Input Needed ASAP

[GraceB]

Hi all,

I have had a few bad days again, and my doctor is putting me on a new med (Cipralex / Lexapro) and taking me off of Seroquel altogether. The Seroquel originally was working to help me regulate my sleep patterns. However, I got up the gumption to go to church on Friday night and I ended up spending 5 1/2 hours there talking & praying in a couple of different groups. I left at 12:30am and didn't get to sleep to closer to 2am.

Unfortunately this sent me into a bit of a tail spin the next few days and my last three - four days have been really bad. I am getting back to normal now though. I wasn't answering the phone calls from relatives or doing agreed upon work. I did manage to get my garbage to the curb last night, but that's all I managed in the last three days (and I went out in my pjs to do it at 2am).



The Seroquel seemed to have been helping the first 2-3 days and then it seemed to stop working. My doctor felt it wasn't working well enough so we are going to try something different. (This is probably less expensive though, if it is beneficial.) If this doesn't help we are probably going to try Effexor or Pristiq, I am sort of hoping this works so I can stay away from the SNRI's.

About the conversation on identity, Astro I think you said what I meant. And not sure if I am being completely coherent either. No question about the bipolar having a huge impact on your life and on your day to day, just trying to say "I am not my illness, even if it impacts me greatly". That is how I feel about the mental illnesses we struggle with.

[GraceB]

I am feeling worse than ever. Maybe the Seroquel was actually helping? It is completely out of my system now. I am more anxious and also can't sleep again .. my sleep schedule is back worse than it had been. I don't know .. sooo confused!

[astronaut]

Hi GraceB.
How long were you originally on the Seroquel for? My impression was that you weren't on it for very long. If this is true and you weren't on it for very long, I doubt that you are feeling worse because you came off of the Seroquel. However, Seroquel can be very helpful with sleep so maybe you were finding that the Seroquel was making it easier to get to sleep and stay asleep at night. I know when I took Seroquel that it made me super drowsy.
It could also be you are just getting worse in general or having a few bad days or maybe it is the new meds. Have you started the new meds yet? Not all meds make us feel better and some can make our moods worse if they aren't the right med for us.

I hope you get some rest soon. Things can feel even worse and more overwhelming when we lose sleep on top of everything else.
astronaut

[GraceB]

Hi all,

Yes, Astro, it was mostly during the night that I was feeling worse after getting off the Seroquel. I do think that it was helping with my sleep. I have had many nights again where I am up all night, with anywhere from 3-7am being common times that I fall asleep. I then have a hard time with getting up the next day and with following through on what I need to do during my day.

My GP has me on a very low dose of this new med and doubling the dose in a week. I don't seem to be getting any nasty side effects from this one. (Cipralex) I am still having a hard time sleeping.

I have been thinking more about what we were discussing regarding labels and I agree with you. Although in some ways I think a label might make things easier, I think in the long run it is better for me to have no label at all. It does change the way that society views someone as a person although I vehemently disagree with it, it is the society that we live in.

Anyway, I thank you for the support, as always. And I pray that everyone on here experiences more and more good days.