Posted by yxibow on November 29, 2006, at 17:36:36
In reply to Re: Seroquel for imsomnia? Ed_UK or Yxibow for BZD, posted by stargazer on November 29, 2006, at 9:18:49
> I was originally put on Seroquel for depression, not insomnia. My depressions tend to be the
> hypersomnic type, almost never have had insomnia, but when I did have it, I know what a hellish experience that is.
>
> "Seroquel as a Monotherapy for Depression", my original posting, did not completely work for me, but DID pull me out of a downward spiral straight into hell, which for me seemed to be precipitated by Cymbalta.
>
> The only reason I stayed on Seroquel after I stopped Cymbalta, was to prevent me from crashing during the washout period before starting EMSAM.
>
> Once I started EMSAM, I asked my pdoc if I could get off Seroquel and he was reluctant to do that, I think from fear of having me relapse. Being aware of all the negatives associated with AP's including TD, I elected to SLOWLY taper myself. This is where I'm at, last night took 25 mg and did not wake up during the night.
>
> Interestingly, my pdoc NEVER said that Seroquel could cause TD and he expressed NO reluctance in prescribing it. He's usually very forthcoming with warnings. I was very reluctant to try it since I have a thing about using meds for other diagnoses (psychoses,schizo) for depression, although it seems to have become the norm, at least here. I'll have to ask him about why he didn't mention TD as a risk. He was very gungho about using Seroquel as a monotherapy for depression. Perhaps at a higher dosage it may have worked.
>
> How common is TD with atypicals? Since my pdoc never mentioned it, I'm thinking the incidence of it may be overblown. My pdoc wanted me to go higher than 200 mg, but the SE's of vertigo (4 falls in the last few months) was too great and I resisted any increase in dosage.I'm sorry to hear you've had falls -- I take Seroquel and I'm not sure if its vertigo or not but I take it at night and I have to be in bed when it is effective because it tends to cause orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure), hence no sharp up and down movements. So that type of situation is not uncommon I would imagine.
It's unknown but the aggregate statistics in one study put atypicals at 2% per year as opposed to a much higher percentage for old line drugs. But, this isn't meant to scare you away -- it still isn't known entirely and though there have been cases, they may not have the severity of old line drugs. TD and EPS exist on a sort of continuum and are at least partially dose related.
> I'll probably be off it in a matter of days. If anyone knows me, I'm a big proponent of only taking what one absolutely needs and at the lowest dose possible. Drug companies hate my type since I'm too conservative for them.Actually most reasonable psychopharmacologists are in favour of what is known as the MED (minimum effective dose) of any medication. So you're not at all off kilter there. So are a couple of the leading experts in TD (Drs. Wirshing and Wirshing) in favour of using the least amount of neuroleptic needed.
>
> Stargazer
poster:yxibow
thread:703921
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061129/msgs/708695.html