Psychotropic medication discussion thread

restlesstiger49 said:Alright, I see we're talking about Calixta. Does it cause any drowsiness the following day? I'm currently on a 15mg dose.

For the first two weeks? Yeah, absolutely. After that, you kind of adjust. Personally, it takes me about half an hour every morning just to actually function, but once I'm up, I'm a total goody two-shoes.😉

Michael Hill2 said:A quarter of 15 mg? Last time I tried an eighth, I think I slept for about 15 hours straight.😁
If you’re only taking it to deal with insomnia, dropping the dose actually works better for those histamine receptors—meaning you'll probably sleep way better.

My cousin swears the lowest effective dose for sleeping is just an eighth.

Get some good sleep, kid. Trust me, you'll want to.😍

thanks, Michael Hill2 🙂 Guess I'll give the chicken a shot...

Michael Hill2 said:Just take it when you hit the pillow, close your eyes, and you'll be out.🙂
My advice? Honestly, even a quarter might be too much for you.🙂

It really is a case-by-case situation, isn't it? For me, even 7.5 mg feels insufficient; I practically need to pair it with something like Ambien just to get some peace. In the beginning, I could drift off within twenty minutes flat, but nowadays, I find myself having to take it two full hours before I even attempt to sleep...

Michael Hill2 said:For the first two weeks? Yeah, absolutely. After that, you kind of adjust. Personally, it takes me about half an hour every morning just to actually function, but once I'm up, I'm a total goody two-shoes.😉

So, basically, does the drowsiness just never go away?

I have a question for those of you who attend regular follow-up appointments: what is the actual process like? What do you even talk about—or do you even talk at all? DO THEY ACTUALLY LISTEN to your concerns and try to be helpful, or what???

In my experience, I've seen three different doctors, and they basically just glance at my lab results and say, "I'll write you a prescription." Like, they just print out something for Zoloft or Ambien and call it a day. Not long ago, I actually mentioned feeling suicidal, and the doctor just laughed at me... honestly. Now, I've permanently stuck with the psychiatrist who worked with me back when I was fifteen. When they ask how I'm doing, I tell them straight up: "Terribly. I don't feel any effect from the Zoloft at all, and I'm still having depressive episodes." But it feels like they just don't care; it's just "next patient, please" and move on. So, I'm curious to know how things work for the rest of you.

shadowbear9 said:I have a question for those of you who attend regular follow-up appointments: what is the actual process like? What do you even talk about—or do you even talk at all? DO THEY ACTUALLY LISTEN to your concerns and try to be helpful, or what???

In my experience, I've seen three different doctors, and they basically just glance at my lab results and say, "I'll write you a prescription." Like, they just print out something for Zoloft or Ambien and call it a day. Not long ago, I actually mentioned feeling suicidal, and the doctor just laughed at me... honestly. Now, I've permanently stuck with the psychiatrist who worked with me back when I was fifteen. When they ask how I'm doing, I tell them straight up: "Terribly. I don't feel any effect from the Zoloft at all, and I'm still having depressive episodes." But it feels like they just don't care; it's just "next patient, please" and move on. So, I'm curious to know how things work for the rest of you.

It's the same story here... and that is precisely why I am considering a change. For three years now, my doctor hasn't even bothered to adjust my Calixta because they claim it's working fine. Sure, it helps me sleep, but what about the crippling anxiety? It's like they're ignoring half the equation.

driftingtrucker3 said:Hey everyone, I need some advice. I’ve been dealing with schizophrenia for 7 years now. I started on Zyprexa even before I was of legal age, but three years ago I just snapped and quit cold turkey. After that mess, they switched me over to that damn Zypadhera—the massive 405 mg dose every four weeks. Since then, the weight gain has been relentless. I’m sitting at a heavy 90 kg now. I’ve asked to go back on daily pills. Right now, I’m waking up around 2 or 3 PM every single day. My insomnia is terrible. I’m wondering if switching back to tablets would actually be better tolerated? Say, 10 mg a day. Here, the injection averages out to nearly 15 mg a day if you split the dose. My goal is to wake up earlier and stop packing on the pounds. I know it isn’t just about the meds—I have to put in the work too—but I really want to feel less hungry and less exhausted. When I was on tablets previously, I used to wake up around 4 PM, though it was dark by then during the winter. Maybe I’ve just become desensitized to them, so maybe the pills would hit harder now? Like, they wouldn't knock me out as much. What is the actual advantage of one method over the other? My psychiatrist is pretty conservative; she doesn't change her mind easily, though I've dealt with worse. Anyway, I only got the injection because I stopped taking my meds. So, what do you all suggest? Ideally, I'd love to hear from someone with experience or a professional. Thanks.

