Posted by ronaldo on October 11, 2006, at 6:09:00
In reply to Re: Seroquel for sleep - doesn't work » ronaldo, posted by ed_uk on October 10, 2006, at 14:49:57
Brave soul that I am last night I tried just 12.5 mg (down from 25 mg) of Seroquel with just my usual 900 mg of Lithium. I went to bed at 10 pm anticipating a blissful 8 hours sleep but it was not to be. I was awake at 2.30 am, went to sleep at 10.30 pm (say), which makes four hours sleep.
I did not go back to sleep. I awoke with a stuffy nose with an unpleasant chemical smell which gave me something akin to sleep apnea except I did not fall asleep; I was hovering on the brink of falling asleep when I would miss a breath and have to make a conscious effort to inhale. I get anxious when I think I cannot breath. I think it was all in my mind. Unpleasant nevertheless.
12.5 mg of Seroquel was not a wasted experiment. I cut the 25 mg in half with a Stanley blade. I have now reduced my Seroquel from 100 mg (4 days)to 75 mg (1 day) to 50 mg (7 days) to 25 mg (for 3 days)to 12.5 mg for 1 day. I am hoping I am now weaned off the Seroquel and can do without it. Any comments?
Tonight I may just take the 900 mg Lithium or I may take 7.5 mg of Zopiclone with it. It might be worth it to see how I sleep just on the Lithium now that I am free (at last) of the horrible anti-psychotics. Sorry that is just me and my experience and how I feel; I know that anti-psychotics really help some people.
Henceforth I will try to lead a life free of anti-psychotics - off label and on label. My chemist told me that the Seroquel taken with the Zopiclone would enhance the action of the Zopiclone but when I tried it on Monday night I only slept till 4.20 am and as always I did not go back to sleep. It was quite difficult getting to sleep as well - strange sensations in my head. So hopefully that is the end of the Seroquel for me. As far as the Zopiclone goes I think I may try one night on Lithium alone to give the Seroquel one extra day to clear my system (Seroquel and Zopiclone do not go well together in my experience) and then I might try Zopiclone and Lithium on Thursday night. I don't expect to sleep tonight with just the Lithium but I want to see what happens. So far I have been hooked on the Olanzapine then onto the Seroquel and now onto the Zopiclone. My GP says it is easy to get hooked on Zopiclone. Thats why he would only give me 14 of them. (14 x 7.5 mg)
I feel like I am entering the final battle of my two year campaign against insomnia. If only.
...Alan
poster:ronaldo
thread:692010
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061011/msgs/693764.html