Seroquel?

I foudn out today that I was prescribed seroquel when I was sixteen years old, and it said in my file "for psychotic disorders"

I actually have little recollection of taking this pill..besides my mother telling me I was crazy and forcing me to take the pill..possibly more than I was supposed to.

What is this for?

Seroquel is now contraindicated for people under eighteen. It's an atypical antipsychotic, and is used specifically to counter psychotic symptoms, like hallucinations, delusional thinking, etc. It was first introduced as a treatment for schizophrenia, later expanded to control psychosis in bipolar and other psychotic disorders. There's good evidence that it, and other anti psychotics, are abused by the foster care system in the US to control children with behavioural problems, even when these aren't caused by psychotic illnesses.

I'm currently on a slowly reducing dose, was prescribed it for psychosis related to schizoaffective disorder. Was very good for me, besides the weight gain. But I wouldn't give it to my son! I'm not surprised you don't remember much about it. You must have been asleep half the time.

Also, when you came off it, there's a strong chance you will have had withdrawal symptoms, some of which could have looked like psychosis. It's a difficult drug to get off.

From what I know, Seroquel can be used for more than just psychotic symptoms, although it is used for that. I take Seroquel XR, and for me it helps me get regular sleep, helps with anxiety, and does help in case I do become manic and eventually psychotic. Seems to me like it's an umbrella drug - it has many uses.

I used to take it when I was psychotic, It can be used for Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Manic depression,BPD, OCD, depression and other stuff.I am sorry that your mum called you crazy

Here is a link to it I hope it helps you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetiapine

I take it for mood swings related to bipolar disorder. It helps with sleep and anxiety. Personally, I'm happy with it.

I'm on 200mg of Seroquel I was originally prescribed risperdone but that messed me up. I don't have a problem with seroquel it helps me sleep at night and I even get up easier in the morning.

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Seroquel should really only be used for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders and then only occasionally for the manic part of severe bipolar disorder (formerly manic-depressive disorder) zand only when all else (regular mood stabilizers) fail.
It is NOT an umbrella drug. Though pharmaceutical companies push for it and other "atypical anti-psychotics" to be used for everything like: depression, anxiety,OCD, etc
It is not appropriate for these other disorders but that does'nt stop psychiatrists from prescribing it as an "umbrella drug"

Both my former and current psychiatrists agree that Seroquel and related drugs are widely over prescribed. They have no place in the treatment of anxiety and insomnia.

Shoez,

I'm on Seroquel for my BP2 mood swings, though it's had effects in the rest of my life. For one it makes me sleep like crazy, and two it's really steadied me out. Things that I never thought were part of mental health, just merely annoying parts of me have started to disappear too.

If you want to talk about it, PM me, or we can talk about it in chat if you think it'll help you figure it out a bit more.

wow thanks :] thanks everybody.

and thank u switch!, Its interesting u say it helped u with stuff u thought didnt have anything to do with mental health...i wonder if it helped me back then

To me it's amazing that a psych med developed for treating a specific problem ends up - amazingly - being thought helpful for a l l k i n d s of things. Sorry, I don't buy it. I have heard that Seroquel will help anybody fall asleep easier. I suppose that is true. But not a good enough reason, IMO, to give someone that med. (Morphine will help you fall asleep too. So will heroin.)

I'm sorry, shoez, it sounds to me like you were the subject of some bad doctoring and some not-so-great parenting.

Worldwide sales of this drug grosses over 5 billion dollars annually. That's an awful lot of money. It's more than the United States FBI counter terrorism budget for this year. I only know that because I became extremely sick yesterday, after starting Seroquel the night before on top of other drugs I am taking. I'm reasonably trusting of doctors. I do not believe solid science is driving the prescribing of these drugs. I believe pdocs make jobs for themselves by writing scripts. I believe powerful interests push the prescribing of these drugs.

I was never big on conspiracy theories. I don't even think this is a coordinated conspiracy. I think it is folks falling in line with what is easy to do, and nobody being too questioning.

I like taking Seroquel and at low dosages it doesn't have all the risks everyone seems to focus on with atypical antipsychotics and if a patient says to a doctor, I feel better taking this and the risks are understood and accepted, it is good.

Of course we all need to be our own health advocates as patient consumers and seroquel does help some people who are not necessarily experiencing psychosis. Medicine is a business that isn't conspiracy. That's economics.

