Diazepam vs Anti-Psychotics

[Jimbo]

Well my doc phoned, she can't get hold of my psychiatrist and she cannot prescribe Quetiapine without his say so.

She caught me off guard while I was dosing in the afternoon and against my better judgement I agreed to give one of the other ones a try. Resperidone. 0.5mgs a day.

I'm a bit worried about the side effects of these, as the most common side effects are anxiety, agitation and insomnia. The things I'm trying to avoid.

I'm trying one this afternoon so will see what happens, anxious already before I've even taken it .

Jim

[Jimbo]

Well, it hasn't really helped things at all. I definitely don't feel any calmer.

It hasn't have a massive effect, I just ended up feeling really anxious for a few hours with a pounding headache and felt a bit dizzy.

Gonna try 1 more tomorrow then give up on them if I don't feel any better.

[Jimbo]

Well, I stopped taking them today.

They were just making me more anxious and not making me feel any more relaxed. They were helping with some of the scary thoughts that I was having. But the negatives side effects outweighed the positives.

My psychiatrist phoned me earlier out of the blue and had a good chat through with me about all the different options. He wants me to try a different one called Flupenthixol (Decanoate) instead. It's an injection!!! I would have to have every week or 2 which slowly releases and is sposed to have more of a calming effect.

Bit scared about the injection side of it, but would give it a go if it helps.

Will let you know what happens.

Jim

[Jimbo]

Well, on speaking to my GP, we decided against the injection. Phew!

I didn't fancy the idea of having it injected into my system for 2 weeks at a time. Especially if I had any side effects from it, which I seem to be prone to. I would've had to put up with them for weeks before they went away.

Instead I'm going to try Chlorpromazine tablets.

Still a bit dubious about these sort of drugs, but at least with a tablet if it's not helping or giving too many side effects I can just stop taking it.

Jim

[jo61]

Hi Jim, I used to take Flupentixol tablets and they worked well for me, until they stopped lol

[Jimbo]

They never mentioned them in tablet form, if I don't get on well with the Chlorpromazine I might consider them as another option.

I've been put off the antipsychotics a bit by the Resperidone tho, so I'm not holding my breath, lol.

I just seem to be one of those people that if there's a side effect on the list, I get it. I'm still waiting to grow breasts from the AD's I'm taking, lol!

Jim

[Jimbo]

I've been given 25mgs 3 times a day.

Took 1 a couple of hours ago and nothing much has happened, I do feel a bit calmer, like my thoughts have slowed down a little. Feeling ok, nothing more than a slight dry mouth.

Jim

[Jimbo]

Soon after I wrote that post I started feeling very drowsy and laid down for a bit. Fell asleep for a couple of hours and had the most disturbing nightmare that I felt like I couldn't wake up from. I have been suffering a lot of nightmares recently so I guess it's nothing too bad, but it really shook me up as it was centred around a lot of my fears about my illness at the moment.

Now I've had the chance to calm down a bit I'm feeling ok I think, not really sure.

Jim

[Jimbo]

Just a quick update.

Well I stopped taking the Chlorpromazine too.

They weren't really helping much, other than making me feel a bit spaced out and drowsy with a few side nasty side effects like very dry mouth, nose and eyes. They didn't seem to be helping the anxiety at all for me.

Saw a psych the other day and they finally decided to give me Quetiapine (Seroquel) which was what I was asking for originally. They seem to be working very well, I was getting a lot of 'visual disturbances' which have stopped almost totally. I'm taking them at night and I'm sleeping better than ever before and my anxiety has reduced during the day too.

I was a bit wary of them at first so I've only been taking 1 x 25mg tablet, but I can take 2 if needed, which I haven't felt like doing so far.

No side effects at all, except for the first night when I got up for the loo in the night, felt a bit dizzy and looked in the mirror and my pupils were enourmous. They do have a complete knock out effect so I haven't been tempted to take them during the day, which I can do too if needed.

Jim

[Jimbo]

I've been doing really well on the Quetiapine, the effects have worn off a little now I've been taking them a while. I'm on 75mgs a day and can take and extra one making it 100 if needed. I can sleep really well now and a lot of the irrational thoughts and visual disturbances are gone totally.

The only side effects I seem to get is a little muscle tension and stiffness, sometimes I get a bit 'twitchy' in my legs, as if someone is tickling the soles of my feet. Nothing too bad at all and far less than chlorpromazine, these could just be symptoms of anxiety so nothing to even mention really.

Jim