Olanzapine for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 4)

• kon...
• October 19, 2016

"I am taking 20 mg of Zyprexa and 15 mg of Temazepam. I'm 43 years old. I'm lucky if I get 1 to 2 hours of sleep. I just started taking Zyprexa a week ago. Do I have to wait until several weeks for Zyprexa to take effect, or should I try another medication?"

• Tez...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 29, 2022

"I couldn't sleep, and this was a long-standing issue. When I am on Zyprexa, I sleep. When I am off it, nothing works to help me sleep. It helps with my depression. I work night shift, and I can still get enough sleep between shifts. I do see a specialist, so it isn't just any doctor prescribing it. It has made a difference in that now I can sleep."

• Nic...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 12, 2022

"When I took these on two occasions where I believe anxiety was the culprit, it truly did help. I think it is wonderful, I was able to eat more, sleep more, and things felt nearly baseline normal again. I did, however, feel bloated from time to time being on this. I am looking to come off, I tapered from 10 mg to 5 mg, took it for a few days, but I'm worried about long-term effects or side effects at the beginning. I am making attempts to stop now altogether. I took it for 8 days at 10 mg and 3 to 4 days at 5 mg. I decided to stop as of 4/11/2022. I do feel a bit weird after even just stopping now, but hoping for a swift and easy recovery. Can't wait to be baseline normal. But short-term, this indeed helped me. I'm just hoping for no nasty side effects coming off."

• Ash...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 15, 2021

"I love Zyprexa! Been on it four years. Before, I couldn't sleep or eat! I will say I have put on weight, and I would suggest eating every four to five hours because the hunger can be overwhelming sometimes. But I have slept so much better, and oddly enough, I feel happier!"

• L S...
• November 2, 2017

"Started Zyprexa 3 weeks ago - my primary side effect is insomnia - I go to sleep but awaken through the night and then early morning awakening. My sleep has been reduced to 5-6 hours a night - I have MS, and my sleep is vital to control that, so hopefully, my Dr. can help with the lack of sleep issue."

• Nun...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 12, 2019

"Male, 10 mg of this with 10 mg of Ambien made me sleep like a baby 8+ hours. It was very hard to get out of bed. If I drank a six-pack of beer on this, I could not drive properly in the morning for 4+ hours. Ambien by itself gives me 5-6 hours of sleep. And I can drive just fine in the morning if I drink a six-pack the night before. This drug made me feel kind of like a zombie, and I gained weight. It was given to me for anxiety, of which it did not help. Though I would not mind trying it again at a lower dose combined with Ambien to help me sleep 8 hours. I've got a few old pills and ran out of Ambien, so will see what 10 mg does by itself."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 14, 2020

"Did you notice, no matter how many mg of olanzapine you take in the daytime, you wouldn't just sleep. I'm taking 20 mg over 24 hours, 10 mg at night and 10 mg in the afternoon, but all I notice is that I don't sleep in the afternoon."

• Cel...
• September 22, 2017

"I have suffered from terrible insomnia for quite some time. Every time I get better, then my body becomes used to it. Currently, I take 5 mg with 50 mg Seroquel and 15 mg Midazolam. This is a lot of medication and I keep in constant contact with my doctors."

• Hji...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 16, 2021

"I have been on this drug, olanzapine, for a year now, and so far, I love it. I used to hear voices and could hardly sleep at night, but this drug, olanzapine, together with amitriptyline, has made my life better. My only issue is the weight gain, and I'm afraid of getting diabetes due to prolonged intake of olanzapine. I don't know how to get off this drug (even though it seems to work okay with me). It somehow causes a little bit of depression, even though it's an antidepressant itself. Good luck to everyone reading this."

• Lou...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 9, 2024

"I’m just at one year of taking 12-15 mcg of Olanzapine. My sleeping disorder is somewhat more under control. But, I still use a sleeping tablet, so I wake very early at 5 am and spend my days sometimes very drowsy. I am taking Olanzapine for bipolar disorder, not for a sleep disorder. I have moderate anxiety, and sometimes I take additional Olanzapine when I become overly anxious. I would like to cut back on my Olanzapine, but because of my anxiety, I feel I would not cope."

• jpe...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 31, 2024

"I have been taking Olanzapine 10mg for 1.5 years for psychosis and found it worked brilliantly for that. I am now tapering off and have come down to 5mg without any side effects at all. Looking to drop down to 2.5mg next month and then hopefully coming off it completely. I do find the side effects difficult; brain fog, numbing of emotions, you feel tranquilizer on it. But generally I would recommend it."

