Tens of millions of Americans take psychiatric medicines, and some people need to take a medication known as an antipsychotic (or the older term, “neuroleptic”). Although this may sound scary at first, antipsychotic drugs are prescribed to treat a variety of conditions, including bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, severe depression, and sometimes even insomnia.
There are several antipsychotic medicines currently on the market, but the two most popular (in terms of market share) are Zyprexa and Seroquel. If your doctor decides that an antipsychotic is right for you, chances are that she’ll start you out on one of these. I am bipolar and I have had the chance to take both of these drugs at various times, and I am happy to be able to share my experience with you here.
The first drug that I was put on to help with my manic episodes was Zyprexa, an antipsychotic made by the Eli-Lilly company. At the time I was feeling very anxious & wound up, and I was also having a hard time sleeping. My shrink wrote me a prescription for Zyprexa and it began to help from the very first dose.
I was instructed to take the Zyprexa at bedtime, which is good because it knocked me out within 15 minutes. Although I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in months, my first night on Zyprexa I slept a full 9 hours. Within a few days of starting the drug, I began to feel much calmer and less anxious. Things were definitely getting better.
After being on Zyprexa for about a month and a half and doing pretty well, some other things started to happen that weren’t so good. The minor problem was that the “knock out” effect the drug originally had for me was stating fade, and I was beginning to have problems sleeping again. But the much bigger problem (no pun intended) was that I was starting to gain weight. A lot of it–to the tune of almost 30 pounds in just two short months.
The Zyprexa made me ravenously hungry and a little bit tired a combination which almost assured my weight gain. Concerned, my doctor decided that I should stop taking the Zyprexa and try something else. So, she put me on Zyprexa’s main competitor: a drug called Seroquel.
The first night that I took the Seroquel, the first thing I noticed once again was how quickly the medicine put me to sleep. I also noticed that, while I still felt calm and relaxed during the day, I wasn’t nearly as hungry as I was with Zyprexa. In fact, during my first 2 months on Seroquel, I only gained 4 pounds, which is much more acceptable than thirty.
The only downside I found with Seroquel as opposed to Zyprexa was how much of the drug you have to take. My dose of Zyprexa was just 5 milligrams per day, or one small pill. The equivalent dose of Seroquel for me was a whopping 600 mg, which was 3 much larger pills. My doctor tells me this is normal. She also tells me that although I haven’t gained a whole lot of weight on Seroquel, weight gain is an issue for most people taking any antipsychotic and is something that I’ll need to keep close tabs on.
In closing, it is very important to note that only your doctor can decide which antipsychotic drug, if any, is right for you. Each individual will react to these drugs differently, and what works for me might not necessarily work for you. However, you should keep in mind that if one antipsychotic medication isn’t working for you or is causing unwanted side effects, there are other drugs on the market which may work better for you.
During my treatment with antipsychotic medication, I found that Zyprexa and Seroquel are both extremely effective medications for bipolar disorder. Both initially, helped me sleep better, but this effect wore off after time with the Zyprexa. Also, although both drugs made me gain weight, Zyprexa caused me to gain significantly more. Overall, my life has been much better since I started taking bipolar medicine, but I am certainly happy my doctor switched me from Zyprexa to Seroquel.
