sedating medications

Anyone else here have a problem with sedating medications?

This morning I was so sleepy that I could barely drive. My eyes kept fluttering and I was drifting in and out of my lane. And this was after 9-ish hours of sleep! If I don't get a full 11-12 hours I'm a total mess. I'm not sure if I should blame this on the Seroquel XR or Saphris.

When I first started seroquel Xr I wasn't tired at all. But a week or two afterwards it hit me hard. I'm sleepy alllll day no matter how much sleep I get.

Were you switching from IR? I didn't have this problem on IR... not that I remember.

Sorry I have no idea what IR is. Still getting used to the lingo lol

Sorry, immediate release. The regular kind basically.

The XR has a history of being sedative to where people have to back off for there on safety. Maybe your Pdoc can suggest a way to eliminate some of that .

Question ? Are you taking the med about 10-12 hours before you need to be alert to drive ?

Ohhh no. I went to it straight from zyprexa.

Seroquel has done the same to me: nodding off at the wheel, needing some 10 hours of sleep. I've just lowered it from 100 to 25mg for my safety and that of others. It has a brutal hangover...

I don't take any other meds that are sedating, or not that I know of.

Snap I'm drowsy no matter how many hours sleep I get. The longer I sleep the worse I feel. I get the hangover effect which is fun. They want me to stop the Serequol XR and put me on something else. But that's not happening until the New Year

have you talked to your prescriber about maybe some less sedating options? There's more than 1 way to skin a cat. I now take 30mgs/Abilify, which is usually the most prescribed (biggest pill they make, at any rate). It does what antipsychotics/neuroleptics/tranquilizers are supposed to do, with far less sedation than many alternatives. Its also now generic.

Taking 2 antipsychotics/neuroleptics/tranquilizers at a time can cause problems for some people. If you feel like it, you can consult The Google. I think there's a cochrane review of antipsychotic polypharmacy. In the meta-analysis, it looks like...it causes more problems but doesn't result in a whole lot of benefits. But that doesn't mean it can't or won't or doesn't help --you-- and --your-- problems. Personally, I do better on a higher dose of 1 of these drugs than I did on varying doses of 2 at the same time.

Other than that...some people (me included) can manage with lower doses of a neuroleptic by using mood stabilizers. I take 2 anti-epileptic drugs, normal dose trileptal and low dose lamictal. If I didn't take these 2, I'd probably be on mega-dose Seroquel or something. I see that you're on Lithium....some people take an anti-epileptic with lithium, apparently (from what little I've read) to good effect.

Other than that....I don't have a whole lotta suggestions, lol. Some people with Bipolar can reduce or discontinue the tranquilizer once the psychotic problems have resolved. I'm not one of those people, but you might be (?) .

Hope things work out well for you.