# Seroquel/Quetiapine ---> antipsychotic



## university girl

OK, so I've had enough of risperdal. On to seroquel now. I am starting at 25 mg tonight. Will let you know how it goes. Any comments?


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## Homeskooled

You'll sleep like a baby- that dose is used as a sleeping pill. You may not get as much jaw tension with it. Risperdal tends to make people a bit shakier, etc...But it will dull your thinking, and they'll be wanting to go into the hundreds for the dosing on this one. Stay skeptical.

Peace
Homeskooled


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## gimpy34

I got up to 125mg of Seroquel after taking it a few weeks, woke up on my birthday and realized I had no emotion whatsoever and quit it. Pretty good for sleep and anxiety though.


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## university girl

Hey all,

I have doubled my dose as per doc's directions. That takes me to 50 mg. Like you guys mentioned, I do sleep very well. No probs falling asleep. I recommend this low dose for insomniacs. It's too early in the game to say how it's affecting me but I will update again soon. That's all for now.


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## Monkeydust

Give it a go, but if it doesn't work you should seriously consider giving up on the schizophrenia hypothesis you have right now.


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## maria

I'm on 200 mg Seroquel right now, it does make me more sleepy but other than that I haven't noticed anything. But I've only taken it for about a week. At least it doesn't make me feel like I could eat seven polar bears a day, which was the case with Risperdal.


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## university girl

Maria, you have to give it more time. Being on it for 1 week is nothing. You may even need to eventually increase the dose. Risperdal also increased my appetite. I wonder if you've tried Abilify? I would like to be on that antipsychotic but it's not yet available in Canada. Please update here in a few weeks and let me know how it goes for you. Take care.


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## university girl

OK, I've upped the dose to 75 mg under docs orders of course. Slowly is the only way I will do it. So far this drug is great for inducing sleep and for combating anxiety. But.... there's always a but... I feel like I could sleep all day long every day. Doc says this should ware off. But maybe it won't. If it doesn't, this drug is gonna take a back seat and I will try something else. So far I have been much less depressed and haven't had the zombie feeling (part of my DP/DR experience) in about a week or so. Could this be the drug or maybe it's because I have a new boyfriend. Hmmm... not sure. Time will tell. I will update again soon.


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## university girl

On to 100 mg a day now. Sleep past noon a lot. Have some motivation back. Find I often have nothing to say and I am very indescisive. Not sure if this is the drug but it's really frustrating. Maybe it's the illness. Also since starting on antipsychotics I have noticed that my brain does not work the way I want it to. I am not sure if it did before taking the meds though... I think taking the meds made me more conscious of it. I contacted the company that makes Abilify and they said they will not tell me about the status of Abilify for use in Canada and I will not be able to find out- it is completely confidential. Sux.


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## peacedove

I tried seroquel. It knocked me out and I was late for an interview because of it. And it made me feel zombie-like. Like I wanted to cry but I couldn't. It was weird.


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## university girl

On 150 mg now. Still not helping me. I have a list of sympoms that I feel are made worse by this med including my ability to follow plans. I am sure my psych will want me to increase my dose. I am going to follow this one through. I need to know if it can help me. 150 mg is still a low dose. It really does mess with my thinking though, at least for a week or so following an increase in it. I also noticed this with risperdal. Anyone else noticed this with antipsychotics? It's pretty scary not being able to think properly.


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## MrMortgage

On the lighter side of the news me and university girl are getting married. We have a gift registry at Macy's and also are accepting cold hard cash... :wink:

It's a joke...laugh


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## jill10

hello

does this put weight on? :?

jill


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## Allure

I try it now.

I feel low and stupid. I am VERY tired. I feel less there, for now, and I don't care.

What a feeling. Wouh.


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## university girl

jill10 said:


> hello
> 
> does this put weight on? :?
> 
> jill


It CAN make a person gain weight but it really depends on the person. I haven't gained much at all on this. I am sure if I stuck to a better diet, I would lose weight.


