Olanzapine

I've been taking it for about 4 months now and the sedative effect is still strong. It makes me sleep for about 12 hours, sometimes more, and after I wake up it takes a while until the drowsiness disappears. For those who was on it or currently on it, do you remember how long until this sedative effect disappears? Thank you in advance.

I took it for about 15 months (doses up to 25 mg) and the sedating effect didn't leave until I tapered off and got beneath 7,5 mg. However, to me the sedating effect was a godsend, as I wasn't sleeping at all without. I tried just about every sleep med in the book and then my pdoc put me on olanzapine 10 mg for delusions and it immediately rebooted my sleeping schedule.

However I do sleep a lot. Currently I'm not on olanzapine anymore, but on clozapine, but with both medications ("both" as in, the one or the other, I only ever took it together when switching) I sleep up to or even over 12 hours if my alarm clock doesn't wake me.

I got lucky with it...I still get tired a lot, but it is nowhere near as bad as risperidone was for me. I sleep an average of 9 hours with it, only been on it for a little over a month.

i only took it for about a month because it was making me gain weight

and i basically only took it while i was in the hospital,
when i got out of the hospital, i wasn't taking it anymore

the sleepiness lasted the entirety of my being on it

I'm on 20mg of Olanzapine a day, and it seems to be having an effect on my psychotic symptoms. Voices have grown quieter, the intensity of the SZA symptoms seems to have lightened up. This is a significant improvement, and I hope my psychiatrist bumps it up a little more and brings more relief.

Best to you in finding relief from symptoms on a good dose of this medicine.

Do you take it twice a day? Do you just take it at night?

I'm on 10mg olanzapine, been on it a few months now. I still feel really tired in the morning when I get up for work. It's not as bad as when I was on 20mg but I want to change meds. It works well but I don't want the sedation in the morning

I got over the sedation after a week or two.

I was on it for about 9 months then I transitioned to abilify.

Anyway when you take zyprexa ODT or olazanpine I found ya needed to arrange to sleep anywhere between 12-15hours a day then only try to eat one meal a day but I found unfortunately I would sleep eat it was terrible and gained 75-85lbs!

The drowsiness in mornings went away for me after a few months, but given a chance I'll still sleep up to 12-13 hours on it. It's not the end of the world for me though as I can cope getting up earlier when needed... I just feel tired for 30 mins or so and then it gets better.

I take it once a day, after dinner.

Maybe an antipsychotic with a shorter half life. Olanzapine has a mean of 30 hour half life. For example, my Geodon is just 7 hours. However, my doctor would prefer that I take two doses, one in the morning and one at night. But if I did that I would have the same problem you have. I use to pass out at work with the boss's daughter thinking it was cute to take pictures of me. I should have slept with her when I had the chance lol

Can you take a lesser dose? The starting therapeutic dose looks to be 10 mg's. Can you ask your doctor to give them to you in 5mgs pills that would equal 10mgs a day for 30 days. That way you can cut a pill in half if it is a tablet... Is it a tablet? That means you could try 7.5mgs, and if things are going okay, you can even try 5mgs and test that out.

Thanks DT, I'll be seeing my doc in 2 weeks. I'll discuss the possibility of cutting the dose or changing AP completely.

My boss didn't call so I guess I have the day off. I took a little nap and am feeling better. My son has his first meet today. I'm so bummed I can't go. They start their meets at 3:30 which doesn't give me enough time to get there after my daughter gets home. I could go today since she's home if my car were working . Oh well I'll get to see his home meets. That will be good.
My uncle is home for a week. He lives in Hawaii ladadee. He's such a jerk. I'm hoping to avoid any family get togethers.

OMg I posted to the wrong thread. I'm so sorry. Please ignore my post. I'm sorry.

I am tapering off of zyprexa and switching to abilify. I have been at 20mg for about 4 months. At that dosage zyprexa didn't make me tired but once I fell asleep I would sleep 12 hours. I am down to 10mg now and it dose not make me sleep as much. I will be off of this drug next week.

May I ask why did you switch? 20 mg is the max dosage if I'm not mistaken, so I'm guessing it's not really helping for you?

ive been on olanzapine for 2 years or more, it wasnt very sedating on me, but it made me hungry

Olanzapine didn't make me sleep more. I usually sleep 12-14 hours a night. I also have a sleep disorder.

I was on olanzapine for about 10 months from 2.5-15mg. The max recommended dose is 20mg, but they do use off license doses up to 60mg that I've read in studies!

The sedation never went away for me. I did get used to it a little, but then increasing the dose increased the sedation. 10-15mg was unbearable for me, but even on 5mg I was still sleeping 12-16 hours a day, and that was taking it at 6pm at night.

However, lots of people do adjust to the sedation, or don't seem to get it, so YMMV

*Willow*