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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:42:07
I have some questions regarding Seroquel and my upcomming p/doc appointment.
I had mentioned earlier that I experienced severe akathisia while on pimozide in 1989.
I have most recently tried lamictal and experienced too many skin related side effects.
I have depression/anxiety...20 years. My moods are quite mixed....no mania, but rather, depressed, aggression, irritability and the occasional "normal" moment.I am currently on; Zoloft 75mg, Remeron 30mg, Clonazepam 0.5md bid and tapering off Lamictal.
My p/doc would like to try an A/P to replace Lamictal as I've been unsuccessful with prior mood stabilizer trials.
I am considering Seroquel for the following reasons;
- sleep aid, I can eliminate Remeron as I take it for sleep only, there should be a trade-off in weight gain between the two??
- augment zoloft to increase A/D benefits??
- act as mood stabilizer for irritability??
- low risk for akathisia as compared to pimozide?
- I have severe tinnitus, it may reduce some of the terrible ringing in my ears/head??
I would very much appreciate any input. Please comment on my "wish" list.
Thanks to all for your support..... Rick
Posted by azalea on October 31, 2008, at 13:48:26
In reply to Questions on Seroquel ?????, posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:42:07
The mood stabilizer dose for Seroquel is much higher than the sleep aid dose. 25-50mg will help with sleep. 300mg is the recommended dose for bipolar depression, so I'm guessing that provides the mood stabilization.
Have you considered Lithium?
> I have some questions regarding Seroquel and my upcomming p/doc appointment.
> I had mentioned earlier that I experienced severe akathisia while on pimozide in 1989.
> I have most recently tried lamictal and experienced too many skin related side effects.
> I have depression/anxiety...20 years. My moods are quite mixed....no mania, but rather, depressed, aggression, irritability and the occasional "normal" moment.
>
> I am currently on; Zoloft 75mg, Remeron 30mg, Clonazepam 0.5md bid and tapering off Lamictal.
>
> My p/doc would like to try an A/P to replace Lamictal as I've been unsuccessful with prior mood stabilizer trials.
>
> I am considering Seroquel for the following reasons;
>
> - sleep aid, I can eliminate Remeron as I take it for sleep only, there should be a trade-off in weight gain between the two??
>
> - augment zoloft to increase A/D benefits??
>
> - act as mood stabilizer for irritability??
>
> - low risk for akathisia as compared to pimozide?
>
> - I have severe tinnitus, it may reduce some of the terrible ringing in my ears/head??
>
> I would very much appreciate any input. Please comment on my "wish" list.
>
> Thanks to all for your support..... Rick
Posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:55:03
In reply to Re: Questions on Seroquel ????? » ricker, posted by azalea on October 31, 2008, at 13:48:26
> The mood stabilizer dose for Seroquel is much higher than the sleep aid dose. 25-50mg will help with sleep. 300mg is the recommended dose for bipolar depression, so I'm guessing that provides the mood stabilization.
>
> Have you considered Lithium?Yes, I have tried lithium, depakote and tegretol. Lithium helped some but I experienced very bad tremors when I reached 600mg so my p/doc stopped, said it could become toxic in my system? The other 2 M/S basically just did not help ):
Thanks for your input... Rick
Posted by JadeKelly on October 31, 2008, at 14:51:41
In reply to Questions on Seroquel ?????, posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:42:07
> I have some questions regarding Seroquel and my upcomming p/doc appointment.
> I had mentioned earlier that I experienced severe akathisia while on pimozide in 1989.
> I have most recently tried lamictal and experienced too many skin related side effects.
> I have depression/anxiety...20 years. My moods are quite mixed....no mania, but rather, depressed, aggression, irritability and the occasional "normal" moment.
>
> I am currently on; Zoloft 75mg, Remeron 30mg, Clonazepam 0.5md bid and tapering off Lamictal.
>
> My p/doc would like to try an A/P to replace Lamictal as I've been unsuccessful with prior mood stabilizer trials.
>
> I am considering Seroquel for the following reasons;
>
> - sleep aid, I can eliminate Remeron as I take it for sleep only, there should be a trade-off in weight gain between the two??
>
> - augment zoloft to increase A/D benefits??
>
> - act as mood stabilizer for irritability??
>
> - low risk for akathisia as compared to pimozide?
>
> - I have severe tinnitus, it may reduce some of the terrible ringing in my ears/head??
>
> I would very much appreciate any input. Please comment on my "wish" list.
>
> Thanks to all for your support..... RickSeraquel will work vey well at controlling severe irritabiliy and aggressive episodes, no akathisia that I've seen, you will sleep like a baby, no, like a ....rock. You will be very tired in the morning at first, maybe even a little groggy. This will pass. Also no flat affect as in other antipsych's.