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## university girl

jill10 said:


> hello
> 
> does this put weight on? :?
> 
> jill


It CAN make a person gain weight but it really depends on the person. I haven't gained much at all on this. I am sure if I stuck to a better diet, I would lose weight. I believe it is also dose related.

Scared_jen, what dose are you on? The sleepiness does wear off.


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## Monkeydust

I might just be overly cynical, but I really think you should stop on the antipsychotics. If they make things worse on the current dose, I can't see how a _higher_ dose will make things better.

Perhaps talk this over with your Doctors, and point out that their schizophrenia hypothesis seems to be falsified by the fact that the antipsychotics aren't working.


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## university girl

Monkeydust,

doc says the probs with thinking should go away. i am going to stick it out. i need to get up to a therapeutic dose to see if it can help me. i have increased my dose to 200 mg. i believe by 300 mg i should know if it will help me. amazingly increasing my dose didn't knock me out any more this time. and i even increased it by double what i normally do. hmmmm....



Monkeydust said:


> I might just be overly cynical, but I really think you should stop on the antipsychotics. If they make things worse on the current dose, I can't see how a _higher_ dose will make things better.
> 
> Perhaps talk this over with your Doctors, and point out that their schizophrenia hypothesis seems to be falsified by the fact that the antipsychotics aren't working.


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## university girl

probs with thinking that were made worse previously by risperdal and seroquel seem to have tappered off for the time being. increasing by 25 mg tonight, and another 25 mg tomorrow night. hopefully all goes smoothly like the last increase. i will be up to 250 mg. doc said i should get to 400 to 600 first before i start noticing any real benefits. we shall see...


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## Guest

Hey UniG,

What benefits are you hoping you'll get from Seroquel/meds? I take 25mg at night 3-5 times a week to help me sleep, 50mg very occassionally if things are particularly bad and I need to make myself sleep and take a break. I notice it's helps a bit with low grade anxiety and I don't seem to have any adverse side effects from this low dose.

On a different note I tried Celexa for a while to see if I was able to feel more motivated and had more energy. Didn't have any adverse side effects but I didn't like the overall feeling of calmness I had when on it. I want to be able to feel like that because I've dealt with stuff and am healthier emotionally and not because a drug is producing it. It interferred too much with me being able to feel my emotions. I spent weeks sitting in counselling sessions just shrugging and feeling nothing. I also couldn't remember what I was like before I started taking it, so found it hard to determine if I was better off on it than off it. So I stopped taking it to see. I think I prefer how I am when off it. Sure I have some rough times but I prefer to learn how to deal with them, not bury them under a drug and mask them. Just my personal opinion.

Anna


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## university girl

Hey Anna,

My chronic DP/DR was drug-induced ten years ago. I am hoping seroquel will lessen the severity of any of my numerous symptoms. For a list of my symptoms, check out my website.


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## university girl

upped to 250 without incident. will up to 300 next week.


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## university girl

At 300 mg now. Still need to get to at least 400... patience required.


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## Guest_

.


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## university girl

Poonanny,

Are you positive you have had all of my symptoms at some point? The one that sticks out most in my mind is the idea I had, but didn't necessarily believe, that people could hear my thoughts. You have had this one? This is suggestive of schizophrenia. Oddly, since taking Paxil, this symptom diminished. Have you shared ALL of your symptoms with your psychiatrist? If your psych has done all the necessary testing (they did extensive verbal and written comprehensive testing on me) and does not even question schizophrenia, then I would not worry. In my case, I never even thought that I may have schizophrenia until I met this psych. I had never, over the past ten years of seeing psychiatrists and mds, been given a concrete diagnosis, and to be honest, I still do not have a concrete diagnosis. To me, the test results were inconclusive.

