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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Daydreamer on February 6, 2004, at 14:53:43
So Im sure alot of you read my "I almost killed myself post".
So I told my doctor...
He gave me this heavy tranquilizer called Seroquel.Its for schizo-
Though I asked him why he was giving it to me.. and he said people with Bipolar use it.
Its also for "paranoia"Im no more paranoid than any other emotional and self-critical & over analytical woman.
He says Im def. NOT schizo but gave me this drug anyways.. cause it helps Bipolar.
But!!!!!!!
I took it last night and slept 14 straight hours and I feel high-- and tired-- and I have stuff to do.
Im trying so hard just to type this letter.the side effects are (maybe) *slight drowsiness
what?????? slight!!!!
I feel like I just drank a whole bottle of Nyquil on tp of a packet of Benadryl.
:(
What am I going to do??
Im only 23..
college student..
normal, social..
(just with bipolar)how can I be stuck on this kind of tranquilizer?!!
My question is..WHO takes this stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Karen Moore on February 6, 2004, at 15:20:19
In reply to Seroquel? Im not schizo, posted by Daydreamer on February 6, 2004, at 14:53:43
I bet there are more bipolars than there are schizophrenics on a low dose of Seroquel. What dose are you on? I've found that as little as 12.5 can have a significant impact on my "I'm going to tear my head off" sorts of moods. Excluding a bizarre episode with arsenic poisoning, I've never been paranoid. I take Seroquel to take the edge off my mixed depressive/manic symptoms. I also take it to slow my brain down for sleep, which consequently reduces the likelihood of becoming more manic.
What other drugs are you taking? There are some that don't mix well w. Seroquel.
KM
P.S. At low doses Seroquel seems to also have an antidepressant effect...
Posted by Chairman_MAO on February 7, 2004, at 11:56:48
In reply to Seroquel? Im not schizo, posted by Daydreamer on February 6, 2004, at 14:53:43
Most of the mental health professionals that I've talked to have told me that Seroquel is great for bipolars and severely anxious people, but virtually wortheless as an antipsychotic. Honestly, drugs are just drugs with effects; they don't know who they're treating. Labelling of a drug is more a marketing tool than anything else, so don't let the "it's used for schizophrenia" scare you at all.
Give it time, you will most likely adjust to the sedation, which is PROFOUND. I don't think I could have gone on it anywhere besides the hospital. When I was in college, I tried to go on Seroquel and quit at just 25mg (during the day) because of excess sedation. This was almost two years ago, though; I don't take Seroquel now. There are mood-stabilizing drugs which won't incapacitate you for the first week you're on them. If you take the contraceptive pill, however, some of them are contraindicated, and others mess up the menstrual cycle. Another, Depakote, SHOULD be taken with the pill because pregnancy would most likely result in birth defects. Another could cause a life-threatening rash. Thus, you're really trading one set of side effects for another.
I really feel for women (to the best of my ability, as I'm male) who have to take these meds, because they really do have to worry about and put up with a lot more than men do. Weight gain is often more of an issue, but there are plenty of men with adonis complexes of varying degrees, including myself.If you provide more detail about your condition I'm sure others here could give suggestions. Seroquel is _NOT_ the only option your doctor most likely will be receptive to. He/she should at least be sensitive to the fact that you can't take time out of your active life to be in an antihistmaine daze.
Posted by lauram on February 7, 2004, at 13:52:25
In reply to Seroquel? Im not schizo, posted by Daydreamer on February 6, 2004, at 14:53:43
I am Bipolar and was prescribed Seroquel 75 mg for sleep one year ago. I am guaranteed a good night of sleep every night. I am not psychotic or schizophrenic. I also had the intitial grogginess when starting this med but it eventually went away. It was such a good sleep med for me and I did not build up a tolerance. We tried the higher doses but for me I found it worked just the same when on a lower dose. I realize this is not the case for all and they will need a higher dose.
This med has helped control my mood swings. Not having a regular sleep schedule has effected my tendency to manic/depressive mood swings so this med has really helped me in that sense. It may not be the med for you but I thought I'd share my experience with you. Good Luck.
