[Arduos]

I take both, but i'm scared to take them together. Reason being is I took my lithium, a low dose then took my seroquel only 25mg, less than an hour later then went to bed. When I was almost asleep I felt my heart speed up then I felt a panic attack coming on. To me it seems like it was taking the two so close together. I have a history of panic attacks out of the blue, but when i'm almost asleep? Doesn't make sense to me. I'm just curious if anyone else is taking those two and if you take them at the same time. And also, if anyone is taking them, how long was it until you started to notice a difference. I can't tell if it's making a difference and I started them over a month ago. Thanks

No idea, I used to take seroquel and my lithium at the exact same time. I never had any problems with this combo.

I get panic attacks sort of experiences while I am sleeping, and especially while I am falling asleep. I'm not really sure tho, I don't want to say it is probably such and such since I don't know.

I notice a difference with seroquel after 2-3 weeks, I use it for acute mania. Lithium usually takes longer for me to notice a difference, usually around a month or so.

[Confusedinomicon]

I take 50 mg of seroquel and 1050 of lithium right now. (I just took it a few minutes ago, actually)

The only time ANYTHING like that happened, I had a lot of anxiety that day and as I was trying to sleep I couldn't really relax...so I don't attribute that to either the lithium or the seroquel.

I don't use seroquel for mania though. I use it as a sleep aide. I am afraid of taking any medications specifically prescribed to help a person sleep. With seroquel, if I REALLY want to, I can usually fight off the sedating effects, but they usually kick in within 40-1 hr of taking it.

[Tsunamisurfer]

I used to take them both at night. 900mg Li, and 300mg Seroquel XR. I was so knocked out all day every day, I couldn't function at all. I thought it was just the Seroquel, so I stopped that gradually.

I love your signature line about the mosquito. LOL

[SmokeyPoole2012]

I had taken lithium about 5 years ago and I found it worked wonders for me. The problem was taking the right dosage at the right time. I took 1 pill (500mg if I remember correctly) 2 at bed time. I was switched to depikote after experiencing medical problems.

Seroquel gives me restless leg syndrome I was give trasidone instead.

- very cleaver signature -

[Arduos]

I'm sticking to the subject, but i'm giving you guys a complete background to my med situation.

Every time I start a new med it makes me either loopy or crazy. My doc started me on the 25mg seroquel, and 300mg of lithium 3x's a day. I'm only taking 300mg of lithium once a day right now to kind of start off slow then gradually increase. My doctor said that's fine, and said I can kind of play with it till I find a dose that's good for me (which is cool of him).
I didn't want to start on a high dose that would make me too sleepy then I would get discouraged and stop taking it all together. So i've been taking 300mg for about 5weeks, I think today i'm going to go to 600mg for a week to see what kind of difference that does. The last three days I've been pretty aggressive and I have no motivation. So that's what is making me increase my dose, hope it helps!!!!
The mixture of meds i'm on is making me nervous, besides the lithium and seroquel i'm taking 20mg of Ritalin(to help me get up in the mornings, and it helps with depression), and 200mg of Tramadol. The Tramadol is from when I had problems with my pancreas, I was hospitalized from the pain and problems it caused me, so my doctor (my old one) put me on the Tramadol to bear the all day everyday pain it was causing. The pain was awful and I literally could NOT eat ANYTHING!! Problem is now, it's been 2 years since I was prescribed the Tramadol(I wasn't on any meds for BP) and when I first started taking it I noticed I wasn't depressed, and I was very motivated. I started college, got two certificates, 4.0 grade average. So I took it mainly for that reason..I felt normal for the first time in my life!!!!! The Tramadol isn't working like that anymore and I started back on some meds for the BP in a desperate attempt to be normal again It seems ironic that with all the BP meds I have taken/tried non of them worked as near as good as the Tramadol did for the first two years I started it.
I wonder why that is?
My main concern with all these meds is that the Tramadol has a major interaction with all of them. Here is the link I looked up
http://www.drugs.com/interactions-ch...-979,1979-1274
I know I need to slowly stop taking the Tramadol, but it's the only thing that has ever come close to help me be motivated. What would you guys do? I need advice on how to handle this, I know it's a tricky subject but i'm at a loss with what to do. Thanks, and sorry if this is hard to follow

I just want to leave quick reply cause in in a rush, sorry.

Lithium needs to be within a theraputic range to work very good. You probably won't really notice too much difference until you are at that level. 600 is pretty low still, you might not notice a big difference. You also need to make sure that you having your lithium blood serum levels checked.

[Arduos]

So with the lithium I should probably go with the 300mg 3x's a day then? To see any kind of improvement/difference. What is the therapeutic level for lithium? My last doctor had me on 600mg 2x's a day. I had my blood lvl checked once and he asked if I was taking it as prescribed(and I was) because the levels were very low to non existent...Don't know what that means. My current doctor hasn't had my blood lvls checked yet, but I've been taking it for about 5 weeks or so, not for sure

[SmokeyPoole2012]

I am not a qualified professional I really don't know enough about these medications to be offering you advice. I would like to say that for me taking medication, altering our moods and risking unfavorable results is scary! Of course you're going to be apprehensive (as was I) but I think you should trust the doctors and the treatment.

Good luck Aduos

You can up it to 600 then wait a week or so up it to 900. He probably hasn't checked your level because 300 would not likely make you toxic. It's really really important to have these levels checked routinely in the beginning especially. I think most people reach a therapeutic level between 900 and 1200 mg's. But everyone is a little different. Make sure you take it at the same time each day. Did he tell you morning, midday and night for taking doses? If so do that and try not to miss the doses, that will keep your levels more steady. Also make sure to drink a lot of water, and do not take NSAID's like advil as this can increase your lithium levels.

I take 900 mg a day. 600 is tooo little for me and 1200 makes me toxic. At 900 I am just below the therapeutic level. But close enough. I have started on high doses of lithium when I have been actely manic, but it's much better to go slow. But you can go faster than every five weeks. What did he initially tell you for increases time wise?

[Arduos]

What he started me on was 300 mg 3x's a day, so I would total 900 to start with. He said I could adjust it if needed. For five weeks i've been taking only 300 mg. I started myself so low because every time I started a new med it was a high dose and it sent me manic, and fast. Last time I took lithium it was 1200mg to start with. But today i'm starting at 600mg. I'm going to keep it there for two to three weeks. My doctor hasn't ordered any kind of blood test as of yet. I think Monday I'm going to call and see if I should get one just to be safe, and have my thyroid checked also.
I want to go ahead and take the 900mg today so I can get to therapeutic levels, I think i'm just a chicken!!!! But I think I will do it!!! For my husband's sake And thank all of you for the replies!!!! It means a lot