I visited a specialist in psychosis and at one point early on in our meeting he said to me "I definately wouldn't call this schizophrenia" but later on in that same meeting (!!) he began referring to it as schizophrenia. My psych refers to it as either early psychosis (which I've had for ten years!!!) or as a rare form of schizophrenia. For the vast majority of schizophrenics, the diagnosis is clear.

But, but, but, the important thing to remember here is that whatever you have, you must find the right treatment. Don't be scared to try new things. Stay open and try to remain positive. Whether I have some rare form of schizophrenia with primarly symptoms of dp/dr or not, I don't care. What I do care about, and what you should focus on, is what helps your symptoms.

As an update, I accidentally decreased my med dose... won't get into how. Silly me. So I am only at 325 mg. But, on a positive but somewhat hesitant note, I seem to be doing a bit better the past week or so. I am increasing the dose tonight and again tomorrow night. I will then be up to 375 mg. Target dose is somewhere between 400 and 600 mg but it is hard to know which dose will be optimal, if any, as we all metabolize drugs differently.

I hope I have helped you somewhat. Oh, one thing I forget to mention. A CT scan I had showed slight frontal lobe shrinkage and and increase a very slight increase in the size of my left ventricle. These results, although possibly not even statistically significant, are characteristic of schizophrenics (but of course they have the changes to a much larger degree). Plus a psych I saw a few years back diagnosed me as having a thought disorder, something which is also characteristic of schizophrenics. If I remember correctly, there are some minor symptoms I have which are not listed on my website.



poonanny said:


> just a question university girl... i read your website and saw your symptoms and they all are the same as mine. every single one i got or have had. I was diagnosed with anxiety/existential angst. My question is just why you think you have schizophrenia?
> 
> Im a little angsty at the thought that i might have it since i have all your symptoms. (i was a pot induced too)


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## Guest_

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## university girl

on 400 mg now - the lower end of the recommended dose range. i seemed to have gotten a bit worse lately again. was a bit better for a while and thought it was from the medication but maybe i was wrong. will update later.


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## bat

hope you're finding some peace from the meds


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## university girl

Thanks bat. I thought i may have been improving but i don't think so anymore... i am happy this med hasn't done any harm to me though.

As a note of interest, i was doing a search on pubmed and found this article:

Quetiapine: focus on emotional numbing in Depersonalization Disorder: an fMRI case report

Seems quetiapine (aka seroquel) helped this young lad who experience emotional numbing following a panic attack. The lad seemed to endure a serious panic attack whilst high on marijuana and was left with DP/DR- a "common" occurance.


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## Guest

seroquel numbs you out. i tink that it worsens it. you feel dead. i was on it for two years. my advice: stay away from it unless you want to get worse


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## Guest

seroquel numbs you out. i tink that it worsens it. you feel dead. i was on it for two years. my advice: stay away from it unless you want to get worse


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## university girl

Sooooo Lost said:


> seroquel numbs you out. i tink that it worsens it. you feel dead. i was on it for two years. my advice: stay away from it unless you want to get worse


hmmm... i've been on 400 mg for 2 weeks now. i've been on seroquel for sometime now. i don't feel numbed out. i still feel the same aside from the lack of flases back into reality that i used to experience so strongly. still trying to decide if their absence is a bad thing. the fact that that changed at all must indicate something.

different mutations can lead to the same type of cancer. different mechanisms can result in similar symptoms. different meds can be used to treat similar symptoms. we are all so unique.


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## Synapse

Thanks Uni girl for your consistent updates on seroquel. It gives a clear picture that the tiredness wears off after regular use like most antipsychotics. I start my prescription of it in the New Year. My question - did it help with anxiety? The fact you post less now must mean you are getting on with life. Good luck.


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## sleepingbeauty

well you are lucky you got this far on it. after my third day on the drug i broke out all over my body in hives. some the size of dinner plates. if you are having no adverse side effects that seriously mess you up, then i guess its not a bad idea to stick with it and see how it goes.


