[widgets]

So my assessor man just called me to say that they are going to put me on 50mg (i think) of quetiapine, after meeting me for 45 minutes this is his decision.
To be fair he has seen all my docs notes so prob knows the situation better than i think he does.
Who here has been put on this?
What are your thoughts?

[SunReach]

I'm on quetiapine, 100mg. It's working better than anything else I've tried. I am quite happy with it but if I could afford - time wise - to try find something else I think I probably would, as I have to struggle a lot with drowsiness, especially when I'm very busy and I need extra energy as it is! But in overall, it has helped me more than harmed so I would say give it a try for at least a couple of weeks and see what you think...

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

So my assessor man just called me to say that they are going to put me on 50mg (i think) of quetiapine, after meeting me for 45 minutes this is his decision.
To be fair he has seen all my docs notes so prob knows the situation better than i think he does.
Who here has been put on this?
What are your thoughts?

Hi, I started off on 25mg of Quetiapine about a year ago. At the time it was to help me sleep and to help with my anxiety. I increased it myself because I could no longer sleep off 25mg. I was also put on sodium volproate and prozac and was diagnosed with a mood disorder. 4 weeks ago I was officially diagnosed with Bipolar and taken off the sodium volproate and the quetiapine was upped to 200mg of the XR type which is a slow release one. They are also thinking of putting me on Lithium, I will find out whats going on with that on friday. I didn't get any side effects when i started taking quetiapine and i've found it ok. Whats is the reason your doc has prescribed it for you?

Take care

[widgets]

I show signs of psychotic behaviour and he thinks i may have bipolar.
I hear voices, not like actual voices, but there is constant talking in my head. My mood is up and down and i have anxiety.
I have a weight problem, if i dont eat, it drops off, if i do it piles on, i'm like a frigging yo yo, i'm the heaviest i have ever been at the moment and apparently this med makes you put on weight, i have little self discipline!!

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

I show signs of psychotic behaviour and he thinks i may have bipolar.
I hear voices, not like actual voices, but there is constant talking in my head. My mood is up and down and i have anxiety.
I have a weight problem, if i dont eat, it drops off, if i do it piles on, i'm like a frigging yo yo, i'm the heaviest i have ever been at the moment and apparently this med makes you put on weight, i have little self discipline!!

I hear voices too inside my head and outside somestimes. I can't always tell what they are saying but they scare me sometimes. I've put on weight too but thats partly cos i've been imobile for months cos i broke my ankles. They are not better enough yet for me to start exercising properly so can't shift it yet and these meds are helping! I also have little self discipline at the moment!!
Quetiapine is suppose to help with the voices, they not helping me yet. Do the voices scare u? If u ever need to talk i'm usually about somewhere. Take care

[widgets]

they dont scare me, sometimes when they stop it scares me cause i am alone. But i know that's not right..
They're so negative they just tell me i am rubbish really all the time, they have a running commentary on my life.
JUst wondering what it would be like to have silence. its quite a scary thought!

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

they dont scare me, sometimes when they stop it scares me cause i am alone. But i know that's not right..
They're so negative they just tell me i am rubbish really all the time, they have a running commentary on my life.
JUst wondering what it would be like to have silence. its quite a scary thought!

They tell me i'm rubbish and i don't deserve to be happy. They also tell me to do things, like hurt myself and stuff, I know what you mean about the silence. Sometimes I don't mind them, especially the nice ones but the bad one that always tells me to hurt myself I could do without!! and also the voices that are outside my head, they scare me when i'm alone cos I can't pretend its something or someone else when i'm alone.

[widgets]

i would be very scared if i heard them outside my head as well, it doesnt sound very fun! The voices have pushed me to hurt myself before, i think its all the bad thoughts pushed into one corner of your head that makes it so loud and hard to ignore.
So do u think the quetiapine will help>

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

i would be very scared if i heard them outside my head as well, it doesnt sound very fun! The voices have pushed me to hurt myself before, i think its all the bad thoughts pushed into one corner of your head that makes it so loud and hard to ignore.
So do u think the quetiapine will help>

Yeah I reckon so. You can only but try eh? Even though I still hear the voices, I have to admit they are not quite as often. I used to hear them all the time, now its just most of the time lol, its not funny really,

[widgets]

no, but you have to laugh sometimes cause the only other option is cryin

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

no, but you have to laugh sometimes cause the only other option is cryin

Yes I totally agree!! LOL
When do start on the Quetiapine?

