Question About Seroquel Xr, For Anxiety, Not For Insomnia

[lostforgottensoul]

Hope it stays available.

Me too! Seriquel brand is EXPENSIVE!

So, somewhere along the way, someone had to approve you taking the medication at all (as opposed to a parallel med with the same effects) - but that only needs to happen once, and you may not have known about it.

Yeah, I had to have a prior authorization orginally before they'd approve over, I think, 50mg a few times a year or some shit. So yeah, I had that done.

Oh. Because there wasn't a generic equivalent available.

So the quetiapine XR wouldn't me all mg? I'd think if it came out, it would be all mg? But maybe not. I didn't read the entire article about it as all I wanted to know is if it was out at all to tell my pharmacist.

Oh, also, I've been feeling like a wet rag for so long. I don't know how long but it's also why, I think (or at least partially why), I was having issues getting any sort of motivation on the weekends. I took 200mg last night instead of the 250mg and today I don't feel like a wet rag. Feel like my old self. I'm wondering if 250mg was a bit too much?

I wanted to completely replace the xanax in the day but if I need to stop at 200mg instead of 300mg, I will.

 

[joeylittle]

So the quetiapine XR wouldn't me all mg? I'd think if it came out, it would be all mg? But maybe not. I didn't read the entire article about it...

Not sure what 'all mg' means?

If there is a generic equivalent, you'll need a medical necessity approval to be covered by insurance for brand-name meds. Even then, the copay is usually higher by a factor of 2 or 3.

If there is absolutely no generic equivalent (as seroquel XR was), then generally all you need is a prescription that fulfills the basic requirements - as in, you've tried X number of other medications unsuccessfully, and so there's a reason to take (brand name) because of its unique action.

That approval can be easy or hard depending on a lot of factors.

Here's a link on the recent shipment of generic seroquel XR (quietapine) Endo Int'l (ENDP) Commences Shipments of Generic Seroquel XR

 

[lostforgottensoul]

Not sure what 'all mg' means?

Well, I had two seperate prescriptions. One for 200mg brand Seriquel XR and one for 50mg brand Seriquel XR to equal a daily dose of 250mg.

They only refused the 200mg, they covered the 50mg which was also written for brand. So if they came out with the generic quetiapine XR, wouldn't it be generic for 50mg and 200mg?

I don't get why they didn't refuse both for the same reason, that there is now a generic.

 

[joeylittle]

No clue. Could be something in your insurance paperwork, could be something specific to your state...the pharmacist usually knows, since they are the intersection point of the scrip and the insurance and the drug manufacturers.

 

[8888]

I used to take Seroquel XR for anxiety, mood stabilization, and to try to get rid of psychosis . I was on a much higher dose, 350 mg. I think it made some things better and others worse, but that's just my experience. Personally I'd give it some time and talk to your doctor, maybe they want to up your dose.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

maybe they want to up your dose.

My Dr writes what I ask for. She doesn't tell me, I tell her. That is how much of a flake she is. She will talk about interactions or being too much sometimes but generally, I go in there and say "I am taking 150mg now, I want 200mg", "I am on 200mg, I want 250mg and then lower the Xanax from 1mg three times a day to .50mg three times a day" and she writes it. We don't talk much.

My therapist is an LMHC in the group with my PDoc. He knows his meds well and brain chemistry well. He is the one that talks to me about meds and what would be best for what symptoms and all side effects etc. Which is sort of good as I see him weekly and my PDoc on once every 3 months for meds. He will tell me what to ask for and my PDoc doesn't look at his note in my chart. I know that from when she prescribed addrall for the exhaustion (bad mistake).

I titrate myself up using the 50mgs to do it. And so I just go and ask for the one higher if it is working better for me.

I'm not doing well on the 250mg. I feel like I am a soaked rag that I am dragging around all day. I lowered it to 200mg and I feel much better. Still have anxiety but its ok since I am still on .5mg xanax. I feel ok stopping there. I could take 300mg on a day off but I honestly don't think it will help if 250mg made me feel the way it did.