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## university girl

hey synapse,

my friends and my parents see some positive changes in me though they are not enough for me to personally say i am doing better. i will say though that my anxiety has decreased by about 5 percent, i no longer have my so-called zombie days where i feel literally half asleep, and i believe i do not feel the need to depersonalize as much. my dr is not as obvious either. it is nice to know someone on this site who is trying seroquel as well. please, keep us updated with your progress or lack there of. feel free to use this thread. i wish you luck. feel free to pm me too, especially if you are feeling hesitant to try it or worried about side effects. :wink:



Synapse said:


> Thanks Uni girl for your consistent updates on seroquel. It gives a clear picture that the tiredness wears off after regular use like most antipsychotics. I start my prescription of it in the New Year. My question - did it help with anxiety? The fact you post less now must mean you are getting on with life. Good luck.


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## university girl

hey sb,

yeah, no bad side effects yet, aside from the wanting to go back to sleep all day long. there is a chance this may ware off.

i know we both describe our symptoms as being high and drunk at the same time in a bad way. i am wondering how your current treatment is going.



sleepingbeauty said:


> well you are lucky you got this far on it. after my third day on the drug i broke out all over my body in hives. some the size of dinner plates. if you are having no adverse side effects that seriously mess you up, then i guess its not a bad idea to stick with it and see how it goes.


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## Guest

I have been on 750mg/day for almost a year. I haven't had any bad side effects other than a bit of weight gain.


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## university girl

Riven, you give me hope.  As for my seroquel trial, I will be upping my dose again to 450 mg in the New Year. Will update shortly after that.


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## university girl

OK, upped to 450 tonight. Will update soon... This has become such a long post. I wish I had something positive to say. Each time I up my dose I feel I am gambling with God....


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## university girl

Now at 475 mg with no relief in DP/DR symptoms though a decline in anxiety. I wonder if my memory is worse now than before. My craving for caffeine is insane too.

My cousin was just diagnosed with Lupus so I'm going to have my ANAs checked just in case...


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## ComplicatedFool

Your curiosity to understand what's happening to you might be a big part of the damage itself. It's just that by reading your posts and mostly everyone with dp(including me) are extremely curious about the symptoms and life, I had the URGE and TEMPTATION to understand the symptoms I had, and I still have(far less). The symptoms themself are a huge temptation, we want to understand them so badly it kills us. We think we can solve them like math problems.

good luck uniGirl, and remember...curiosity killed the cat :roll:


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## [rula]

I was just reading an article online and thought of this thread...for everyone who's taking this med, are you aware of all the law suits being filed against AstraZeneca because of the link between Seroquel and diabetes? just an FYI, not trying to scare anyone...



> Seroquel manufacturers AstraZeneca have been requested by US regulators to include warnings about the risk of elevated blood sugar and diabetes. The Japanese Seroquel label includes a prominent warning, specifically stating that there is a link between diabetes and the use of Seroquel. The United States label, however, does not reflect this known problem, meaning that Seroquel users and their physicians may be unaware of the need to monitor for signs of diabetes.


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## university girl

Rula, thanks for the FYI. Where did you get this article? I'd like to show it to my psych.  Thanks.


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## [rula]

http://www.adrugrecall.com/seroquel/seroquel.html
http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities ... tics_2.htm

Some info from one of the many lawsuits, which also involves Zyprexa:



> Seroquel side effects: Tardive Dyskinesia, diabetes.
> 
> "To boast sales of Seroquel, AstraZeneca is accused of aggresively marketing and promoting Seroquel for "off label" use that was beyond its FDA approval" Also "AstraZeneca is accused of illegally offering incentives to doctors and other medical professionals in an effort to increase the number of Seroquel prescritptions that were written". Research showed that patients on Seroquel had 334% more cases of diabetes than those on older drugs.


Just be careful...


