The page of many quotes may have been a stalling tactic on my part. The childhood motto of mine, “One learns by trying,” had made me realize that sometimes you learn that it would have been a better idea not to have tried whatever it was that you tried.
A prescription medication was something that I hadn’t tried by choice however and I hadn’t been fully informed about how it functioned chemically. After trying it I learned that while it is effective in the short term over time negative side effects can get painful and reduce quality of life. What was worse though became obvious when trying to stop taking the medication — psychological withdrawal symptoms were very severe — worse than normal levels of bad mood that I had ever previously experienced and dangerously bad, risk of self injury or injury to others bad.
What I discovered about the medication’s chemical function within the body is that it prevents the breakdown of our natural cannabinoid, anandamide, our body’s equivalent of the euphoric cannabinoid found in marijuana, called THC. There are cannabinoid receptors in the prefrontal cortex that are involved in suicidal thoughts and which have been found in a research study to be overactive in some alcoholic and depressive patients. The medication Olanzapine/Zyprexa may be causing over-activity of this area of the brain in some patients and then if they try to stop taking the medication it is like the brain is suddenly having to withdraw after having gotten used to a constant over supply of THC/anandamide.
Several adverse medication reports have been provided to the FDA regarding this medication where a person killed a family member or acquaintance while the patient was either withdrawing from Olanzapine at the time, or had the prescription in their name but the exact timing of use was not known at the time of the adverse event.
I’ll have to keep looking for a different link that showed actual reports, but in the meantime here is a list of other adverse effects: [http://psychroachesadverseevent.blogspot.com/2009/03/zyprexa-adverse-reactions.html]
/Disclosure: This information is provided for educational purposes within the guidelines of fair use. While I am a Registered Dietitian this information is not intended to provide individual health guidance. Please see a health professional for individual health care purposes./