I have no intention of sleeping my life away and ending up weighing as much as an elephant.

What a useless forum if you can't even get a layperson's opinion on a topic.

driftingtrucker3 said:What a useless forum if you can't even get a layperson's opinion on a topic.

Maybe here
and here
"...That's why it's impossible to overstate how vital it is to implement consistent lifestyle changes for everyone—especially those living with schizophrenia. Primary steps include quitting smoking (even though laws allow psychiatric patients to smoke), regular moderate exercise, a balanced low-fat diet (like a standard American healthy diet), reducing salt intake, and so on..."

http://www.psihijatrija.com/psihijat...ipsihotika.pdf

Weight Gain, Schizophrenia and Antipsychotics

'Simple' Solution to Antipsychotic-Related Weight Gain

restlesstiger49 said:So, basically, does the drowsiness just never go away?

Look, if I can actually afford to get a full eight hours, I don't feel drowsy at all the next day—not even right when I wake up. But if I get less than seven hours, I'm definitely groggy when I first open my eyes. It takes about thirty minutes to an hour to shake it off, though, and then I'm fine for the rest of the day.😉

Anyone else been through this? Today was my first day on the new meds. Is it okay if I have some chamomile tea tonight? Also, what kind of Advil can I take for a headache? Totally blanked on asking my psychiatrist.

jadehawk8 said:Anyone else been through this? Today was my first day on the new meds. Is it okay if I have some chamomile tea tonight? Also, what kind of Advil can I take for a headache? Totally blanked on asking my psychiatrist.

Chamomile tea is perfectly fine.
When you're on antidepressants, you really ought to avoid anything containing acetylsalicylic acid, such as aspirin or Tylenol.
I personally stick to Advil for my headaches.

It’s been a week since I switched from Calixta 45 mg and Tegretol 400 mg over to Prozac 20 ml and Quetiapine 200 mg.
The first combo gave me the absolute worst side effects imaginable—it felt like every bad thing that could happen, did. Even though I was on a high dose of Calixta, it just stopped working, and I started sliding back into depression. I even had some suicidal thoughts for a few days there, but I managed to pull myself through. Those two meds were seriously messing with my vision and my head. I won't go into all the details, but it was rough.
My new psychiatrist suggested Prozac to help with weight loss, since that previous regimen caused me to gain 30 pounds. She put me on Quetiapine to help with sleep because I used Seroquel about a year ago and it used to knock me right out.
The first night I took the Quetiapine, I couldn't sleep at all and had to take Normabate just to drift off. I struggled so much, and when I finally woke up, it felt like I'd slept for 12 hours straight. I was hyperactive, which isn't like me at all. It felt like someone had grabbed my leg and sawed it off—just constant pain and discomfort. I'm also getting massive hot flashes from the Quetiapine and sweating like crazy.
The Prozac is working well; I'm eating a bit less, though my stomach hurts sometimes. I feel happier and more stable on it. Still, there's this weird sadness in the back of my mind because I finally found a medication that makes me feel "normal," yet I actually grew to like myself when I was depressed and suicidal (as weird as that sounds—I loved being that crazy version of myself, and it felt right. I don't know how else to act when I'm like that).

I’m going to have to talk to my psychiatrist about the Quetiapine.
Has anyone else dealt with this?

