Quetaiapine help

[Cmblue]

Iv been put on quetaipine for resistant depression and anxiety among other mental health issues, iv been on it for a week and am getting terrible side effects, I feel sick, weak, dizzy more anxious. Has anyone taken this medication and had side effects or found it effective?

I guess it is just a case of the brain adapting to new medication, it's just so hard when your mental health isn't great then feeling even worse. Hopefully it will work in the long run

Yes hopefully it will get better, thanks for the encouragement Danger. How much do you take and what difference has it made?

How are you feeling Babette? I'm still in bed feeling like shit, iv lost 6lb in a week and a half because I still feel sick as a dog. How long have you been taking it now?

Not as bad as yesterday as I slept but still very low mood and finding it difficult to see a positive future. I feel nauseous during the day then hungry at night so I am hoping that my weight has stayed the same. This will be my fourth week I think... losing track. Losing weight is not good. Are you able to eat small amounts when you feel like it? When I do feel slightly better, that's when I start to worry about the long term things such as will I get back to work.... how is this going to affect my life. Trying my best to stay in the moment but hard.

I always get caught in the negative thinking cycle of is this my life now, all I want is to do things without having a panic attack and to feel happy again, I use to get happy from small things such as candles, books and the gym but now that's all gone. I get overwhelmed by small things such as laundry and cleaning. I'd love to go back to work aswell, I'm eating a small meal when I can. It's hard but you need to concentrate on your mental health before work, when is your sick paper due up?? Are your work understanding?

The only lomg term side effect I have noticed is gradual weight gain (but that could also be due to overeating).
Since I have been on it I have had barely any anxiety ever.
I have had depressive episodes but these have normally been triggered by stressful life events and as soon as my dose is raised, they go away again.

I am 3 weeks in to being off work but I only get statutory sick pay. I think that I can claim that for six months. Problem is my job needs a high degree of concentration and could only be done if I became really well again. I have only been off once before, 2/12 years ago when I had my first episode although it wasn't seen as an episode then. Have you had periods of feeling well Cm?

Since this episode 17 months ago iv had no periods of feeling well, iv either been resistant to medication or suffered side effects. I only see my psychiatrist every 6 months due to staff shortages and my gp won't touch my medication. Are you under a mental health team??

Room how long did it take until you started seeing the benefits? What dose do you take?

Yes, under a mental health team but I don't know how long that continues. I am not even sure if the doc in the team is actually a pdoc.17 months is a long time to feel like this and that is a long gap to see a pdoc. Could you see another GP or get them to write to the pdoc? Who is monitoring how you do on quetiapine? Do you have any support?

Bearing in mind that it was 2015 when U started taking them, from memory around four weeks. I was started on a dose of 75 mg then that was raised to 200 mg a year or so later then raised to 300 mg in December. When I have had the dosage raised. I start to feel better within a week.

Have you any plans for today Cmblue? I am trying to get my own meals today as yesterday had to ask for help. Feel lucky that I have someone to ask although he is struggling also. My son seems happy with his one and only Easter egg and it was good to see his smiling face although I felt detached in a way. I will try to do my 10 mins on the treadmill even though my legs feel like jelly atm. Hope you are able to do something small today.

No one is really monitoring my queitiapine, my gp and pysch communication is really poor. I do have free councilling.
Iv just been for an Easter Egg hunt, my legs were like jelly aswell tho, I'm really unsteady on my feet and feel like iv got vertigo. Aw I'm glad your son was happy with his Easter egg, how have you got on with the treadmill? I just spend the day waiting to go back to bed.

Great that you made the Easter egg hunt. I know what you mean about waiting to go to bed although it is not the perfect place for me as sometimes I don't sleep. I am still hoping to go on the treadmill even if it is for just a short time. Really think that someone should be monitoring the Q as it is a very serious medication.

Also finding it difficult that it is a bank holiday weekend and most people are out enjoying life as I used to. Feeling very sorry for myself and others in this position.

