[pgrundy]

Yesterday my psychiatrist increased my Seroquel dosage from 50mg at night to 100mg, and he changed it to the XR version too, which has no generic. He did that because I'm not sleeping. He wants me to sleep 9 hours. I sleep about four.

So I'm feeling really foggy today, just like when I first got on the lowest dose. I know it will pass, but now I'm starting to get worried. I'm truly dependent on a lot of medication at this point, and it's really expensive medication even with insurance, and I live in MI and am struggling to hold on to a part-time minimum wage job.

I feel like I'm in a really vulnerable position right now but I don't know how to just 'fix' myself so I won't be. I know I should focus on the positive (as in, we are managing to deal with it right now and I do have a job and insurance through my supportive spouse), but it feels like this big boulder just hanging over me that could drop at any time.

My pdoc also took me up to 225 mg of Effexor. It's really hard to stop that med. I can never stop it though--I've been told that and told that over the course of ten years and every time I stop it something awful happens. But what if I can't afford it again? It's not an irrational worry.

God I hate this. And I have to work today too, foggy.

Thanks for listening.

I guess it's one day at a time with this.

[Yoko]

Originally Posted by pgrundy

Yesterday my psychiatrist increased my Seroquel dosage from 50mg at night to 100mg, and he changed it to the XR version too, which has no generic. He did that because I'm not sleeping. He wants me to sleep 9 hours. I sleep about four.

So I'm feeling really foggy today, just like when I first got on the lowest dose. I know it will pass, but now I'm starting to get worried. I'm truly dependent on a lot of medication at this point, and it's really expensive medication even with insurance, and I live in MI and am struggling to hold on to a part-time minimum wage job.

I feel like I'm in a really vulnerable position right now but I don't know how to just 'fix' myself so I won't be. I know I should focus on the positive (as in, we are managing to deal with it right now and I do have a job and insurance through my supportive spouse), but it feels like this big boulder just hanging over me that could drop at any time.

My pdoc also took me up to 225 mg of Effexor. It's really hard to stop that med. I can never stop it though--I've been told that and told that over the course of ten years and every time I stop it something awful happens. But what if I can't afford it again? It's not an irrational worry.

God I hate this. And I have to work today too, foggy.

Thanks for listening.

I guess it's one day at a time with this.

Some drug companies have programs for free medications for people in your position. Do you have a county health care facility you could check with?

[pgrundy]

No, I have insurance right now. It's just that ever since this diagnosis I've run out of resources twice and ended up off my meds, so now that I'm on them again I'm fretting.

I think I just have to realize that if I run out of money again it doesn't necessarily mean I have to get sick, it just means I have to find other options. It's hard to relax about it.

Thanks for your reply. I appreciate it.

[mgran]

The seroquel will get better. I'm on 300 XL, and I remember how tired it made me when I started on fifty.

A couple of times I've messed up on my meds, and felt myself slipping, but I'm able to be more organised than I was. If you do find the XR too expensive perhaps you could go on the ordinary generic one again? Maybe if you talk to your doctor he or she can help you work out a plan.

[pgrundy]

Thanks, mgran! That's good advice. I'm feeling less foggy already today, and I do feel a lot better. I'm starting to feel the difference now, the positive difference.

[Petunia111]

I can't sleep without the stuff. Then I get over-tired and moody. I am not sure if I would need it, but for regular sleep cycle. It's expensive. I lost my drug card, and the needyRx, I need to re-register again. This stuff is just so expensive. By the time it's generic, there will probably be something even better to use.

[pgrundy]

(((Petunia)))

I think the non-XR kind has a generic. Could you get some of that?

Yes I focus too much on what MIGHT happen and not enough on right now. Right now I have the meds I need, but twice since 2002 I've not been able to afford them and both times that happened I got real sick. So it worries me to be dependent on them. I just have to have a strategy for what to do if I can't get them through insurance again. I could call 411, call the drug companies, go to the free clinic here. I need to calm down about it.

The Seroquel XR is starting to work. I slept all night last night--the first time in over a year. I couldn't believe it.

I hope you can get some of this stuff. You're right, it really works.

[pgrundy]

PS--I think it's hard to have any chronic illness right now and even harder to have a mental or emotional illness. Many people are not sympathetic--they kind of blame you for your own problems, And so many people have strong (and wrong) negative opinions about medication.

Lots of public programs have been discontinued, and even insurance severely limits care. I am dreading getting my hospital bill from January. Out of pocket limit is $4,000 and I don't have it. I'm sure I'll hit that.

[ladyjrnlist]

That just makes things so much harder, doesn't it. But we have to do what we can when we need the treatment. Glad to hear you are adjusting to the Seroqul, it takes some time with that.

Originally Posted by pgrundy

PS--I think it's hard to have any chronic illness right now and even harder to have a mental or emotional illness. Many people are not sympathetic--they kind of blame you for your own problems, And so many people have strong (and wrong) negative opinions about medication.

Lots of public programs have been discontinued, and even insurance severely limits care. I am dreading getting my hospital bill from January. Out of pocket limit is $4,000 and I don't have it. I'm sure I'll hit that.

[pgrundy]

Thanks ladyjrnlst!

[mgran]

Originally Posted by pgrundy

Thanks, mgran! That's good advice. I'm feeling less foggy already today, and I do feel a lot better. I'm starting to feel the difference now, the positive difference.

