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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Sandra62 on February 27, 2007, at 19:34:08
I am Bipolar and was taking 10 mg Zyprexa for quite some time but my PDOC noticed that I was getting muscle rigidity so decided to switch me to Seroquel. I went down to 5 mg of Zyprexa while starting 25 mg of Seroquel for a week. I then continued 5 mg of Zyprexa for another week and went up to 50 mg of Seroquel. I then discontinued the Zyprexa now for a week and was told to raise my dosage of Seroquel to 75 mg for a few days, then 100 mg, then 150 mg, then 200 mg, then 250 mg, and I start taking 300 mg tonight. For the past 4 days I've been experiencing anxiety, the kind that makes you feel like you are crawling out of your skin. I spoke to my PDOC and she said to continue on with the Seroquel but to raise my Rivotril (Clonazepam/Klonopin) from .5 mg to 1 mg a day. It does seem to help a little, but not enough to relax me. I only get relief when I take the Seroquel at the prescribed time, before bed. Then I can read for awhile and soon fall into a sound sleep. I get up in the morning and feel pretty good until the afternoon when I start to get that panicky feeling again. I'm wondering if it's the Seroquel or Zyprexa withdrawal that is causing this. Any insight would be deeply appreciated! I speak to my PDOC in a few more days so she can monitor how I'm feeling. I also have been taking 100 mg of Lamictal and 10 mg of Lexapro for a over a year now.
Posted by sleepygirl on February 27, 2007, at 21:02:31
In reply to Seroquel causing anxiety or Zyprexa withdrawal?, posted by Sandra62 on February 27, 2007, at 19:34:08
lots of people here may know better
but I think seroquel has a half-life that makes it effectively kaput by the afternoon??
I don't know for sure...
Posted by Phillipa on February 27, 2007, at 21:23:40
In reply to Re: Seroquel causing anxiety or Zyprexa withdrawal? » Sandra62, posted by sleepygirl on February 27, 2007, at 21:02:31
Sleepy I agree and think not only seroquel but the benzos do the same thing. Their potency goes down during the day. I don't care that valium is long acting and some say tolerance has developed I think there's a difference as the day goes on. Seroquel would be the same I would think. Love Phillipa
Posted by ronaldo on February 28, 2007, at 10:17:41
In reply to Seroquel causing anxiety or Zyprexa withdrawal?, posted by Sandra62 on February 27, 2007, at 19:34:08
Hi Sandra
I don't know if I have any 'insight', but I will share my experience with you. I'm also bipolar, in remission. I'm on 900 mg of Lithium and used to be on 5 mg of Zyprexa. I didn't like the Z because I thought it was giving me flat affect so I decided to come off it. First I tried cold turkey which did not work. After 9 days without hardly any sleep I went back onto 5 mg for one night and thereafter 2.5 mg for 17 nights and then cut it to zero. My pdoc put me on 50 mg Seroquel about the same time as I came off the Z. The Seroquel gave me a stuffy nose at night, but did not help me to sleep, and the lack of Z gave me bad anxiety so that I thought I couldn't breathe to the extent that I phoned the emergency doctor on two occasions.
The problem as I see it is this. Z is a very tricky drug to come off. A very slow and gradual taper is required. After 3 weeks of zero Z I could no longer take the insomnia and the anxiety and I went back on it at 10 mg for 4 weeks. Over the past 3 months I have been gradually tapering down to 1.25 mg. 10 mg - 7.5 mg - 5 mg - 3.75 mg - 2.5 mg - 1.25 mg. I had to use a pill cutter for some of these.
I am now at 1.25 mg Z. The next step is the hardest. .625 mg or zero, I don't know which. I have also been on 5 mg Valium for sleep since 8 January.
I think your anxiety is caused by coming off the Z too quickly. You might find that if you take a 5 mg Z for just one night it might cure your anxiety. If it does then you will know that the Z is to blame. You might try a gradual taper from 5 mg down to 2.5 mg down to half of a 2.5 mg i.e. 1.25 mg. It might even be worthwhile getting some 7.5 mg Z and cutting that in half to give you 3.75 mg which you could take after the 5 mg. I also found my anxiety started in the late afternoon and lasted into the night and I could not sleep as well.
I was on 5 mg Z for about 4 years. If you have been on it longer you might have to taper more slowly. If shorter you might not need to be so careful.
I will give you a link to a very helpful post, it helped me a lot, by ed_uk.
Here it is
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061104/msgs/702078.html
Hope you beat the anxiety
Regards
ronaldo
> I am Bipolar and was taking 10 mg Zyprexa for quite some time but my PDOC noticed that I was getting muscle rigidity so decided to switch me to Seroquel. I went down to 5 mg of Zyprexa while starting 25 mg of Seroquel for a week. I then continued 5 mg of Zyprexa for another week and went up to 50 mg of Seroquel. I then discontinued the Zyprexa now for a week and was told to raise my dosage of Seroquel to 75 mg for a few days, then 100 mg, then 150 mg, then 200 mg, then 250 mg, and I start taking 300 mg tonight. For the past 4 days I've been experiencing anxiety, the kind that makes you feel like you are crawling out of your skin. I spoke to my PDOC and she said to continue on with the Seroquel but to raise my Rivotril (Clonazepam/Klonopin) from .5 mg to 1 mg a day. It does seem to help a little, but not enough to relax me. I only get relief when I take the Seroquel at the prescribed time, before bed. Then I can read for awhile and soon fall into a sound sleep. I get up in the morning and feel pretty good until the afternoon when I start to get that panicky feeling again. I'm wondering if it's the Seroquel or Zyprexa withdrawal that is causing this. Any insight would be deeply appreciated! I speak to my PDOC in a few more days so she can monitor how I'm feeling. I also have been taking 100 mg of Lamictal and 10 mg of Lexapro for a over a year now.
Posted by Sandra62 on March 1, 2007, at 18:42:35
In reply to Re: Seroquel causing anxiety or Zyprexa withdrawal?, posted by ronaldo on February 28, 2007, at 10:17:41
Thank you all for your replies. Well I'm up to 300 mg of Seroquel and I am happy to report that the anxiety is gone. I also take 1 mg of Rivotril during the day so I'm sure that is helping as well. Man does this med ever make you sleep though! I kinda like it, although I never had a problem sleeping. I need to get up earlier though or I'm going to be wasting my days. Tonight I'm going to take it earlier and I absolutely have to get up to go to the dentist so we'll see how I feel.
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