Well, I had a post in mind for today but then I sat down to the computer to write and changed my mind. I received this comment from Shila on Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Seroquel and had to change my direction.
I’m fourteen, and after a recent suicide attempt overdose on Wellbutrin, I had to stay at a psych ward for ten days. They gave me Abilify for a few days, which worked, minus stomachaches. The doctors thought it was vital I got off of Abilify because of these stomachaches, and put me on Seroquel. Which has, seemingly, worked. But it really wasn’t. It tore me apart completely, and in the past week I’ve been self-mutilated again and attempted overdose twice. I stopped taking it, and I’m happier than ever.
I don’t recommend seroquel to anyone.
Shila, thank you for your comment. You are so brave to share your experience and I’m so glad you are doing well now. I hope you continue to do well. Please keep me posted on your progress via comments or email. Stay aware of your symptoms and please get help if you feel yourself sliding again.
Here’s the thing, while Antidepressants/SSRIs [ie Wellbutrin] are made to do a good thing and often do help people they can also backfire and produce highly undesirable results. My son had suicidal thoughts on Abilify (which technically is an antipsychotic but has SSRI qualities). We did not know about these thoughts until after he was off of the medicine and could look back on it and tell us. Shila attempted suicide on Wellbutrin and Seroquel. These reactions, although highly undesirable, are not uncommon especially for children and teens. As for Seroquel, I have no idea why it is advertised as or used as an antidepressant. Seroquel is a very heavy antipsychotic that works great for some people as an antipsychotic or sleep aid but on the street Seroquel is known as baby heroin and I’m guessing there’s a reason for that.
For anyone interested in looking into possible effects of antidepressant medications, I find the website SSRI Stories, Antidepressant Nightmares to be a great resource. It gives an easy to read, sortable spreadsheet that documents people’s negative reactions to antidepressant/SSRI medications.
And these stories are just the tip of the iceberg. These are the very extreme reactions that make the news. Every day there are many people who have undocumented negative reactions to SSRIs. Often times these people don’t know the negative feelings they are having or the behaviors they are exhibiting are coming from the antidepressant they are taking and are not organic in nature so they continue to take the medication or up the dose. Or add another one. And this can be very dangerous.
Withdrawal from antidepressants can also be extremely difficult and dangerous. I can write a whole post on that and will soon but suffice it to say that withdrawal from antidepressants should be done extremely slowly and with much care. Otherwise, the withdrawal effects can be excruciating and/or lethal.
Anyway, I am glad my son is currently doing well and I am glad Shila is now doing well. I hope they both continue to do well.
As parents, it is important to be aware of the dangers of the drugs we give our children and to give our children/teens a voice in their treatment so we can adjust the treatment accordingly. Many of the medicines used on children and teens today can have tragic effects and although depression, psychosis, and other psychiatric symptoms are never to be ignored or taken lightly, one should also not take the use of psychiatric medicines lightly and should use them with much care and caution.
There is no ‘magic medicine’.
8 Comments
I have some experience with Seroquel as well. My mother was put on it to treat symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.(She didnt have that, turned out to have something entirely different called NPH, but by the time this was recognized, it was too late. She died of dementia.) Within two weeks, she had developed what looked like an advanced case of Parkinson’s disease–severe tremors, stooped over posture, a face “mask”, her voice had changed to a flat, robotic monotone(this is known as ” flat affect”, I am sure that most people here recognize the medical term.) My father did not connect the symptoms to the med, but said that she slept sixteen hours a day and stopped giving it to her. Her posture and tremors improved within days, however, from that point on, she had some symptoms of Parkinson’s which worsened over time. Would she have gotten Parkinson’s anyway? Did Seroquel trigger something that was going to happen regardless? Or did Seroquel cause brain damage that could not be reversed? I have had different answers from different specialists, but the consensus was that Seroquel should not be given to dementia patients.
And yet it is very, very popular with those who treat dementia patients. Patients in the “evening” of their life are just as vulnerable to overmedication, diagnosis without testing, no real evidence that certain medications are necessary or even beneficial and misdiagnosis as the children who are still in the “morning” of their life.
Seroquel is an antipsychotic re-marketed by AstraZeneca as an antidepressant in a heavy attempt to get the most profit before Seroquel goes off-patent in 2012. Simple as that, a marketing campaign aimed at profit, not patient health.
