Posted by Christ_empowered on November 23, 2013, at 18:05:20
In reply to MRI brain + back, discontinue seroquel start lithi, posted by Jeroen on November 23, 2013, at 15:18:35
Hey. I would think that Abilify @ 20 could help control agitation and psychosis while at the very least not making the negative symptoms worse. I take 20-30, and it at least doesn't make me depressed and lethargic. Low dose Seroquel...I have no experience with that. My guess would be that it'd help with residual agitation and anxiety, maybe help a little with depression.Personally, I give two thumbs up to upping the Xanax. No one should live with intense, untreated anxiety, and Xanax has mild mood-elevating properties that make reasonable doses helpful for some cases of sadness mixed with anxiety (and other stuff...) My only concern would be that you, with long term use, you might turn into one of those people who, through no fault of their own, have issues on Xanax...anxiety between doses, increasing needs to up the dosage, etc.
Do you have Xanax xr in your country? We have it here, although I get the impression that its not very popular. Only problem with it is that some people wake up with anxiety/Xanax withdrawal (the xr doesn't carry them through the nite), so they need a benzo or something at night to carry them through. Other than that...great idea, really.
I know its old-school, but...Valium? Doesn't cause depression as much as Klonopin, wide dosage range, lasts a long time, more sedating, more relaxing, etc. etc. Should you decide to taper, Valium is one of the easier benzos to taper off of, as long as its done gradually. Its also usually quite cheap. With added sedation from Valium, you may not (I'm just guessing here) need the Seroquel, or maybe a lower dose would do.
I don't know anything about Lithium. Combined with any antipsychotic, the risk of EPS and I think TD shoot up a bit, but Abilify and Seroquel are both pretty low on the EPS and TD scale, so maybe that wouldn't be a big deal (?). There's also the whole dosage/blood level issue...I imagine there's a huge difference between adding a low, anti-depressant dose of lithium to ongoing atypical treatment versus using full, anti-manic lithium treatment with a neuroleptic.
Anyway, I know how rough psychiatry can be, and I'm sorry you're going through it.
Good luck to you!
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1054804
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20131115/msgs/1054811.html