Posted by med_empowered on March 27, 2006, at 3:03:15
In reply to Re: drop the seroquel » med_empowered, posted by CEK on March 26, 2006, at 19:33:11
hi. Personally, I'd ditch the seroquel..it can cause problems, and its really only a front-line med for schizophrenia and acute mania--for milder cases of bipolar, like yours, you can usually do without an antipsychotic.
If you feel hypomanic-y or like you need more mood control without seroquel, you can always add another mood stabilizer...bipolar depression can often be treated just with mood stabilizers (either by upping the dose of 1 or adding additional mood stabilizers). So if you're still having problems, adding Trileptal or Depakote or something could be useful. If the Antidepressant seems problematic you could always try reducing the dose further or switching to another drug (Wellbutrin supposedly causes fewer problems in bipolar disorder than the SSRIs, so that could be an option). Discontinuing antidepressants altogether is certainly another option.
You really should be more assertive with your doc. Think about it this way: he works for you. His job is to make you well, and right now it seems that he's failing at that. If he finds it difficult to meet your needs or take you seriously, you should get another doctor. PERIOD. If all else fails, you can always do this: go to a talk-therapist, and have that person call up your family doc/nurse practitioner and ask for certain meds. Usually, this method works pretty well. Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:624274
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060322/msgs/625026.html