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Psychiatrist won’t taper me off my medication?

My psychiatrist won’t let me taper off my meds which are Prozac and Zyprexa. I took them for 2 years and then stopped taking them for 3 months last year. I had insomnia and went to the emergency room at the local hospital because of palpitations and feeling faint due to insomnia and they told me to reconsider tapering off my medication instead and referred me to the behavioral health unit. I told the behavioral health unit that this is why I was there in the first place. My psychiatrist first agreed to lower my dose from 5 mg of Zyprexa to 2.5 mg of Zyprexa which is the dose I have been taking for almost a year. But now I mentioned it to her again and most likely she will refuse to taper me off further. So my family is helping me to taper off and now taking 10 mg of Prozac and 2.5 mg of Zyprexa, the lowest dose for each medication. But I’m concerned that I won’t be able to leave the behavioral unit as a patient after I completely taper off because of the doctor.

Female | 27 years old
Complaint duration: Insomnia lasting 9 months
Medications: Zyprexa, Prozac, spironolactone, drosperinone, Doxylamine succinate
Conditions: Insomnia, obesity, acne, high cholesterol

1 Answer

I am not an MD, so I cannot answer questions about medications. If you have insomnia consider adding CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia). Ask your team about finding a practitioner in your area for this mode of treatment. It is proven to help patients with insomnia.

Nancy J. Warren, PhD
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