# Seroquel a Savior?



## spert23 (Oct 15, 2006)

Hi guys,
In the past year, I have tried a variety of medications to help alleviate my DP/DR (Luvox- most effective, Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Lamictal, Risperdal, Wellbutrin, all the benzos), and this summer, I decided to try Seroquel. For the feelings of DP/DR, it has done wonders. At just 100mgs, the feelings of unreality have diminished greatly. Klonopin (.5 once or twice a day) has also helped immensely. The problem now is that I am obsessed with this problem of getting better. It is all I think about, it consumes my daily life, and hence it is still blunting me emotionally. I always said 50 % of my problem was FEELING unreal, the other 50% was THINKING about it. Well, the first 50% has lessened greatly, but I cannot get past the obsessional part of DP. I am currently on Remeron, 30mgs, and I thought it would help, but it hasn't. I may take myself off it soon, and revert totally to CBT, which has helped some. Does anyone have any ideas to help with the obsessional side of things? Either way, I definitely reccomend that you guys try Seroquel, it is almost devoid of side effects (besides sleepiness before you fall asleep, if you even call that a side effect). PM me or post back if you have any further comments/suggestions.


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## brandon is not taken (Mar 29, 2007)

Yes, the answer is not medication. Taking those pills twice a day will do nothing but remind you that you are "trying to get better"

Get some hobbies. Find something else to obsess about. Get addicted to something that isn't harmful. Play video games, learn to play an instrument, try to be the best in the world at something and dedicate all your efforts to this, so u dont have time left to think about "recovery"


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2007)

I took seroquel for a week 25 mg's and wow... I've never felt more like a zombie than on that drug. All it did was make me really hungry and make my thoughts all fl at. I couldn't even realize a week had gone by, I was like what the heck totally zombied out. The good thing is it really makes food taste a shit load better. It's like getting the munchies, I kept eating a bunch of oreos and mixing it all this other food. My dp/dr stayed full force, my anxiety went away but dp/dr stayed


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## rollingregret (Aug 25, 2007)

Hey everybody, i just joined dpselfhelp. Im an active member at hppdonline and ive had my "condition" for almost a year, for about 7 months since learning about hppd and dp/dr. My symptoms are visual static, floaters, mild afterimages (brightness), muscle tension (real bad through neck and shoulders), dizziness and a feeling of being high all the time which causes extreme pressure in my head and a horrible existence of never being able to come down. Anyway, i have tossed and turned abotu whether my symptoms are true hppd or not, since they are mdma (ecstasy)-induced and since they do not include halos, tracers of geometric patterning. I exist in this wierd world where everything does seem real and i am myself, but there is this overwhelming feeling of being high all the time along with the pain of the visual senses. Im not sure whether this is actual dp, dr or both but alot of people tell me that my symptoms are characteristic of dp/dr. Anyway the reason i am posting here is because i finally saw a psych and the second i mentioned hppd, he cut me off and sent me away with a script for Seroquel. Some of you may know that anti-psychotics are strictly contraindicated for HPPD. Everyone at hppdonline warned me not to take it.

You guys are experienced with dp and dr. What does my situation sound like to you and should i give Seroquel a chance to help me as per Spert's positive recommendation?


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Seroquel is not a good idea if you have HPPD MDMA induced or not. It will most likely make it worse as all anti-psychotics are bad news if you have HPPD.

As for seroquel i don't think it's a savior for dp/dr. It may be for some people but from what ive read on the boards it doesent have a high success rate. One of it's side effect's is actually dp/dr and it did make me feel really weird the first few times i took it. I was cured of dp/dr but on the first few doses of the stuff i felt some mild derealization.

It's really great for bipolar disorder and it has probley saved my life litterally on more then a few occasions and is good for schizophrenia. It does have the mildest side effect's of the atypical anti-psychotics except for it's knockout effect which isint always a bad thing but it can still cause serious side effect's. The most serious being diabetes. You don't even have to gain weight to get diabetes from this stuff either. It's also absolutly the worst drug ive taken for the munchies it's even worse then weed for that.

As for you maybe having HPPD (you sound like you may have mild symptoms though MDMA is not as bad as other psychedelics for causing HPPD) and dp/dr you could possibly kill 2 birds with one stone. Clonazepam is used to treat both it's not a miracle drug but it completly cured my dp/dr and brain fog. It's worth a shot and is safer then seroquel anyway so that would be the logical first choice.

Also there are other people on here that know a hell of alot more about HPPD then me because they have it i don't. Maybe they might chime in.


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## rollingregret (Aug 25, 2007)

Awesome, that's the same advice i got on hppdonline. As i posted there, i first requested benzos, after telling my psych about all the studies on anti-psychs and how benzos were the best to treat hppd. He didn't want to give them to me and was adamant i try seroquel. I disagreed but i was leaving a 5% chance that he might be right. Now i see he is a totall fool and i'm going to have to try to get benzos from somewhere. It's going to be very hard. Only 3 psychs in town, all the same mentality, apparently.

How long do Benzos take to start working?


