general thread about *Quetiapine* and *bi polar*

[theywillgrowup]

hi,was diagnoised with bi polar last week though been on AD's sleeping tabs etc for years but all just came to a massive crash and now find myself learning all about bi polar/meds etc and all that comes with it

thought i would start a thread about it rather than posting countless other threads

would be great if others shared/asked about anything,i learnt alot from the other thread

anyway i started Quetiapine yesterday 50mg then today 100,then next day 200 then next 300 and will stay on that till next week when i go to gp

after yesterdays dose i felt drunk and really struggled to keep my eyes open all within half an hr

saw a differrent gp who told me doses etc (my normal gp was of) and said take it in the morning,well after those effects i havent taken todays yet 100mg,i was in bed last night for 8 and woke up at 12 and was awake till 4am

ive decided to take todays at 8pm tonight as yesterday was daft,does it make any differrence if i take at night compared to day

i was on a sleeper which gp has stopped which is fine but i dont want to take Q in am and be awake all night

thank you

- I wish I could have stayed on it, but it didn't work well for me.

I get sugar cravings on Olanzapine but have lost 1/2 stone by calorie counting and cutting out fatty foods. I still have sugar cravings, or food cravings but try to curb them with a cappuccino.

I hope your sleep is better tonight, I find if I get enough sleep I feel more 'normal'.

Whatever 'normal' is

I don't tend to get psychotic--only when at my very most suicidal, but which time I'm already in hospital.

I wouldn't still be on Quetiapine if it wasn't for the fact that it is that good for me. I've tried just reducing the dose to see if it helps with the pain, but as soon as I go below 300mg (which is my normal dose), all hell breaks loose. When I first started seeing my current CPN in October, I said to her that perhaps I should just try to live with the pain. She said that's too much to have to do, esp. given I'm only 38. Having seen me through the last episode, she's now changed her mind.

As for weight gain: this is a big deal for me and I'm very glad to say that I haven't gained any weight on Quetiapine. However, I have found it's much easier for me to gain weight. I am very, very strict with my diet and monitor my weight. I'm kind of fortunate that I just stop eating when low so tend to lose a lot of weight.

Do you feel like everything makea sense now you have a diagnosis OP?

I take the modified release. I take it at about 6pm and go to bed at 9, by that time its sleepy effect has kicked in. I need a lot of sleep and my son wakes up at 6:30. I still feel groggy in the morning but I am just about able to function!

When I first started taking it, the psych put up the dose too quick. I got out of bed and because I had rushed, I collapsed! It can make your blood pressure go a bit low. I don't get any side effects now, apart from the sleepys and increased appetite. I am like you OP. Eat when depressed, eat when manic, eat when normal!!

I'm feeling a bit spaced out and have got the shakes today. I know it s one of my meds - have just had them all put up and a new sleeping pill introduced.

yeah do feel better now diagnosed,but think im trying to learn to much in one go

yeah eat eat eat regardless

went to see a friend tonight,was good to get out and stayed much longer than expected,downside im late with my tabs so expecting a late nigh,cross that i should of either come back earlier or taken with me

glad the weight gain if watched might not be the doom i thought

keep your thoughts and experiences coming its a massive help and really intesting,nite lady's

Hello.op and posters sorry I have not been online...my Dr has said I have to split the dose...which will mean 200 in the mornings and 200 at night....I think I will just always be asleep!

hi kitty,god thats gonna be tough going,how do you feel about that??

have you got kids? how will you manage if you do

How are you getting on with the Q today will?

Have you read any books about bipolar disorder, to get a better understanding of what you are dealing with? Knowledge is power and all that!

hi,im on 300mg now and i have to be honest i hate how it makes me feel especially at night,i take at night

after taking it about 30mins i feel so tired and fuzzy,unsettled even,i try and go to bed about an hour or so after taking but i just cant sleep,tired but restless if that makes any sense,it takes hrs to get to sleep

last night i found a sleeping pill so took half of that it was driving me mad

im also getting the blocked stuffy nose,,but i can live with that

havent read to much joined bipolar UK

have to say this is the first day i havent been asleep in the day (lots on) and i feel pretty good

my mood is much better than last week dont know if its meds or just coming out of a bad patch,its been nealy a month since the downer started so maybe thats it

im hoping the activity and lack of napping will help me sleep tonight

thanks for asking

kitty how are you doing??

I've been on it for just over a year now. 150mg. It has worked really, really well for me. I gradually got back to normal and now am even back working and leading a normal life after 2 years which were pretty much consumed by psychosis and post psychotic depression.