[widgets]

next Wednesday... he called me up to tell me that they had a meeting and had decided to start me on quetiapine, as well as the 3 month assessment i am having with them, where i assume i will see them every week.

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

next Wednesday... he called me up to tell me that they had a meeting and had decided to start me on quetiapine, as well as the 3 month assessment i am having with them, where i assume i will see them every week.

I have my assessment on friday with the long term mental health team. I've not seen then before so i'm a little nervous. I'm hoping i'm gonna see these regular cos i'm sick of being pushed from pillar to post!! I have no idea whats going on and i'm fed up with it!! I hope you don't have as much troouble as i have and I hope you get a proper diagnosis soon cos once you do you can be treated for it and then you can start to live some sort of a normal life which is something I long for!!!

[SunReach]

I have never heard voices outside my head but sometimes the voices IN my head sounded a lot like a whisper, like a hissing coming from the outside...which was scary because it felt like the devil was lurking by my ear! Not good. But my main brain-problem was and sometimes still is, racing thoughts, although nowhere as bad as it was...It used to make me think I will actually either go mad with no turning back, or that my brain would give up on me and bye bye SadRobot! But quetiapine has really helped me on that, and it helped with my anxiety as well...

About putting on weight, if you stay on a low dose, under 200mg, it shouldn't cause a problem, and if it does, it will be only until you adjust to it...So maybe be aware of that in the first few weeks and if it does increase your appetite, always opt for healthier snacks - all the delicious but nasty little treats we all love are addictive, so it's harder to give them up even when the cause for the cravings isn't there any more..!
Also, even though some doctors won't admit it, some of these meds do slow down your metabolism...not greatly, but they do...So there is an extra reason to exercise! But I would say find some sort of exercise you enjoy, there is no point in torturing yourself in the gym if you hate it..(I hate the gym with a fiery, undying passion.. :P )

End of long post! Keep us posted and take care :-)

[widgets]

Thank you. My racing thoughts are probably one of the biggest problems, i always have such a lot going on in my head and it doesnt shut up!!!
For some reason, i have found the mental health help in my area excellent, i am in the countryside in the UK, so every other part of the NHS is rubbish, but i went to the GP, she referred me straight to this team and within a week we had out meeting, in another week they had sorted out that i was going to have a 3 month assessment and then after that they give you a 3 year treatment plan if you do have Bipolar or Psychosis etc.
One thing i am struggling with is how to tell me my mum.
When i was struggling with depression last time, i wasnt living with her, i text her and she came and picked me up, for weeks all we did was argue about it, she didnt agree with me going on anti depressants and believed it was something i should fix myself.
I dont want her to say that again, so havent told her anything since then, i am living with her again now.
She is constantly going on at me about losing weight, and i want her to know its going to be harder than ever, plus it her birthday coming up soon and she wants a big party and wants me to get drunk with her, i dont know how to say that i am going to need to stop drinking, cause thats another problem i have, i get very bad on alchohol.
Oh i hate it when i do this, i cant stop writing sometimes, i dont even realise how much i write sometimes!