My daughter was totally wired on 800mg of Seroquel inpatient at a prestigious hospital 4 years ago, she reacted the same way to Abilify, BuSpar, and all SSRI’s. These chemicals are all potent, change the brain chemistry and doctors play serious roulette guessing games using these drugs on people, they also do not understand the drug mechanism of action, or how tiny molecular structures at the end of the chain in Zyprexa for example replicate an antidepressant, therefore are befuddled when patients react to different “classes” of drugs.
For the self-injurer, I would recommend DBT therapy and intensely, long before a pill.
It is important to remember however that there are thousands upon thousands of people out there who have been helped tremendously by these medications, including myself. I guess I count myself lucky in that I have reacted favorably to meds and have been able to see marked improvements with them. I would not be sitting here today typing this comment had these meds not been available. I would either be clinically depressed, insanely manic, or dead. There are horror stories, yes. And I think that many docs are over-prescribing things these days. Children are especially at risk, since their brains are not fully developed. But the majority of people with psychiatric issues can be helped immensely thanks to these new medications.
Oh Really Sark, why does the evidence point in exactly the opposite direction. SSRI’s perform no better than Placebo (nothing) in the vast majority of cases (not to even mention the additional suicides and tremendous adverse side effects, including horrible addiction/withdrawal symptoms).
I really feel like I’m reading a bunch of propagandized cloned NAMI-ites spouting out TV commercial jingles in the comment section here over the past few days.
Would like to show me the “vast majority” that are helped immensely by the new medications. From what I have seen and have witnessed in numerous institutions are lives devastated by these medications which show me the exact opposite from what you’re proclaiming here.
Just maybe you should stick with speaking for yourself if you can’t back up your statements with absolute proof (or are you going to pull out a NAMI brochure written by AZ as your evidence).
So now as that SSRI cash cow starts to dry up, like “abracadabra” anti-psychotics have become the new antidepressants. (don’t you find this just a little too convenient and start to wonder who’s pulling the strings on this puppet?)
I always snicker at statements like “I would not be sitting here today without X, Y, and Z drug, like you really know that as fact.
Is it just as likely and possible that you would be sitting here today having gone through an actual maturation process of learning to deal with and control your emotions, ending up be much happier and stable.
I mean why even consider that approach, when the easy fix pill works so great.
You sound a little angry. Maybe you should take a pill and chill out. HAHAHAA !
Really, you know nothing about me so why would you just assume that I have never gone through any type of “maturation process”? I work on dealing with and controlling my emotions everyday. But feel free to flame on if it makes you feel any better.
Oh Yes, I’ll be rushing out to get my happy pills; I’m sure you have some great recommendations lol..
Though I assume your perceptions must be somewhat skewed/altered by the fantastic medications that are readjusting your horrible chemical imbalance and correcting these faulty genes (LMAO).
In retort to your delusional conclusion of implied malady; I am anything but an angry person thank you very much.
Yet, it does not surprise me in the least that someone would find a clarification of false information being given, as angry. You would think I was attacking your chosen religion or that second to God, Jesus J. Biederman lol…
If this is your broad interpretation of flaming; may I suggest some more time spent in the “maturation process” just for some fun and laughs.
I happen to feel a simple correction would suffice in letting others know who might possibly be reading this comment section, regarding the falsehood perpetrated in your statements regarding the immense & tremendous improvement enjoyed by the vast majority of those taking psychotropic drugs.
Time for me to go inform “Alice” that she should be expecting some company arriving down the rabbit hole in the very near future lol…
You are nothing more than a simple idiot. Don’t bother replying because I will not be reading any of your claptrap.
I know quite a few people that take antidepressants and have been greatly helped by them. Personally, I have lost two people in my immediate family in the past two years to suicide. I wish they had tried antidepressants. Maybe it would have saved them. Yes, there are real dangers with these medicines. And they are not for me personally. And I do think people should be aware of the dangers and use the medicines with caution and care. Especially regarding use with children and teens. That is why I posted this post originally. But life is never black or white and it is not right for me to say what is right for anyone but myself or my child. I know I personally wish my family members had tried them. I would any day rather have them on antidepressants than dead, which is where they are now.
Post a Comment