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## freesong

I did the Abilify. Didn't do a thing for me. But one never knows. Good luck, freesong


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## university girl

Abilify... I hear it has the horrible side effect of restless leg syndrome. Seems to be a common side effect from what I've seen on this site. Did you get it? Hope not! I hear it's horrible. Keep on going with the letter writing, etc. I feel like I am your partner in crime. 



freesong said:


> I did the Abilify. Didn't do a thing for me. But one never knows. Good luck, freesong


Ok, so an update on the med scene. Saw my psych today. I actually felt a bit happy when I left! I couldn't believe it. So, her and I both agree the seroquel has decreased my depression and anxiety somewhat. I kind of think the decrease in anxiety is because this med is a tranquillizer... But anways, with this decrease in anxiety, my neck/head/eye tension/weird feelings have definintely decreased, though they are still present. So... my friend's theory of them being caused by anxiety holds true thus far. And no, my depression and anxiety are not gone or even near how they used to be before I got sick, but they have decreased somewhat.

So, having said that, I have given up on seroquel increasing seroquel. Why? I cannot get rid of the sluggish feeling it gives me. For some it goes away, like it did for me in the earlier stages. But it has been a while now and it simply has not gone away. So, onto a new plan.

It was basically my decision. I could try olanzipine, which will be the next antipsychotic I try if it comes down to that, but have chosen to increase my paxil instead. In the beginning, paxil really helped to decrease my insane amount of disorientation and confusion. I've been on roughly 20 mg for 5 years now and have tried increasing it before, but only to 30 mg. That time I noticed no difference between 30 and 20 mg. Doc said I may not notice a difference until I get up to 40 mg. Not sure how safe it is going up to 40 but you know me, I will do the research and let you all know. So I'm leaving my seroquel dose alone for now. From now on it shall go no higher than 475 mg. Doc said she has some patients on 80 mg of paxil! Hmmm....


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## Guest

I'm on 800 mg/day (along with 3 other drugs). The only negative side effect is that I am incapable of sleeping without it, although this is sometimes a good thing if I have to stay up late to work on a paper or something.

Word of advice - don't run out of meds. I ran out for a couple days and it was pure hell. I was shaking, had goose bumps, nausea, couldn't sleep, couldn't think. Yuck.


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## university girl

Hey there,

Thanks for sharing... I'd like some more info about yourself if you don't mind. What are you taking the seroquel for (what's your diagnosis)? I'm assuming you have DP and/or DR. Has it helped with either or both of those? Are you a student? How long have you been taking seroquel and how long at this dose? So you do not suffer from feeling zonked during the day? Did you ever (did it wear off)?

Thanks and sorry for buggin you with all of these questions. I'm sure others on this site would like to know as well.



resonator said:


> I'm on 800 mg/day (along with 3 other drugs). The only negative side effect is that I am incapable of sleeping without it, although this is sometimes a good thing if I have to stay up late to work on a paper or something.
> 
> Word of advice - don't run out of meds. I ran out for a couple days and it was pure hell. I was shaking, had goose bumps, nausea, couldn't sleep, couldn't think. Yuck.


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## Guest

university girl said:


> Hey there,
> 
> Thanks for sharing... I'd like some more info about yourself if you don't mind. What are you taking the seroquel for (what's your diagnosis)? I'm assuming you have DP and/or DR. Has it helped with either or both of those? Are you a student? How long have you been taking seroquel and how long at this dose? So you do not suffer from feeling zonked during the day? Did you ever (did it wear off)?
> 
> Thanks and sorry for buggin you with all of these questions. I'm sure others on this site would like to know as well.


Hi again,

About me:
- I'm 20 years old, male. I'm 4th year biopsychology at university.

I've suffered from derealization for more than 5 years, and my decent into schizophrenia has been going for as long as I can remember. My first real psychotic break (where I just lost complete contact with reality) came about two and a half years ago.

I saw a doctor immediately, and was put on respirdol right away. That drug gave me awful side effects, so I was put on olanzopine, which was even worse. The third drug I was put on was seroquel.

