New Medication Seroquel (quetiapine)

[Owingsia]

Curious as it has not yet arrived in the mail....

how bad is it? I mean how will this affect me? I was on Prozac and Klonopin to control anxiety however now they want to change me to an anti-psychotic. This has me worried. I have read about the drug and am a little scared to use it.

I however need to do something about my symptoms. Anyone have experience with this drug? good or bad?

I have PTSD and Major depressive disorder. Currently in the apeals proccess to get it service connected. Was diagnosed with MDD while active duty. VA wants to deny service connectivity because I got out and did not seek treatment.... they let me out without any follow up plan and only 30 days of meds..... I did not seek treatment for almost 10 years because I didnt want to deal with the VA...... so I self medicated......

Recently had an event that made me realize that I am worse than I thought I was and it triggered my PTSD. Doc said it was like opening Pandoras box, I had everything tucked away nice and neat and then........ now I have to deal with it. VA says I do not have PTSD even though VA docs have diagnosed me with severe PTSD service connected.... QTC sent me to a life coach who didnt know shit about shit.... so I am fighting that.....

Anyway.... I am now to start this new drug when it gets here.... kinda scared about the drug and to top it off.... I am now on anti-psychotic medications.... this has me worried. Am I that bad?

 

[dutchiedelta]

Hiya Owingsia, welcome.
@Sludge is someone who did/does a lot of research on meds but others will know loads as well.
I don't know anything about this drug.
Just wanted to welcome you. Seen you before but as you're introducing yourself here, make yourself at home.

 

[Sludge]

This is one I am now on.

Truthfully, I didn't much care for it for many years and refused to take it.

Interestingly, this is one of those drugs that works really well for some and makes things worse for others. They really do not understand the mechanism very well, but it appears to be a pretty good therapy over all. Like most brain pills, it can take weeks for the full effects to kick in. The sedation effect is great for sleep. The side effects subside quickly.

In my case as an epileptic with PTSD, Bi-Polar, and Social Anxiety Disorder (used to be called agoraphobia back when phobias were a thing), I must say that the first week or so on the stuff sucked balls. It made my skin crawl and itch horribly. It caused panic attack type heart pounding. And talk about sedation! I'm the guy that downers don't down and uppers don't up. Seroquel(Generic name quetiapine) is hard core shit.

As an experiment, I took one during the day while I was home, instead of before bed as I am supposed to do. Holy shit I was wrecked! Not in a good way either. Once the skin crawling, itching and heart pounding subsided, I woke up to find ten hours were gone. Initially I was on 200mg. Damn there scared me to death. Called my Doc and he lowered it over a two week period down to 25. Then I couldn't sleep again, but was wrecked enough to be annoyed. Now I'm on 50mg per night and life has never been better.


Depending on your other medications, sleep habits, diet and metabolism, sometimes it takes a while to get the dosage right.

The three main rules for this stuff are as follows:

• DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL in excess or better yet, not at all. You will f*ck your liver and kidneys sideways.
• DO NOT DRIVE right after taking this stuff. It hits that hard.
• NO GRAPEFRUIT in any form. To quote a Combichrist song "This shit will f*ck you up."

Again, be prepared for the initial side effects, the suck, big time. It's like getting hit with all the bad effects of cocaine, booze and heroin at the same time. If they aren't gone in a week, call your Doc ASAP. They may need to lower your dose and titrate up over time.

Here is the official US stance on this drug: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a698019.html


As for your fears about it being an antipsychotic....well I hate to say this, but as per the DSM V, PTSD does meet the criterion as a psychosis.
People tend to think "psychotic" is Chuck Manson type shit thanks to decades of shitty movies and TV shows...but it is not. The reality is, this drug is not an true antipsychotic- it is an atypical antipsychotic. It is used for lots of disorders, from depression and mania, to schizophrenia. Unless they have you on like 1000mg per day, there is nothing to be worried or embarrassed about. (A dosage of that level means you likely are nonfunctional without the shit, let alone on it...);)

More folks are on it than you think, particularly since they discovered Prozac is 95% bullshit.

