My doc just switched me from Olanzapine to Quetiapine. I have only been on ~2.5mg Olanazapine, but loved what it did to my appetite and bodyweight, while the daytime tiredness seemed manageable at that dose. Now it seems my manic episode is pretty much a thing of the past and I've gone off the Olanzapine altogether. I'm pretty sure that the only reason I'm not falling into an abysmal depression right now is my daily amphetamine regimen combined with ~1000mg caffeine throughout the day. I feel tired and burnt out, having trouble focussing on anything and can't sleep too well either. Appetite is low, but not nearly as low as it was during mania.
Now I don't wanna go back into psychosis and most of you would probably recommend getting off the stimulants. My specific questions though are directed towards those who have experience with Quetiapine and Olanzapine for BP1 treatment. Initially I had imagined a phase prophylactic like Lamotrigine would be the next choice once I've stopped riding the mania wave (was more like a Tsunami really). Surprisingly the doc, who I really value very highly and who has paid the greatest attention to every detail of my life in the course of the integrated therapy approach that was his idea originally, has now suggested switching me to Seroquel XR. I'm kinda worried that the stuff is simply gonna knock me flat onto my ass and leave me incapable of doing anything.
I have a daughter I need to be there for roughly every other day and an important, cognitively demanding work project I need to stay on (after mania has taken every chance of me earning money any other way anytime soon). Really all I'm looking for is to
A Stay out of manic/mixed states and keep re-establishing my social life
B Have enough drive to keep working on my project and more importantly to be attentive towards my daughter's needs
C Keep me from losing weight due to lack of appetite
Most importantly I'd like to know,
-if Quetiapine can do the same thing for my appetite which Olanzapine has so successfully done.
-if Seroquel XR causes worse daytime sleepiness than regular Quetiapine Fumarate/Olanzapine.
-does Seroquel really possess antidepressant properties and at which dose have they started for you?
-how about lamotrigine? Any appetite increase? Did it keep depression at bay? Daytime tiredness?
The latter has been suggested by the doc as well, but it seems very hard to imagine right now. He is suggesting I start at 50mg and go up to 150 minimum within the following weeks. That's supposedly about the lowest level I'll see any antidepressant properties at. Right now, even amphetamine has a very hard time keeping me out of bed. I just feel so damn tired all the time. I usually down 500-1000ml of energy drink in the morning and ingest up to 100mg amphetamine phosphate so I'll be able to even take a shower and brush my teeth. This blows...
Hoping someone has some advice. Otherwise, I'll try to start taking the quetiapine tonight and will just have to see how that goes. Not expecting much there.
edit: I feel depressed as shit. Booze is becoming really attractive again. Thought I could just slide out of mania and not get to this place. Really, I'm thinking serotonergic drug, but no doctor in his right mind would ever prescribe anything along those lines. I just wanna get over this lethargy somehow and even amphetamine isn't doing shit.
Now I don't wanna go back into psychosis and most of you would probably recommend getting off the stimulants. My specific questions though are directed towards those who have experience with Quetiapine and Olanzapine for BP1 treatment. Initially I had imagined a phase prophylactic like Lamotrigine would be the next choice once I've stopped riding the mania wave (was more like a Tsunami really). Surprisingly the doc, who I really value very highly and who has paid the greatest attention to every detail of my life in the course of the integrated therapy approach that was his idea originally, has now suggested switching me to Seroquel XR. I'm kinda worried that the stuff is simply gonna knock me flat onto my ass and leave me incapable of doing anything.
I have a daughter I need to be there for roughly every other day and an important, cognitively demanding work project I need to stay on (after mania has taken every chance of me earning money any other way anytime soon). Really all I'm looking for is to
A Stay out of manic/mixed states and keep re-establishing my social life
B Have enough drive to keep working on my project and more importantly to be attentive towards my daughter's needs
C Keep me from losing weight due to lack of appetite
Most importantly I'd like to know,
-if Quetiapine can do the same thing for my appetite which Olanzapine has so successfully done.
-if Seroquel XR causes worse daytime sleepiness than regular Quetiapine Fumarate/Olanzapine.
-does Seroquel really possess antidepressant properties and at which dose have they started for you?
-how about lamotrigine? Any appetite increase? Did it keep depression at bay? Daytime tiredness?
The latter has been suggested by the doc as well, but it seems very hard to imagine right now. He is suggesting I start at 50mg and go up to 150 minimum within the following weeks. That's supposedly about the lowest level I'll see any antidepressant properties at. Right now, even amphetamine has a very hard time keeping me out of bed. I just feel so damn tired all the time. I usually down 500-1000ml of energy drink in the morning and ingest up to 100mg amphetamine phosphate so I'll be able to even take a shower and brush my teeth. This blows...
Hoping someone has some advice. Otherwise, I'll try to start taking the quetiapine tonight and will just have to see how that goes. Not expecting much there.
edit: I feel depressed as shit. Booze is becoming really attractive again. Thought I could just slide out of mania and not get to this place. Really, I'm thinking serotonergic drug, but no doctor in his right mind would ever prescribe anything along those lines. I just wanna get over this lethargy somehow and even amphetamine isn't doing shit.