Med problems, feeling like I might be hospitalized soon

I feel like I'm going to be ill, like I might end up in the hospital again. I've been there many times before. I usually start having major anxiety, and huge sleep problems. I haven't slept well in months.

I understand that is part of bipolar, but whenever many things are going wrong, I stress out so much that I can't sleep. But this is getting extreme. I haven't lost touch with reality, but I also haven't had nightmares in years and now every night I wake up sweaty and with dread, sometimes only an image remains of what I was dreaming about.

I have had what they told me was psychosis in the past, but I don't believe it was. I remember exactly what I was thinking. It was always at times of huge stress, like after giving birth. I really want to stay well this time. I can barely eat, and I'm diabetic, type 2, so I know it doesn't seem as serious, but I take medication and can't get it under control.

Seroquel is what makes me hungry. If I take it in the morning though, I get drowsy, and then I'm grumpy because I still can't sleep. It may have even been the thing to trigger my diabetes.

Is there anyone on here that takes this med in small doses, but has noticed that it makes your heart beat very fast? It scares me now, I have had it for, I don't know, 7? years, and I realized this drug is not good for me, my heart does this "jumpstarting" feeling all the time, but I feel like I'm "stuck" with this med, because it is the only thing that gets me to sleep anymore. Any other med suggestions that are like seroquel, but won't interfere with blood sugar? thanks, any suggestions would be helpful.

You should not be on a med that does that to your heart.

The makers of Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa have warned that high blood sugar or type 2 diabetes may be more likely in people who are taking these medicines. ~ WebMD

From what I've read, Abilify and Latuda are both much less likely than Seroquel to cause weight gain or elevated blood sugar, so switching to one of these might be an option for you. Seroquel also has the most cardiac side-effects, with would also be reduced on a different anti-psychotic.

All the atypical antipsychotics can cause metabolic changes, but it is less likely with second and third generation than first generation. Seroquel is first generation. I don't want to make guesses about what medication you should be on, that is between you and your prescriber, but there are other options. Are you using Seroquel for sleep, mood stabilization, or psychosis,or a combo of those things? The med options will depend on why you are getting the Seroquel.

If you are having cardiac symptoms you should see a doctor and get checked out. Have you had an ECG?

Hi Curiosity77, thank you. I didn't know that there were newer ones, like seroquel was one of the first ones. This will sound strange, as it does to me too.

Okay, but my psychiatrist, that I must have had now for about 7? years, has only ever diagnosed me with major depression. I was diagnosed as manic depressive (not told so, but found out much later from my sister) at about 21 years old. I do know at that time it felt like I was bipolar (years later finding out exactly what the symptoms are of it), and then being pregnant, and other times of huge stress, I had some psychosis, so again, I wasn't told, but nosyed through my files and saw the "bipolar with schizo-affective".

I haven't had any episodes for many years, I only took seroquel for these last ?5 to 6, I'm guessing at 25 mg. i asked for it from my gp first, to help me with sleep. Before that, I was on antidepressants only and doing well on them alone. I just couldn't handle the nausea and anxiety from them. Did have a few episodes years ago while on an antidepressant, which also seems to prove I must be bipolar.

So, anyways, my point being this pychiatrist isn't much help. I even asked for adderall xr once, because I told him I've tried a-z of antidepressants and can't tolerate them. He just gives me whatever I want to try.

A few months later, i checked in with my gp, and he was shocked that I was given them in the first place, because of my high blood pressure, he said I could have had a heart attack. So obviously I quit them immediately.

Yes I've had a heart test done, this must be going on 5 years ago, and they detected my heart skipping beats, but didn't say there was anything to worry about.

Thank you for your questions. I really need to get to see the psychiatrist, and I want a specialist for diabetes to help (believe it or not, the doctor never pushed for me to see one, they aren't too bright here in Canada, and don't care if you try to see specialists, you usually have to wait more than 3 months, even if its an urgent matter.)

If you are just taking seroquel for sleep you could try trazodone, and if that doesn't work, zopiclone. Seroquel for sleep if you have uncontrolled blood sugars isn't necessarily the best choice. If you are looking for a more metabolically neutral antipsychotic some options are abilify, zeldox, saphris, and latuda. I don't know if any of these meds would be good for you, but it's worth a conversation with your pdoc.

I think you should consider repeating the ECG if it's been 5 years and you are having current symptoms, the doctor or NP may want to do further tests, but that's a good place to start.

I don't want to make any more guesses because med choices and things are complicated, but those are some of my thoughts.

Yeah seroquel is not the best choice if you have problems with blood sugar. If you are actually bipolar then 25mg is not enough for mood stabilisation. What have you been on to keep you stable all these years? The heart stuff can happen with any psyc meds, nothing to be worried about if they cleared you previously. Adderal would make the hearts skipping beats worse and can cause more problems.