Those bits of rage we experience? That is technically called a psychotic episode/fit. However, a severely depressed antisocial bout, those times you don't want to do anything or be near anyone because of the fear and hypervigilance, are also considered psychotic episodes too.

The reason for this is these symptoms show a loss of touch with reality. The paranoia, "jumping shadows" in the corner of your vision, the nightmares and violent, unpredictable rage and fear is all typical of psychosis.

From NAMI (National Mental Health Alliance)

Symptoms
Symptoms of a psychotic episode can include incoherent speech and disorganized behavior, such as unpredictable anger, but psychosis typically involves one of two major experiences:

Hallucinations are seeing, hearing or physically feeling things that aren’t actually there. For example:

• Voices telling you to commit acts of violence or self-harm.
• Feeling like something is crawling under your skin.
• Seeing someone take the shape of something he is not, such as a demon.

Delusions are strong beliefs that are unlikely to be true and may seem irrational to others. For example:

• Believing external forces are controlling your thoughts, feelings and behavior.
• Believing that trivial remarks, events or objects have personal meaning or significance.
• Thinking you have special powers, are on a special mission or even that you are God

- See more at: https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Men...ted-Conditions/Psychosis#sthash.pcMUiE5J.dpuf



In other words, no worries.


We have a few people here that take it, some, like me swear by it now. Others here had to come off it because it didn't work for them.

Just remember everyone is different and PTSD is almost always coupled with some form of depression. Be patient because it can take time to get the right mix of drugs.

Since it sounds like you are relatively new to PTSD treatment, please remember there is no cure and NO MAGIC PILLS. It takes a combination of drugs, therapy and time to reign in the beast. It won't happen overnight either.


HAng in there.

 

[Raven]

Tread carefully, as seroquel can make you ravenously hungry while simultaneously killing your metabolism.

 

[Sarg]

No side affects except hungry. Helps me finish up that little amount of sleep between midnight and four A.M. Makes me sleepy the rest of the A.M. Probably shouldn't be taking it with all the other crap I take.

Sarg

 

[Owingsia]

Thanks for the heads up all. When it gets here I will see how it works for me.

 

[vikingr24]

I would ditto what Sludge wrote. Some people have actually used this drug to commit suicide so go easy with it. I was prescribed it and my pharmacy friend told me not tot take it. After some study, I chose not to go with it. So I still have sleep problems. Just me, but I would trade the 2:00 awakenings for the druggy feeling in the morning. And I like grapefruit too much. I should go through grapefruit rehab.

 

[Kaishi]

I've noticed it tends to f*ck neurodiverse folk up. So if you've got ADHD, learning disorders, autism and the like? Talk with your doc thoroughly before you go on antipsychotics.

Personal experience with this one, I'm biased. Got on it when it was new as testing and it f*cked me up through all two years I was given it. Wonder in putting me to sleep, hellish states right before falling under, not even talking the crap it did with renewing my seizures.

 

[Sludge]

I've noticed it tends to f*ck neurodiverse folk up. So if you've got ADHD, learning disorders, autism and the like? Talk with your doc thoroughly before you go on antipsychotics.

Personal experience with this one, I'm biased. Got on it when it was new as testing and it f*cked me up through all two years I was given it. Wonder in putting me to sleep, hellish states right before falling under, not even talking the crap it did with renewing my seizures.

I did not realize you were a twitcher too. Thought I was the only one around here!

 

[Sludge]

Tread carefully, as seroquel can make you ravenously hungry while simultaneously killing your metabolism.

I should note that it was a contraindication for me- My appetite decreased and I lost a lot of the weight I gained back after finishing my face rebuild.

 

[Kaishi]

I did not realize you were a twitcher too. Thought I was the only one around here!

Nope, not even remotely alone.

But I still win in coordination when deeply shaking and sitting with Parkinson fellas, it's got to count for something, goddammit. :D

 

[Sludge]

Nope, not even remotely alone.

But I still win in coordination when deeply shaking and sitting with Parkinson fellas, it's got to count for something, goddammit. :D

It's funny as the quetiapine helped reduce the duration of the post-dictal Todd's paralysis I get. Down to three to five days instead of three weeks.