[Iamwho]

After 1 and half years my husband 's Pdoc (VA) wants him to stop:
Sertraline 150mg, Quetiapine 150mg and clonazepam .5 (3xday), without tapering them down. This is because my husband told him he was having muscle twitches at night. I am afraid of what will happen if he stops cold. Does this seem like an ok thing to do?

[garden gal]

I'm concerned about the possiblity of your husband stopping the clonazepam without tapering off of it. Withdrawal from benzodiazepines (such as clonazepam) can cause some serious medical issues such as elevated blood pressure and seizures. If he's been taking the medication daily for a year and a half, I would think he'd be in danger of having withdrawal symptoms if he went off of it cold turkey. Could he talk to his psychiatrist about concerns such as this? If his doctor wasn't open to listening to his/your concerns, is there the possiblity of getting a second opinion?

Hiya,

I don't think it's ever wise to stop meds cold turkey. I'm surprised a doctor would recommend this. I would get a second opinion even if I had to pay for it.

Love and hugs,
Tara

[disguise123]

ring someone else and ask. Dont listen to peoples opinion on here, call a doctor who understands the conditions.

Definitely get a second opinion.
I know from my own experience of stopping multiple meds cold turkey I felt very sick for about a week.

[teezcre8tion]

I wonder why he isnt having him taper off especially quetiapine and klonazopam... They are addictive and he will have withdraw symptoms... On the other hand muscle spasms for what Ive heard is serios and meds should be immidiatly stopped. I dont know for sure though. Make sure you are there for him chances are he will get very depressed after quitting quetiapine.
My husband is on quetiapine 100mg 3xsa day and 300mg at bed, celexa, klonazopam.5 as needed, valproic acid, mirtazipine, propanolol and narcotics through the VA for a year also. I dont think they know what they are doing... My husband ran out of quetiapine and was severley depressed. I have read that withdraws can take a while. My husband has had very bad side effects from his meds including blood clots in his lungs heart palpitations. His pdoc said he needs to sta on his meds and wont help him taper off them so he is cutting them in half and eventually stopping. Your husband is suffering from ptsd?

[teezcre8tion]

I suprised he isnt tapering him off them but from what I have read about it muscle spasms are a serious reaction and most be stopped right away. Your husband is suffering from ptsd I assume. Well from experience with my husband when he ran out of his quetiapine he became very depressed so just be there for him every way you can.
My husband is on celexa, quetiapine 100mg 3xs and 300mg at night, klonzapam, valproic acid, mirtazipine, propanolol narcotics and that all I can remember right now. He has had bad side effects and was hospitalized for blood clots and other issues that are a sure sign he needs to get off them. His doctor refused to reduce meds and slowly taper him off. So my husband is forced to do it himself or continue not being able to handle daily life. The VA is a bunch of bs in my opinion... they are handing out these drug coctails that are killing our vets but nothing is being done about it.
My heart goes out to you

[Iamwho]

Thanks for the concern and replies. Husband is going try no meds even though he not so sure about his doc. I just found out it isn't even a MD but a Nurse Practitioner (APN) with a PhD. Husband said he will call him if it gets to bad. The VA clinic here doesn't seem to have another doc for him to see. I am going to try to contact the actual pdoc MD or mental health nurse (RN) before it gets to bad.

[MirageXD]

I think the twitches are tardive dyskinesia. It is truely recommended to decrease the dosage or go off of the antipsychotic causing this. So, Quetiapine probably causes this. IMHO, all he has to do is to quit Quetiapine, which is not going to be easy, but I see no reason to quit all the meds just yet.

Best of luck,
Mirage

[serafim_etal]

Originally Posted by Iamwho

Thanks for the concern and replies. Husband is going try no meds even though he not so sure about his doc. I just found out it isn't even a MD but a Nurse Practitioner (APN) with a PhD. Husband said he will call him if it gets to bad. The VA clinic here doesn't seem to have another doc for him to see. I am going to try to contact the actual pdoc MD or mental health nurse (RN) before it gets to bad.

Please be aware that a nurse practitioner (APN= advanced practice nurse) is an RN who then got a master's degree and apparently, in your case also a PhD (I'm guessing probably in psychology). APN's have nearly as much education as M.D.'s, and definitely more than a mental health nurse...basically a psychiatric nurse practitioner is a mental health RN with 2-4 more years of master's level education in psych (each NP chooses a focused area such as family med, psych, geriatrics, women's health). I'm not saying she is right, just that she would have more knowledge than the RN.

