Olanzapine - How long does it take olanzapine to work?Thanks?

In 2004, nearly 25 percent of the elderly nursing home population received antipsychotics, with most receiving atypicals; males were more likely than females to receive them.

One year after the 2005 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory warning, no state had actually changed its prior authorization policy in response to limit the use of atypicals in dementia. However, a more recent study concluded that the FDA advisory decreased the use of atypical antipsychotics in the U.S., especially among elderly dementia patients.

In 2003–2004, antipsychotics were prescribed in only 1 percent of overall mental health visits by children and adolescents, with most (99 percent) of these visits involving prescribing of atypicals.

Male children/adolescents were more likely than females to be prescribed atypical antipsychotics. Risperidone was the atypical most commonly prescribed to children.

At one large acute-care psychiatric hospital, quetiapine was used extensively for off-label conditions, and in a variety of off-label doses: only a quarter of patients had one of the diagnoses for which quetiapine is approved, and only a third received quetiapine in a standing dose regimen. Depression and substance-use disorders were found to be the most common associated diagnoses.

Atypicals are frequently prescribed to treat PTSD in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system."

SOURCE: National Library of Medicine/National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Hope this helps, masso

I will leave some links from Drugs.com for you to read and analyze with your dr and an article on alcohol, and of course you can rely on me, I do not have all the answers, no one does and the ones that believe they do are the biggest fools of them all.

https://www.drugs.com/condition/anxiety.html

https://www.drugs.com/buspirone.html

https://www.drugs.com/condition/post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html

Ask your Dr about off label use of Quetiapine (same drug class as olanzapine) for anxiety, it helped me for my BPD 1 and alsomy anxiety, remember everyone reacts differently to medications.

Article on alcohol:

Alcohol alters your brain chemistry
Our brains rely on a delicate balance of chemicals and processes. Alcohol is a depressant, which means it can disrupt that balance, affecting our thoughts, feelings and actions – and sometimes our long-term mental health. This is partly down to ‘neurotransmitters’, chemicals that help to transmit signals from one nerve (or neuron) in the brain to another.

The relaxed feeling you can get when you have that first drink is due to the chemical changes alcohol has caused in your brain. For many of us, a drink can help us feel more confident and less anxious. That’s because it’s starting to depress the part of the brain we associate with inhibition.

But, as you drink more, more of the brain starts to be affected. It doesn’t matter what mood you’re in to start with, when high levels of alcohol are involved, instead of pleasurable effects increasing, it’s possible that a negative emotional response will take over. Alcohol can be linked to aggression you could become angry, aggressive, anxious or depressed.

Alcohol can actually increase anxiety and stress rather than reduce it
Unfortunately reaching for a drink won’t always have the effect you’re after.
While a glass of wine after a hard day might help you relax, in the long run it can contribute to feelings of depression and anxiety and make stress harder to deal with. This is because regular, heavy drinking interferes with neurotransmitters in our brains that are needed for good mental health.

When we drink, we narrow our perception of a situation and don’t always respond to all the cues around us. If we're prone to anxiety and notice something that could be interpreted as threatening in the environment, we'll hone in on that and miss the other less threatening or neutral information. For example, we might focus on our partner talking to someone we’re jealous of, rather than notice all the other people they’ve been chatting to that evening.

Alcohol depression = a vicious cycle
If you drink heavily and regularly you’re likely to develop some symptoms of depression. It’s that good old brain chemistry at work again. Regular drinking lowers the levels of serotonin in your brain – a chemical that helps to regulate your mood.

In Britain, people who experience anxiety or depression are twice as likely to be heavy or problem drinkers. For some people, the anxiety or depression came first and they’ve reached for alcohol to try to relieve it. For others, drinking came first, so it may be a root cause of their anxieties2.

Drinking heavily can also affect your relationships with your partner, family and friends. It can impact on your performance at work. These issues can also contribute to depression.

If you use drink to try and improve your mood or mask your depression, you may be starting a vicious cycle…

Warning signs that alcohol is affecting your mood include:

Poor sleep after drinking
Feeling tired because of a hangover
Low mood
Experiencing anxiety in situations where you would normally feel comfortable.