Being mentally ill sucks, a lot, so much so that without this drug, whether off label or not, the risks of drug abuse, debt, lost jobs, marital and family breakdown and suicide, let alone the pure hell and anguish mental illness can cause in an individual, are worth many risks of the drug.

I've taken a lot of psych drugs and with all of them it is a trade off between effects and side effects. Are the benefits more than the risks? If so, take it.

So, that being said, why do I take seroquel? My brain hates me and seroquel helps control that. Medical terms are, I suppose, insomnia because of bipolar disorder and anxiety.

I've noticed since the pdoc increased my dosage that my appetite has increased ten fold! Uh oh!

-Trish
"Don't curse the rain, without it things don't grow. Instead find the beauty in it."

I didn't take my dose tonight, and am now resigned to the fact that I won't get any sleep. If I feel this way after less than twelve hours withdrawal, how the hell am I ever going to come of the stuff? My doctor really doesn't seem to want me to reduce any further, and I'm sick of being fat and tired all the time.

AAARGH!

One night I couldn't figure out if i took mine or not by two am I had it figured out but it was too late to take it. I got zero sleep that night. Then I missed an entire week once because I had an issue getting it refilled I felt like total crap I was a mess.

-Trish
"Don't curse the rain, without it things don't grow. Instead find the beauty in it."

Yes, medicine IS business. That's why we need to be a little less than totally trusting of all that is done in the name of "medicine." Under the guise of "medicine," some truly awful - drreadful - horrendous things have been done (Thalidomide comes to mind.) THAT'S economics, too.

Doctors - even if we assume that they are well meaning, as I do tend to believe most of them are, the vast majority of the time - are not always the best watchdogs on the pharmaceutical industry. I don't expect them to be, really - though they certainly have an important role to play, in that vein. It doesn't take for there to be a "conspiracy" for the overlapping interests of some industries - like medicine and pharmaceuticals - to favor something having big potential to be used in NOT THE BEST WAY. (Pesticides have been used very inappropriately, at times, due in part to overlapping interests of commercial farming and the chemical industry.)

I highly suspect that something being used in not the best way was the case for the person who started this thread.

Another huge danger is that people are inclined - by their human nature - to underestimate the importance of risks they expose themselves to, when doing so seems to make them feel good. (Aaahhh . . . cigarettes come to mind. Like: "Well, isn't smoking better than committing suicide - if it helps you to relax." Hey, you can make that argument and take it to all kinds of destinations.)

When we answer the question, "Are the benefits greater than the risks?" -- we are, to some extent, GUESSING, and HOPING that we guessed correctly. Any honest doctor will admit that medicine involves a lot of guessing with fingers crossed and breath held.

I've decided to take Seroquel, myself. And I am hoping that I won't be sorry.

Haha, I agree! Of course we're guessing! Any time you do anything, you're guessing, playing the odds that what you choose is the best option. Say, one in a 100 000 have a devastating reaction, as a patient you have to decide, not your doctor, if you're comfortable with those odds. Yes, if you're that one, it is a real danger, otherwise, no. Unknown risks exist too but, that is the unknown. To live well, we all need to accept the unknown.

Smoking is a bad analogy. The effects of cigarettes can be achieved with less dangerous methods but, the effects of Seroquel? Not always. In an ideal world one would not have to make these sorts of guesses and trade offs but, our world is far from ideal.

Doctors need to do their own trade offs, when it comes to the pen to paper on an Rx slip and the newest drugs, it may be financial incentives versus ethical treatment or even an ethical conclusion, the good of the many outweigh the good of a few.

Like vaccines, a few children having extreme reactions doesn't mean we need to avoid vaccines because that results in epidemics that can have devastating effects on everyone. Off label and trials in actual use are needed for the good of the many.

That doesn't mean drugs are not misused or all doctors are ethical but, that doesn't mean that in that particular case the Rx wasn't valid or given with good reason. It is the past and I suspect that even with medical records the OP will never truly know. Such is life.

They used to give this med to my friend who was 17, had no idea it wasn't safe for kids.

He felt awful on it, really bad, but doc said it is this or nothing so what could be do?

He had no psychotic illness.

Wow! I know this Med will be hard to come off when i want to. I miss one night and I'm up all night and felt like complete crap the next day! Ewwww....

-Trish
"Don't curse the rain, without it things don't grow. Instead find the beauty in it."