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 did wander about the mania,ive gone from having no go to not enough hours in the day and getting annoyed if i cant fit it all in and also decided to go on basically an atkins diet

dont know about the theraeutic range,never head of it

I don't mean to come across as rude but just reading your posts makes me suspect you are manic!

The therapeutic range is just basically taking enough of a medication for it to work. If you took a quarter of a paracetamol for a stinking head ache, you might be lucky if it just took the edge off. If you took 2 it would be much more likely to help.

Obviously the therapeutic range is different for everyone, based on so many different factors. Your Dr wouldn't want to over medicate as this would leave you with nasty side effects that would counteract the good work that the medication does. But on the flip side you may still get mood dips if you aren't on enough.

What is your support network like? Would someone close to you tell you if they thought that your mood wasn't quite right? You could read a list of symptoms of mania and if you tick quite a few boxes than perhaps ring your Dr back and discuss it with them.

When I am manic I get irritable/frustrated too. Everyone thinks you are in a constant state of happiness but your mind is going so quick. If people don't keep up or agree with my crazy plans (living in a tent anyone?) Then they get told where to go!

Sorry, a lot of info there!

Are you on any other medications? Have you recently started an antidepressant?

hi,ha ha not rude at all,glad for the input

i was on setraline 400mg for approx 13yrs with 1 review but took of when i started Q

over the years looking back i went through manic and depressive,but over the last 3yrs there has been massive events and thats probably when the lows became more frequent and for longer and few highs deffo more lows

my doctor is pretty crap in the last 2 years been to him a few times and generally fobbed me of

this time it was really bad and was very down,dark thoughts etc and he took it seriously and contacted MH team

dont have a fantastic support network,but am generally known as a bit "nutty" i have hid a huge amount from close friends as i was always a bit of a mother hen and always took the lead but this time i have told them whats been happening,one did say that she noticed how withdrawn i was,but im to blame as i have put on an act over the years

to some people that dont know me im known as the ice maiden

medication at present is 300mg Q and a knytol sleeping tab as im having trouble sleeping and still wake up in the night oh and a betta blocker which i dont really take

have an appointment next week with MN

agree about feeling a little manic,ive now started the atkins diet the last 2 days so am now on the net for hrs reading up on it,im a tad OCD

i do know i dont want to live in a tent though,

hope that makes sense,please feel free to give me your view,its a good thing to have other opinions

sorry for essay

Hi sorry I haven't been back to the thread. OP I agree you might want to talk about your possible mania with your doc, especially as you say you are noticing it a bit yourself.

Interesting about the weight gain everyone is talking about. I knew it was possible but I have gained So Much. Quitting smoking didn't help and now I think I have turned into a comfort eater. So a triple whammy on the weight. Ugh.

It does all make sense. I can relate to a lot of it! Pobsessional becoming obsessional about things.

I do hope your appointment next week goes well. I would reccomend writing down what you went to get out of it and things you want to discuss.

I am off on my holidays today, so I won't be round for a bit.

When I first started quetapine I got little bit high. I had stop it very soon because of other side effects. Now I am on different cocktail,which keeps mania and depression away. Still struggling with other things.

have a great holidaybeer

so so tired today felt really unsteady on my feet,intresting air that you felt high

hearts yes weight gain is very common on it,i cant afford to gain anymore so low carb for me

300mg is a therapeutic dose although obviously this will vary from person to person and even episode to episode. 800mg is the absolute maximum that'll ever be prescribed as only a small amount extra is potentially dangerous. If it works well then it's perfectly feasible that someone can keep well on 300mg quetiapine and nothing else (I did for years).

Hi all. Am back from hols!

How are things going theywill?

That's interesting what you say about the dosage fedup. I had been led to believe, by HCP that the minimum effective dose was 400mg and up.

My pdoc told me that the minimum effective dose is 300mg, although I use it to help with the lows so I don't know whether it takes more to keep mania away.