks Amy

That is really helpful and encouraging.

Vicky

[Cupcake201]

Hi Vlk86 I also had PP 3 years ago and got recently diagnosed with having bipolar disorder 1 after having a Manic Episode. I am currently furloughed so I haven’t been back at work yet whilst taking olanzapine. I think I will be fine some days I do get a little tired. X

[Frankieb Volunteer]

Hi there

I used to take mine at night, it helped me to sleep.

Once my mood was back down I slowly came off.

I take lithium for my BP now it seems to keep me stable.

Hope things work out ok and your confidence returns soon. I think when our bodies do something almost of their own accord we have no control over it's a real confidence zapper, it takes time to rebuild, to trust yourself and your own thoughts and convictions again, but it will come xx

[Maria_at_APP Moderator]

Hi vlk86,

I was on olanzapine for 5 months while working. I was working 4 days a week for the first 4 months as a gradual comeback from maternity leave. This was after my pp episode almost 2 years ago. I remember my challenges were waking up in the morning to drop my daughter with the childminder or my inlaws before heading to the office; I would wake up in a very foggy state and struggled against time quite often. Concentration wise and memory I didn't see much of an impairment, it is interesting how your old instincts kick back in when you go back to a familiar environment. I wrote more stuff down than I used to do, as I had your same concerns at the beginning, but apart from that I didn't notice any major changes. I was still doing CBT at the time, and that made me feel reassured in a way, that I could monitor how I was coping with the combination of work stress and medication. Would this perhaps be something you may have access to? I also found it reassuring to talk about the medication side effects with my psychiatrist; I had been taking olanzapine for at least as many months by then and knew how it affected me, but of course I didn't rely on the same skills for my daily routine being in and out of work, and my psychiatrist was more than happy to discuss this in more detail.

I wish you all the best back at work, take care

[Emero]

Hi there

I went back to work on 12.5 mg and found it difficult to concentrate or read long articles without having to take breaks. I guess it depends on what kind of work you're doing.

It will obviously be easier for you if you're on a lower dose.

Things got back to normal once I came off it altogether, which i did quickly thankfully.

Best of luck!