For sleep have you tried actual sleeping tablets? As curiosity suggested. Much better option than an AP for someone like your self. Just dont get hooked. Do you have good sleep hygine etc? Thats where the pdocs focus should be before dishing out drugs. What do you do to manage your anxiety, besides meds?

hi Curiousity77, thank you for this. So I have had trazodone, and zopiclone before. The trazodone just made me dream too much, and I didn't feel like I slept well. And the zopiclone didn't give me a deep dreamless sleep either, I'd wake up after 4 hours raring to go, and groggy and grumpy. It's not supposed to be addictive, but I was given it for at least a year once, and don't want to go the route of sleeping meds again. That's why I thought seroquel was my best choice, but its not working, even at trying (psych knows and lets me adjust to my needs) 100 mg. It seems to work less effectively for sleep at higher doses for me.

I will ask my gp, going to see him Friday, if I should have a heart test done again, because my heart does race after I take seroquel. I've kind of known that effect on me, but I really want a good dreamless, sleep, without nightmares, and its worked for me for years. I should probably ask the psych to let me try other antipsychotics, but he does say they all seem to work the same, with affecting sugars, but after what I've been through, I don't think he really knows meds well enough. Thanks again

P docs never asked me about any sleep routines, or anything about much at all. All he's ever done is prescribe meds, judge me by my outer appearance ( I never go out shabby or without makeup etc.). But I do make sure my room is dark and cool, and don't go on the computer or get up to do anything over night, even if I can't sleep. I do have 5 mg to 10 mg at night of diazepam for years, before it was abusing lorazepam. I had a gp who just kept upping my dosage. Anyways, been trying to wean off of them so that could be why I don't sleep so well. I tried more than 10 yesterday because of my anxiety, it didn't make my sleep any better. Thanks for your reply, much appreciated.

Wow, I dont even know how to reply to that. Your doctors are dickheads. I am so so thankful for the level of care I get in my country.

Yeah, you really should be thankful, sounds like you have good care. In my years of experience, even from stories of friends of mine, yes our doctors are dickheads.

I find that most pdocs I have been to either do not understand their medication as well as they should, or are not wanting to spend the time to aggressively pursue a solution to my problems. The current pdoc is an exception. But I found that even he had his limitations. Still, working in a public institution where he has only 10 to 15 minutes for each patient can explain his shortcomings.

I know my pdoc has 0 time for me. I wait for almost one and a half hours to get to see him, and I respect doctors time, so I'm always there for the time of my appt. He has about 6 or 7 already waiting in front of me, when I'm on time, and some of them are booked for the same appt. time. I'm really curious to know, whether he gets paid by the patient numbers, or what, because it's extremely frustrating to spend 5 minutes with a doctor I'm entrusting my life to experiment with

I'm considering hospitalization myself, but it makes me cringe. My facility for mental health is so overbooked they can't get me back in, so Im trying to hold on till I get my kids and they go back to their dad on Thursday. I cant continue living like I have been.

Seroquel is more sedating at lower doses. It has to do with the way it effects histamine.

Maybe you can try saphris? It's a sedating antipsychotic, so good for sleep, and better than seroquel for metabolic side effects. It might be a good choice?

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i hope you start feeling better soon! i don't know to much about Seroquel just that my brother has been taking it for years and he hasn't complained about it but i know what you mean to. I really hate all the side effects meds give us it sucks. wish i could help you more like youve helped me on my post. just know that i care about you and hope you can get something better that wont harm you.

Go to a psych ward where there's a doctor you trust, otherwise they could make it worst. A good doctor can be a lifesaver.

I took Seroquel for a while, and it made me ravenously hungry about 90 minutes after I took it. I was getting out of bed every night to cook something. (I only took about 200 mg. each evening.)

Seroquel did make me sleepy, which I liked, but it did nothing for my depression. So I decided I didn't want it. I'm also inclined toward mood fluctuation, which Seroquel did not help.

A drug that has gotten popular with doctors is mirtazepine (brand name is Remeron.) It does help promote sleep and is an antidepressant. (Unfortunately, it does boost appetite also.) Another drug that is used a lot with older people because it is fairly safe is trazadone.

If you still have access to Valium, that might be the best thing, but addiction can be a problem.

Elavil (amitriptyline) works for me, both in reducing depression and in helping my sleep. It's an old drug that docs don't hardly order anymore. Unfortunately, it can feed in to cardiac problems.

On one occasion, while I was taking Seroquel plus other things, I woke up with a heartbeat of over 140 beats per minute. It's hard to know what did it because I was on a bunch of different things.

Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is also an over-the-counter option. It is pretty safe and is used on old people as a sleeping pill. (Can make your mouth real dry.)

I hope you get some decent sleep soon, and feel less anxious. Anxiety can be worse than depression.