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

Thank you. My racing thoughts are probably one of the biggest problems, i always have such a lot going on in my head and it doesnt shut up!!!
For some reason, i have found the mental health help in my area excellent, i am in the countryside in the UK, so every other part of the NHS is rubbish, but i went to the GP, she referred me straight to this team and within a week we had out meeting, in another week they had sorted out that i was going to have a 3 month assessment and then after that they give you a 3 year treatment plan if you do have Bipolar or Psychosis etc.
One thing i am struggling with is how to tell me my mum.
When i was struggling with depression last time, i wasnt living with her, i text her and she came and picked me up, for weeks all we did was argue about it, she didnt agree with me going on anti depressants and believed it was something i should fix myself.
I dont want her to say that again, so havent told her anything since then, i am living with her again now.
She is constantly going on at me about losing weight, and i want her to know its going to be harder than ever, plus it her birthday coming up soon and she wants a big party and wants me to get drunk with her, i dont know how to say that i am going to need to stop drinking, cause thats another problem i have, i get very bad on alchohol.
Oh i hate it when i do this, i cant stop writing sometimes, i dont even realise how much i write sometimes!

Hey, never appologise for writing what you want to! We're hear to listen to whatever you want to share and help if we can.
I have the exact same problem with alcohol!! When I'm manic I drink way to much and often take cocaine aswell which is another thing i've been bad on in the past. I have to be very cautious if i have a drink!
I was treated for depression years before i was diagnosed with a mood disorder and I never told my Mum. I'm 26 and I haven't lived with her for bout 5 years cos we never got on. When I was diagnosed with a mood disorder which they said could be Bipolar I eventually told my Mum after a couple of weeksand she took it quite well, she did feel somewhat to blame, but knows its not her fault as she trained to be a psychiatric nurse so knows about this sort of stufff. She did want to know why I didn't tell her sooner, she saiud she could have helped and she also told me her brother, my uncle, has bipolar. So when they officially diagnosed me 4 weeks ago it was no real shock. My mother and I get on much better now that she understands me better. Maybe you could get some information together and sit her down and go through it with her. It may help it may not, but worth a try I guess? Let us know how you get on.

Take care

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she knows what it is cause her dad ... I'm pretty convinced she has it herself, she has real anger problems and is very aggressive though its only half the time, i half heartedly suggested she see a doc but she point blank refused, she see all this as weakness.
I know i need to tell her but dont know if i am going to be able too, she seems constantly angry with me at the moment.

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

she knows what it is cause her dad ... I'm pretty convinced she has it herself, she has real anger problems and is very aggressive though its only half the time, i half heartedly suggested she see a doc but she point blank refused, she see all this as weakness.
I know i need to tell her but dont know if i am going to be able too, she seems constantly angry with me at the moment.

I can understand your worry. I was worried about telling my Mum, in the end I was sat with her and my youngest brother at her house and I just came out with it in the end. I just thought, whats the worst that can happen!! So what is the worst that can happen if you tell your Mum??

[widgets]

she thought i could help being depressed, i am pre-empting that she will think the same here.

[larakeziah]

Originally Posted by widgets

she thought i could help being depressed, i am pre-empting that she will think the same here.

I see how difficult this makes the situation. Would explaining to her what bipolar is and that its not something you can control or help, help with the situation or would she not listen?
Is she ever in a fairly good mood whereby you could bring up the conversation??

[BlackPup]

There are a few weight neutral drugs, Lamotrigine, abilify, also a new version of zyprexa (Zydis)...
Lamotrigine is an anticonvolsant that is a really good antidepressant and weak mood stabiliser, abilify and zyprexa are both antipsychotics that are good moodstabilsers
I have put on 20 kg since my diagnosis, then lost 15 then put it back on then lost 5 and put in on.... so I understand the yo yo!!!!

[widgets]

I know she wouldnt be too bad about it, its just a case of 'catastrophic thinking,'
I'm not very good at saying things out loud, i might text her.
Her dad has bipolar, so i think she knows what it is, but maybe i just assume that.
SHe doesnt agree with meds, she hates them.
So i feel like i have failed because i know i need them.

[larakeziah]

You haven't failed at all. And if she wants you to get 'better' and if that means having meds then she should understand that. If you feel txin her might be easier then do that. Or you could write her a letter. Let us know how you get on. Good luck and take care! x

[widgets]

Thanks LaraKeziah. I will do x

[BlackPup]

Don't feel like you have failed coz you need meds, the majority of people with BP need them... "They" say that you deterorate without them... like real measurable changeesin the brain...