I'm on it because I hear voices and get visual hallucinations along with paranoid thoughts. However I'm finding it tough to stick with.
I feel very foggy headed on it, like everything is running in slow motion. Talking to people it's difficult to hold a conversation because I'm slurring my words because my brain just can't keep up due to the medication. Also even though I take it before bed, it leaves me feeling exhausted during the day to the point where if I sit down I nod off almost immediately. I've swung from having chronic insomnia to being barely able to stay awake.
I was wondering whether the foggy head and tiredness wears off after a while, or whether it's something I just have to get used to? I'm finding it so frustrating not being able to communicate because my words are all garbled up.
I welcome any experiences of this medication, and any answers to the questions I posted
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
Hey there! Um, basically all the anti-p meds i've been on, they kinda of numb my head and makes it feel strange and hard to collect your thoughts together. But yeah, tiredness or drowsiness is expected for most anti-p meds and olanzapine is one of them. Not sure what dosage your on, but maybe you could go back to the doctors and ask for a decrease dosage for the time being until you get around the side effects of it? Overtime the tiredness wears off a bit but maybe still make you drowsy, enough to sleep well.
If its a medication you've recently started, the side effects should wear off eventually, but it varies from person to person. I should talk to your doctor about it if its worrying you though. :)
"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self esteem, first make sure you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes." - W. Gibson.
Olanzapine did that to me, i was like a zombie on it and it never really went away and i was on it for about 6 months. maybe you could talk to your doctor about going on another drug? i started another AP and it works well
I feel very foggy headed on it, like everything is running in slow motion. Talking to people it's difficult to hold a conversation because I'm slurring my words because my brain just can't keep up due to the medication. Also even though I take it before bed, it leaves me feeling exhausted during the day to the point where if I sit down I nod off almost immediately. I've swung from having chronic insomnia to being barely able to stay awake.
I get those exact same side effects from the medication I'm on! it is prescribed for similar reasons to your's as well. your effects might where off after a bit though maybe your just adjusting to it?
My pchiatirst (cant spell it) gives me another medication to help me stay awake and feel less groggy though. Otherwise I lietrally sound like I'm drunk all the time, no joke! Also I find that drinking loads of water helps me be more alert, no idea why.
♪ And I'm a little bit lost without you
And I'm a bloody big mess inside ♫
I'm on this , I take it at night and have a terrblie time getting up / staying up , I'M on quite a few meds though but this one defintly makes me groggy . and I sometimes can't order words in my head so they come out right . I suggest that you go back to your perscribing Dr and maybe ask about different doses or another med .
Last edited by Doikers : 13-05-2010 at 11:57 AM.
Reason: typo
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Olanzapine is the worst medication I've ever taken. I got the fogginess feeling your talking about and extreme tiredness, a huge insatiable appetite and slept far too much. It also knocked any chance of positive emotion out of me and left me zombified which in turn made me tearful and suicidal.
I would suggest, from a personal point of view, that you switch to a newer anti-psychotic like Risperidone or Aripiprazole. I wouldn't wish Olanzapine on anyone. Also, I never found the poor effects of Olanzapine to wear off.
Stop thinking about what I want, what he wants, what your parents want. What do you want?
Olanzapine was one of the best medications I've taken. It really helped. It did make me flat at first too and I had the tiredness etc but after a while I wasn't aware of any side effects. I did start it at 3 different points over 3 years though so I built a tolerance to it. I dont find any of the anti-psychotics sedating but the first time I ever took them I was plauged with side effects. I think your body builds up a resistance with time. I'd stay stick with it, most medications are going to have side effects, its just about which outweighs the other. Like the above poster said, aripiprizole is good, its an activator, but olanzapine is a pretty good drug. Hope you manage to get through this period.
sticks and stones may break your bones but words can tear your heart out.
I didn't get the grogginess from olanzapine but I did get absolutely ridiculous amounts of weight gain and hormonal effects. I also found it made me grumpy and didn't do anything for my psychosis. But I liked the tablets that melt in your mouth :P
Been on it for a few weeks now, and I've still got the foggy headedness. Sleepiness is a bit better now, but I still have voices so the medication is failing really in what it's supposed to do :/
Reducing my dose for a bit though after the psychiatrist agreed that if they fogginess didn't go away I'd probably end up getting frustrated and stop taking them altogether which would be worse in the long run.
Hopefully the side effects will improve with the dose being moved down slightly... although if it isn't impacting on my voices at this dose I fail to see how lowering it going to benefit in that respect.
Psychiatrists... never will understand them.
Thanks for all your posts and advice though people :)
Last edited by Rhuben : 25-05-2010 at 02:00 PM.
Reason: added stuff
Some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money.
They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with.
Some men just want to watch the world burn.
I am on Olanzapine and it's working pretty good.But I'm on a small dose (15 mg).I didn't gain weight like I did on Risperidone (and a huuuge amount) and I don't have any of the sides effects you have.
Also,a small piece of advice:if the sides effects don't dissapear in one month,max 2,maybe you should suggest to your psychiatrist to change it or to lower the dose.I read on internet that any dose bigger than 15 mg numbs you and makes you gain weight.
You can buy me with a coffee,I'm so cheap. Got bitten fingernails&a head full of past;Got a broken heart&your name on my cast.
&&I wanted her to tell me that she will never wake me.
I am on Olanzapine 20mg and Haloperidol 10mg. I have been on it for 3 months recently but when I was 16/17 I took it for a year and a half.
I get very deep sleep and tiredness in the morning, but from my experience, after a few months it gets a bit better.
What dose are you on?
And btw, caffeine doesn't work.
PM me if you want a PDF copy of the ICD-10or the Mental Health Act 1983/2007. I ALSO HAVE THE DSM-V BOOK and am a pharmacology student.
I have a visual impairment / neurological problems so I need people to type in clear text and no funny fonts. Also excuse any typos, my vision blocks things out.
I have autism and have problems communicating, PMs included.
Just becasue I type well doesn't mean I speak well. I am only part time verbal.
