ZYPREXA? Does anyone know how long before the therapeutic value of Zyprexa is obtained?

Question

Any other info about Zyprexa will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

It does take quite awhile, several weeks at least. The exact time depends on your size and your body chemistry.

Who prescribed you Zyprexa and what diagnosis is it for? I used to take Zyprexa so I'm a little biased but my advice is to be very careful with this stuff, it tends to overprescribed. Don't necessarily believe a psychiatrist who just tells you "you're sick and you must take this drug".

Zyprexa (olanzipine) is a strong 2nd generation antipsychotic (along with Seroquel, Clorazil and a few others). It is a heavy sedative and will most likely make you gain a fair bit of weight. I found that although it helped me sleep at night, I couldn't wake up properly in the morning and my brain felt slow and fuzzy most of the day. I also put on about 10-15kg. Drugs in this category can also cause low blood pressure, my flatmate used to pass out in the shower when she was on Seroquel.

In my opinion, you only need Zyprexa as an anti-manic drug, rather than a maintenance drug, however that is my personal experience and not a medical opinion.

Edit: Note "anti-psychotic, not "anti-depressant" or "mood-stabiliser". Its very effective on mania, works in a few days but I found it to have little effect on depressive swings, even making them worse sometimes.

Answer 2

It depends on why you are taking it.  If it is for mania, it should calm you down noticeably within a few days if the dose is right.  For depression, psychosis, bipolar maintenance, it can take longer.  And, yes, watch what you eat and bump up your exercise.  This can be a fattening med.

Answer 3

You would be wise to give it 4-6 weeks before deciding whether or not this med is helpful to you.

Zyprexa is notorious for weight gain. You may want to consider keeping a careful watch on caloric intake an exercise.

Best of luck,

~M~

Answer 4

A few of the good effects start right away and are very subtle. Most effects take about 5-6 weeks. The most important thing to remember about Zyprexa is to never go off it suddenly without your doctor's knowledge because withdrawal can be quite brutal. There is some research that indicates that Zyprexa grows a few new brain cells.