• Ada...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 21, 2021

"I have been taking olanzapine for about 3.5 years now. Some nights I don't take it, other nights 2.5 mg, and other nights 5 mg. It helps tremendously with my sleep when I'm intolerant to it. If my tolerance builds up, I might have to 'muscle out' a few nights so that it can then affect me better. These nights of having to go without it can be rough. For me, if I'm not sure that I'll sleep at all, I find that taking olanzapine ends up being the better choice. I think sleep/calmness is healthier than no sleep/panic, even though olanzapine may have some potentially unhealthy side effects. Speaking of the side effects, I have noticed it increase my appetite, but I can still control my weight. There is some drowsiness, but I don't mind it because I at least feel well rested. I do want to eventually quit due to long-term potential side effects, but it is hard to get off, I must say."

• Jam...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 18, 2021

"I have mild chronic insomnia, about two nights a week, I can’t sleep at all. I've tried herbs and drowsy antihistamines, but they didn’t work. My doctor suggested trying olanzapine before trying a benzodiazepine. I was prescribed 5 mg, my doctor said to try one when I couldn’t sleep. So, one night when I was lying in bed from 9 pm to 3 am and couldn’t fall asleep, I tried one olanzapine, and by 4 am, I was so tired and fell asleep pretty quickly and slept 10 hours. If I hadn’t taken olanzapine, I would have been up for the remainder of the night and all day. I didn’t experience any side effects, I highly recommend it as a sleep aid if you only use it every now and then."

• Wen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 2, 2025

"Well, I've only been on it for about 5 days now (5 mg). My new psychiatrist put me on it for sleep. I don't know if I am going to like it, after reading these reviews, I'm quite worried. It does help me sleep, but I don't think I want to go through withdrawal. I don't know about this drug, but I used to take Ambien 10 for sleep, and it helped for years, and then it didn't help so much anymore. Worked for years, so it still does, but I don't know. I think I'm going to call the doctor and reconsider this medicine and go over all the information I can find on this drug."

• Ano...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 8, 2025

"I've been on 7.5-10 mg nightly for about 2 weeks. I'm glad I found my new GP because the previous 2 were so reluctant to give me - first a script for Stilnox, and then this. So the new GP took me off Stilnox and put me on olanzapine. It's been a Godsend. Previous GPs had me go through 2 months of 0-2 hours of sleep nightly on melatonin, I was suicidal from lack of sleep. I will update this when I've been on it longer, but I'm sleeping about 8-10 hours on this, and my partner says it's like night and day what this drug has done for me. I thank God for my GP and this drug. I also start citalopram tomorrow to boost my daytime mood as I get PMDD."

• Pha...
• August 16, 2022

"I lost my son to pharma-induced suicide, Ativan to be specific. I recently noticed my friend has been falling asleep standing up! He said he recently started a prescription medication for olanzapine. He obviously doesn’t know he’s doing this. Additionally, he has complaints of hot flashes. It doesn’t look good for him, and I don’t want to interfere but am afraid for him."

• Sno...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 11, 2020

"Chronic insomnia my whole life with 2 short breaks - when I left the unstable 'home' where I lived as a child. Then once my 2 daughters recovered from gastric reflux and finally developed a sleep pattern by age 10. I was good then till hysterectomy/menopause 2008. So this has been ongoing for 12 years."

• Maz...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 14, 2021

"I was given 10 mg of Olanzapine for 'sleep'... now when I try to sleep without it, I just can't!!! Stay away from this drug, I wish I researched before taking it."

• DON...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 2, 2020

"Was on olanzapine for 6 months. It caused permanent brain damage, and now I can't sleep at night. DO NOT TAKE THIS!!! This is the most addicting drug in the world!!! Trash psychiatrist."

• Pau...
• November 27, 2017

"Causes brain shrinkage in studies. Made me lose motivation. Made me fat. Blurs vision. Uncoordinated and your hands shake. Lose memory, and cannot talk properly."

• don...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 27, 2019

"Olanzapine gave me the best sleep I have had in years. I sleep 10 hours or more, a deep sleep."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 21, 2012

Olanzapine "I tried this after Risperidone (which gave me dyskinesia) and Seroquel. It works and makes me tired (when I was a teenager, I used it as a sleeping pill). Lots of weight gain though."

• Sal...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 6, 2020

"I took one 10 mg olanzapine as prescribed, and it literally knocked me down for a full 24 hours."

• LAa...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• April 10, 2015

"I take 5 mg of olanzapine, and this medicine does help me sleep well at night. I think it's a good medicine."

• Del...
• April 16, 2016

"This is the only medicine I have taken for insomnia that helps me sleep at least seven hours. Only drawback is if I take it too late at night, I am drowsy for a few hours when I wake up."