Posted by alienatari on April 27, 2005, at 18:54:45
In reply to Re: seroquel » alienatari, posted by ed_uk on April 27, 2005, at 7:40:38
Thank you so much Ed :) You are a wealth of knowledge. I think what you described was exactly what would happen to me. Ill have to do some research on dystonia. The TD is starting to go thankfully, i dont notice it much anymore. Ive also had akathesia from most antipsychotics ive been on. Arghh lol. Anyway, I totally agree with you I NEVER want to touch another antipsychotic again my life!!!! Thanks again for all that info, you really are such a wonderful and helpful person :) Take care
> Hi Alien!
>
> >When I would take it my throat would close up and make it hard to breathe and swallow.
>
> It *might* have been an allergy (angioedema) but..........
>
> It could have been a laryngeal-pharyngeal dystonia ie. a drug-induced spasm of the muscles in the throat or laynx.
>
> If necessary, antipsychotic-induced dystonic reactions can be treated symptomatically with an anticholinergic drug such as procyclidine. Dystonic reactions tend to be dose-related, a smaller dose of Seroquel might have provided equivalent efficacy without causing such side effects.
>
> On the other hand, allergic reactions are rarely dose-related ie. they can occur even at minute doses. If this particular side effect appeared soon after starting treatment with Seroquel, and was accompanied by other symptoms such as rash/itching, it was probably an allergy. If it only appeared after the dose was increased to a high level and was not accompanied by other symptoms (rash, itching, wheezing, swelling of the lips and face, fainting), it was probably a dystonia. Also, if the symptoms were ONLY present shortly after taking a dose (ie. when the blood concentration of Seroquel was particularly high), it was probably a dystonia. If you were having an allergic reaction, the symptoms would almost certainly have been present throughout the day. A physician could have examined the inside of your mouth to detect angioedema (an allergy).
>
> If a laryngeal-pharyngeal dystonia is severe, it can compromise the airway- it can be life threatening. I can see why your doctor was concerned. On the other hand, acute dystonias are often very responsive to anticholinergics.
>
> Rarely, after long term treatment with an antipsychotic, laryngeal-pharyngeal dystonias can occur/emerge as a variant of tardive dyskinesia. In this case, the difficulties associated with breathing and swallowing would have persisted after withdrawal of the antipsychotic.
>
> The fact that you *may* have experienced a dystonia due to Seroquel suggests that you are very sensitive to the extrapyramidal (motor) side effects of antipsychotics. Seroquel is considerably less likly to cause dystonias than most antipsychotics. If I were you, I would avoid taking any antipsychotics in future unless it was clearly necessary (due to the absense of an alternative). I think you said that you have symptoms of tardive dyskinesia atm, I expect that these symptoms will improve if you avoid taking antipsychotics in future. You are young (AFAIK), and so your TD is likely to improve in time.
>
> If you do need to take Seroquel in future, it would be particularly important to find the minimum effective dose. It's such a shame that you had side effects when it was working so well for you :-(
>
> Kind regards,
> Ed.
poster:alienatari
thread:489880
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050423/msgs/490516.html