[Seth412]

I never wanted to, but due to its seemingly untouchable success at controlling my mania/mixed states, I'm considering staying on Zyprexa 5-10mg long term.

It hasn't made me gain weight, nor has it messed with my blood sugar. Other than the very infrequent violent muscle spasms in my arms, it doesn't seem to have many side effects at all.

But I am scared to death of Tardive Dyskinesia. Absolutely terrified. And I can't seem to find a solid figure of how often it happens with atypicals, and when it does happen, how often it goes away.

NAMI.org is the only place I've found a percentage, and they're fairly reputable. They place it at 10-20% for typical APs, and .5% for atypicals. They also say permanent TD is not common. 1 in 200 seems like decent odds. Can anyone back this up or link me to figures?

I know I should talk to my Pdoc, and I will. But any research done in the meantime will help with my decision.

[redbandit]

You really should contact your pdoc immediately. TD can be permanent, even after stopping the medication.

[redbandit]

Oh sorry I missed the part where you said that lol

[Seth412]

It's all good I see him on Wednesday. Just trying to get some input before then.

For the record, I don't have TD. Just trying to get a figure on my odds. Do you know how often it is permanent vs temporary?

[redbandit]

No idea sorry

[greylove]

I have TD. I got it from the short time I was on Abilify. Whatever stats I've read about it I've forgotten. I can tell you the main risk is to women over 60 taking Abilify. Weird. I'm one of those women......figures. TD is rare and I had to diagnose myself. I kept reporting the odd tremors and sensations to my pdoc but he didn't recognize it; he had never seen it. My symptoms have since disappeared, except for the worst one. It's near constant movement of my tongue against the back of my teeth. It only stops during sleep. I'm distracted during the day but when I'm on my laptop or waiting to fall asleep, it's crazy-making. It's not visible to others but it has caused my perfect lower teeth to shift. I have just invested heavily in Invisalign to straighten them again. I thought for sure my dentist or orthodontist would have heard of it but neither did either. For what it's worth my neurologist told me it might go away but we both knew he was grasping at straws. I'm stuck with this......good luck to you.

[Seth412]

I'm very sorry to hear that on the bright side, most of your symptoms did go away, and the one you have is unnoticeable. From what I hear, some aren't so lucky. I wish you the best and hope it goes away.

It was the Youtube videos of extreme cases that really got me shaken up. I like to do as much research as I can when taking meds, and this made me really think twice about APs.

Thank you for your input.

If you don't mind me asking, what were your symptoms? The early warning signs, and at their worst?

[hamster-bamster]

Seth: to the best of my knowledge, Zyprexa's main strength and selling point, besides its effectiveness, is its relatively benign side effect profile in the realm of neurology. It is a very bad medication in terms of its metabolic side effect profile, but it is a good medication in terms of its neurological side effect profile.

Since you seem to have lucked out in that you do not get metabolic side effects from Zyprexa, I think it just might be the right drug for you.

[hamster-bamster]

PS

Sorry, I reread your OP. You do have muscle spasms, though. So it is not as benign...

[Seth412]

Thanks for the reply. The muscle spasms are few and far between, maybe occurring once a month at most. They are freaky when I do get them. I snap awake in the middle of the night, jump out of bed, and uncontrollably extend and contract my arms for 5-10 seconds. It's like I'm doing the robot.

Blood sugar is okay, appetite is normal, weight is stagnant. I do consider myself lucky.

But thanks for the feedback. Zyprexa is a good drug for me all around, minus the spasms. Just a bit apprehensive about the possibility of TD. The research I've found on Olalzapine is consistent with what you're telling me. Relatively low chance of TD when compared with other drugs. It helps to hear people's input and experience with Atypicals.

Hi! I get spasms from Zyprexa. They're few and seldom. They started when I tapered off Zyprexa last time. I would get them every 10 seconds the first day when it started, then every few minutes, and now it's just a few times a month (I am on Zyprexa again now). They were sort of like violent twitches the first day, now they're just twitches. It's mostly in my arms, shoulders and neck, but also a little in the legs. Thinking about it makes it worse for some reason, but I'm certain it's not just psychosomatic.