u/ElectronicSmell1130

Hello, I am 21 years old. In 2024, my insomnia started. Before that, I was always a very good sleeper, but during a holiday with friends, I suddenly couldn’t sleep anymore. I then started taking olanzapine at an average dose of 2.5 mg, which I used for about a year, and during that time I slept well. However, tapering off was difficult. Due to many changes, I eventually had to stop taking olanzapine, and it also stopped working for me.

Since then, I have been dealing with extreme insomnia for about a year. I have tried several different medications, but nothing seems to work consistently. Sometimes a medication would help for a few days, and then suddenly stop working again. It feels like no medication is able to compensate for this extreme insomnia or pull me out of it in a lasting way.

At the moment, I am taking 250 mg of Seroquel (quetiapine), and I still cannot sleep. I feel like I might be in some kind of severe withdrawal from olanzapine, and that it has seriously affected my brain.

Are there people who can relate to my situation—who also needed a high dose of Seroquel to compensate for olanzapine withdrawal? Or would it make more sense to go back to olanzapine?

Are there any success stories of people who went through something similar and eventually managed to stop Seroquel as well? Could it be that my current dose is still too low, and that I need to increase it further to compensate for what’s happening in my brain? Maybe there is a higher dose that could finally pull me out of this state for a longer period.

I feel very desperate because I haven’t been sleeping properly for such a long time. I am honestly afraid that I might not get out of this anymore.

I am really looking for a long-term solution that can get me out of this crisis and this state for good—a dose or approach that can stabilize my sleep again over time. Are there people who recognize this and have managed to recover from it? I just need to get out of this state and sleep will heal it over time. But have to sleep forst!

It would help me enormously to hear your experiences. PLEAS help me out! Someone who can relate and got out of this horrible fase……. I don’t want benzos everyday! I don’t want a live with this! I was always a good sleeper!

Ik ben 21 jaar oud en kon in het begin gewoon niet slapen, zonder dat er sprake was van psychose of bipolariteit. Mijn insomnia begon in 2024. Daarvoor was ik altijd een zeer goede slaper. Het begon plots tijdens een vakantie—ik kon niet slapen omdat ik te blij en opgewonden was. Toen kreeg ik olanzapine voorgeschreven.

Ik heb het ongeveer een jaar genomen, met veel dosisaanpassingen. Meestal zat ik op 2,5 mg, maar ik probeerde steeds af te bouwen. Soms lukte dat, soms niet. Op een bepaald moment zat ik op 0,6 mg en kon ik nog slapen. Maar na opnieuw op vakantie te gaan en weer veranderingen te maken, moest ik de dosis terug verhogen. Daarna, in combinatie met uitgaan en af en toe alcoholgebruik, werd alles veel erger. Mijn insomnia kwam extreem terug—erger dan in het begin.

Op een bepaald moment werkte olanzapine niet meer voor mij. Ik heb maandenlang verschillende medicaties geprobeerd om uit deze insomnia-crisis te geraken, maar niets werkte echt. Soms hielp iets een paar dagen, maar daarna stopte het weer. Ik heb heel veel geprobeerd.

Dit doet me afvragen: zou ik opnieuw met olanzapine moeten starten op een hogere dosis om mijn slaap weer te stabiliseren, en daarna heel langzaam afbouwen? Twee weken geleden heb ik het nog eens geprobeerd, maar ik heb amper geslapen. Misschien was de dosis te laag en moet ik hoger gaan om effect te krijgen.

Ik ben echt op zoek naar mensen die gelijkaardige ervaringen hebben—mensen die opnieuw met olanzapine gestart zijn nadat het niet meer werkte, die hun slaap weer hebben kunnen stabiliseren en er daarna succesvol zijn uitge geraakt. Ik wil graag echte succesverhalen horen.

