Olanzapine and Drowsiness: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 27, 2019

Olanzapine for Depression "Zyprexa made me feel very tired and irritable. I almost cussed my boyfriend over a small inconvenience. My eyesight kept blurring up, always hungry, and then I started getting this uncomfortable drowsy feeling that lasted the whole day. STAY AWAY from this garbage."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 10, 2014

Olanzapine for Insomnia "This medicine is the best sleep aid I have found. I tried Ambien, and it made me crazy. I can sleep with Zyprexa and wake up the next morning with no side effects. I just have to make sure I take it early in the evening. If I take it too late, it will make me groggy in the morning. Unlike some of the reports I have heard, it doesn't affect my weight at all."

• Luc...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 31, 2019

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "My boyfriend suffers from manic bipolar disorder. He was off meds for 2 years and recently became manic again. We go to the doctors and this is what she prescribed him at a dose of 3mg. It worked to stop his manic episodes. BUT he is legitimately like a zombie now. He sleeps all the time, is always tired, emotionless, unsure of himself, doesn’t talk, doesn’t eat, doesn’t laugh. He's basically a shell of himself. It’s really sad to watch, and I’m actually hoping his doctor will change his meds this week because this is NO way to live."

• Mit...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 20, 2019

For Insomnia "Great for sleep! Olanzapine is a great sleep aid alternative to addictive sleep medication. I take 5mg at night and I sleep 8 - 10 hours without waking up throughout the night (I used to sleep 5 - 6 hours and waking up several times). For the first couple of weeks you’ll feel groggy and be hungry but these side effects will go away. I’ve been on Olanzapine for 3 months and it’s still working great for sleep."

• JAM...
• October 21, 2014

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "Had a breakdown at age 15 and eventually got on Zyprexa. Like everybody else said, I gained about 30-40 pounds, could be very sleepy sometimes, but it completely stopped the voices I was hearing for the past 8 months. It gave me my life back. Just kinda woke up feeling normal after being on the medicine for a few days. It was amazing. Was on 10mg at the highest and worked all the way down to 2.5mg over the next year. Had a prayer service at my church (Doctor was okay with us taking a trial run off medicines since I had been doing well on a low dose for the past few months) and now have been off meds and completely fine for over 10 years now. Very thankful."

• NoJ...
• March 28, 2019

Olanzapine for Schizophrenia "I take 10 mg of Zyprexa at night, and it makes me feel like I've been chemically lobotomized. Not to mention the irritability and being tired all the time. This medication made me sleep for 10 whole hours, and I still feel sleepy after waking up. Also, my motor skills have been cut in half, I keep stumbling over stuff like I'm drunk and having blurred vision all day. This medication is a mental handicap in a bottle. How in the world does this help with schizophrenia and depression? I would not recommend this medication to anybody. Eli Lilly should be ashamed of themselves."

• SWS...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 16, 2020

For Bipolar Disorder "I remember the day after my first pill: so fatigued and nauseous that I left dance early. My appetite increased, and I gained 10 pounds in two weeks. But my psychosis and mania were GONE immediately. I went off the med 7 months later because my parents thought it was making me ditzy, but things got really bad, so I started taking it again. I gained more weight, but I was sleeping again, and I felt so much better. Two years later, and I’m back to the weight I was before, normal appetite, not ditzy, sleeping through the night, no psychosis, no mania. I’d say the munchies went away in 4 months, but idk it’s been a while. I think the only side effect I have now is drowsiness, but I take it at night, so it doesn’t matter. Zyprexa is a crucial drug for my well-being. It works right away."

• hih...
• October 15, 2012

Olanzapine for Depression "I take 5 mg of Zyprexa daily. I'm almost the entire day sleepy and have the feeling of doing nothing. I cannot worry because I have to sleep for about 15 hours daily. But I have tried everything out there, and this is the best at this moment."

• Anonymous
• April 17, 2010

Olanzapine for Schizoaffective Disorder "Zyprexa got rid of all my symptoms - paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, depression, mania, catatonia. It worked so well I have gone off all my other medicines and I got off disability, finished school, and got a full-time job. I have very few side effects - mostly I sleep a lot: 10-12 hours. But that is totally worth it to get rid of my symptoms! And I even lost weight!"