Seroquel was very effective at eliminating the positive symptoms of the schizophrenia. As the dose increased, I stopped hallucinating and stopped being paranoid. Unfortunately, I still have a lingering taste of the paranoia and I still hallucinate from time to time. Luckily, I had a good anxiety coach who taught me how to identify certain tricks my mind was playing on me.

What seroquel does not get rid of is the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which are the things like anxiety, blunted affect, dulled senses and derealization.

Seroquel is definitely a drug that makes you tired. I am at a state where I need it to sleep, due to my body's adaptation to using it for so long. As for making one tired during the day, it initially has this effect but it wears off after a week or so.

The seroquel helped a bit with my derealization. I think this is because it removed a lot of sources of anxiety I had imagined. My real improvement (4 or 5 flashes of reality a day, if you can call that something) came when I got put on citalopram (selexa) at 30mg. This helped but had the bad side effect of accentuating my mania. I then got put on a mood stabilizer called divalproex at 750mg. This resulted in my mood swinging too far down into a deep depression. I take Clonazepam for the panic attacks and suicidal urges I get because of it.

I have not gotten a diagnosis from my doctor, and it has been three years. I have schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, mania and bipolar disorder from what he has told me.

If you've got any more questions feel free.

res


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## university girl

4th year and only 20 years old? Wow. You've done well with your illness. You are a high functioner (if that's a word). You should be proud of yourself. Thank you for answering all of my questions. It's not often that someone does that.  Also, thanks for sharing the details of your illness. We all like hearing about other people and what meds/therapy helped them.

Having about 5 flashes of reality a day on celexa is great news!  I think I know what the "flashes" are like. I used to have them before the seroquel. Now I never have them.  I used to feel like I was in "unreality" all the time but maybe once a week or so I would have a few seconds where I would suddenly feel transported back into reality. During those few seconds I would feel like how I once felt prior to the illness. It's what I used to call normal. It used to make me sad to have them because it reminded me of what I once felt like. I'm not sure if the disappearance of the flashes since starting seroquel is a good thing or not. Now I always feel like I'm in unreality. A constant highway hypnosis...


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## university girl

jonny777 said:


> I tried Seroquel for 2 months - went up to 150MG/day. It made my DP/DR more extreme from 50MG onwards. The best antipsychotic I've had which seemed to help, was amisulpride (here in UK).


Hmmm... just one more of the many examples of how different we all are. My DR is definitely not worse. My DP? Hmmm... like I said before, I don't get those flashes where I feel as though I am being transported back into reality for a few seconds anymore. I think now I am somewhere between unreality and reality. Maybe... who knows anymore... I definitely don't feel alive yet. And hearing my own voice still drives me crazy. It almost hurts my ears to hear it.

Again, as I said before, my anxiety has gone down quite a bit. Around the house I am much more relaxed, though still quite anxious compared to those ordinary folk out there. So I've been on an increased (doubled) dose of paxil for a bit now. Have I noticed anything? I have to say yes. My anxiety and neck probs have improved somewhat. I am better off now than before, that's for sure. I still do have really bad days though. As for the sleepiness that I complained of before, it's not as bad as it used to be. I don't sleep past noon like before. In fact, I'm waking up much earlier now and am able to stay out of bed for the most part.

I am continuously amazed at how differently we all can react to the same drugs. Just amazing. HS, thanks for the suggestions. I'll catch up on my PMs soon. Sorry.


