Prolonged treatment with anti-psychotics

[matt501]

Hi all, seven years ago i was treated for psychosis and have since been taking 500mg of Quetiapine. I recently had an appointment with a GP for a non-psychosis medical issue. He brought up the Quetiapine fom reading my past records and asked if anyone had discussed with me coming off it. The drug is just something I kept taking and never really thought it was something i had to stop, even tho it's been around 4-5 years since I recovered from any psychosis related symptoms. I had one appointment easily 4 years plus with a psychologist from NHS that i missed and since then I seemed to have slipped thru the net as there has never been any follow up to discuss my psychosis or the medication.

The GP's reaction to me still using these pills worried me, I've started reading about prolonged use of APs and pretty startled about how dangerous they can be, especially in the dosages I've been taking all these years. From reading about some long term effects there is a possiblilty the twitches I have (sometimes painful), the VERY poor memory, lack of concentration while reading (I can never take anything in and continually have to read over material again) could be related to continous use - or not. I'm expecting a letter from GP to discuss the next steps - which i guess will be taperingbut worried with Covid it's something that will be put on the backburner.

I'm wondering if anyone else has had such a long term prescription to Quetiapine or similar and if it was normal to have been on them so long?

 

[Mayflower7]

Hi,
I'm on Aripipazole and have been told it's for life.
It does help keep me stable.
I've had several episodes of psychosis,
You should discuss the side effects your having with your dr ASAP especially the twitches.
Take care

 

[matt501]

Thanks for the quick reply. Do you still suffer from any Psychosis symptoms?

 

[OmniscientNihilist]

quote:

"I have estimated, based on randomized trials and cohort studies, that psychiatric drugs kill more than half a million people every year among those aged 65 and above in the USA and Europe. This makes psychiatric drugs the third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer." -Professor Gøtzsche

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In my opinion its hard to reduce, or get off, seroquel because you wont sleep without it. so u will need to put another drug in to help you sleep. one technique im surprised i dont see used more is drug cycling. I believe that it keeps your body from adapting to it. so you could go off the seroquel then cycle two sleep aids. meaning take one for a few weeks then switch to the other. then your body would get sleep but wouldnt adapt to them as much so you could get off them afterwards.

do more research on how to get off. and talk to doctor about help.

i found seroquel to be similar to the over the counter drug: reactine. so perhaps some of that would help you reduce the seroquel.

im not a doctor so im just giving you ideas to talk to your doctor about

 

[natalie]

Hi Matt501, welcome aboard, to MHF.


Well, I have been taking my antipshycotic and for szhiophrenia, mild cases of, for a number of years.

Basically, I neede to come off a notorius med, casuing weight gain, Onlanzapine. So therefore, back in 2007, I was placed on to Abilify, and st uck with me ever since, I have now been taking and we 're currently in 2020.


If you have anxieties, regarding covid 19, that it might be on the backburner, I would make a further GP booking again, and discuss that issue with them


But certainly not on Quetiapine, no.


i hope that helps.

Best Wishes.

Natalie.

 

[matt501]

Hi Matt501, welcome aboard, to MHF.


Well, I have been taking my antipshycotic and for szhiophrenia, mild cases of, for a number of years.

Basically, I neede to come off a notorius med, casuing weight gain, Onlanzapine. So therefore, back in 2007, I was placed on to Abilify, and st uck with me ever since, I have now been taking and we 're currently in 2020.


If you have anxieties, regarding covid 19, that it might be on the backburner, I would make a further GP booking again, and discuss that issue with them


But certainly not on Quetiapine, no.


i hope that helps.

Best Wishes.

Natalie.

Thank you, I wish i'd found this forum years ago... it's always nice to give back with mental illness and experiences. I work in large students union and manage 50 young 18-21 year old staff. All university students. The increases in anxiety, depression is scarily growing in that age group. I always do my best to help them thru these things, never been afraid to discuss my own experiences.

As for my post. I also take Lamotrigine, 200mg. Anxiety and sudden acute mood changes are something I still have issues with, but not as much any psychosis related issues. That's why I was a little concerned of the seven years of APs, espeically 500mg, especially reading side effects of long term use. I'm pretty scared to come off them, but mainly down to the withdrawal. I've had problems with addiction (opiates) on and off, so know how hard it is.

 

[Foxjo]

I've been on ariprizole for 9 years now. My doctor is of the mindset that I'm stable now so why change or reduce the dosage. I tend to agree. The benefits for me outweigh the side effects.
Please try and have a really good chat with your doctor before making any decision.

 

[Blue Opal]

I've been on 300 mg of Seroquel for over 13 years and I'm also worried about long-term side effects.
I've tried to lower the dose multiple times without succes because I couldn't sleep and got very depressed. I'm going to try again in 2021.
If you decide to taper, do it very very slowly: reduce your dose with 10% or less and hold at least a month.
Most doctors will advice to go much faster, but that could potentially be dangerous. Your brain has adapted to the medication and needs to get used to the lower dose. That takes time, a lot of time, especially if you've been on the drug for so long.
All the best if you decide to taper, I can tell you from my own experience: it's a hell.

 

[Blue Opal]

I would like to add that I had two micro-psychotic episodes back in 2006 and 2007 which is why I was put on seroquel. I stayed on it because it helped my depression somewhat and because I can't take antidepressants (they make me psychotic). I was later on diagnosed with bipolar disorder and also have a personality disorder.

 

[toto]

Well, in different periods I have stopped taking drugs once. Last month inclusive. No withdrawal symptoms. I think I have a headache, but I've had it before, so I didn't pay much attention. If you have a job, you manage, you have money and housing, you have no reason to worry. The first week after stopping the medication, I was actually startled that I couldn't fall asleep right away, but somehow I pushed myself to fall asleep with different thoughts. That I will manage, that everything is fine ...

 

[daffy]

I was on 800 mg of quiet pine then when i became stable on that reduced to 650mg for 10 years . After going for 10 years without an episode i decided to come off it. I asked for help but i was told its working keep on it. But i gave me really flattened mood massive weight gain and T2 diabetes and various other side effects so over 2 years i took myself off it. I’d decided that if i became ill again i would go back on it. After a year of being stable i told my gp the truth and they were ok about it. Unfortunatly ive still got diabetes but its under control now and ive lost most of the weight i put on
My bit of advice would be do it really slowly and you wont get any side effects

 

[toto]

One calming exercise, including for panic attacks, is to place your tongue on your palate, behind your teeth, and breathe deeply for a few minutes. Or as you like. Other ...: D I fall asleep embraced in my thoughts, in an unknown beautiful place, with an unknown beautiful, good and successful levent. In my country we say "Hungry hen millet dreams"

 

[toto]

But in the end I manage to fall asleep, as ridiculous as it sounds.

 

[TiredTina]

• Safety Notice: This section on Psychiatric Drugs/Medications enables people to share their personal experiences of using such drugs/medications. Always seek the advice of your doctor, psychiatrist or other qualified health professional before making any changes to your medications or with any questions you may have regarding drugs/medications. In considering coming off psychiatric drugs it is very important that you are aware that most psychiatric drugs can cause withdrawal reactions, sometimes including life-threatening emotional and physical withdrawal problems. In short, it is not only dangerous to start taking psychiatric drugs, it can also be dangerous to stop them. Withdrawal from psychiatric drugs should only be done carefully under experienced clinical supervision.