BUT, I put on 19kg in 3 months which was massive for my 5ft 1" frame. The sugar cravings were incredibly strong and I was not strong enough mentally to resist at the beginning. In January I took myself in hand and cut out refined sugar and have now lost 11 of the 19kgs without too much effort. I was very thin to start with, so only have a couple more kgs to lose to be my ideal weight.

I got over the tiredness after a while, but I do still get knocked out by the meds which is why I only ever take them once I'm home for the night. Mornings can be really hard and I do have to have a sleep through the day now and again because I find it hard to function when i am really tired.

I hope it works as well for you as it has for me OP. Good luck

hi,wow glad you managed to beat the craving,would you say it was the giving into the craving that put the weight on or what ingredient is i the meds

friday night had the best sleep in a long time,saturday not so good,im on a up so spent 7hrs in the garden yesterday and 4 today,hope that will burn the calories of

mawglad its had a positive effect,i cant say ive noticed any difference between taking 200mg and now 300mg

ithink doc said not to drink on it and i havent but have a party coming up and am curious if others have,normally drink makes it hard for me to sleep (spirits) im just not a falling asleep type person if ive had a drink so any experience would be fab

Shall reply in the morning and share my experience of alcohol and quetiapine. (Let's just say it wasn't pretty.)

Have taken a zolpidem and am feeling a bit spaced out right now!

ha ha ok,sounds intresting

have a relaxed sleep

if your kind enough to reply i may not see it till evening,fete etc tom busy kiddy day

I am fairly sure it was the massive sugar consumption that piled on the weight given that I shifted it fairly easily after cutting out sugar.

I don't drink any more (9+ years!) so have not had to worry about mixing it with alcohol.

I would suggest not drinking whilst on it, until you have been on the optimum dose for a little while. And then I would have maybe one glass. It can affect the way it is absorbed, making it less effective.

I was started on it when I was manic and I tend to drink a lot when I'm in that state.

1 night I had about a bottle of wine when I was round my boyfriends. I woke up early hours of the morning feeling incredibly sick. I quickly jumped out of bed to get to the bathroom, passed out at the top of the stairs. Proceeded to fall down the stairs and then thrashed about on the floor, like i was having a fit, in nothing but my nightie. BF housemates come to see what all the noise was and took great delight in telling me that they saw my bum!

Also, remember not to eat grapefruit!

Its really unusual for quetiapine not to make you sleepy. Are you still a bit manic?

hi beer um think i will pass on the drink, one event your never forget

yeah i read about grapefruit

sat i spent 7hrs gardening and sunday 4,you would think that would wipe me out oh no didnt get to sleep both nights till gone 3ish,both mornings had a cracking headache and felt fuzzy headed

but it was weird,last night took my 300mg at 11.30pm normally within 30mins i feel really tired,cant hold a cup straight or walk straight so always go straight to bed but i had none of that last night it was if i hadnt taken anything no effects at all,work that one out and still didnt get to sleep till gone three and that was at 2am found a sleeping tab and took it

see doc tom,also have i think what they call restless leg and my right hand keeps "locking* and apart from friday night i still wake in the night

from what ive read most go straight to sleep and stay that way

sorry for long post

gonna take the tab at 9ish tonight,school run in morning

I find that it knocks me out more on some nights than others. I think the more tired I am when I take it, the more drugged I feel. I hate the feeling

its been the same as last night,took at 10pm no dizziness,tiredness etc maybe im getting used to it 300mg,im a bit confused as many have these effects every time they take it and mine seem to have worn off,confusing as im new to all this

so many ??

Quetiapine never made me tired, that's why I was swapped to Olanzapine, I was still wide awake on 600mg and was still manic, I drank whilst on it once and ended up being sick and had to go to bed.

How did you get on with the Dr?

I had the restless leg thingy for a while too. I would just be dozing off and then my leg would ping up in the air! It did pass though.

When taking it at the dose I need (minimum 300mg) it's started making my heart race and beat really hard. As it's known to cause heart problems that's obviously a concern. I'm on a reduced dose at the moment but have an appointment with the psychiatrist on Friday to discuss my options, which I think are fairly limited. Been on it for years though and for me it worked very well.

hi all,dr said all the side effects are normal and it was fine to take at night

said the feeling very tired which has stopped the last 2night was me getting used to the tabs but said i could have a nytol one a night to help me sleep

i do feel very tired in the day but also have a fair bit of energy if that makes sense,i have done more in the last 4 days than the last 4wks

he said he could see a big difference in me,which i can feel myself

basically will stay on the 300mg as i am

Glad you are starting to feel a difference.

I was started on quetiapine when I was manic. It took me a little while to get stable again, (staying stable is another matter altogether!)

Is 300mg within the therapeutic range? I am on 800mg, plus lithium and an AD. It took a lot of being on a small dose but still getting mixed episodes to get them to finally bump it up that high.