[xRavenx]

Here's the situation: I had a week of a "feel good", possibly hypo period when my Seroquel was reduced to 300 mg. Everything seemed okay, and I liked the reduction of certain side effects on it. Then, my moods seemed to really cycle between bouts of anger/some signs of mania: impulsivity, people around me noticing a change in my behavior in a not so good way. Now,I feel myself slowly falling into depression.

I have a lot of left over pills that are 400 mg, which is what I was on before for a few months (over the winter I was on 600 mg). My pdoc is on vacation, and I don't know if I am ready to give her all this information since I want to wait and see if maybe going back to 400 mg would make things better again.

If you were in a similar position, would you move forward and just try going back to taking the 400 mg pills, just to see if there's any change? Like I said, I have a lot of left over pills.

[Guiness187055]

It's funny we all always have extra pills laying around. The only dosage that I have ever changed on my own was my AP. When I got a hold of my doctor over the phone he increased my AP anyway. That being said one should always contact a proffesional before adjusting any medicine.

[xRavenx]

Originally Posted by Guiness187055

It's funny we all always have extra pills laying around. The only dosage that I have ever changed on my own was my AP. When I got a hold of my doctor over the phone he increased my AP anyway. That being said one should always contact a proffesional before adjusting any medicine.

Thanks, yes, I have so many pills around! Sometimes I get scared telling my pdoc everything, because I am afraid of drastic changes...like her saying I need to increase the dose by double (which is what happened in the past). I guess I need to work on communicating and trusting her more.

[bioChE]

Yeah, trusting the doc is probably the way to go. I'll stick to the official line of saying you should consult your doc before making the change.

It's okay that you're nervous about telling your pdoc. I'm always nervous too, but even when I admit to noncompliance, he doesn't berate me. We usually talk it out and come up with a plan to make sure this sort of thing never happens again, even though I still struggle with it. (Usually this involves him understanding why I need/want a medication change.)

I don't like my pdoc, but it is the right thing of him to do.

[liveforsummer]

Ya I would follow the others in consulting your pdoc first
(sometimes its not a good thing we all seem to have this extra stash of pills)

[Sunflower123]

Ok I'll go along with the official line: you should run this by your pdoc and you really should. Having said that....I've done it twice with an AD we were trying to reduce and I only went back up to the original dose. I called and told my pdoc both times what I'd done and why and he was ok with it. We've been together for years though and I have a good feel about what will be ok with him. I wouldn't recommend this for anybody...that was just my personal choice. Best wishes.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Maybe you can ask your doctor if in the future a change isn't working out if you can go back to the old dose until you see him/her? I had a decrease in my clozapine sometime recently and when things got worse a week later I knew I was allowed to just go back to the old dose. When things got worse and I needed a higher dose I knew she'd probably be ok with my going to that dose but asked first to be sure. She tries to give me some degree of buffer zone with some meds.

Originally Posted by xRavenx

Thanks, yes, I have so many pills around! Sometimes I get scared telling my pdoc everything, because I am afraid of drastic changes...like her saying I need to increase the dose by double (which is what happened in the past). I guess I need to work on communicating and trusting her more.

First off: guilty. Lol

You really need to be straight up honest with your prescriber...or it goes to hell from there.

I'm discovering that there is a med ratio unique to the individual...and raising one drug might negate the effects of the other and a balance would be interrupted.

Like if I take more AD...then I need to raise the stabilizer or the system goes out of wack.....that's for me of course. It takes awhile for stabilization to happen after making unsanctioned adjustments (if it does- lost years....). Besides also...it throws the prescription quantity off even though it worked meaning another trip to the pdoc to explain why there is a dose change just to maintain the new adjustments. Pdocs can be control freaks and might look at you like a difficult client....imho.

You can get a "take as needed" Xr order called a ???- talk to your pdoc: after all....nobody knows our body more then we do.

[xRavenx]

Thanks everyone! I'll take all the advice here: that I really should talk to my pdoc first before changing anything on my own. She will be back from vacation soon. I have a feeling she'll make my appointment sooner, based on my concerns, which would be a good thing since I've been feeling off balance. She is a good pdoc, so I shouldn't be scared of her recommendations.