Olanzapine as the ideal “trip terminator”? Analysis of online reports relating to antipsychotics' use and misuse following occurrence of novel psychoactive substance‐related psychotic symptoms
Human Psychopharmacology Clinical and Experimental July 1, 2015 Giuseppe Valeriani, Ornella Corazza, Francesco Saverio Bersani et al. 41 citations
People who use novel psychoactive substances (NPS) often self-administer olanzapine to manage psychotic crises or 'bad trips,' a practice facilitated by online sharing of experiences and easy access to medications. Exploratory searches of 163 discussion forums and websites in four languages from November 2012 to 2013 found that olanzapine is the most frequently self-prescribed drug for this purpose, typically taken for a few days at 5–50 mg/day. Only a few formal studies have assessed olanzapine's effectiveness for NPS-induced psychosis, yet pro-drug websites describe it as the 'ideal' molecule to terminate bad trips. Health professionals should be informed about risks of olanzapine misuse.