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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by llrrrpp on May 16, 2006, at 10:18:09
Well, I've been taking 25 mg of seroquel for about a week now to help me sleep. Here are my thoughts on this matter.
1) seroquel makes me hungry. Pre-seroquel, I had little appetite. On seroquel, I have appetite. Even before I get out of bed, i have fantasies about eating muffins for breakfast, and a smoothie, and maybe even an omelet! In fact, I've been overeating. I can eat 5 full meals a day, if the opportunity presents itself. The few times I didn't take seroquel, I had little appetite.
2) seroquel makes me groggy. Even the 25 mg makes me yawn all afternoon. I have even gone back to drinking coffee. ugh. i feel fuzzy-brained, and even though I sleep 7 hours, I still can manage to take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.
3) seroquel makes the obsessive voices in the middle of the night go away. Last night I did an experiment: I cut the 25 mg pill in half, to see if that would help reduce grogginess. Perhaps my dose was too high, and I was over-sedating myself. Well, the experiment failed. I still woke up many times, starting at 5 am, and I had the little loop of obsessive worries playing at mezzo-forte in my head (did I turn the iron off? did I lock the deadbolt? did I say something offensive to personX? did I make a faux-pas at my meeting today? did I call to confirm my appt's tomorrow? did I miss an important e-mail? did I set my alarm? did I take my medicine? did I buy milk for my cereal in the morning? etc etc etc) Apparently, I require at least 25 mg to turn these little annoying voices off. 12.5 mg is the worst possible scenario: insomnia + grogginess + obsessive thoughts. Hence the coffee this morning
4) Seroquel ameliorates many cymbalta side-effects. Maybe it's just my imagination, but when I take the seroquel, I feel fewer side effects from Cymbalta. Things like the dysphagia (lump in my throat) and wierd bladder urgency/holding. Tension in my neck. nighttime hot and cold feelings.
I'm still kind of torn about whether to keep on using Seroquel. either I take it, but try to get 10 hours of sleep everynight & keep my diet under control, or I don't take it, and experience the insomnia. Ideally, the cymbalta will help the insomnia by helping the depression, but this may take a few more weeks...
Posted by Larry Hoover on May 16, 2006, at 11:53:59
In reply to seroquel for insomnia: reflections, posted by llrrrpp on May 16, 2006, at 10:18:09
Personally, I'd go with the restorative sleep, and deal with the hunger separately. If you gain a lot of weight, that's a bad thing, though.
Cymbalta was first approved for the bladder effect, BTW. It was only later approved as an antidepressant. Glad to hear about the Seroquel abolishing that effect. I may give Seroquel another trial.
Lar
This is the end of the thread.
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