[Iamwho]

Originally Posted by teezcre8tion

I wonder why he isnt having him taper off especially quetiapine and klonazopam... They are addictive and he will have withdraw symptoms... On the other hand muscle spasms for what Ive heard is serios and meds should be immidiatly stopped. I dont know for sure though. Make sure you are there for him chances are he will get very depressed after quitting quetiapine.
My husband is on quetiapine 100mg 3xsa day and 300mg at bed, celexa, klonazopam.5 as needed, valproic acid, mirtazipine, propanolol and narcotics through the VA for a year also. I dont think they know what they are doing... My husband ran out of quetiapine and was severley depressed. I have read that withdraws can take a while. My husband has had very bad side effects from his meds including blood clots in his lungs heart palpitations. His pdoc said he needs to sta on his meds and wont help him taper off them so he is cutting them in half and eventually stopping. Your husband is suffering from ptsd?

I am sorry your husband is having severe problems with his meds. Mine was in Vietnam and gets some disability for depression and anxiety.

[mgran]

Seems awfully harsh to come off them all at once.

You know, I keep seeing in threads that Quetiapine is addictive, and it's worrying me, because everytime I see a doctor they increase the meds.

[Iamwho]

I talked to the mental health nurse and she agreed stopping all Pmeds would cause withdrawals. She is going to have the nurse practitioner who said to quit meds call me. The NP wants him to stop all Pmeds for 2 weeks and see what happens. He has become very agitated, aggressive and making very poor critical decisions.
Thanks everyone for your help during this difficult time.

[serafim_etal]

Originally Posted by Iamwho

I talked to the mental health nurse and she agreed stopping all Pmeds would cause withdrawals. She is going to have the nurse practitioner who said to quit meds call me. The NP wants him to stop all Pmeds for 2 weeks and see what happens. He has become very agitated, aggressive and making very poor critical decisions.
Thanks everyone for your help during this difficult time.

Well yes, there of course will be withdrawal associated with stopping any med, and with some the withdrawal can be dangerous. However, tardive dyskinesia is potentially more dangerous than withdrawal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardive_dyskinesia

*IF* this is in fact what the NP is suspecting, then the dangers of withdrawal vs TD have to be weighed against each other.

I had tardive dyskenesia and the docs kept me on the meds even after more than several complaints from me and a video from me showing how bad the shaking gets. I finally went off cold turkey just to try and get rid of t.d. so far it doesn't seem to be permanent which i was worried about.

love and hugs,
tara

[Iamwho]

It's been 12 days now and last night he said he is calling the dr. because of sleep problems. His anxiety is bad but doesn't realize his hostility and aggression have also increased. He also is trying to immediately sell house or borrow money to move or wants to just back bags and move. Seems like psychosis. I hope he explains this to pdoc. and can get some help before ruining our lives.

[Iamwho]

Yeah, husband is back on his clonazapam, quietiapin and new antidepressant cetalopram (celexa). Hopefully he will be able to calm down soon.

[spiritual_emergency]

Hello IAmWho,
Many people try to reduce or withdraw from medications without allowing the necessary time to titrate; this -- especially in regard to the anti-psychotics -- can produce a resurgence in symptoms. A failure to make a successful reduction or withdrawal can produce hopelessness in those who may be combatting severe side effects or who don't wish to be on medications for a longer term.

I encourage you to read through the link below and share it with your husband (and professional caregivers if you feel it's appropriate). It's possible that your husband may be able to reduce or withdraw from his medications if he takes it slow and couples these efforts with new coping skills.

Good luck to both of you.

See also: Reducing or Coming Off Psychiatric Medications

[PTSDlovemycats]

Quitting meds is extremely difficult. Especially when withdrawal is likely. I would recommend if he is going to stop them again to definitely do it with a taper. This is speaking from experience of NASTY withdrawal from Benzodiazepines and Anti-psychotics.

[mokie]

My experience is to ask a pharmacist. They have much more knowledge to the drugs and many resources to info to all drugs interactions, side effects and much more.

[music junkie]

wow, now i'm worried about getting off of my clonazepam! (i'm not trying to right now, just saying, in the future) i didn't know the withdrawal effects would be so bad.

i agree, the VA is crap. i wish i could afford real health care.

[Iamwho]

After reading old posts, realized I should update this. He was still having major twitches so I recommended he stop quetiapine (I read the drug info first).
The twitching has stopped!

[Confusedinomicon]

I mostly tapered off quetiapine and then stopped taking it. I have high blood pressure, acid reflux, a really bad cough and cannot sleep. I'm also feeling depressed.

Your husband is lucky he didn't have bad side effects.

[insideout]

Originally Posted by Iamwho

After 1 and half years my husband 's Pdoc (VA) wants him to stop:
Sertraline 150mg, Quetiapine 150mg and clonazepam .5 (3xday), without tapering them down. This is because my husband told him he was having muscle twitches at night. I am afraid of what will happen if he stops cold. Does this seem like an ok thing to do?

your husband's doctor sounds like an idiot.
no offense.