[ShiningGirl]

I am currently taking 80mg Prozac, 100mg Seroquel, and 100mg Lamictal for BP1 and OCD. I was poking around sites last night and found out that the combination of Seroquel and Prozac can cause abnormal heart rhythms. I feel great, don't have any weird symptoms, but am unsettled at finding out that these meds have a "moderate" interaction that must be carefully monitored by your doctor. My psych never mentioned any of this to me. I found this info on the Mayo Clinic site as well as drugs.com, so I'd like to think it's factual... is anyone else on this combo, or has anyone heard of this potential for interaction leading to problems?

[kaliope]

I think if you found it on the mayo clinic site then it is probably accurate. but did it say what the chances of this happening are...like is it 1in10 or 1 in a million. is it worth the risk? it is entirely possible that your doc didn't know the risks. my pdoc looks up drug interactions on her phone. but that is how they interact with each other. not how they are going to affect me. I was put on Geodon a year ago and not once was I told it would cause TD. now I have neurological problems and even though I am off the drug they have not gone away. I don't think drs are real good at telling patients side effects because chances of them happening are rather low. they wait until they happen and then tell you. bastards.

[ShiningGirl]

Thanks. I called my pdoc's answering service and left her a message. I've been taking this combo for a few months and haven't noticed any weird heart thing, but now I'm a little freaked out!

[Crazy Hitch]

I'm not quite on your combo but I'm on quite a cocktail .... AD ... AP ... mood stabilizers ....

Every med comes with side effects and your doc would have weighed up the pros vs the cons before prescribing them to you. I get a bit freaked out when I start looking up side effects or reviews of the meds.

But I feel like I'm on the right combo so my motto is if it ain't broke don't fix it.

By all means speak to your pdoc but you're on such well known medications that I'd be rather surprised if your dr isn't aware of the interactions of taking these simultaneously.

Be well.

Some ADs can cause arrhythmia at a certain dose. My pdoc told me that lexapro, which I take, can start to run into that territory so she is careful to keep it below a certain dose for me. She doesn't take chances with any of this stuff. I feel fortunate to have her because I've had pdocs in the past that did not give a rip what the side effects or risks were. They weighed everything against suicide. This one that I'm seeing wants me to have a life worth sticking around for.

Please ask your pdoc of Prozac is one of these meds and find out what the cutoff dose is.

[Disorder7]

80 mg of Prozac is a lot of Prozac!!! I'm on 20 mg and that's as high as I'll ever go.
Besides asking about the combo, I would have to ask if 80 mg is really necessary.

[Zippo]

I was on prozac for a long time along with other drugs (not seroquel) and developed a serious heart arrhythmia that went away when I quit prozac.

[ShiningGirl]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Still waiting to talk to my pdoc.
The thing about this cocktail is, it works. It works better than anything else I've been on... so I hope I never have to deal with any dangerous effects down the road, although from what I have read, that may very well happen.
I know my 80mg dosage of Prozac is high - I believe it's actually the ceiling dose. I started at 20, and have taken two years to get to 80. I left my pdoc's office dejected when she told me I needed to bump the dose up to 80. I felt so broken and flawed. There must really be a lot going on that I can't control, for me to need that much of just one drug. My husband was concerned she was overdosing me. I half expected to feel like crap, and then discover I WAS taking too much.
But that didn't happen. What happened was I felt better. And when my pdoc increases my Seroquel, I felt even better!
Haha. So there it is, I suppose I have just negated my concerns. I have hopes that one day, maybe I won't have to take any pills.
Thanks again all.

Glad you worked it out for yourself.

This comment, though: I felt so broken and flawed. Wow. I can sure relate. Sometimes, I think I need therapy just to deal with the effects of having to take meds, then I get over it and am back to feeling like crap over the usual things. It can feel demoralizing, though, especially when there's no seeming end to the med adjustments and trials.

[jesusplay]

drug interactions are real, and you can look them up online.

this young doctor put me on geodon and seroquel, then a senior doctor who checks interactions took me off one of them due to possible heart problems from the combo.