I second this.

I was once on three APs at the same time, and now one is sufficient, but at a higher dose. My side effects from my remaining AP (Seroquel XR) are minor. They are definitely ones I can live with considering its value to me.

Zyprexa happened to work great for me, too, but it not only caused me to gain weight rapidly, but gave me bad akathisia. That was a little rough. I remember a pdoc saying I should keep that in mind as an emergency medication. But I have read posts of people who have no or minimal side effects from Zyprexa. For them, if it works well, I can understand them taking it long-term.

Seroquel XR is only a little weight unfriendly for me, or sometimes even weight neutral. I've read people say they gained 100 lbs on it, but not me. I'm the same weight I was at a point before I ever even took bipolar (or hardly any) medications. That's just about 12 lbs overweight. And I'm in my mid 40s from a family of chunky people. I could certainly see myself taking Seroquel XR for the rest of my life. I've taken between 450 and 600 mg of it for around five or more years. Zyprexa could be the same for some people.