Benjamin Robinson3 said:It’s been a week since I switched from Calixta 45 mg and Tegretol 400 mg over to Prozac 20 ml and Quetiapine 200 mg.
The first combo gave me the absolute worst side effects imaginable—it felt like every bad thing that could happen, did. Even though I was on a high dose of Calixta, it just stopped working, and I started sliding back into depression. I even had some suicidal thoughts for a few days there, but I managed to pull myself through. Those two meds were seriously messing with my vision and my head. I won't go into all the details, but it was rough.
My new psychiatrist suggested Prozac to help with weight loss, since that previous regimen caused me to gain 30 pounds. She put me on Quetiapine to help with sleep because I used Seroquel about a year ago and it used to knock me right out.
The first night I took the Quetiapine, I couldn't sleep at all and had to take Normabate just to drift off. I struggled so much, and when I finally woke up, it felt like I'd slept for 12 hours straight. I was hyperactive, which isn't like me at all. It felt like someone had grabbed my leg and sawed it off—just constant pain and discomfort. I'm also getting massive hot flashes from the Quetiapine and sweating like crazy.
The Prozac is working well; I'm eating a bit less, though my stomach hurts sometimes. I feel happier and more stable on it. Still, there's this weird sadness in the back of my mind because I finally found a medication that makes me feel "normal," yet I actually grew to like myself when I was depressed and suicidal (as weird as that sounds—I loved being that crazy version of myself, and it felt right. I don't know how else to act when I'm like that).

I’m going to have to talk to my psychiatrist about the Quetiapine.
Has anyone else dealt with this?

I wouldn't know, honestly, but right now you can't really tell which side effect is coming from the Prozac and which is from the Quetiapine.

The only thing I remember seeing online while looking for insomnia fixes was that people take 25 mg of Quetiapine for sleep, and then you supposedly scale up. I have no idea why your doctor jumped straight to such a high dose; maybe that's what's causing the agitation.

You'd be better off asking someone who's actually used Q-pin for insomnia—like, half the people on these therapy subreddits. 😁

And hey, if you're crazy, you'll still be crazy on Prozac. Don't worry about it. You're alright. 😍

Michael Hill2 said:I wouldn't know, honestly, but right now you can't really tell which side effect is coming from the Prozac and which is from the Quetiapine.

The only thing I remember seeing online while looking for insomnia fixes was that people take 25 mg of Quetiapine for sleep, and then you supposedly scale up. I have no idea why your doctor jumped straight to such a high dose; maybe that's what's causing the agitation.

You'd be better off asking someone who's actually used Q-pin for insomnia—like, half the people on these therapy subreddits. 😁

And hey, if you're crazy, you'll still be crazy on Prozac. Don't worry about it. You're alright. 😍

So, I already mentioned that I take 100 mg of Quetiapine to help me sleep—though sometimes I'll bump it up to 150 mg—but when I brought that up to my doctor, she wasn't exactly thrilled. She told me she’d rather not introduce any kind of sedative into my routine just yet, so we're going to circle back and discuss it again at my next appointment.
I was stuck in this brutal cycle of waking up after only two or three hours of sleep—it was exhausting. I ended up bumping up my dosage because, honestly, if I don't get a solid seven hours, I'm basically a zombie the next day. Just can't function.🙄

Benjamin Robinson3 said:It’s been a week since I switched from Calixta 45 mg and Tegretol 400 mg over to Prozac 20 ml and Quetiapine 200 mg.
The first combo gave me the absolute worst side effects imaginable—it felt like every bad thing that could happen, did. Even though I was on a high dose of Calixta, it just stopped working, and I started sliding back into depression. I even had some suicidal thoughts for a few days there, but I managed to pull myself through. Those two meds were seriously messing with my vision and my head. I won't go into all the details, but it was rough.
My new psychiatrist suggested Prozac to help with weight loss, since that previous regimen caused me to gain 30 pounds. She put me on Quetiapine to help with sleep because I used Seroquel about a year ago and it used to knock me right out.
The first night I took the Quetiapine, I couldn't sleep at all and had to take Normabate just to drift off. I struggled so much, and when I finally woke up, it felt like I'd slept for 12 hours straight. I was hyperactive, which isn't like me at all. It felt like someone had grabbed my leg and sawed it off—just constant pain and discomfort. I'm also getting massive hot flashes from the Quetiapine and sweating like crazy.
The Prozac is working well; I'm eating a bit less, though my stomach hurts sometimes. I feel happier and more stable on it. Still, there's this weird sadness in the back of my mind because I finally found a medication that makes me feel "normal," yet I actually grew to like myself when I was depressed and suicidal (as weird as that sounds—I loved being that crazy version of myself, and it felt right. I don't know how else to act when I'm like that).

