Posted by crepuscular on April 25, 2002, at 16:57:08
In reply to Re: Can extreme agitation be considered mania? » crepuscular, posted by Cindylou on April 25, 2002, at 12:14:20
Sure thing! (on Seroquel).
it's one of those "atypical" antipsychotics and my particular pdoc has had good luck with it on bipolar people because of the low side effect profile & efficacy on *both* ends of the disorder. it appears to be the best in this respect of all the new antipsychotics. but everybody is different, so who knows.
sedation is a real side effect, but heck, that's a side effect i really needed. it does fade, but the quality of my sleep has remained great.
subjectively, there is this reduction of intrusive thoughts & feelings, a vast reduction of anger, and in about 2 weeks i was in a totally different space, really able to say "what on earth was i thinking?"
i've tried some anticonvulsants for my mania (both "natural" and AD induced) but have always found them uncomfortable in the sense that i felt like a neurological pillow was squelching my entire normal self. seroquel does not feel this way - which is good. i'm able to write songs and access significant mood ranges without feeling mentally ill. lyrics are more difficult, however, and i have noticed that if i back off the dose my verbal fluency increases.
which should be expected i guess. un-medicated and manic, i feel like a verbal genius (but probably ain't...) medicated i feel like everybody else. which is cool.
i'm afraid to stay on this med for life, and i have noticed some lisping in my speech, which people may find endearing but i fear is sign od bad neurological juju. in May i check back in with the doc to see.
lateer.
poster:crepuscular
thread:104048
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104130.html