• Ree...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 31, 2018

For Insomnia "I started Zyprexa about 5 years ago. The first time I took it, it definitely helped with sleep, but I was very groggy in the morning and had a hard time doing my chores and daily things. I took it for a while longer and learned you have to take it very early in the evening so you're not so groggy in the morning. It helped calm my mind and anxiety. I started gaining weight, so I went on a diet and exercise regime. It helped, but I still wasn't happy with my amount of weight loss. So I had my doctor put me on something else. I've been miserable for 5 years with anxiety, which I take a benzodiazepine for, and I had the racing thoughts and depression. I tried all sorts of drugs for my insomnia: doxepin, mirtazapine, and Seroquel. They all had horrible side effects. I felt like I was in outer space. So today, after a lengthy time of stress and no sleep, I asked my new doctor if I could go back on Zyprexa, so tonight I'm taking 20 mg of Zyprexa and 200 mg of trazodone. I'm a little nervous, so we will see what happens. Wish me luck!"

• Jba...
• February 12, 2016

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "This medication has made me extremely tired! I feel like I've lost all of my motivation. I am a teacher and a coach and find it extremely hard to get myself 'up' to do these things. I am very tired in the morning and it's not until late at night that I start to feel like myself again. Only in time to take the medication again and start the process over. It has taken away some anxiety symptoms and helped me sleep (a bit too much), but I feel down a lot because I feel like I lost my passion. I am slowly coming off of it and look forward to getting back to feeling like myself again. I empathize with people on this medication."

• hea...
• February 18, 2017

For Insomnia "Olanzapine puts me to a restful sleep. Works better than OTC sleeping drugs, hands down. Many prescription sleeping pills I had a bad reaction to, like being groggy in the morning, having restless leg, very nervous. It slows my thought process down for a great restful sleep."

• Max...
• December 23, 2016

Olanzapine for Depression "Definitely relieved morning anxiety attacks. I'm also taking Effexor and Klonopin. I take the Zyprexa at night because it does make me sleepy. I wasn't eating anything at all before starting this drug, so I'm not worried yet about the weight gain; I'm not overdoing it with the food. I don't plan to be on this for long; my doctor told me it's not really a maintenance medication. But if it gets me through the holidays and my horrible anxiety about work, I'm fine with that."

• Joh...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• June 19, 2016

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "Zyprexa was effective at sedating me, which prevented the psychotic aspects of my manic episodes from happening very quickly. Since I only had 2 manic episodes in the span of a year, I probably should've stopped taking Zyprexa around 6 months later. Unfortunately, I took it for 5 more years, which was a massive mistake. It caused me to be very drowsy and lethargic. Because I started taking it at age 19, I didn't realize that Zyprexa was the culprit until I stopped taking it. I thought I was just a sleepy person. It had a profoundly negative impact on my life because I took it way longer than I should have."

• She...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 3, 2022

For Agitation "Can everybody relax? Keep taking the medication for some weeks like you're supposed to, like literally every med. The first week was rough. I had anxiety-induced suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and I was inpatient and had trouble getting up for group therapy. I was so groggy. This is my second week, and I'm much better, my suicidal thoughts are mostly gone. We lowered the dose, and WHAM, they came right back, and I couldn't sleep. So now I'm discharged and on 10 mg. I'm able to draw, watch TV, play solitaire, and talk to my brother without freaking out somehow. I can even go to the grocery store without being overly paranoid that people are out to get me. My brother says I'm snoring now, that probably means I'm sleeping better too."

• zus...
• April 26, 2019

For Depression "I have been taking half of a 2.5 mg dose for a few months. It makes me so exhausted I can barely think straight. It does help with anxiety, but only so much in that it puts me into a complete state of exhaustion. I feel mentally and physically depleted. The level of drowsiness/impairment concerns me at what is probably considered a sub-therapeutic dose."