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## brandon is not taken (Mar 29, 2007)

They start working in about 30 minutes and reach maximum effect in two hours. Pretty nice, huh?

But before you get benzos read up about the addiction/withdrawal process just so u know what you are getting into. I Have read some bad stories about that...


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

rollingregret said:


> Awesome, that's the same advice i got on hppdonline. As i posted there, i first requested benzos, after telling my psych about all the studies on anti-psychs and how benzos were the best to treat hppd. He didn't want to give them to me and was adamant i try seroquel. I disagreed but i was leaving a 5% chance that he might be right. Now i see he is a totall fool and i'm going to have to try to get benzos from somewhere. It's going to be very hard. Only 3 psychs in town, all the same mentality, apparently.
> 
> How long do Benzos take to start working?


 Well some shrinks just don't like benzos because of their so called recreational potential even though the only thing there good for street wise is treating a stimulant comedown or crashing out from a bad hangover.

All benzos can produce dependence but the shorter acting ones are much worse for producing dependence and are harder to withdraw from. Clonazepam is a long acting benzo with anti-anxiety properties that last up to 12 hours and a half life of 2 days. So it's a good choice and is supposed to be the best one for HPPD from what ive read.

Benzodiazepines start working just as soon as you take them. There anti-anxiety properties work right away but it took a few days to a week for my dp/dr and brain fog to fully lift. So youl probley have to give them a little time to get rid of your HPPD as well.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

ve.


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## rollingregret (Aug 25, 2007)

Well i should say, and many might know this from the hppd board that this is the first effort i am making in seeking drug treatment help since this strarted which has been a year. I have been extremely reluctant to try the meds because i have been trying to get over it by myself. And it's been one year of truly horrible horrible excruciating hell. My life has been turned upside down, and everything i care about almost destroyed. Ive gone from being super active, gym 4 times/week to a delirious, aching, wreck, who can barely walk down a hallway without feeling awful, gaining soooo much weight and being able to do nothing about it (another reason seroquel has to go). I was willing to try benzos to get a semblance of a life and happiness back. To be able to go to the gym. To be able to stop tripping constantly and focus on work. All this from infrequent mdma use! Odds against me.

I am aware of the reasons the doctor didnt want to give them to me and i even tried to plead my case for the right reasons. Thing is, i don't have a problem with social interaction, i have no depressiong except form that due to my situation and condition, all i have is the unbearable physical symptoms which prevent me from living normally, it's not an emotional deficit, jsut a physical one. All the positive thinking in the world (you won't beleive WHAT i've tried for the past year) has not helped. Benzos are my last hope, and althoguh i know they have risks of getting on and off, i've resigned mysefl to the fact that the pros outwiegh the cons.

To the OP, did your dp/dr invovle visuals? The way in whcihc i mean i have dr is that im tripping all the time so i can't come down and relax to the real world. This distinction, as being a secondary effect of a purely visual disorder, might be the difference in seroquel being appropriate for you vs. me.


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## brandon is not taken (Mar 29, 2007)

I agree that getting back to the gym is a vital part of recovery. It was a huge part of my recovery. But why do you need meds to goto the gym? You can goto the gym damn well on your own without any meds. Believe me, just go.

Side effect of benzos include : *Muscle weakness*, dizzyness, sleepiness.

So yea, needless to say, i wasnt working out when i was on benzos and u wont be either.


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## 17545 (Feb 14, 2007)

sage.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Clonazepam didnt cause any muscle weakness in me either. In fact it enabled me to work out again because it got rid of the godawful neck spasms i was having. Before i started taking it i couldnt even do arm curls because my goddamn neck was in such bad shape.

I don't get any dizziness or drowsiness from clonazepam either and i take 6mg's of the stuff a day. But i have a somewhat natural high tolerance to CNS depressants. I used to take 2mg's of clonazepam and 60mg's of morphine and go running on the treadmill for an hour.

Smoking however is one thing that makes me fatigued and abit weaker so ive been slacking off alot lately because ive just been smoking way too many ciggs. It's pretty damn hard to work out if you can hardly breathe. Too bad i keep making up excuses not to quit .

As for Tigersuit if John Bonham could drum like he did after a couple of gallons of vodka im sure abit of clonazepam isint going to affect your drumming too much.


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## rollingregret (Aug 25, 2007)

the reason i can't go to the gym is because i have extreme, and i do mean extreme muscle tension all throughotu my neck, face, back and shoulders. It's what i imagine tetanus to feel like. I've heard of many people getting rid of this tension (which is likely anxiety-related at least in a neurological way, state of stress).

comfortably numb, interesting to see you also had some neck problems. Mine are so bad. I think many of our symptoms are congruent. The psych called me today, during exactly the only 5 minutes that i was in a meeting and couldnt pick up my phone!!!! WHAT ARE THE ODDS??! I tried to get in touch with him literally 3 mins after he called and nothing. The secretary said that he doesn't have a direct line to his office and that he'll call me but i can't call him and she was too lazy to go up and tell him i had called back!! I swear, the lack of compassion that the medical faculty has at times! The guy only comes once a week to this clinic, so i'll have to wait another week to try and talk him into giving me klon.


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