The last week has been a major challenge. While I am sleeping, it’s not usually enough – I wake up after about 6-7 hours. I am no longer tired by 8pm to the point of passing out, but I am slow to start and usually need to rest by 2 or 3pm (which isn’t a problem considering I work from home or in my office in the city, which has a couch.) At the same time, I becoming more agitated as the days go on. I’m pretty sure my root problem is anxiety (and not bipolar) and am desperately needing to resolve those issues. I have been taking a little Xanax (and by little, I mean 1/4 of the smallest prescribed dose) but my Lorazepam actually seems to work better – and longer. I also think the Xanax is making me slightly nauseous. Until today – when I took more Xanax than usual in lieu of my morning Ativan – I was a total zombie until about noon and then started burping (with some vomit) during lunch.
The thing is, my nauseua originally stopped almost 2 weeks ago – along with most other withdrawal symtpoms. I no longer have any problems holding my head up (for a few days I was lying down 24-7) or getting severely cold with shakes. In fact, I felt pretty normal. That is, until I started drinking soy milk and eating things like pizza, all of which contain ingredients I am severely allergic too. Concurrently I’ve been getting migraines, which I haven’t had since I stopped taking Topamax 2 months ago. Luckily, Excedrin for migraines has kicked those in the butt without any other effects, and I don’t need it everyday.
The biggest thing I’ve learned from this is that with the right food, the right vitamins, lots of water and exercise, the side effects of Zyprexa Withdrawal are actually pretty easy to manage (except for about days 5-10, when there’s no way around it.) I’m lucky I live and work in environments where I have the choice to eat healthy foods and sleep as much as needed – and when needed.
The hard part is choosing to consciously think about what your body is doing, drinking and eating nearly 24-7. There is no room to cheat. Zyprexa makes you sick – and if you don’t treat your body as if it’s recovering from that illness (and mental trauma) it may actually be impossible. I highly recommend that anyone withdrawing gets in touch with a nutritionist (who can run an allergy panel before you stop taking Zyprexa) and be prepared to take a few days off when shit hits the fan. (And it will. Like I said earlier, days 5-10 after you completely stop taking it will be awful. This is what is expected to happen, but only lasts those few days if you’re doing everything else right. I found sleep, eating as much as possible and drinking as much water as I could handle was critical at this point.)
We’ll see how following a much stricter diet, drinking more water and sleeping more helps the rest of this week. I have an appointment next with my doctor next week about the anxiety, regardless.