Momenteel voel ik me in een constante staat van extreme hyperarousal. Ik voel zelfs geen vermoeidheid meer, ook al slaap ik niet. Als ik zeg dat ik niet slaap, bedoel ik echt nul slaap. Het is zeer ernstig en ik heb het gevoel dat ik zo snel mogelijk uit deze crisis moet geraken.

Op dit moment neem ik drie medicaties:

Seroquel (quetiapine) 200 mg

Lyrica (pregabaline) 150 mg, omdat ik rusteloze benen heb ontwikkeld door langdurig slaaptekort

Escitalopram 7,5 mg, dat ik al neem sinds het begin van mijn insomnia

Op een bepaald moment kon ik een paar nachten slapen met 125 mg Seroquel, maar plots werkte het weer niet. Nu blijf ik de dosis verhogen, maar niets lijkt te helpen. Ik slaap nog steeds niet.

Ik voel me overweldigd en bang, zeker door alle horrorverhalen online. Ik wil gewoon horen van mensen die echt hersteld zijn van zo’n situatie. Het voelt alsof psychiaters dit niet volledig begrijpen, en de toegang tot gespecialiseerde hulp in België is zeer beperkt met lange wachttijden. Het voelt alsof ik dit allemaal alleen moet uitzoeken.

Als ik had geweten hoe moeilijk dit zou worden, was ik nooit met olanzapine begonnen. Maar nu vraag ik me af of opnieuw starten op een hogere dosis misschien mijn enige uitweg is.

Als iemand iets gelijkaardigs heeft meegemaakt en eruit is geraakt—zeker met behulp van olanzapine—deel alsjeblieft je ervaring.

IEMAND GOEDE PSYCHIATER VOOR ONTWENNING/ INSOMNIA? Aub laat weten

Ik zoek al maanden!!! Wachtlijst Leuven/ Antwerpen te lang. UZA slechte ervaring met psychiater.

Iemand in privé cabinet?

Of psychiatrie opname waar ze veel kennis hebben met insomnia?

Aub help me out!!

I am 21 years old. My insomnia started in 2024. Before that, I was always a very good sleeper. It began suddenly while I was on vacation—I couldn’t sleep because I felt too excited and happy. That’s when I was prescribed olanzapine.

I ended up taking it for about a year, with many dose adjustments. Most of the time I was on 2.5 mg, but I kept trying to taper down. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. At one point I got down to 0.6 mg and was still able to sleep. But after going on vacation again and making some changes, I had to increase the dose again. Then, combined with going out and occasional alcohol use, things became much worse. My insomnia came back in a very extreme way—worse than at the beginning.

Eventually, olanzapine stopped working for me. I spent months trying different medications to get out of this insomnia crisis, but nothing really worked. Sometimes something would help for a few days, but then it would stop again. I’ve tried many different options.

This made me wonder: should I restart olanzapine at a higher dose to stabilize my sleep again, and then taper off very slowly? Two weeks ago, I tried taking olanzapine again, but I barely slept. Maybe the dose was too low, and I need a higher dose to make it effective again.

I’m really looking for people who have had similar experiences—people who went back on olanzapine after it stopped working, managed to stabilize their sleep, and then successfully tapered off. I’m hoping to hear real success stories.

Right now, I feel like I’m in a constant state of extreme hyperarousal. I don’t even feel tired anymore, even though I’m not sleeping at all. When I say I don’t sleep, I truly mean zero sleep. It’s very severe, and I feel like I need to get out of this crisis as soon as possible.

Currently, I’m taking three medications:

Seroquel (quetiapine) 200 mg

Lyrica (pregabalin) 150 mg, because I developed restless legs after prolonged sleep deprivation

Escitalopram 7.5 mg, which I’ve been taking since the beginning of my insomnia

At one point, I was able to sleep for a few nights on 125 mg of Seroquel, but then it suddenly stopped working again. Now I keep increasing doses, but nothing seems to help. I still don’t sleep.