• sop...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 19, 2022

Olanzapine for Schizophrenia "I've been on Zyprexa at 20 mg for 8 months now. I have schizoaffective bipolar type. Before this, I was on Seroquel 800 mg, and I was still having strong psychosis, mainly paranoid delusions, and I ended up losing my job. I was sleeping 12 hours a day on Seroquel and was getting ready to go back into the workforce, so I wanted something less sedating, so I asked my doctor about Zyprexa, and we switched medications. I was worried about the weight gain, but to my shock, I started losing weight, and after a few months of Zyprexa treatment, I returned back to my 98 lb self. This is because it does not increase my appetite. Overall, my experience with Zyprexa has been very positive. My only complaint is that I still sleep 12 hours a day, but the benefit I receive from the medication makes the sedation worth it. For the first time in my life, I can hold down a job, and life is looking up. I hope Zyprexa really does work for me in the long run, and I'm not changing meds in a few years like I've done in the past."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 27, 2023

For Insomnia "5 mg made me sleep for 15 hours straight, then I woke up for 30 mins and then slept another 5 hours. When I woke up, my heart was beating extremely slowly, and I couldn't articulate words from the drowsiness. Terrible."

• Dav...
• March 13, 2017

For Borderline Personality Disorder "This medicine is very powerful and is easily the best medicine that I've taken for borderline personality disorder. If you go down the list of symptoms for BPD, this medicine basically takes care of all of them, with two major side effects: sleepiness and weight gain. I have tried almost all of the SSRIs and SNRIs, Wellbutrin, Saphris, and Abilify, and nothing works as good or as quickly as Zyprexa."

• GRa...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 26, 2018

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "This is the best side effect-free, strong antipsychotic I have taken so far. I have bipolar disorder, and just 2.5 mg is enough to combat mania and minor depression. I also have anxiety, and it makes me calm. I don’t take it every day. I take it sometimes when my doctor says. No side effects, no dizziness, no anxiety, no akathisia, just drowsiness, which I like for anxiety."

• bjo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 7, 2021

Olanzapine for Schizophrenia "Like other drugs, Zyprexa has different effects on different people. For me, the drug was a life-ruining experience. When I was on it (for a psychotic episode), I had severe side effects, including sedation, emotional numbing, and life-threatening metabolic deterioration. With a psychiatrist's help, I cross-titrated from it to Latuda. However, I happened to be in the fraction of people that has severe repercussions from discontinuing Zyprexa. With withdrawal, I had severe insomnia, which half a year later has only mildly improved. I have had to be on Ativan to get some sleep, and there are many testimonials to the same experience I've had-Zyprexa can for an indefinite period of time disrupt sleep regulation. Because of this, it should not be tried unless newer antipsychotics with a more focused receptor profile have been attempted."

• jig...
• December 12, 2013

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "I have bipolar 1 disorder. Started with 5 mg Zyprexa, now am on 7.5 mg at night. I find it really helps me with my moods. Some of the side effects for me are swollen ankles, weight gain, and sedative effect throughout the day."

• Dir...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 28, 2013

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "Got hospitalized. Upped to 10 mg morning and evening. This dose has helped my symptoms. I've had blackouts, panic attacks, and sex problems with every other atypical out there. Zyprexa is great. Only negative is gaining weight fast, while being slightly sedating, which makes it harder to exercise."

• Dru...
• February 15, 2020

Olanzapine for Schizophrenia "I was on Zyprexa for 1 month and 1 week, and in that time, I gained 20+ pounds and did not help with any of the symptoms I was having. Didn't help with voices, delusions, paranoia. Nothing. Was really a complete waste of time, and to top it off, ruined how I look. (I used to be a very thin 160-pound male and am now 220...) That's from all the antipsychotics I've tried combined, Zyprexa being the worst one for weight. I give Zyprexa a 2 only because it did sedate me a bit, relieving anxiety. I'm now on Loxapine, which is supposed to be weight neutral, but I'm still putting weight on from that a bit."

• Opp...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 1, 2018

Olanzapine for Bipolar Disorder "Only been on Zyprexa for 5 days, but I'm loving it so far. I was hospitalized five days ago for extreme mania, they took me off of Abilify (which I believe caused the mania, I'd only been put on it two weeks before). They added Zyprexa 10 mg to my trazodone at night (also take Lamictal and Zoloft in the am). It was a bit too sedating at 10 mg, so they bumped it down to 5 mg, and it's perfect. I've always had mad munchies at night from the trazodone anyways, and am still not hungry until dinner anyways, so it isn't really causing me any weight gain. It brought me out of mania the first time I took it, I hope to never be without this med again, as of now. Again, just started it 5 days ago, but I've actually lost 4 pounds since then, and I can't say enough good about it!"