Posted by utopizen on April 11, 2004, at 22:08:59
In reply to Re: Antipsychotic for depression? » utopizen, posted by jerrympls on April 10, 2004, at 23:53:53
Jerry!
I think you misinterpreted-- I was saying how my doc *didn't* see sales people, which accounts for his hesitancy to prescribe an antipsychotic and his comfortableness with Ambien, which is certainly not touted by sales people as much as antipsychotics are.
Also, I take Ambien, and realize it's helpful in treating insomnia. But I have very bad depression right now, and was considering an antipsychotic because it's caused my energy levels to be so low I'm essienitally unresponsive to the Desoxyn or Adderall I use to feel very energized by. And I've tried different doses, it's not that either.
I suppose I could try an antidepressant instead, but all drugs affect your sleep waves negatively, so I figured I may as well try a sedating med to limit the total sum of the drugs I have to take-- I also take Klonopin and Ambien now. If an antipsychotic helps my social anxiety, insomnia, and depression, that's helpful in reducing my total drug instake-- it's called "streamlining" by a doc I saw once.
My sleep doc wants me to consider Provigil+Straterra combined to "streamline" my meds, but I'm not too optomistic it'll help my depression, although there's a shot at it. I was just thinking, why not go with something potent like an antipsychotic, have it sedate me, and I can wake up... only taking it at night.
I've taken Seroquel before at night only. It is terrible for sleep for the first few nights, but your body gets use to it and sleep waves eventually calm down-- your body's sleep waves can eventually adjust after taking a med for awhile. I remember the first night of taking it, I feel like I was in a very light trance of sleep the whole night and woke up so groggy I was late to work- but after that I was fine on the remaining nights.
I just didn't bother to continue with it after a week because I wasn't convinced I had depression at the time. Now I certainly do, as I am anything but happy these days and my energy levels are very low. I may consider an antidepressant instead, I'm not sure. I just have less faith with those working I guess, and wish I stuck it out with the Seroquel a year ago to see if it had any effect on my social anxiety.
As for antipsychotics making me feel tired the next day, each day I seem to feel worse and more tired during the day, so I may as well try anything that will help my depression, it can only help in the long-term.
The last thing I care about now is feeling tired from a drug, I figure I can endure the few weeks it takes to kick in considering how much I've endured these past several months with my energy levels being so low from the depression.
And most of the tiredness comes from taking the stuff in the daytime.. if you're not psychotic, it can be helpful if you simply take it at night at a relatively low dose and not take it in the daytime.
Yeah, they're often augmented with antidepressants, but keep in mind it's easier to convince a patient to augment something than to switch them to something...
they are both effective in treating depression, since remember, depression is one of the three major symptoms of schtizophrenia besides social anxiety disorder and daytime hallucinations... and it treats depression in psychotic patients without the need to augment an antidepressant in many cases.
I wish I could just only have insomnia now, take Ambien, and feel refreshed in the morning. But I don't feel refreshed at all, my mood's terrible, and I'm already tired.
Throw the sedating meds at me, I just want relief... they can't do any worse than what they're going to potentially treat me for at this point.
Oh, and another point-- I take Ambien primarily because, after months of using a self-hynposis tape to put me to sleep, I have actually conquered my insomnia without the need for it-- but do have a borderline case of sleep apnea, and need it because the CPAP I use causes my insomnia.
I'm very proud of myself for committing to using a self-hypnosis tape for a few months straight, because it has finally proven extremely effective, and Ambien use to not work... combined with the tape, it does now. (Or, if I don't use CPAP for a night, self-hypnosis alone works as well)
poster:utopizen
thread:334966
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040407/msgs/335364.html