Posted by Christ_empowered on May 15, 2015, at 8:11:18
In reply to What does Seroquel actually do???, posted by maria3667 on May 14, 2015, at 16:30:16
OK. Hopefully, a real expert will chime in, but...till then...here goes...
Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic. It doesn't bind to D2 receptors as much as many other antipsychotics, especially the older ones (think Haldol). It also antagonizes a number of serotonin receptors, which may help w/ some mood and anxiety issues.
Anyway, the deal is that Seroquel can treat psychosis and mania with less EPS--twitches, stuff like that--and a lower rate of Tardive dyskinesia (sort of like permanent EPS) than many other options, except probably clozapine.
One of seroquel's metabolites is something of an antidepressant...I think it works on norepinephrine reuptake. This may be why 300+mgs/day = anti-depressant response in a lot of people. Then again...anything that reduces anxiety reduces depression scores, so..who knows?
Seroquel can be quite sedating. Its a low potency drug, which means you need hundreds of mgs/day to get antipsychotic effects, whereas high potency drugs (like Risperdal) can do the job w/ a couple milligrams (but they come with their own set of side effects).
One big advantage of seroquel versus older low potency drugs, like Thorazine, is that seroquel can help mood issues, while many older drugs caused or worsened depression and feelings of unease. There's a term..."neuroleptic induced dysphoria," that basically means your antipsychotic is blunting your emotions and making you sad. This is less common with seroquel than with Thorazine and other older drugs.
And...that is all. :-)
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1078971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150407/msgs/1078986.html