Obviously it is time for the meds. 400mg of Seroquel will do the trick if you cannot sleep lol!
This is the only medication that has worked for me when it comes to combating resistant bipolar disorder. Usually the doctor will start you off on 50mg and work you on up to the high doses. This medication is an anti-psychotic so a lot of people do not want to take it because they believe if you are on an anti-psychotic you must be psychotic. Well that's not true nor should that even be an argument for not taking meds that work.
For instance, I get horrible migraines that are extremely awful and the so called 'migraine' medicines like imitrex, maxalt, and some funky anti-inflammatories just do not cut it. Instead I use compazine which is used for nausea. Just because I take compazine doesn't mean I am nauseous so why would taking an anti-psychotic mean you are psychotic? Sure Seroquel is used for mental illness but there is no reason to be that scared of the meds. Besides there are others like Lithium, Abilify, Cymbalta, Lamictal (sp?) and so forth. Seroquel just works wonders for me.
While I take the Seroquel at night because it does tranquilize you/sedate you, it does not completely wear off once you wake up. It will knock you out cold and you will be able to sleep anywhere at anytime if you even have a couple hundred milligrams. The effects are very quick. I took my dose about ten minutes ago and I can already feel the tranquil warm sleepy feeling coming on. It is a pleasant feeling because it is like being enveloped in a warm cascade of sunlight that warms you to your soul and calms all your problems and rocks you to sleep. By no means is it recreational, at least nor for me. I don't think that would be very safe considering once it completely kicks in you are completely knocked out.
I personally recommend you start a routine for the morning as this stuff really kicks your butt in the morning because you are still tranquilized. When I wake up for about ten minutes I will kind of be sleep walking. For example, yesterday I took the dogs out went into the basement and fell asleep in a chair. My husband comes down and my second alarm goes off. I look at him and say "oh geez I should take the dogs out" and he then informed me that I had already done so and I left them out there for about ten minutes while he was showering (don't worry it was warm and they normally hang out there for 10 to 20 minutes). My point is you need to be prepared for the mornings when on Seroquel. I set two alarms twenty minutes apart. Why, you may ask do I do that? The first one allows me to realize I need to get up for the day and I am not allowed to be in bed all day. The second one is because I WILL find a spot to sit while waiting on the dogs or for the bathroom and will fall asleep. Next there must be coffee or some other caffeinated drink, I preset my coffee maker so it's ready to go. Showers help to wake up as long as they are not too hot.
Here is the important part:
Even though you will eventually feel awake you will also feel different. It is so hard to explain. I will feel calmer, less manic or less mania, I will feel happy, motivated and so forth but there is one last thing. It is an overall secure feeling while also feeling even-tempered, at peace, and super stable in my emotive sense. Thus,, you are tranquilized and feel tranquil. Laid back. Don't get me wrong you can still get manic, or hyper, or overly focused, etc. But it does help motivate (once you have the coffee of course). Throughout the day the affects stay with you and you can deal with the days much easier than without meds.
I must stop here as I am starting to doze off and tomorrow I will blog about experiences and other meds Thanks
Lea Silva
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