New meds – day 1

I saw Dr. Z yesterday afternoon. It was just a normal quarterly check on my meds.

But there are .

It’s been five years since I started on Seroquel and its done an
incredible job as a mood stabilizer. The first year or so it had to be
supplemented with antidepressants during the late fall/early winter
months and I had to keep Ativan handy if I was going to venture out in
crowds or be around strangers for any period of time. After the first
two years I rarely needed to use anything to supplement the Seroquel.
But like all effective meds I have taken since I developed a toxic
reaction to Lithium – it was cutting edge (at least for use as a mood
stablizer for bi-polar mood swings) and as time goes on more study goes
on and we now know of a few long term side effects of Seroquel. Both of
the two primary long term drawbacks of Seroquel are an issue at half
the dose I take so they couldn’t be worked around. One of those side
effect includes the inability to lose weight and a tendency towards
weight gain. The other is a buildup of something in the retina and it
can eventually affect eye sight.

So – out with Seroquel and in with Abilify. It is supposed to do alot
of the same things Seroquel does but with far fewer side effects. The
only thing Dr. Z is concerned about is whether or not I will be able to
sleep. In my natural – unmedicated state – I run on a 32 hour “day”
cycle. I stay awake for about 22 hours and then want to sleep for 10
hours. Seroquel, by nature of one of its side effects (drowsiness), let
me control my sleep by taking my daily dose 30 to 45 minutes before I
wanted to fall asleep. Abilify will not do that. It actually has a
mildly stimulating effect so I will be taking that in the
morning.  I do have a prescription for sleeping pills that I can
fill and take if going off Seroquel pushes me back towards my old sleep
patterns.

I also saw my regular doctor and got him to write me another
prescription for Zyrtec-D so if I know in advance I can take one and be
around dogs and other things that cause an allergic reaction.  I
am not going back on it daily the way I used to with my allergy meds
since I don’t need them at home or at work.  It’s just nice having
it around if I am going to be in a hotel where the cleaning products
and carpet cleaners and such tend to mess me up.