Quote:
Originally Posted by Anxiousvalkyrie
So I've be n on Zyprexa for a week now and it is help A LOT. Initially the nurse at my Pdocs office said this would be a temporary medication and that they'd be calling me in a couple weeks to get me back in to see my actual Pdoc to discuss another medication for long term use.
Are there downsides to taking Zyprexa long term? (Other than the weight gain, although I'm not hungry all the time like the nurse said could happen)
Is it a medication that can be used in conjunction with another maintenance med?
It hasn't made me feel 100% by any means but it has definitely lessened my paranoia which has been fantastic and helped with my anxiety. I think I want to ask if I can stay on it and try adding something like Lamictal. My mom is a shrink and she really wants me to try Lamictal, she's actually kind of freaked out they out me on Zyprexa for some reason. They use it a lot for schizophrenic patients at her hospital and I think she's scared my doctors might think I also have some schizophrenic tendencies.
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The potential downsides to Zyprexa are pretty much the same as any other AP (weight gain, blood sugar issues, akathisia and other extrapyramidal systems, etc).
Yes, it can be used in conjunction with other meds like mood stabilizers and such.
Zyprexa has a great track record for what it does, so if a person doesn't experience any major side effects from it, it's definitely a solid medication. Lamictal is a very good med for mood stabilization, given its much slimmer side effect profile than other meds of its class. Your mom needn't jump to that conclusion. Antipsychotics like Zyprexa are standard treatment for BP individuals, not just schizophrenics.