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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by obsidian on March 11, 2008, at 22:11:56
about seroquel
I don't understand why this med works for me...
it's only 75mgs and it really makes a dent in my anxiety...but why?
perhaps it's simply the sedation and it giving me more than adequate sleep?
perhaps it is some type of placebo effect?
I remember ugottahavehope talking about seroquel, so I was curious about what they might have to say
I'd rather not take it if the only thing it's got going for it for me is the sedating(histamine?) thing
but there have been times when seroquel has made me feel pretty darn flat
would benadryl do something like that?
I don't get it.
I kind of get the feeling that seroquel couldn't really do much except at fairly high doses.
I am afraid that I simply want to believe in this med without any real concrete reasonthe thing is...I'm not sure I believe in any of my meds....
effexor- well I know when I feel withdrawal effects, but does it do anything otherwise??
who knows?
lamictal- eh, I haven't got a clue on this one, I take it for the hell of it I guess, I don't know if it does anything eitherI keep wondering if I have psyched myself into thinking I need these meds? how can I know that?
go off all of them I suppose?klonopin is the only one that's freaking obvious you know?
is there anyone out there with any confidence in psychiatric meds for people with things other than obvious psychosis, bipolar I?
maybe I am just one characterologically screwed up chick hanging on to pills instead of a teddy bear?
maybe pez would do the trick if you called it something that sounded psychopharmacological, like..... let's see
getupandgoafy
ezybreezypro
feelinsuproeh...I'd throw the whole lot of them out if I had the guts :-(
Posted by Phillipa on March 11, 2008, at 22:38:54
In reply to do meds do anything??, posted by obsidian on March 11, 2008, at 22:11:56
Hummm good question and it seems for me that benzos are the only ones that clearly work or things like motrin, or pain meds. So does caffeine unfortunely cant drink it as too much anxiety. Love Phillipa
Posted by Kath on March 12, 2008, at 11:01:37
In reply to do meds do anything??, posted by obsidian on March 11, 2008, at 22:11:56
I know that Celexa (SSRI) did help me with anxiety/depression sid.
Sounds like you're on a number of meds.
I wonder what your original 'diagnosis' was & if you started on 1 med & added more 1 by 1 or what?
I guess my take on meds is that I'm willing to take them to get the symptoms of (whatever) under control. Then try to find the cause & see if there's anything non-medical - therapy; alternative methods; energy work, etcetera that I can do to help the underlying cause of the problem.
THEN after however long (in my case with Celexa, it was about 5 years or so) GRADUALLY (VERY gradually is my personal preference) taper off meds.
So to your question - do meds do anything? Yes - for me they did help me cope with anxiety & depression. They also had a huge negative impact on my memory, which I had hoped would reverse when I stopped taking them, but alas, no such luck.
In my opinion, all meds have some side effects & if we don't need them, why expose our bodies/minds to those side effects.
:-) Kath
Posted by Racer on March 12, 2008, at 12:32:26
In reply to do meds do anything??, posted by obsidian on March 11, 2008, at 22:11:56
I have no idea if what I'm about to suggest has any merit whatsoever, but here goes: amphetamines increase dopaminergic activity in parts of the brain, thus causing the speediness. Seroquel decreases dopaminergic activity, which I would think would key in to the anxiety, etc.
But that's just speculation.
What I can say for sure is this: for me, medications have kept me alive to date. For me, medications absolutely, beyond any doubt have a positive effect.
Extrapolate or not for yourself, but I have no question regarding medications.
Posted by yxibow on March 13, 2008, at 4:55:34
In reply to Re: do meds do anything?? » obsidian, posted by Racer on March 12, 2008, at 12:32:26
Yes, they do -- I can sense the frustration.
One thing that could lead people to believe they don't work is too many changes in a short time -- one never appreciate the effects of a particular medication.
I can say that over my lifetime medications have had more neutral or positive benefits than not. Thats because I know I am from birth hardwired, biologicially susceptible to changes in brain chemistry.
When I was younger and had really bad OCD I fought it on my own and was hospitalized. It actually was only after I was stabilized and went through a program that I took medication, prozac at the time, for it.
Various SSRIs were tried in college for dysthymia, its sort of a blur, though I know Effexor for me was like a box of nodoz, it was intolerable.
I had a rare reaction to rapid discontinuation of Tranxene, a not too normally used benzodiazepine -- to this day, I have muscle contractions and at the time my scalp muscles moved for several weeks before locking. Occasionally when my complex of anxiety conditions change now, it is brought back again. Hence, don't drop benzodiazepines like a brick and don't have a doctor give you half of it back. Its only supposed to be 10% per week at most.
Anyhow, thats a side tangent. I was on Wellbutrin SR some time back and though it might have helped some with depression and definately improve my sex drive, it eventually literally and mentally set my head on fire -- some light redness and a slight loss of hair (coincidence, I dont know), but the OCD ideation at night and inability to sleep led to discontinuation.