I feel overwhelmed and scared, especially reading horror stories online. I just want to hear from people who truly recovered from a situation like mine. I feel like psychiatrists don’t fully understand this, and access to specialized care in Belgium is very limited with long waiting times. It feels like I have to figure everything out on my own.

If I had known how difficult this would become, I would never have started olanzapine. But right now, I’m wondering if going back to it at a higher dose might be my only way out of this crisis.

If anyone has been through something similar and managed to recover—especially involving olanzapine—please share your experience.

I am 21 years old. My insomnia started in 2024. Before that, I was always a very good sleeper. It began suddenly while I was on vacation—I couldn’t sleep because I felt too excited and happy. That’s when I was prescribed olanzapine.

I ended up taking it for about a year, with many dose adjustments. Most of the time I was on 2.5 mg, but I kept trying to taper down. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. At one point I got down to 0.6 mg and was still able to sleep. But after going on vacation again and making some changes, I had to increase the dose again. Then, combined with going out and occasional alcohol use, things became much worse. My insomnia came back in a very extreme way—worse than at the beginning.

Eventually, olanzapine stopped working for me. I spent months trying different medications to get out of this insomnia crisis, but nothing really worked. Sometimes something would help for a few days, but then it would stop again. I’ve tried many different options.

This made me wonder: should I restart olanzapine at a higher dose to stabilize my sleep again, and then taper off very slowly? Two weeks ago, I tried taking olanzapine again, but I barely slept. Maybe the dose was too low, and I need a higher dose to make it effective again.

I’m really looking for people who have had similar experiences—people who went back on olanzapine after it stopped working, managed to stabilize their sleep, and then successfully tapered off. I’m hoping to hear real success stories.

Right now, I feel like I’m in a constant state of extreme hyperarousal. I don’t even feel tired anymore, even though I’m not sleeping at all. When I say I don’t sleep, I truly mean zero sleep. It’s very severe, and I feel like I need to get out of this crisis as soon as possible.

Currently, I’m taking three medications:

Seroquel (quetiapine) 200 mg

Lyrica (pregabalin) 150 mg, because I developed restless legs after prolonged sleep deprivation

Escitalopram 7.5 mg, which I’ve been taking since the beginning of my insomnia

At one point, I was able to sleep for a few nights on 125 mg of Seroquel, but then it suddenly stopped working again. Now I keep increasing doses, but nothing seems to help. I still don’t sleep.

I feel overwhelmed and scared, especially reading horror stories online. I just want to hear from people who truly recovered from a situation like mine. I feel like psychiatrists don’t fully understand this, and access to specialized care in Belgium is very limited with long waiting times. It feels like I have to figure everything out on my own.

If I had known how difficult this would become, I would never have started olanzapine. But right now, I’m wondering if going back to it at a higher dose might be my only way out of this crisis.

If anyone has been through something similar and managed to recover—especially involving olanzapine—please share your experience.

I am 21 years old. My insomnia started in 2024. Before that, I was always a very good sleeper. It began suddenly while I was on vacation—I couldn’t sleep because I felt too excited and happy. That’s when I was prescribed olanzapine.

I ended up taking it for about a year, with many dose adjustments. Most of the time I was on 2.5 mg, but I kept trying to taper down. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t. At one point I got down to 0.6 mg and was still able to sleep. But after going on vacation again and making some changes, I had to increase the dose again. Then, combined with going out and occasional alcohol use, things became much worse. My insomnia came back in a very extreme way—worse than at the beginning.

Eventually, olanzapine stopped working for me. I spent months trying different medications to get out of this insomnia crisis, but nothing really worked. Sometimes something would help for a few days, but then it would stop again. I’ve tried many different options.

This made me wonder: should I restart olanzapine at a higher dose to stabilize my sleep again, and then taper off very slowly? Two weeks ago, I tried taking olanzapine again, but I barely slept. Maybe the dose was too low, and I need a higher dose to make it effective again.

