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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 11 of 11. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
I know seroquel is used off lable for many things including insomnia. Would you share your reasons for taking it, doses, side effects. Thanks , Phillipa
Posted by Quintal on January 1, 2007, at 1:51:43
In reply to Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or, posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
Well I took Seroquel for insomnia years ago. I was prescribed 50mg one or two PRN but that was too sedating for me - like having a general anaesthetic. Many times the sedation would come on quickly while I was still sitting at the kitchen table having my supper and I wouldn't be able to climb the stairs so I slept on the floor. I'm now thinking this extreme sedation may have been due to the large doses of Klonopin I was also taking. When I took Seroquel this year I found it less sedating but it made me feel very heavy and spaced-out the next day which I hated. I usually took 25mg or even doses as low as 12.5mg.
I often got a stuffy nose with Seroquel and it made breathing very difficult. That combined with the heavy sedation sometimes made me feel as though I was suffocating. In all it was not a good sleep med for me considering the sheer awfulness of the Seroquel stupor which lasted well into the next day. Sleep meds like Ambien or zopiclone were much more efficient and had fewer side effects (of course with Seroquel there's the additional risk that diabetes and movement disorders may be silently creeping up on you all the years you take it).
Q
Posted by ed_uk on January 1, 2007, at 4:14:06
In reply to Re: Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or » Phillipa, posted by Quintal on January 1, 2007, at 1:51:43
Hi Quintal,
I sent you a babblemail. Not sure whether you got it so I just thought I'd mention it.
Ed
Posted by Quintal on January 1, 2007, at 11:40:02
In reply to Re: Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or » Quintal, posted by ed_uk on January 1, 2007, at 4:14:06
Hi ed,
I sent you one back, did you not get it?
Q
Posted by med_empowered on January 1, 2007, at 12:42:12
In reply to Re: Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or » ed_uk, posted by Quintal on January 1, 2007, at 11:40:02
seroquel kind of sucks. In the CATIE study,it had a pretty high discontinuation rate. There are some indications it may cause supersensitivity psychosis in some patients. It can cause diabetes and tardive dyskinesia. Its also very expensive, many many times more expensive than older, safe+effective drugs for similar indications.
I'd say avoid it. Right now its the "it" atypical, probably since the makers had the foresight to push it for off-label stuff from the get go; now that neuroleptics are being considered appropriate for just about everything, seroquel is being RX'd like crazy.
Posted by ed_uk on January 1, 2007, at 12:53:08
In reply to Re: Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or » ed_uk, posted by Quintal on January 1, 2007, at 11:40:02
Hi Q!
I didn't get it :(
I just sent you a babblemail with my email address. Please could you send something to my email address to check that it's working.
Thank you :)
Ed
Posted by crazy777girl on January 1, 2007, at 23:12:22
In reply to Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or, posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
Seroquel is a great med - if you want diabetes.
If your A1C level is anything you value, look for alternatives, and run the other way. READ THE WARNINGS. Most side effects are not likely to happen, a few are HIGHLY likely to happen, and tales of them are currently in litigation.
These are things we should all become educated about BEFORE blindly accepting another psych med into our cocktail of drugs.
Best Wishes,
a
> I know seroquel is used off lable for many things including insomnia. Would you share your reasons for taking it, doses, side effects. Thanks , Phillipa
Posted by Emme on January 2, 2007, at 7:40:52
In reply to Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or, posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
> I know seroquel is used off lable for many things including insomnia. Would you share your reasons for taking it, doses, side effects. Thanks , Phillipa
Hi.
I've taken it prn for bad insomnia and for severe anxiety when a benzo didn't cut it. I only need about 6.25. I find it much more tolerable and effective than ambien, lunesta, rozerem, trazodone, or melatonin. I have had no side effects.
emme
Posted by mindevolution on January 2, 2007, at 16:44:59
In reply to Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or, posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
> I know seroquel is used off lable for many things including insomnia. Would you share your reasons for taking it, doses, side effects. Thanks , Phillipa
no, don't touch it. antipsychotics are the most toxic tranquillizers available and are more toxic to a human being than heroin, look up the poison MPTP and you'll see that it has most of the side effects of antipsychotics, also organophosphate poisoning + extrapyrimidal syndrome. don't tranq yourself, but if you must try these first:
*minor tranqs such as restoril
*antihypertensives such as clonidine;
*beta blockers such as propranalol;
*antihistamines (need to be very careful about the anti cholinergic side effect though!!!!);
*Alpidem;
*some painkillers like morphine;
*barbituates; and
*even methodone is far less toxic than antipsychotic medication and possesses many CNS depressant properties and so should also be considered before the use of antipsychotics.don't mean to scare you, but use antipsychotics only as a last resort :)
Posted by chiron on January 2, 2007, at 21:01:02
In reply to Re: Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or » Quintal, posted by ed_uk on January 1, 2007, at 4:14:06
For me, it was agitating rather than sedating. I didn't like it. I have also had similar bad reactions to others in the antipsychotic class: Abilify, Geodon, & Zyprexa (all made me more depressed).
My symptoms: I don't really fit into any category. My pdoc thinks I've got some Bipolar II. I'm definitely not Psychotic - just a little crazy, agitated, & depressed :)
(but of course we all react differently)
Posted by cgd092 on January 4, 2007, at 13:42:54
In reply to Is Seroquel A Good Med If You Are Not Psychotic or, posted by Phillipa on December 31, 2006, at 23:35:17
My pdoc prescribed Seroquel for anxiety to add on to my 40mg/day of Celexa. It helps. I'm up to 100mg/day of Seroquel now, but I take it 25mg at a time, sort of as needed, as it has sort of a Benadryl anxiolytic effect on me. Been taking it for a couple years now. At first it really increased my appetite. With it and Celexa, I gained 20 lbs. But I didn't watch what I ate in the slightest. Guess I'll have to do that now. I had breakthru depression/anxiety even on the Celexa and Seroquel, so pdoc is adding Lamictal to the mix. I have yet to try to go down or off of Seroquel so I can't speak to how it feels to discontinue it. I can't feel that it does much else to me than makes me tired (I try to accept that effect as "anxiolytic") and crave sweets.
---Katy
This is the end of the thread.
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