It's a mood stabilizer & daytime anxiety med for me. It is doing wonders on helping me keep my emotions a bit more even. Not totally even and not normal but still a bit more even then before. The roller coaster isn't near as extreme.

I could have never made it and would have flushed it if it wasn't for the cheerleading from this site. I am very grateful for that!

 

[8888]

I find it odd your doctor doesn't make more suggestions on dosages, but if that's working for you than I'm happy for you. I'm glad you have found this site helpful.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I find it odd your doctor doesn't make more suggestions on dosages

Me too! She's an odd duck. She knows about dosages of meds but really only advises of interactions and like for the Xanax, she didn't want to go above 1mg three times a day. But she certianly doesn't have an active roll in my meds. My therapist does.

And I just found out Fri why she didn't fight with me about giving me Seriquel XR and sort of knew I was about to ask for it. My therapist didn't just write it in my chart but actually took her aside and told her and talked to her about it.

They are in a large group with, now, two PDocs and around 10 or so LMHCs (therapists) so I have another PDoc I can switch to without loosing my therapist.

When I started going there they were half as small and so I didn't have a choice.

But it really sort of works out with the knowledge my therapist has with medication and brain chemistry. I don't know why he never got licenced or whatever to write meds and go into private practice but in any case, as long as one of them can talk about it with me, it works out.

Also, my PDoc's appointments are 15min appointments. And usually its less then that. Never any time to really talk about it anyway.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

I haven't updated this thread so thought I should.

I stopped at 200mg. It's perfect for me. Doesn't add to the exhaustion but does it's job. This medication has stablized me so well. My emotions are so much less extreme. They are leveled so well that most of the time I can finally regulate them with DBT skills where before they were so far extreme that DBT really had trouble, alone, regulating them. It is very nice to not have that super intense roller coaster. Where I have a moment of a freak out but within mins can reel that in. Before it was just complete freak out for hours or days and then an all out crash. Or a super low suicide depressive states for hours or days. Today its maybe mins of a freak out (if at all), or depressive state, and I can internally calm that or reel that in to challenge it, change it, soothe it, rationalize it, etc.

It's hard to explain. I am much more rational as well which is very nice.

In any case, 200mg is it for me where I am the most stable. I did have issue rebalancing the Xanax but honestly that got fixed when I started training my dog (hopefully to be my service dog) as some how that has solved that issue. I don't need the xanax. When I do I take a .5m but it's not often. A few times a week. I do take 1mg at night. I had lowered it to .5 but i started to really have trouble with sleep. The tizanidine was already lowered from 3 of them to a half of one so I didn't want to increase that plus it was anxiety so I went ahead and went back up and that is now perfect.

Anyway, just wanted everyone to have the ending to this very long story. :)

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

I take vistaril for anxiety, especially before meeting with my trauma therapist

 

[lostforgottensoul]

@recoveringfromptsd, I was taking Xanax. I know two completely different types of meds so it can't really compare but I needed a longer term solution (is my point). My anxiety was outreaching the 1 mg three times a day. I would literally tremble at every therapy session, dispite already taking a Xanax and I just didn't feel comfortable asking for more, most especially with taking opioid pain meds so I asked for different. I've been on so many anti-depressants I can't count how many and they don't work at all for me. So it was anxiety that started this but it also stabilized all other emotions a bit in addition. I still feel a higher intensity then most people, it's just closer to "normal".

So it's sort of had a side effect in a way. Taken for anxiety and it helped the other emotions too.

But I also have BPD which is why my emotions are dialed up and so that's likely the difference.

 

[recoveringfromptsd]

@lostforgottensoul I can sympathize with you, I have had the BPD label before too, I take seroquel for sleep and vistaril as a prn for anxiety. The latter works really well to calm me down, and make me mellow.