I’m really looking for people who have had similar experiences—people who went back on olanzapine after it stopped working, managed to stabilize their sleep, and then successfully tapered off. I’m hoping to hear real success stories.

Right now, I feel like I’m in a constant state of extreme hyperarousal. I don’t even feel tired anymore, even though I’m not sleeping at all. When I say I don’t sleep, I truly mean zero sleep. It’s very severe, and I feel like I need to get out of this crisis as soon as possible.

Currently, I’m taking three medications:

Seroquel (quetiapine) 200 mg

Lyrica (pregabalin) 150 mg, because I developed restless legs after prolonged sleep deprivation

Escitalopram 7.5 mg, which I’ve been taking since the beginning of my insomnia

At one point, I was able to sleep for a few nights on 125 mg of Seroquel, but then it suddenly stopped working again. Now I keep increasing doses, but nothing seems to help. I still don’t sleep.

I feel overwhelmed and scared, especially reading horror stories online. I just want to hear from people who truly recovered from a situation like mine. I feel like psychiatrists don’t fully understand this, and access to specialized care in Belgium is very limited with long waiting times. It feels like I have to figure everything out on my own.

If I had known how difficult this would become, I would never have started olanzapine. But right now, I’m wondering if going back to it at a higher dose might be my only way out of this crisis.

If anyone has been through something similar and managed to recover—especially involving olanzapine—please share your experience.

Ik ben 21 jaar oud en ik lijd aan extreme insomnia.

Mijn insomnia is begonnen in de zomer van 2024, tijdens een vakantie. Ik was toen heel blij, maar plots kon ik niet meer slapen. Daarvoor had ik nooit slaapproblemen. Ik was altijd een goede slaper en stond nooit stil bij hoeveel ik sliep. Ik sliep gewoon normaal, zonder problemen.

Die zomer was ik op vakantie terwijl ik ook nog examens had. In mijn jeugd dronk ik af en toe alcohol, maar dat had nooit invloed op mijn slaap. Op die vakantie begon het echter plots: ik kon helemaal niet meer slapen. Ik lag meerdere nachten wakker. Het werd zo erg dat ik verschillende medicaties ben beginnen proberen.

Eerst probeerde ik kalmeringsmiddelen zoals diazepam-achtige medicatie, maar niets hielp echt. Uiteindelijk schreef een psychiater olanzapine voor in lage dosis. In het begin nam ik olanzapine samen met mirtazapine. Ik nam gemiddeld 2,5 mg olanzapine en heb dat ongeveer een jaar genomen. Mirtazapine ben ik wel succesvol kunnen stoppen.

Olanzapine was heel wisselend. Soms kon ik de dosis verlagen, maar dat leidde vaak tot een week extreme insomnia waarbij ik bijna niet sliep. Daarna herstelde het soms opnieuw. Wanneer ik alcohol dronk in combinatie met olanzapine, sliep ik ook niet, vaak opnieuw een week, waarna het soms weer wat stabiliseerde.

Ik ben uiteindelijk kunnen afbouwen tot 0,6 mg en daarop heb ik waarschijnlijk enkele weken redelijk kunnen slapen, maar niet lang. Daarna ging het opnieuw mis tijdens een vakantie. Ik stopte plots weer met slapen. Ik denk dat de dosis toen te laag en te instabiel was, dus moest ik weer verhogen.

Ik ging terug naar 2,5 mg en probeerde opnieuw af te bouwen, maar dat lukte niet. Ik dronk toen ook opnieuw alcohol terwijl mijn slaap nog niet stabiel was. De combinatie van dosisinstabiliteit en alcohol heeft mijn insomnia veel erger gemaakt. Alles kwam terug, maar veel intenser dan voorheen. Ik heb nog nooit zo’n ernstige insomnia gehad.

Sinds ongeveer een jaar heb ik extreme insomnia. Ik neem nu geen olanzapine meer. De afgelopen maanden heb ik heel veel medicaties geprobeerd: mirtazapine, zopiclone, trazodon, daridorexant, benzodiazepines… bijna alles. Trazodon werkte bijvoorbeeld enkele dagen en stopte dan plots.