Then Nov 17, 2001 rolled along and I have a rare mostly inexplicable somatoform disorder -- though I was very hesitant to try them -- I first went through Luvox, and discovered sleep problems, so I went on Remeron, and strangely enough there was another delta of improvement on my disorder. So I took Remeron way up -- which was good, but the weight gain was incredible. So eventually it was back to Luvox and Seroquel, which had worked to make me feel connected and make the appearance of lights and a constellation of problems better. Unfortunately I dropped it for Zyprexa which well -- I dont want to go there but was a mistake and by then it was Cymbalta, and that was dropped for returning to Luvox possibly. At any rate, there was months of depression, Seroquel starting 3x and dropping like a brick.
Seroquel no longer works for me like it did before although it has improved my "functionality" (I dont really like that technical description), it has not returned me to the person I was a year or several years ago. Still despite very rare unintended effects, I continue to take it and a combination of other medications because I know that I would be back in total confusion and find it extremely difficult to care for myself.
So now its more a Recovery model, and I am in intensive therapy - with the hope that my hopes and dreams can be realized to the extent that is possible. Its hard talking about yourself in the third person, because you want to be the "rest of everyone" outside of you. But for every person that appears "normal", there certainly lies something underneath. A lot of people with serious disorders are able to carry on with their passions, it just takes work.
At the moment I'm discouraged, but I keep trying, with the support I have around me.
So the summary of all this -- not all medications will work. I have been through almost all AEDs and only Neurontin and Lyrica (which had to be discontinued because of vision issues) showed anything. We are still seeing if Lamictal is doing anything for my depression. I don't believe it is doing anything for my other symptoms.
A medication can be considered good if it helps even 30% of the population -- and one has to note that everyone is individual, not just in the brain, but how they metabolize, as we now know there are differences in metabolization among ethnic groups and certain crucial things to watch with the P450 subsystem.
Also, sometimes the placebo effect is just as good -- some people can respond to a medication even if it is no better than Pez. Now, I wouldn't say taking medicated Pez longterm is the best thing to do, but then again, sometimes its hard to tell that something did or didnt work until you remove it. And removing isn't always the best with serious anxiety disorders. So its a sticky wicket.
Anyhow that's my belief in modern medicine. If I could throw the whole bag out the window, I'd gladly do so, but I know the combination therapy, typing here, all aspects of my life would become rather strange because I have had a lot of trauma in the last months. And I am not psychotic at all, I just have a very complicated case (there's the third person again) -- that I wish I could dig out of quicker than it will take.
Posted by obsidian on March 14, 2008, at 23:13:13
In reply to Re: do meds do anything?? » obsidian, posted by Racer on March 12, 2008, at 12:32:26
> I have no idea if what I'm about to suggest has any merit whatsoever, but here goes: amphetamines increase dopaminergic activity in parts of the brain, thus causing the speediness. Seroquel decreases dopaminergic activity, which I would think would key in to the anxiety, etc.
>
> But that's just speculation.
>
> What I can say for sure is this: for me, medications have kept me alive to date. For me, medications absolutely, beyond any doubt have a positive effect.
>
> Extrapolate or not for yourself, but I have no question regarding medications.
Thanks Racer, it is good to hear from someone who is convinced. :-)
sid
Posted by obsidian on March 15, 2008, at 0:06:37
In reply to Re: do meds do anything??, posted by yxibow on March 13, 2008, at 4:55:34
I want to thank you for your thoughtful response. What I liked most about it was how you described your difficulties so early on. I have always been so incredibly sensitive.
I cannot begin to understand what my "hard wiring" might be. There is not much I am sure of in fact, but one thing I do think I know is that I have likely been more uncomfortable in my skin than most human beings.(and I don't think I am being overly subjective there)so seroquel helps me be "functional"...but god I hate that idea!!
I just came out of a really nasty slide downwards after being off the seroquel for a while, and using marijuana to relax. Being high all the time was the first thing I discovered years ago that helped me cope. then I stopped, picked up the meds, klonopin didn't quite cut it along with the effexor, so I settled on low dose seroquel for a while, then lamictal came into the picture somewhere along the way.
A few months ago though I got tired of being tired and not so thrilled with the seroquel weight gain and feeling a little flat so I ditched it. Then came the marijuana into the picture albeit briefly, but I had to keep smoking it and then my head was very, very busy and I was very very sad....and isn't the universe such a lonely, f*ck*d up, broken place.....(sigh) but isn't it though really?and then came the internal dialogue-
...."alright dammit, I'll take the seroquel, and the klonopin, and while you're at it, raise the effexor, sure"
I hate them and I am thankful for them at the same time...but mostly right now I think I HATE them- so perhaps some very serious life changes could help, but like I have described I've never functioned well...there has never been some discrete easily defined period of time which I can easily describe as my "not well" time verses my "well" time, just real meltdowns verses hanging on for dear life
eh...well now I just feel melodramaticanyway, I am sorry you've had to struggle with the burden of OCD, I've seen people absolutely tormented by it. It's just not fair, it isn't.
Good luck in your search. I hope you find more answers. It sounds like you've done a lot of hard work. again...thanks for your response :-)
-sid
This is the end of the thread.
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