I love my new pdoc (Closed at OP request)
 

Hi,

New pdoc gave me Seroquel.
She told me I can take half of a 25 mgs pill tonight.

She also gave me a few extra Klonopin for the month without my asking.
(Did I say that she is fantastic :heartthrob:)

=-=-=-

Apparently I was clear enough about the Hypnagogia (dream-lets). She said
that was a form of hallucination. I liked her enough so I was willing to play along with the hallucination thing.



M

I am so glad that you liked her.
How was the staff?
bizi

I am ecstatic that you are in love with your new pdoc!!! :)
Your first visit sounds very promising. She sounds very competent, and it seems like she is very experienced.

I'm impressed that she has enough experience with dream-lets to be able to assess them as hallucinations. I think that sounds like a reasonable conclusion from how you have described them in the past.

Seroquel is an excellent drug. I'm glad that she is starting you out at a very low dose. I got used to the sedation fairly quickly, but I know you are very sensitive to meds, so it may take more patience on your part, but it's been my experience that seroquel is very effective in managing hallucinations (and many other things).

I am very hopeful that this pdoc will be able to help you :hug::hug::hug:

I slept a lot on Friday.

Tonight I took a slightly higher dose (impossible to cut the 25 mgs exactly in half).

Not as sleepy as last night but I do feel a little bit odd in the same way I did last night -- I got some of the prinkly sensations around nose and ears.
. . .still working on being hopeful.


M

I have 100mg seroquel pills that are coated and they are very hard to split evenly without crushing them. The 100's are pretty small, the 25's must be tiny, are they coated as well?

I think feeling "odd" is as good a way as any to describe the initial effect when taking seroquel. I'm glad that you have tolerated it as well as you have so quickly given how sensitive you are to meds. I think that is a good sign :)
Have you felt any sedative effect at all?

I'm glad that you are working on being hopeful Mari :)

Is it the same crawling sensation that you had with lamictal(i think)?
bizi

brother texted
 

Hi,

Cutting in half with the coating was difficult and darn right impossible to get at an even 50%. I did that for two nights.
Night three (last night) I took the full 25 mgs and did o.k. --- no initial side effects like the first night.

I slept a lot. Woke up. Then slept more.

=-=-=-=-=-=-


Brother texted me earlier today that he was on his way home from his tug boat job:
That's a relief seeing as how I bought the tickets a while ago for Tuesday July 12 through Thursday July 14.
I stay there on the twelfth and thirteenth. I travel home on the 14th.

M

wow that is this week! I hope you have a wonderful visit. I bought a vera bradley travel kit for toiletry items and it was great for our trip.
bizi

I can't imagine having to cut such a tiny pill with that coating… it's awful… I can see why you weren't getting close to 50/50.

I'm so happy you slept! And you didn't have any initial side effects! That is wonderful news! :)

Safe travels tomorrow… I hope you have a nice visit with your brother :)

Today, I dragged myself out of bed to deal with the bank and my PCP.
And I am behind on packing. Really could have used more sleep.


I have to sew a little bit on two shirts I bought. Somehow I lose all hair brushes and combs. If I go to the store to buy one, I will come home to remember something else I need to buy

I am worried about hubby's blood sugar. He and I have the same PCP.
Maybe
the PCPC can explain to me why she is not concerned about him.



M

I'm sorry you didn't get more sleep. It would have made getting all that crap done a lot easier :hug::hug::hug:

It's perfectly reasonable for you to ask the PCP why she's not concerned about your husband's blood sugars. It sounds like she should be. You are a good wife and a good advocate for him. He's lucky to have you :hug:

I walked out of the pcp's office after waiting 90 mins. I was agitated and asked for my 40 dollar copay back because I had to leave -- even though the wait might have been only 5 or 10 mins more. I figured the appt would not have been productuvf . . . On The other hand it might have been good to have her experience my agitation. . . Might not.

Last night hubby freaked out when he got dizzy after lying down to go to bed.his blood sugar was 100. I told him to eat dairy / yogurt because of its slow and fast acting sugars. He waited a while. Then was still dizzy. Told him to eat some fruit and go to bed.

I am in a hotel near brother's neighborhood.
The flight was ok even with two delays.

Near 11:00 pm and well after I was settled into my hotel, I saw on
my phone that the local airport called earlier that I left my CPAP at the local airport.

Brother never answers his phone and so on.
Sis in TX got a hold of sis-in-law's cellphone.
Around midnight, brother drove to airport, picked up my cpap, and delivered it to my hotel. room. :)
Tomorrow is a regular work / summer camp / gymnastics day for everyone except brother and me. He explained what we are doing starting at 10:3o am but I do not remember.