I’m going to have to talk to my psychiatrist about the Quetiapine.
Has anyone else dealt with this?

It’s going to take a while for things to "level out" on Prozac. You’ll probably cycle through phases of insomnia and then phases where you sleep too much before things actually stabilize.

I don't know how much weight you put on, but Prozac can act as an anorexic, so there's a real chance you'll drop a lot of weight.
When I started Prozac, I was at a healthy weight, but I lost another 25 pounds on it and started heading toward anorexia.

They eventually put me on Seroquel to bring my appetite back, and it leveled me out enough that I'm only about 15 pounds underweight now.

fadedbear92 said:So, I already mentioned that I take 100 mg of Quetiapine to help me sleep—though sometimes I'll bump it up to 150 mg—but when I brought that up to my doctor, she wasn't exactly thrilled. She told me she’d rather not introduce any kind of sedative into my routine just yet, so we're going to circle back and discuss it again at my next appointment.
I was stuck in this brutal cycle of waking up after only two or three hours of sleep—it was exhausting. I ended up bumping up my dosage because, honestly, if I don't get a solid seven hours, I'm basically a zombie the next day. Just can't function.🙄

The main thing is just getting some sleep. If you haven't lived through chronic insomnia or surviving on two hours of shut-eye a night, you honestly can't grasp how much of a nightmare it actually is.😉

I don't get it... there's a drug actually called Quetiapine, which is basically just Seroquel... but apparently, this Quetiapine is weaker than the Seroquel?

Kevin Bailey2 said:I don't get it... there's a drug actually called Quetiapine, which is basically just Seroquel... but apparently, this Quetiapine is weaker than the Seroquel?

From what I can dig up online, it's the exact same active ingredient in the same format (quetiapine fumarate). The only real difference is which company manufactured it.😉

Michael Hill2 said:I wouldn't know, honestly, but right now you can't really tell which side effect is coming from the Prozac and which is from the Quetiapine.

The only thing I remember seeing online while looking for insomnia fixes was that people take 25 mg of Quetiapine for sleep, and then you supposedly scale up. I have no idea why your doctor jumped straight to such a high dose; maybe that's what's causing the agitation.

You'd be better off asking someone who's actually used Q-pin for insomnia—like, half the people on these therapy subreddits. 😁

And hey, if you're crazy, you'll still be crazy on Prozac. Don't worry about it. You're alright. 😍

I take my Prozac in the morning and the Quetiapine at night. As for the insomnia, I'm almost 100% certain it's the Quetiapine because I only struggle to sleep after I've taken it.

The 200 mg is just my starting dose. My doctor mentioned she'll likely adjust and increase both medications later; she gave me a low dose initially just so I could get used to them.

Thanks! 😍

Kevin Bailey2 said:It’s going to take a while for things to "level out" on Prozac. You’ll probably cycle through phases of insomnia and then phases where you sleep too much before things actually stabilize.

I don't know how much weight you put on, but Prozac can act as an anorexic, so there's a real chance you'll drop a lot of weight.
When I started Prozac, I was at a healthy weight, but I lost another 25 pounds on it and started heading toward anorexia.

They eventually put me on Seroquel to bring my appetite back, and it leveled me out enough that I'm only about 15 pounds underweight now.

I gained 33 pounds on Calixta. I really want to shed all of it and get back to my old weight.
Now that I know it's possible, I'm hoping it works the same way for me.

Michael Hill2 said:The main thing is just getting some sleep. If you haven't lived through chronic insomnia or surviving on two hours of shut-eye a night, you honestly can't grasp how much of a nightmare it actually is.😉

Absolutely.