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## humptydumpty25

the rule to go by is of course do not take any drugs that are not *ABSOLUTELY necessary. * antipsychotics are just bad. ive been on seroquel since sept 2005. they had me on 600mg, an extremely high dosage. first of all it made me extremely sleepy so that i was sleeping all day and night. and i gained 40lbs the first month (i have not been able to lose any of the weight). im now on 100mg. i would be on 0mg of this stuff but i am dependent on it for sleep. it was extremely difficult to get down to 100mg. !!!! just going down a little bit was so difficult near impossible and i had a lot of scary spiritual and emotional sensations related to withdrawal from the drug. (and yes it makes thinking difficult, a feeling of mental numbness, especially after such long term use on such a high dosage) this, like all antipsychotics, is a very powerful drug. a little goes a long way

i dont know much about depersonalization as far as whats a good treatment. if anything my experience has shown me that psychiatric drugs particularly mood stabilizers (bad idea)and antipsychotics only make u more detached emotionally. just a bad idea on all levels. and once u start them, u are never the same, even if u may choose to stop the drug(s) at some point. the damage is , sadly, permanent.

i wouldnt be surprised if this post offends people who disagree but it is my opinion due to my personal experience.


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## comfortably numb

I personally wouldnt take a anti-psychotic the side effects look to scary and im not psychotic(yet anyway) so i dont think it would be worth the risk. They do seem to work for some people though with anxiety and depression.


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## humptydumpty25

i am trying to warn anybody about the dangers of psych drugs in this case seroquel. i have been on it since sept 2005 but now im not going to take it anymore because it has damaged me so bad. it has damaged my heart very severely it causes extreme arrythmia and fast hard beating . if i continue on this drug i will die of a heart attack. and no it does not help me to sleep at all because from the time i (hesitantly) take this horrible poison i am up literally all night until about 7 am , my heart beating so so so so so so so hard and superfast for hours on end. my mom does not want me to take this crap anymore because she is really afraid i will have a heart attack. i went to the er once because of it and the doctors were very worried about my heart rate and blood pressure upon taking the drug )only 100mg), which were very very high.

*and id like to add in a great fact that its a GREAT DRUG to take if u want to gain lots of weight and afterwards not be able to lose any weight period. it is well known for causing permanent thyroid damage. when they first put me on this i gained 50 lbs in a month. and i was not eating very much at all.*

so i realize that for some reason a lot of people insist on being hard headed and stupid and despite so many peoples terrible nightmarish experiences with these poisonous substance still insist on taking them. do so at your own risk, anyone who has read my posts cant say they havent been warned.


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## university girl

OK. this thread deserves an update:

I am currently on 550 mg and will probably up it to 600 mg. I am no longer sleepy during the day and I am able to handle stress better. Yes, I have gained weight but not a considerable amount. Most people do gain weight on this med, it's true. Recently I've lost 10 pounds by eating properly and exercising.

As for my DP and DR, I seem to be thinking about them less so they are probably somewhat better. But, I do not feel like how I used to feel before that fateful day I got sick. So, I'm still not at where I want to be but this is the first time in about 10 years that I haven't thought about suicide so I must be doing better!


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## wildflower

im really glad you are doing better. dont lose hope. i dont know u but i have been thinking about u b/c im going through something similar though not as bad. stay strong. with time and new treatments we can surely get better.


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## university girl

I have to add I am on 40 mg Paxil which is probably helping out with the depression as well. I no longer need to lie down after coming home from work because that zombie feeling, the feeling of not having enough blood flow to my head and the intense neck tension has definitely diminished. I do not feel as much out of my body and my DR is reduced. In the past the sound of my own voice would hurt my ears but that doesn't seem to be so severe any more. I am not even close to how I used to be before I got sick but I have definitely improved. I still do have bad days but when I have them I remind myself of how far I've come.

I'm not sure if a real scientific study has ever been conducted on the usefulness of antipsychotics for DP/DR. I have heard many say antipsychotics made their DP/DR worse but they may help for some, just like certain SSRIs seem to help certain people. I would like to see a study published on the antipsychotic use for DP/DR. This study should involve all of the commonly used antipsychotics. I know for myself, it took a very long time to get over the negative side effects of the seroquel (tiredness, thinking problems, memory issues) and to begin to feel the benefits. I wonder if many people stop trying the med because of these side effects and don't stick around long enough to experience the benefits...


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## wildflower

Have you ever tried yoga to increase the blood flow to your head?
Have you ever checked your blood pressure recently?


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