Door langdurig slaaptekort heb ik rusteloze benen ontwikkeld. Daarvoor neem ik nu Lyrica (pregabaline). Ik neem ook een hoge dosis Seroquel, 200 mg. Het voelt verschrikkelijk.

Ik slaap al heel lang niet meer goed. Ik heb geen leven en geen werk. Ik ben twee keer gehospitaliseerd geweest. Ik heb het gevoel dat artsen mij niet goed helpen en mij niet ernstig nemen. Ik heb nog geen CGTI (CBT-I) geprobeerd, maar ik voel dat ik daar de kracht niet meer voor heb. Ik doe de hele dag niets en functioneer niet meer. Ik ben voortdurend bang dat ik hier nooit uit geraak.

Niets lijkt langer dan enkele dagen te werken. Het is verschrikkelijk. Ik vermoed soms dat ik een vorm van corticale hyperarousal heb, alsof mijn brein in een permanente waakstand staat. Ik voel niet voortdurend angst. Soms wel angst dat ik er niet uit geraak, maar meestal ben ik vrij rustig. Ik ben niet constant angstig, ik kan gewoon niet inslapen.

Ik lig vaak lang in bed, ook als ik niet slaap. Ik blijf liggen, rustig, maar ik val gewoon niet in slaap. Zelfs Seroquel werkt soms een paar dagen en stopt daarna weer.

Mijn psychiater zegt dat ik de dosis moet blijven verhogen tot ik een stabiele dosis bereik, maar iets in mij zegt dat ik er misschien niet meer uit geraak. Ik weet niet of dit door olanzapine-ontwenning komt of door iets anders in mijn brein. Ik zou zo graag exact begrijpen wat er aan de hand is en hoe ik hieruit kan komen.

Het is ondraaglijk. Ik voel me niet serieus genomen en moet alles zelf uitzoeken. De wachttijden voor gespecialiseerde hulp zijn enorm lang. Ik ben ooit bij een professor in Antwerpen geweest, maar zij heeft mijn dossier en medicatiegeschiedenis niet echt bekeken en zei alleen dat niets werkt zonder CGTI.

Maar ik voel dat ik de kracht niet meer heb voor zo’n zware aanpak met slaaprestricties, en iets in mij zegt dat dit niet de oplossing is voor mij. Ik weet niet wat er aan de hand is. Ik heb nog nooit zo’n zware insomnia gehad, en het duurt nu al een jaar.

Ik blijf zoeken en proberen, maar niets werkt langdurig. Ik droom ervan om opnieuw medicatievrij te zijn en gewoon weer te slapen zoals vroeger.

Als ik dit had geweten, was ik nooit zo snel met zulke zware medicaties gestart. In het begin had ik waarschijnlijk mildere en veiligere opties moeten proberen, maar mij werd telkens gezegd dat langdurig gebruik oké was.

Nu zit ik vast. Ik ben gefrustreerd over de psychiatrie en over hoe zeker sommige uitspraken worden gedaan over medicatie zonder echt langetermijnzekerheid.

Goede psychiaters in België uit eigen ervaring voor complexe/ ernstige insomnia gevallen? Aub laat het weten in opmerkingen! Ik heb echt serieuze hulp nodig! Iemand die zich investeert in ernstige gevallen! Of andere dingen wat dan ook wat kan helpen!

Mensen met succesverhalen die zich herkennen in mijn verhaal?

Bedankt alvast!

I am 21 years old and I suffer from extreme insomnia.

My insomnia began in the summer of 2024 while I was on vacation. I was unusually happy at the time, but I suddenly stopped being able to sleep. Before that, I had never experienced insomnia. I was always a good sleeper and never paid attention to sleep duration. I simply slept normally without any issues.

