Fluoxetine + Olanzapine

Fluoxetine + Olanzapine

A love story from hell.

The testimony in the first portion of this zine does not speak on behalf of all users of the Fluoxetine + Olanzapine medication duo. It is a personal experience of worst case scenarios when using medical solutions to treat symptoms for a diagnosis without properly informed consent. This response is not the same for every individual who is considering or is actively using it.

If you are considering going on serious medications to treat mental health disorders, please consult your doctor first.

Fluoxetine + Olanzapine

Fluoxetine (Prozac) is used to treat depression, obsessivecompulsive disorder, some eating disorders, and panic disorders.

Fluoxetine (Sarafem) is used to relieve the symptoms of Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, including mood swings, irritability, bloating, and breast tenderness.

It is also used along with Olanzapine (Zyprexa) to treat depression that did not respond to other medications, and depression in people with Bipolar Disorder. Olanzapine is used to treat the symptoms of Schizophrenia in adults and teenagers 13 years of age and older, and is also used to treat Bipolar Disorder.

Fluoxetine is classifed as a ‘selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor,’ known as SSRI’s, and increases serotonin in the brain, a natural substance that helps the body maintain mental balance.

Olanzapine is classified as a medication type known as ‘atypical antipsychotics,’ which works by changing the activity of certain natural substances in the brain.

While there is no cure for mental health disorders currently, it can be regulated using a variety of treatment options.

In his book, The Bipolar Disorder Survival Guide, Dr. David Miklowits states,

“the nature of bipolar disorder is such that even when you feel better, you still have an underlying biological predisposition to the illness.

This predisposition requires you to take medications even when you’re feeling well.”

The strongest memory of a hallucination I had while taking these medications occured while I was on campus. I had finished my classes for the day and was heading back to the station to take the train home.

As I was walking, I saw a collection of hands break through the ground as if appearing out of a fog. They reached up, grabbed onto my arms and legs, and seemingly held me in place. I felt like I couldn’t move, but I slowly walked over to a bench and sat down, waiting for the hallucination to pass.

It felt like 30 minutes had passed before I was able to move again.

The most recurring hallucination had to do with my face.

My skin would be pulled away from my face with rotting hands, Hooks would be looped through my skin to stretch it like leather,

And a voice would whisper in my ear, Telling me to smash my head against the wall.

One night, when the voice was whispering to me again, I began to roll my head back and forth

against the wall, Like a metronome waiting to start a song. I did this to quiet the voice, To give it some sense of satisfaction, But also to quiet my own voice, Begging me to end the torment.

This game went on for a few months before I finally asked my therapist if it was normal. She looked at me, horrified, and immediately sent me to my psychiatrist, demanding that I be put on different medications. To ensure that I did not, in fact, have schizophrenia or some other hallucinogenic disorder, I was sent to get a brain scan at a nearby clinic. I was taken off the Olanzapine a few months prior, but the Fluoxetine did not stop until I addressed the issues with my medical team.

With time, the hallucinations stopped as the medications finally left my system, and now I don’t have them at all.

Bipolar Disorder + Medications

What is Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar Disorder, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, is a brain disorder that causes drastic episodic mood ships in a person, affecting their ability to function and emotional energy. These mood shifts can last anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks or months, and can shift from a manic state to an intense depressive state.

There are two common forms of Bipolar Disorder:

Bipolar I - characterized by equal states of manic and depressive episodes.

Bipolar II - characterized by shorter manic episodes, followed by intense dpressive episodes. It is also commonly misdiagnosed as episodic depression.

A once prevalent form of treatment is electroconvulsive therapy, which consisted of putting the patient under anesthesia and administering a series of electromagnetic shocks to the brain, which causes a brief seizure. The patient recovers after 10-15 minutes, and the shocks would reset the brain’s chemical balance. It was difficult to conclude that the form of therapy was helpful long term, and was unpopular by the late seventies.

Fluoxetine is an antidepressant known as a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI), but other common antidepressants that are prescribed are Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRI). While SSRIs only block the reuptake of serotonin, SNRIs also block Norepinephrine, with are both neurotransmitters that are reabsorbed back into the brain as they become less available as a result fo the medications.

There are also medications categorized as Tricyclic Antidepressants and Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs), although these are far less common in the medical field today.

Common medications for psychosis and mood stabilization are classified as antipsychotics, which is what Olanzapine falls under. While mainly used for psychosis, they can be effective in treating manic, depressive, or mixed episodes in Bipolar patients. It can be extremely daunting to hear about each option available for treating mental health disorders. Don’t be afraid to ask questions about what you are taking; it’s a doctor’s job to help improve your mental state and make you feel better, even if that means they sit and answer questions about medications that make you anxious.

Medications for mood stabilization such as in Bipolar can pose certain risks when taken for extended periods of time. Not all medications used to treat Bipolar are approved for use in children and adolescents, and despite there being age restrictions for specific doses and medication types, many doctors will still prescribe them to younger patients in what is known as off-label use.

In these situations, the danger that the young patient poses to themselves and others during an episode is far greater than the health risks associated with taking the medication.

There are concerns that Bipolar medications worsen the outcome in patients long-term, depending on what they take. A study performed in 2007 by Harvard University revealed that Bipolar individuals can face ‘disability and poor outcomes,’ despite advances being made in therapeutic technology. The study showed that patients’ cognitive functioning and memory were impaired after taking certain medications for longer than a year.

Arguments have been made that the opposite is true - a study performed by Sao Paolo University in Brazil during the year 2009 showed that certain medications, such as Lithium, lead to new neuron growth and reverses some brain abnormalities associated with Bipolar Disorder. While repeated responses to medications can be recorded over time, every individual will respond differently and will need more specific care.

There are many other risks that can occur while taking intense mood stabilization and antidepressant medication combinations, including individuals experiencing hormone changes or pregnancy. Fluoxetine and Olanzapine are a combination of medications that are designed to work together and have done so for many people over the years: the only way to find out if it will work for you is to talk it through with a medical professional. If you have questions about medications or want to receive help for your own mental health, speak to your doctor.

Above all else: DO NOT TAKE YOURSELF OFF YOUR MEDS. TALK TO A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL AND HAVE THEM WORK THROUGH IT WITH YOU.