Posted by yxibow on May 21, 2009, at 17:04:30
In reply to Re: Seroquel help needed! - yxibow, posted by Zana on May 21, 2009, at 8:44:02
> I am actually weaning off seroquel at 50mgs every 3 weeks. I was at 300mgs and am now at 150. I went up 50 mgs at a time because with every increase I got a jolt of anxiety. And I also had weird mouth things going on, like my teeth hurt and I developed cavities all of a sudden (maybe a coincidence) and a weird bony growth in my mouth which has now receeded as I've gone down on the med (maybe a coincidence, who knows?)
Caries can develop in the mouth due to dry mouth from one or multiple medications because of the lack of saliva.The calcification I seriously doubt has anything to do with Seroquel.
Bruxism is another story, that's always possible with both APs and SSRIs among others.
I didn't like the med at all and two pdocs said that they didn't like it (too many long term side effects) and one said that most people don't like it, don't feel like themselves, feel foggy, tired.
Most APs have a "blunting" effect. For patients who are schizophrenic especially, this is actually an advantage, it "quells" and reduces agitation.
But yes, I am on a fair load of medications and I do feel that... its hard to say if that is the cause of derealization or whether it is the disorder itself or both.
> That being said,I don't know exactly what you doc is trying to achieve by adding seroquel to your mix. Do you know what his or her rationale is?
Yes, the theory that it would reduce whatever unknown etiology is causing an increase in D2, which by theoretical evidence it did.Yes, Seroquel worked for me for about 5 years before it started falling apart -- it greatly reduced some of the visual phenomenon that still continues to occut.
But there were uncomfortable things going on, and don't forget I am really sensitive to APs, and at some point I dropped it, actually three times, several times stone cold, causing withdrawal dyskinesia.
I still take Seroquel today because the benefits outweigh the risks -- I agree I am caught in a quandary with it and with a high dose of Valium.
It would be nice to reduce the Valium but I have gotten to a point where even though it is still doing something for me, I don't feel it any more, and I'd rather be off of it, but it is still doing something.
A similar catch-22 exists with the Seroquel -- if I went off of it, it is likely that I couldn't cope or care for myself very well and my functionality would be greatly reduced and anxiety would flare.
I don't want to continue to have to take it but I know that for better or worse, at least at the moment the benefit outweighs the risks of not having at least part of my functionality here.
It doesn't do what it used to do some years ago, and one can say transmitter overload, or dropping medication many times, there are so many variables.
> Sound like really uncomfortable and unsettling side-effects. Theres certainly no harm in backing down the dose slowly and seeing what happens to the symptoms. Trial and error is really the only way you or the docs are going to know if it will be helpful for you. I will say that the early side effects, esp. the increase in anxiety, passed.
> Hope this helps. Changing meds is such a drag.You're not joking.
> Zana
(At least I hope this was directed towards me... anyhow I answered it if it was....)
poster:yxibow
thread:896829
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090515/msgs/897019.html