Seroquel

[Zooie]

lol, Luna, there's always a catch isn't there? (Like, I can't use the state system anymore for free drugs 'cause I went on Medicare--Part D is for drugs and was a "conflict"). Geesh

Those side effects sound serious Luna. Do you see your pdoc again soon? Muddler also has headaches, Seroquel the culprit? hmmmmm I have the stopped up nose, and keep nose spray on my night table 'cause I know after an hour from taking meds, I can't breathe thru my nose. Works good. But the swallowing one, I experience on a VERY mild basis. For example, sometimes I eat a snack before I go to sleep (crackers and Vienna sausage, can't help it!) and I have to keep a drink nearby 'cause I can't swallow as well. But yours sounds worse. I also notice I can't keep my balance after the Seroquel kicks in, I don't think I'll try the daytime dose thing. Well, here's to yet another powerful BPD drug making life hell.

[Luna]

Mrning Zooie
I think I am about due to write a rant about my medical aid (Mr J, what have you done to us? ). There are so many catches, ifs, only ifs and excepts, it would be hilarious if it wasn't so unfair and expensive! I have now through a series of emails back and forth, worked out how my Mental Health Benefit works. And they call ME crazy...!

Regarding my Seroquel SEs, I don't think they're all that serious. I will, in any case, mention them all at my appt (only 6 days now, yay!) I get the blocked nose only for a few hours after I have taken the evening 200mg dose. I have to breathe through my mouth then, as it's totally blocked, and with the dry mouth the Seroquel also causes... well, between that and the RLS, what a very comfortable place I get into just before sleeping!

The difficulty swallowing is also about an hour after the 200mg dose. It's not bad really, just noticeable. I am also a bedtime snacker (and let's not even mention the midnight, 2am and 4 am snacks ) I only manage to swallow about once out of every 5 attempts. It doesn't worry me, it's just strange! And WHY, O WHY doesn't it prevent me from eating too much???

Ah, but when something works, and your back is against the wall, you can accept all sorts of SEs, can't you?

[Muddler]

My standard Seroquel dose of 100mg is making me OVER sleep. I've been hitting 10 hours a night. Today, after 10 hours I am really dragging my ass like a zombie - energy low & feeling listless. And the headaches are as bad as ever. Think I'll be dropping down to 50mg from tonight. This is all strange, what with Spring making itself felt. I was looking forward to some mild mania.

[Luna]

And another thing.
Seroquel has worsened my eyesight. My night vision has significantly deteriorated and night driving is now difficult (never had problems with that before). And in the day, I have to wear my glasses all the time, instead of not needing them much. And still, my eyes slip easily out of focus. Things have become all softened around the edges.

[Zooie]

Gee Luna, my eyes do that too but just thought it was old age! hmmmm Also, last year after I started Seroquel I started seeing those black floater thingys out of one eye. Then it quit and went to the other eye! But after several months they're all gone! Meds? hmmm I also noticed I can't see the tv guide channel as well sometimes to see what's on. Dammit, not another side effect!

[Mr. J]

Muddler, Seroquel made me sleep 17 to 20 hours. I was unemployed and on a clinical trial for Seroquel. The drug didn't work very well for me and I became psychotic. I really needed about 600 mg, that worked for me. However, I wanted to seem crazier, having been accustomed to lying to researchers. In marketing research, lying is the only way to land a study and get paid. So, they upped me to the maximum dose. Meanwhile, I went back to my pdoc and got back on Zyprexa. Everybody hates Zyprexa because of the weight gain, but that wasn't a problem for me. I took the Seroquel I should have taken and placed it in a sandwich bag, and gave the pill bottles back to the study people. Seroquel has a street value, it enhances the effect of any street drug. For this reason, it is not prescribed in jails and elsewhere. I tried to sell the Seroquel on the street with very little success, being that nobody knew that much about the drug. It has a bigger reputation nowadays.

At first, Seroquel made my gums bleed profusely. It made me sleep all day and waking up is a problem for me without any help. I dislike Seroquel, in my experience, it's less effective than other atypicals. Risperdal is good shit. There are other good drugs and for some there are better options than Seroquel, yet it seems like everybody here takes it.

This is probably a conspiracy.

[Zooie]

Just wanted to add yet more bad side effects to Seroquel to watch out for. Don't get me wrong, I swear by this stuff, altho it doesn't catch the depression for me, it's great to be able to sleep again, and the mania stays somewhat in check. With my track record, "somewhat" is great.

BUT, when I was incarcerated in the Atlanta looney bin, the idiot pdoc doubled my dose of Seroquel from 150mg to 300mg, even tho I told him I couldn't take a higher dose (I'd never tried it consistently, altho had upped it when manic but only temporarily), but what do I know? So, being compliant so I could get the hell out of there, I took it. But last week I blew up like a balloon, had trouble breathing, got a facial rash and watched as my feet got huge. Needless to say, am back to 150mg again. But I called my regular doc Tuesday (she's a saint) and she fit me in today, said I could pay when I had the money (!), put me on a diuretic, plus lasix as needed (with potaassium to go with it for my heart I guess).

Footnote: state system doesn't prescribe my valium anymore (benzos)...oh no! But today regular doc said she would still prescribe it!!! (The idiot pdoc in Atlanta d/c'd it!)

Anyway, just another chapter in the bopolar medication side effect saga. We not only have to treat the disorder, we have to treat the treatment for the disorder. <sigh>

[Zooie]

Here is an update about when Seroquel will go "generic". Not good news. At the earliest, March 2012.

Also it says:
"Is Quetiapine a Generic Seroquel?
No, it isn't. Quetiapine is the active ingredient in Seroquel, not a generic version of it. Oftentimes, the active ingredient of any drug is referred to as its "generic name." But the generic name of a medicine is different from a generic version of it."

http://bipolar-disorder.emedtv.com/sero ... oquel.html