Posted by shadows721 on February 7, 2004, at 17:05:03
In reply to Re: Seroquel? Im not schizo » Daydreamer, posted by lauram on February 7, 2004, at 13:52:25
I am taking 25 mg each night for sleep. I find that I am mute like lately. I don't know how to explain. I am just not talking hardly at all. I just stay in my head. I feel really weird. This med is helping the sleep factor, but I don't know or understand this odd feeling. I just feel like I am stuck in my head. I don't want to communicate. I have trouble communicating with words. I don't know what to think. I am not schizophrenic either. I just have Major Depression.
Posted by zeugma on February 7, 2004, at 18:49:32
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by shadows721 on February 7, 2004, at 17:05:03
> I am taking 25 mg each night for sleep. I find that I am mute like lately. I don't know how to explain. I am just not talking hardly at all. I just stay in my head. I feel really weird. This med is helping the sleep factor, but I don't know or understand this odd feeling. I just feel like I am stuck in my head. I don't want to communicate. I have trouble communicating with words. I don't know what to think. I am not schizophrenic either. I just have Major Depression.
I don't understand why, if you have major depression and not psychosis, you are taking Seroquel. It would be much better to try a tricyclic like nortriptyline, which helps improve sleep, and also is more effective for depression than any SSRI.
It sounds like your meds are not agreeing with you at all.
Posted by Camille Dumont on February 8, 2004, at 12:02:32
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by zeugma on February 7, 2004, at 18:49:32
Sometimes APs are used to boost the effects of ADs ... I've been on Seroquel and Zyprexa in addition to the Effexor and I only had minor psychotic symptoms ... it was more as something to boost the Effexors and what not.
I know how you feel when you notice that those medicines are usually for people who are psychotic ... but Seroquel is quite mild ... especially at a low dose like 25mg ... when its used for Bipolar and Schizo ... its at way bigger doses.
Posted by zeugma on February 8, 2004, at 15:46:15
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by Camille Dumont on February 8, 2004, at 12:02:32
> Sometimes APs are used to boost the effects of ADs ... I've been on Seroquel and Zyprexa in addition to the Effexor and I only had minor psychotic symptoms ... it was more as something to boost the Effexors and what not.
>
> I know how you feel when you notice that those medicines are usually for people who are psychotic ... but Seroquel is quite mild ... especially at a low dose like 25mg ... when its used for Bipolar and Schizo ... its at way bigger doses.Yes, Seroquel looks like it's a lot better than older AP's like perphenazine, which caused terrible weakness and stiffness (anti-dopaminergic symptoms). It seems to me, though, that AP's are used casually by pdocs to boost AD's that aren't working, when the real problem is with the antidepressant. And the feelings shadows721 described struck a nerve... it sounded like she was on the wrong medication, and AP's can be DISASTROUS for people with unipolar depression. If a medication makes you feel "weird" then you should not be on that medication. There is something else that will treat the actual condition, and restore functioning to normal.
Posted by Daydreamer on February 8, 2004, at 21:33:31
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird » Camille Dumont, posted by zeugma on February 8, 2004, at 15:46:15
But see--
I was told to take 50 mg the first night..
and on the 4th night???
(which is tonight....)
to take 100 mg.
Plus Im on Lamictal. (25mg)Is it just for sleep??? or does it actually help Bipolar disorder
Posted by zeugma on February 8, 2004, at 21:38:57
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by Daydreamer on February 8, 2004, at 21:33:31
> But see--
>
>
>
> I was told to take 50 mg the first night..
>
> and on the 4th night???
>
> (which is tonight....)
>
> to take 100 mg.
>
>
> Plus Im on Lamictal. (25mg)
>
> Is it just for sleep??? or does it actually help Bipolar disorder
I think seroquel is probably good for Bipolar disorder. Zyprexa is considered by some a first line mood stabilizer. seroquel seems like it might have fewer serious side effects than Zyprexa. Does it seem to be helping?
Posted by Karen Moore on February 8, 2004, at 23:00:28
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by Daydreamer on February 8, 2004, at 21:33:31
I take 12.5-25 at night. I'm a light weight, but still... Seroquel changes at higher doses, supposedly stops being a dopaminergic antidepressant above 50mg. Seems like you should try a lower dose first. Also, it has a short halflife, so I used to take 12.5 every 6 hours, 3 times a day.
And yes, it can really help bipolar. How long have you been on the lamotrigine? 25mg is nothing (100-200 is the usual target) but I realize it needs to be escalated very slowly. Which means patience, something I have very little of...
Km
> But see--
>
>
>
> I was told to take 50 mg the first night..
