Posted by jtevers on April 26, 2004, at 17:59:10
In reply to Re: Seroquel users: a couple of questions » nmk, posted by chemist on April 26, 2004, at 16:42:25
fellow posters:
i had been diagnosed in 2000 with bipolar and have suffered the symptoms and side effects of treatment since. any insight or questions you have will be helpful.
while i have been taking larger doses of seroquel than discussed, many of it's pitfalls and virtues i understand are not dose-related.
like weight gain... i have gained 60 lbs. totally in two divided increments during two winters on seroquel. hence my new and ongoing trial with geodon (reputed to be weight neutral). i hope the geodon will allow me to shed a few.
while my dose of seroquel over the past year has been variable the amount of sleep it causes has been (to me) an irritating constant. i sleep no less than 10 hours a night. while the geodon / ziprasidone i am trying causes the polar opposite ... any insight with insomnia? i would prefer to try something that, unlike an antipsychotic, will not cause weight gain and, unlike a benzo, may last longer.
please be careful i understand that both of these aspects of seroquel, the sedation and weight gain, are caused by transient, but complete, blockade of histamine. i do not understand that this effect is dose-related.
i also experience discomfort on geodon (perhaps you can help me through this one) referred to as akithisia (jitteriness) and vertigo (dizziness) and while a remedy for each has been proposed both, you guessed it, also cause weight gain. inderal and antihistamines are often used to fight these side effects and both pack the pounds on and would be contradictory to the purpose for my switch from seroquel to geodon. do you have any insight with akithisia or vertigo?
thanks, everyone, for your 2 cents.
poster:jtevers
thread:339744
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040423/msgs/340311.html