I made the Easter Egg hunt but I may aswell of not been there, I didn't really feel like I was there and my anxiety rocketed. I would like someone to monitor my quetiapine just for reassurance that the side effects will lessen, and IL start to feel better, I resent everybody having a good time aswell thinking that use to be me, this is something I wouldn't wish on anybody. How often do you see your mental health team?

know how you feel. At the moment, I am seeing MH team quite regularly, I think because I am a new patient so that will probably tail off. I definitely have noticed a pattern now of feeling worse in the morning and better towards the end of the day. Just told my mum that I am ill which I was dreading but she was great. Feel guilty though as she has lots of her own, physical issues and she lives far away so I am no support. Is there anything that you are able to do to feel better?

I'm glad you told your mum, she's your mum she won't mind, the more open you are the better but it's hard to open up to people who don't understand. Do the mental health team visit you? Have they just told you to carry on with the Q, do you think you feel better because the Q is wearing off?? No iv tried lots of things, headspace, meditation, mindfulness, cbt.

Hi Cmblue,
No, I go to them and luckily they are a two minute walk. They haven't told me anything about the Q but I get the impression that they think it will work well. I do think I feel better because the Q is wearing off in the late afternoon. I seem to be able to gather my thoughts more easily. Still have problems with motivation but having a clearer head is something. In the morning when I am at my worst, I just about manage to do a guided body scan with headphones. When I try to do it myself in bed, I can't do it but with headphones I can and it helps for about half an hour but that's something. I don't think things like meditation work when depression is very bad but probably good for mild depression. Need to motivate myself to do some cooking or at least gather together some food. Hope you have manged to eat something?

babette I take 150mg at night, but I also take max dose of one anti depressant and then a high dose of another too. The quetiapine was added as I was still very depressed and on as much AD's as my body could take...they tried putting the high dose one up further, which did nothing except give me migraines so they reduced it back down again and added quetiapine.

I sleep better now (still not fabulously) and am not actively suicidal. I was having to take benzo's and sleeping tablets and the quetiapine meant I could come off them easily, once I was at full dose. I can concentrate enough to read/tidy the kitchen as my head isn't full of racing thoughts. My mind still gets full of horrible thoughts in the evening, but I know I'm going to go to sleep and the mornings are fine rather than "oh my god it's another day". So it hasn't solved everything but it means I can function a lot better on a day to day basis.

Danger I can't be given antidepressants ( I don't think) as when I was on them last, I had an episode of hypomania and that would be the risk of taking them again. I am being assessed for late onset Bipolar and am devastated to be unwell after a lifetime of good health. I am hoping to be allowed to take Lamotrigine as that has a good reputation for Bipolar depression. Glad you are functioning better after taking quetiapine.... hope it continues.

My mum has made me a small beef dinner, I don't think I would of made myself anything otherwise, have you managed? Do you have to cook for your son and partner too? I will have to feed my son tomorrow tho, and go to the shop alone which I'm dreading.

babette my psychiatrist talked about Lamotrigine as a possible alternative to the AD's I'm on so it must be ok.

I wouldn't be too devastated about being unwell after good health...if you're only getting unwell now there is more of a chance that you'll get better! When you find the right medication it can change your life. When people talk about not taking medication because it 'numbs' them etc I find it a bit puzzling. I take medication so I can feel normal and have the ability to have a full range of human emotion rather than being like the walking dead.

Does your son stay with his dad sometimes? Lovely that your mum is there to make you a dinner. I usually cook for my DH and son but haven't been able to lately. I don't know how we are managing to shop cook and all get fed but we are, just. My son even made me something as he is quite enjoying learning how to cook, which is great. I am so used to doing it all it is very weird having them do more. I feel lucky to have them as I don't know what I would be doing right now if I had to fend for myself.

Ye he stays with his dad but that's only started in the past 6 months, that's lovely your son cooks for you, we all need some help sometimes but I know how hard it is feeling helpless, what happened when you had hypomania that must of been distressing!