I slept for long hours after taking Zyprexa. Is it normal?

Question

Hi doctor,

I take on a daily basic- 100 mg Ixel, 60 mg Paxet, 0.5 mg Clonazapem. My psychiatrist told me to take 5 mg of Zyprexa in cases of SOS. I do not have any psychotic symptoms. He told me it was meant to knock me down, so I could have relief from stress and I could sleep. I took this pill (first time ever) and I slept for 20 hours (I was awake for one hour in between). Then I was awake for three hours feeling really bad, dizzy, spaced out, tired. Then I slept for another nine hours. I still felt bad and restless for a day, but slowly I got less tired and more alert. I guess it is not normal. It was even quite scary. In the meanwhile, should I avoid this pill or maybe reduce it?

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I can understand your problem. You are on high dose of Paroxetine and are also taking Milnacipran, Clonazepam and if even with these medicines the symptoms are persisting, then there is no harm in adding a low dose antipsychotic drug like Olanzapine. Olanzapine in low dose has great efficacy in depressive symptoms, anxiety disorders and in resistant depression symptoms. The drug is associated with excessive sedation and this is the reason you slept for very long duration after taking this drug. In that case one option is to reduce the dose of the drug to 2.5 mg and give this a try. This should help you without causing unnecessary sedation. But, I am not sure if the drug will help much in anxiety if used in SOS basis. The drug should be used regularly after dinner and Clonazepam dose can be skipped which can be kept for use on SOS basis. You can have a talk with your psychiatrist for this. Thank you.