Have fun with your brother, glad that you got the cpap back.
bizi

I've left doctors' offices agitated like that more than once. 90 minutes is a long time to wait. 5-10 more minutes would have just agitated me further. I have my days, and definitely my breaking points.

Fruit is a pretty good idea if you think low blood sugar is the cause of his dizziness, although milk (especially with something like graham crackers) is a better choice. 100 isn't very low, even for a diabetic, but a definite possibility if he's been running high.

I'm sorry about the delays and forgetting the CPAP. It was good of your brother to get it for you. I hope you have a good day today :)

I lost a long post :(
-------/

Brother and I spent most of the day together and did well.

We survived the chaos of his car breaking down in rush hour traffic and so on.
I asked to get a ride back to the hotel at 7:00 pm. ( I skipped whatever they were going to do together later)

Tomorrow morning he picks me up at 8:30 am for his house and my 12:00 flight.

I'm sorry you lost your long post.

I'm glad your day together went well despite the car breaking down :eek:

RAts, I too am sorry you lost your long post. I hate it when that happens, fortunately that has not happened much to in all of the time that I have been posting.
maybe once or twice.
bizi

reducing or stopping the Seroquel because of brain fog
 

Starting tonight I am going back to cutting the 25 mgs in half.
It is impossible to get them 50% so every night will be different.

I will do something like this:
night 1 - 30%
night 2 - 70%
night 3 - 25%
night 4 - 75%
night 5 - 65%
night 6 - 35%
night 7 - 40%
night 8 - 60%

Or else maybe skip some nights entirely.
=-=-=-==
ETA -- I am fed up. I cannot think straight.
(My house is messy and I cannot do anything. In other words the benefit is no benefit because I am not managing,
the house is a mess, I cannot pay attention, . . .
I feel like all I can do is sit and drool in front of the television.
M

Are you only taking 25 mgs?
I would think that you don't need to taper off of that. just quit.
I don't know....
What did your pdoc say?
bizi
sorry you are having a hard time right now...
can you call your cleaning lady to come help you?

I emailed the pdoc to request liquid seroquel:


Let her sort it out.


M

email from pdoc
 

This is what her auto-generated reply was.
Does anyone understand this?

M

Her email:

It is a very confusing auto response.
Just what is the message center for????
I have used it to request my lab values results.
That is about it.
But for refills appointments I have always called into the office.

I hope that they are responsive to your needs.
bizi

I can understand why you are having a hard time functioning… the sedative effect of seroquel can be very hard to tolerate. This must be especially difficult for you because you are so sensitive to meds :hug::hug::hug:

I assume you are already taking it at night, so changing the timing is not going to help you out.

A lot of practices have blanket policies because patients make extraordinary requests at times. Good providers will usually work with you regardless of those policies. It sounds like your new pdoc is willing to work with you.

Your pharmacy probably doesn't carry seroquel in liquid form, but most will order meds they don't have in stock for you. I hope that the liquid form comes in a concentration that will work for you.
This won't help for the pills you've already split, but you can try asking your pharmacist to cut your seroquel in half for you. I remember a pharmacy tech telling me that when I asked for help looking for a new pill cutter. I'm sorry I didn't remember that sooner :hug:

It's better if you take the Seroquel every day, but it also works as a PRN, so if you skip a day, you will still get some benefit from the drug on the days you do take it, but it will be harder to build up a tolerance that way.

I hope that your pdoc is able to sort things out for you, and you feel better :hug::hug::hug:

Risperdal comes in 1mg/1ml
 

Here is what she sent today:

There is no liquid for Seroquel. However, a similar medication used in children and adults has liquid form. Risperdal comes in 1mg/1ml, and while it is impossible to determine the exact equivalence between medications, I would say that 25 mg of Seroquel would be approximately equivalent to 0.25 ml of Risperdal. Liquid medications are usually more expensive or not covered by insurance. I can send the Rx to initiate the process but guarantee how your insurance will respond to that.

I feel awful.


Not enough sleep. We lost electricity so that woke me up.
I took a nap but I have to get to the dentist now for some work on a crown or something.


I am not up to doing anything.

The "half" of the 25 mgs pill last night was the smaller "half" and I still feel rotten.
I am prepared to dump the whole process of working on a med and go back
to the same meds I have been on for years -- sticking with the same
stuff has some advantages to it.

Plus I got email from my boss and I have some detailed work that involves a
stupid form and math and getting stuff right. . . .stressing about that when I cannot deal with anything at all.