>
> and on the 4th night???
>
> (which is tonight....)
>
> to take 100 mg.
>
>
> Plus Im on Lamictal. (25mg)
>
> Is it just for sleep??? or does it actually help Bipolar disorder
Posted by Camille Dumont on February 9, 2004, at 9:22:25
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by Daydreamer on February 8, 2004, at 21:33:31
Welcome to the club ... after getting scary side effects from AP's, I coaxed the clinic into giving me a copy of my psychiatric evaluation and in it, she suggested taking the Seroquel and, if possible, to boost it up to 100mg per day ... for psychotic symptoms and insomnia. But in the end, its your body and your feelings and if it makes you feel sick, just don't take it.
As long as your not psychotic and / or a danger to yourself or others, they can't really force you to take it.
Posted by Fourdaystil on February 11, 2004, at 1:17:51
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird, posted by Daydreamer on February 8, 2004, at 21:33:31
>
> Is it just for sleep??? or does it actually help Bipolar disorderIt definitely does help Bipolar disorder. At lower dosages (12.5-100mg), it acts as a mood stabilizer. At the same time, it will give you a good night's sleep. The drowsiness will go in time. Actually, this medication was so effective towards my Bipolar disorder that I could go off of all my other medication and use this as my sole medication for six years.
Hold out through the next week or so because you will be very sleepy (like 14-18 hours at a time), but it will stabilize in your system and you will get good sleep and feel functional in the daytime. And then if that works for you, you might talk to your doctor about making it the only medication you have to take.
Posted by Lindsay Rae on February 14, 2004, at 16:20:09
In reply to Re: Seroquel and feeling weird » Camille Dumont, posted by zeugma on February 8, 2004, at 15:46:15
What is the difference between trycyclic antidepressants and SSRIs? I know what she means about not being able to communicate effectively. I am slow to put sentences together verbally, like my mind is having to break things down to make sense lately. I attributed this to withdrawal from alcohol and Propoxyphene back in the summer of 2001, but now I think it has more to do with the dose of Methadone I am taking. For the first year, the Methadone was all I needed to pull me out of depression, since the apparant cause was opiate nerve malfunction, both from becoming dependent on Darvocet for pain and because before discovering narcotic analgesics, I suffered terrible depression and anxiety. I had always envied "normal" people who could find joy in little things and who were generally happy when everything was going well. I didn't feel joy and tranquility until I was prescribed Darvocet for my lower back. Since I was in college, it wasn't uncommon to swallow the Darvocet with a few beers or shooters, so that became the recipe for euphoric social interaction for three years. I can't imagine what kind of damage was done by the acetaminiphen and alcohol combination. Luckily I came across a foreign version of Darvocet N 100, called Deprancol HCL 150mg, which was strictly Darvon, no aspirin or acetaminophen. I was ordering them from a Mexican pharmacy I had found online thanks to Cosmopolitan magazine. I found out through research that these meds were three times as strong, since HCL is approximately 50% stronger than Napsylate. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, I never exceeded two or three pills per day throughout the four years I was on pain management. I know it sounds simplisticly naive, but it just never dawned on me that two pills were better than one, or that I might have developed a tolerance. I believe a lot of the elation was in my head, and not from the pill itself.
My last shipment was siezed by customs, and my credit cards were maxed out, and that's when my brain started feeling like mush. I had just started a new job to pay for my new appartment and the brand new Celica I leased (all decisions made while in a manic state; not rational by any stretch of the imagination). I could not focus at work, couldn't even finish a sentence. I kept squinting and feeling like someone had scrambled my brain like an egg. However messages were supposed to pass from the brain to the lips, that wasn't the case. I was thin and pretty and suddenly incredibly stupid.
Thanks for listening to that incredibly long and pointless, inane blathering.
L.R.
"Yes, Seroquel looks like it's a lot better than older AP's like perphenazine, which caused terrible weakness and stiffness (anti-dopaminergic symptoms). It seems to me, though, that AP's are used casually by pdocs to boost AD's that aren't working, when the real problem is with the antidepressant. And the feelings shadows721 described struck a nerve... it sounded like she was on the wrong medication, and AP's can be DISASTROUS for people with unipolar depression. If a medication makes you feel "weird" then you should not be on that medication. There is something else that will treat the actual condition, and restore functioning to normal."
This is the end of the thread.
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