That summer, I was on holiday while also preparing for exams. In my teenage years, I occasionally drank alcohol, but I had never had any sleep problems because of it. However, on that vacation, I suddenly could not sleep at all. I stayed awake for multiple nights in a row. It became so severe that I started trying different medications.

I first tried diazepam-like calming medication, but nothing seemed to help. Eventually, a psychiatrist prescribed olanzapine at a low dose. At the beginning, I combined mirtazapine with olanzapine. I was taking around 2.5 mg of olanzapine on average, and I continued this for about a year. I was able to successfully stop mirtazapine.

Olanzapine was very inconsistent for me. Sometimes I was able to reduce the dose, but this often led to a week of extreme insomnia where I barely slept at all. Eventually, things would sometimes stabilize again. When I drank alcohol while on olanzapine, I also could not sleep, often for about a week, after which things would again partially recover.

I managed to taper down to 0.6 mg, and if I remember correctly, I was able to sleep on that dose for a few weeks, but not for long. Then things became unstable again during another vacation. I stopped sleeping suddenly. I believe the dose was too low and unstable at that time, so I had to increase it again.

I went back up to 2.5 mg and tried to reduce it again, but it was unsuccessful. I also drank alcohol again before my sleep had stabilized. The combination of dose instability and alcohol made my insomnia dramatically worse. Everything returned, but much more intensely than before. I have never experienced insomnia like that.

For about a year now, I have had extreme insomnia. I am no longer taking olanzapine. In the past months, I have tried many medications: mirtazapine, zopiclone, trazodone, daridorexant, benzodiazepines—almost everything. Trazodone, for example, worked for a few days and then suddenly stopped working.

Due to prolonged sleep deprivation, I developed restless legs syndrome, for which I now take pregabalin (Lyrica). I am also currently on a high dose of quetiapine (Seroquel), 200 mg. It feels terrible.

I have not been sleeping properly for a very long time. I have no life and no job. I have been hospitalized twice. I feel like I am not being helped properly by doctors, and I am not being taken seriously. I have not yet tried CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia), but I feel like I no longer have the strength for it. I spend my entire day doing nothing and can no longer function. I constantly fear that I will never recover.

Nothing seems to work for more than a few days. It is devastating. I suspect I may have cortical hyperarousal, as if my brain is stuck in a permanent wakeful state. I do not feel much anxiety in general—sometimes I fear I will never recover, but overall I feel relatively calm. I am not constantly anxious; I simply cannot fall asleep.

I stay in bed for long periods, even when I do not sleep. I do not get up; I remain in bed calmly, but sleep does not come. Even medications like Seroquel sometimes work for a few days and then stop working again.

My psychiatrist says I should keep increasing the dose until I reach a stable point, but something inside me tells me I may not recover. I do not know whether this is related to olanzapine withdrawal or something else happening in my brain. I wish I could understand exactly what is going on and how to fix it.

It is unbearable. I feel like I am not being taken seriously and have to figure everything out on my own. Waiting times for specialized care are extremely long. I once saw a professor in Antwerp, but she did not take my case seriously and did not properly review my medication history. She simply said nothing would work unless I do CBT-I.

But I feel like I no longer have the strength for strict sleep restriction therapy, and something inside me says that this is not the solution for me. I do not know what is happening. I have never experienced insomnia this severe before, and it has now lasted a year.

I keep searching for answers and trying different things, but nothing provides lasting relief. I dream of being medication-free again and simply sleeping like I used to.

If I had known this would happen, I would never have started such strong medications so early. In the beginning, I may have tried safer options and avoided long-term use, but I was told by psychiatrists that it was fine to continue.

Now I feel stuck. I am frustrated with the medical system and with how confidently people speak about medications without really knowing what will happen long term.

I am still very young and I want to recover. I want my life back.

PLEAS id you can relate and got out if it? I really need hope and REAL succes stories!!

Share in the comments…

Can I get out of this????

Thank you!