I'm glad you're starting to notice the difference. It's such a relief when that happens.

[AAAAA]

It has been my experience that the higher the dose for serequel the less foggy I felt. There was an initial adjustment of course, but the only thing that I never adjusted to was my throat relaxing so much that I'd choke if I attempted to eat anything after taking my nightly dose. It would give me the munchies, but I couldn't swallow.

[pgrundy]

Wow, that would be frustrating.

My appetite is finally coming back too, sad to say... but it's a good thing, really. I love to eat. Not wanting to eat isn't normal for me.

[Petunia111]

I got screwed trying to get the "generic" Seroquel. It doesn't do anything. I won't be generics on line anymore. Only the stuff that comes from the company that makes it. I dug up some of the real Seroquel and had a decent nights sleep. I hate living like this, but it is what it is.

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Originally Posted by pgrundy

Yesterday my psychiatrist increased my Seroquel dosage from 50mg at night to 100mg, and he changed it to the XR version too, which has no generic. He did that because I'm not sleeping. He wants me to sleep 9 hours. I sleep about four.

So I'm feeling really foggy today, just like when I first got on the lowest dose. I know it will pass, but now I'm starting to get worried. I'm truly dependent on a lot of medication at this point, and it's really expensive medication even with insurance, and I live in MI and am struggling to hold on to a part-time minimum wage job.

I feel like I'm in a really vulnerable position right now but I don't know how to just 'fix' myself so I won't be. I know I should focus on the positive (as in, we are managing to deal with it right now and I do have a job and insurance through my supportive spouse), but it feels like this big boulder just hanging over me that could drop at any time.

My pdoc also took me up to 225 mg of Effexor. It's really hard to stop that med. I can never stop it though--I've been told that and told that over the course of ten years and every time I stop it something awful happens. But what if I can't afford it again? It's not an irrational worry.

God I hate this. And I have to work today too, foggy.

Thanks for listening.

I guess it's one day at a time with this.

Hi Pgrundy-

Saw your post and thought maybe some insight may help..?

In regards to Seroquel XR and Seroquel IR (instant release) the majority of people have many more side effects on the IR vs. the XR because the XR is released slowly over 24 hours where the IR is BAM! released all at once. That's usually why docs use the IR form for insomnia. My psychiatrist say if he were to switch me from the IR to XR that in order to get to sleep by 10-11pm I'd have to take it at 6pm because of how it's released. I was on the XR version for a while and I too felt very foggy for about 4-5 days then all the sudden it just stopped. No fogginess. However, I needed more of a punch to get me to sleep so we went back to the IR form and it works great.

As far as the generic vs. the brand name, not much I can tell you - except some people swear that generics don't work the same compared to the brand names. For me, both work the same - but on a different med, Prilosec, the generic doesn't work as well as the OTC brand name. It's weird. So, I don't know what to tell ya.

I can understand your financial/insurance worries. I would have you check out the Partnership Prescription Assistance Program, www.pparx.org. They are an excellent resource that let's people with "bad"/partial insurance coverage or no insurance find programs to help pay for their meds. I've used it in the past and didn't have to pay for any of my meds for years. It's worth looking into.

Hope this helps a little.

Jerry

[pgrundy]

Thank you Jerry! Thanks especially for the link. I know I just have to cope with it, no matter what, and I will. I mean, I get it now--my illness can't go to the bottom of the list, even when it is challenging--in fact, especially when it is challenging.

The fog from the increased Seroquel dose is already lifting. My shrink switched me to XR because I fall asleep just fine but don't stay asleep. So far, so good. I mean, it does seem like it's starting to help. Slept all night last night and I haven't done that in over a year.

I appreciate your response. When I was in the hospital, I was truly moved by the challenges the other patients faced and by their courage. It does make me feel like I can do it, hearing from others who deal with it day in and day out. Thanks again.

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Anytime- I'm glad I could help!!

Hang in there!
Jerry

[mgran]

Originally Posted by Jerrypharmstudent

Anytime- I'm glad I could help!!

Hang in there!
Jerry

Jerry, can I ask you a question as a pharm student?

I was given a short course of zopiclone last week, and the two tablets I took left me feeling ratty, and paranoid, and very very stressed. Of course, I didn't take the rest of the course.

Is that a common side effect? I'm on seroquel XR and lamotrigine, which work fine. Could it have been an interaction, or is that just not a med I should be taking? (Sorry if I've hijacked the thread... but I suppose drug interactions with seroquel aren't a thousand miles of the topic.)

[Jerrypharmstudent]

Originally Posted by mgran

Jerry, can I ask you a question as a pharm student?

I was given a short course of zopiclone last week, and the two tablets I took left me feeling ratty, and paranoid, and very very stressed. Of course, I didn't take the rest of the course.

Is that a common side effect? I'm on seroquel XR and lamotrigine, which work fine. Could it have been an interaction, or is that just not a med I should be taking? (Sorry if I've hijacked the thread... but I suppose drug interactions with seroquel aren't a thousand miles of the topic.)

M-

Check your PMs - I responded. Basically your response to Zopiclone is actually not that uncommon. There are no interactions with Seroquel or Lamotrigine except for increased sedation.

- Jerry