Posted by tonyz on May 24, 2009, at 19:29:19
In reply to Re: Problems with taking Seroquel, posted by Zana on May 24, 2009, at 11:49:50
Zana,
Appreciate your kind words. Generally when I get off my meds I feel great, but unfortunately it doesn't last. I get off because of the side effects. I keep hoping for an alternative, but I haven't found one yet. Now I am a wreck. My body just feels so much better when I'm off the meds and I usually don't relapse that quickly. This year has been especially terrible. All meds carry some risk and yet there is no guarantee that you will not have a relapse even if you stay on them.Sometimes I think of my depression as just a bad pattern that my brain has developed and keep hoping to be able to break the cycle, but I foolishly think that once I get better it will never recur. Very foolish I know. I worry a lot about the side effects from the drugs.
Looking at my notes from last year was up to 400mg of Seroquel. I had started in Feb of 2007 at 50mg got up to 200mg and then stopped it. I was taking sam-e at the time and was worried about that combination. About mid-march started at 300mg a lot of adjustments up and down, hospitalized in April of 2008 once I got better the reduction of the Seroquel was 25mg every 4 days. Now I am ramping up to 200mg started with 50mg also increasing Nortriptyline as well. In May of 2008 when I got off the Seroquel I didn't have any problems. My hope is that the augmentation of the Seroquel with the Nortriptyline will do the trick, then I'll back off on the Seroquel and the valium and will have to hold the Nortriptyline for a longer period of time at least at around 125-150mg. I will have to deal with the shakiness.
Then consider a mood stabilizer or something. The consensus seems to be lithium or lamictal - neither is attractive. Also thinking about cognitive therapy and perhaps some very unorthodox methods. I've been taking yoga for a few years now and I thought that helped a bit with this last bout, but it wasn't enough to stop it. There are some elaborate breathing techniques that are designed for different illnesses. I'm told the effects are subtle, but they do work and this is from someone who has a deep medical background. I don't know if there is something specific for depression. That is what I will investigate.
Sorry long answer to your short question. I hope you are doing ok with your meds and as I mentioned I had no problems tapering the seroquel last year. This year I'm not sure why things didn't work out as well probably wasn't on it long enough.
When I was in the hospital the doc I had mentioned L-tryptophan and he advised taking it to help for sleep. If you check for drug interactions with this and Nortriptyline there is kind of a red flag but I didn't have any problems. I may suggest that with my doctor now.
Now I am just very fuzzy and going downhill, lots of memory problems. Hard to watch a movie. This has happened before I just hope I recover.
Anyway good luck to you and others that are in similar predicaments.
Just curious are you taking the Seroquel as an augmentation for depression or for something else?
> I have never taken seroquel without another med. I think the fewest meds I was taking with it included remeron and klonopin. I never liked it but it did give me some relief when I was most depressed. And, as I said in my last post, I am hoping to be able to get off it without any recurrence of the depression.
> Why do you keep going off your meds?
> Sounds like you get your depression under control and then right away go off the meds? Maybe you need to find a combo that works and that you can stick with. I hate being on meds too and am always thinking about what I can drop. But then sometimes I catch myself and think, hey, if I'm feeling pretty good, why mess around with it?
>
> Zana
poster:tonyz
thread:897255
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090524/msgs/897483.html