Not sure about tinnitis, won't cause it I don't think, but a cure? not sure. Don't know about augmenting other than to say that it works very well with Depakote as a mood stabalizer.
If you are having episodes of extreme anger, irritability, agression, I assume you know these could be signs of mania, depending on degree? I'm sure your pdoc has discussed this with you. Just sounds a little familiar. Forgive me.
I think you will like Seroquel, especially when fatigue wears off.
Good Luck to You! Let us know how you do.
Jade
Posted by Phillipa on October 31, 2008, at 16:45:02
In reply to Re: Questions on Seroquel ????? » azalea, posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:55:03
Ricker have you tried trileptal no weight gain? Love Phillipa
Posted by bleauberry on October 31, 2008, at 19:54:56
In reply to Questions on Seroquel ?????, posted by ricker on October 31, 2008, at 13:42:07
Either zyprexa or seroquel would be top choices, though prediction is impossible. I doubt either one will have any effect on lowering tinnitus. Actually either one would probably increase it, due to the alpha-antagonism which causes a release of more norepinephrine. Similar to remeron.
Remeron made my tinnitus worse. But even worse than that was zoloft. In literature that looks at tinnitus, zoloft often makes tinnitus worse. You happen to be on two meds that were the worst for me in terms of making tinnitus a lot louder.
The most tinnitus-friendly meds I've tried were prozac, xanax, klonopin.
You might consider a xanax or klonopin before an antipsychotic. It is a lot cheaper, easier, and safer. Forget the addiction thing. You'll know you are highly dependent on something when you try to get off seroquel. It took me more pain and more time to get off zyprexa than xanax.
Posted by yxibow on November 1, 2008, at 17:47:27
In reply to Re: Questions on Seroquel ?????, posted by bleauberry on October 31, 2008, at 19:54:56
> Either zyprexa or seroquel would be top choices, though prediction is impossible. I doubt either one will have any effect on lowering tinnitus. Actually either one would probably increase it, due to the alpha-antagonism which causes a release of more norepinephrine. Similar to remeron.
They may not have effect on lowering tinnitus, its a biological condition often, due to complex actions that eventually get at the auditory nerve. That is, if you don't have it purely because of anxiety.The effect of an AP would most likely dim anxiety just like the benzodiazepines mentioned below.
> The most tinnitus-friendly meds I've tried were prozac, xanax, klonopin.
Xanax is used to control tinnitus for some who can't ignore it if you read into the societies of those who suffer from it.There also is a training method -- you can ignore a fair degree, until someone mentions it.
Its just very anxiety provoking especially if you have high anxiety and tinnitus, and I do have slight tinnitus, fortunately not progressive at the moment.
> You might consider a xanax or klonopin before an antipsychotic. It is a lot cheaper, easier, and safer.Safer is in the eye of the beholder -- both are safe when taken as directed. When not, a benzodiazepine is not a barbiturate but while it may be among the safest agents we have just because it has a 50 year history line, it doesn't mean that any psychotropic is completely "safe."
Forget the addiction thing. You'll know you are highly dependent on something when you try to get off seroquel. It took me more pain and more time to get off zyprexa than xanax.
Ooh... I wouldn't say that, my experiences on Seroquel and dropping them suddenly were because of rare things happening and I dropped it like a stone several times -- not a good idea.Yes, massive anxiety and depression, but there's a reason why people take Seroquel -- massive anxiety and depression and all other sorts of reasons, off label, psychoses that don't fit a category, etc.
At a modest dose its pretty safe for a lot of people who have taken it since it came out.
I'm not an advocate for it, I'm saying there are places for it, and it is not an addictive substance. It just has to be dialed up and down just like Lamictal for different reasons.
So does Cymbalta, which would be massively destructive if it was dropped. And I've been through part of that too and I imagine Effexor is the same.
Or dropping Paxil, that's pretty rough.
I also wouldn't "forget" the dependent thing -- now its unclear that I'm completely habituated or I actually need a fair dose of the benzodiazepine I'm taking, but again I would also take issue with that.
Its basically -- take it with informed consent and know that there is no guarantee how many good years you will get out of it.Maybe you'll get many before its time to dial off of it, at which point nothing will work on the GABA receptor for a while until it heals, most likely. But that part I'm simplifying.
Yes, I'm a unique case with medication sensitivities and other such things which makes me feel alone, and its not suggestive of a lot of people on here, but then again most everyone on here has medication combinations that nobody has ever seen, because we all are different.-- tidings
Jay
This is the end of the thread.
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