M

I am sorry it is so hard right now.
(((((HUGS)))))
bizi

updates
 

1. 'Was at the dentist late afternoon (Tuesday).
I got sick --- like major hot flash, red face, stomach upset, . .
. . . Maybe from the Nitrix Oxide or maybe from Anxiety.

Dentist considered that it could be low blood sugar
(I had not eaten since the night before) and gave me a piece
of dark chocolate -- not much "sugar" but the chocolate was good.


2. Tuesday I have to call psychiatrist's office.
Apparently they want to know if I want to try the liquid risperdal.


3. Tuesday night I took one-forth of a 25mg pill of Seroquel.


4. Pdoc and I have an appt in the afternoon Wed.
I am getting tired of her already. Plus my co-pay is 40.00 a visit.


5. I took care of something for work in the afternoon and have to do more work Wednesday.



M

I really think that you could just quit the seroquel with out a taper.
Just my opinion.
Wish you felt better.
((((((HUGS)))))
bizi

You should not need a seroquel taper. I'm thinking you're just trying to get the benefit from the drug with a smaller dose? I have no idea how you were able to cut that pill in quarters :hug:

I have been on risperdal, too. It is in the same class of drugs as seroquel, but I didn't experience brain fog from it. I would try the pill form first before trying the liquid… there is no need to worry about the possibility of paying big bucks for the liquid med if you won't be able to tolerate in any dose. I don't remember the pills being coated, so they should be easier to cut. I hope you get to read this before your appointment.

I'm sorry you had such a **** day yesterday :hug:
And you have to deal with that work… not a good time for you to have to deal with something like that (((HUGS)))

I also would try the Risperdal first. I have had many parents who liked it
for their kids. I would take it first on a weekend to see what you think.

I believe the pharmacy might be able to help you split one or two.

Donna :grouphug::hug:

Jury Duty Summons
 

Hubby deals with the mail.
He just handed me a Juror Summons.


It is in bold lettering and has lots of Red and Yellow coloring so that people who get these things get alarmed.


It has lots of "must" words like this: Jurors must ENTER thru the West entrance. . . .
Geeze. I already live in a state of alarm with lots of directions and rules.:yikes:


==========
So bossy and so irritating.
eff them. :ROTFLMAO::ROTFLMAO::ROTFLMAO:

I called the new pdoc to make an appt so that she can fax a letter for me.


M

Wow, I guess they are deadly serious about jury duty in your state. Even ads I get in the mail grab my attention right away… for get about a jury summons.

Are you having your pdoc faxing you a letter to relieve you from jury duty, or to try to get you approved for the liquid risperdal?

K

Pdoc sent the Risperdal script to the pharmacy. I am going out now to get it.

For the letter that needs to be faxed to the court, I have an appt Monday August 1 -- the first appt her staff could give me.

M

Risperidone -- feeling anxious about taking a new med again.
 

Hi,

This is the dose written on the bottle:

Take 0.25 ML by mouth at bed time. (The bottle came with a syringe.)

=============

I only want to take half or maybe a quarter of that Saturday night because I have no idea how much roughly corresponds to 25 mg Seroquel.

I might even take it in the afternoon.
(I guess I want to be alert/mostly awake before I take it for sleeping (lots of anxiety about sleeping.)


M

I wouldn't try to figure out how x-amount of risperdal corresponds to x-amount of seroquel yourself. They are different meds. Your pdoc already considered that when she wrote the script.

I still think you are right to try taking 1/4-1/2 of the dose to see how the med effects you because of your drug sensitivities.

I hope it works out well for you Mari :hug::hug::hug:

sorry mari, some where on the bottle it should tell you the dose and the concentration of the medication. It has to. I would call the pharmacist and inquire if I were you.
bizi

Thanks.
 

That is what I will do.

I know that the pdoc considered the Seroquel to Risperdal correspondence but
I do not know if she was looking at what she first gave me or what we later discussed.

1. The first instructions about the Seroquel were this: 1/2 to 1 twenty-five mgs tablet.

2. The second correspondence from me was about the 1/2 being too
much but it is possible I was not clear enough about wanting
the 1/4.

This is what the bottle says.
Take 0.25 ML by mouth at bed time.

=-=-=-=-=-

I will try a tiny amount of the Risperdal a little later. Hubby is home all evening and night. Also I want him to watch me do the syringe-thing.

M

I still say call the pharmacist to ask about the dose, strength. This is wrong it should say this very important info....:mad:

bizi