My DH has been on a very low dose of Seroquel for about 6 weeks. He is beginning to show signs of the agitation, anger, etc. that he exhibited prior to the drug. He sees his doctor on Wednesday and I'm hoping the dosage will be increased because I do believe it has helped him to calm down and be more alert. For the last 2-3 days he has had some really "jerky" movements and I'm wondering if any of you have experienced this with your LO. He has also begun to lightly bite my fingers. He has always brought my hand up to his lips and kissed my fingers..now its a little bite!! Surprised me and I'm a little hesitant when he starts to bring my hand within kissing/biting distance!! (Never a dull moment...but oh how I long for a dull moment!)
My DH started on 50mg of Seroquel 3x daily. Over a period of several months we had to increase the dosage. After 6 months she was on 100mg morning and afternoon and 200mg at bedtime. In regards to the sudden jerking, she periodically also had sudden jerking. It usually lasted for a week or so. My DH has FTD and it seems to me that her periods of jerking preceeded another decline in her condition. She has not experienced any periods of jerking in several months now, of course, she has advanced to the stage where she talks very little, is unable to feed herself and requires assistance walking.
My husband started on 25mg as needed for agitation. His dosage has changed a lot during disease progression. At one time he was 100mg in morning, 50 mg in afternoon and another 50mg in the evening. He is now at 50mg as needed. Work closely with his doctor and you will need to adjust more frequently as disease progresses. My husband started to fall or sleep a lot and they started taking dosage down. Keep a close eye on him.
My husband puts everything in his mouth now, fingers included. He has bit me before. He is very strong and I or another caregiver at the ALF will typically get his death grip.
I took DH for his neuro appointment this morning, DH will now be taking 75mg of Seroquel at night. He goes back in 6 months but if anything changes I can call.
DH's dosage was doubled in the morning (now at 50 mg) and still holding with the 25 mg at night. The change happened 3 days ago and he has been more agitated and upset since. He didn't sleep any yesterday even after the nurse gave him Xanax at 3 in the afternoon. He finally fell asleep around 9 last night but had to have xanax again at 3 this morning. Now he is agitated, jerking and yelling. I don't know what is going on with him. He was worried yesterday that someone was trying to kill little children. He also has started doing something, can't describe it but it sounds like a pant or bark...poor description but don't know how to express it. He does is three times and then he yells . When I questioned the nurse about what should be done, she just shook her head and said this is part of the disease. Well, I know that much. This particular nurse grates on my last nerve anyway. She will tell you "he had a good day yesterday" when I was with him and she only saw him once when she gave him his meds in the morning! Geez, if it wouldn't be rough on him, I'd push his chair up to the nurses' station and let him sit there all day so she could really see what goes on. Grrrr. Off my rant now, thanks for listening and I hope you all have a great day.
jackie, speak with the doctor and tell him about your DH's symptoms. The seroquel could be the cause for the aggression. Namenda made my DH delusional and aggressive so we took him off of it. Seroquel has worked for him. Perhaps the dr will try risperdal.
Thanks, LFL. He has been on seroquel for over 6 weeks now and just recently became more agitated. The doctor had said in the beginning that he would have to gradually increase the dosage as time went by so I guess he thought he need to up it a bit. It hasn't calmed him at all, but the nurse said it might take longer for his system to adjust. I'm hoping that is the case. Thanks for your post.
some patients dont do well on seroquel period no matter how little or much. i wouldnt let them ignore his symtoms. a pant and yelling could be signs something else is up with him. if it were me i may try to stop the medicine and wait to see if he is better off it, then try something else. i hate to hear some poor souls are ignored and may be in pain due to medications and staff chalk if off at the 'disease'.. sometimes yes but medicines arent tolerated by all. get to his dr and talk it over. 6wks is time to know if hes going to be ok on it or not.
Seroquel didn't work for my husband a couple of years ago, but now it seems to be working at least to some extent. He's now in a nursing home, but calmer when being handled than he's been in a LONG time. They have to be very gentle with him because of his broken hip, but he's nicely relaxed.
This is a very strange question, but was asked yesterday in connection with DH and Seroquel. A family member of the patient in the room next door responded to my statement that my DH loved ice cream, with this remark, "you know that he should not have dairy products while taking Seroquel, don't you?" Well, no, I haven't been told that and haven't read it anywhere. Anyone ever heard this?
No & I hope it's not true. My DH has ice cream every night right before I give him his dose of Seroquel. It doesn't seem to have any effect as far as I can see & anyway, as we say around here, what's it going to do, kill them?
I looked this up and it stated that seroquel should be taken with water and you should wait 30 minutes before lying down or eating anything. There is no problem having dairy products while on the drug.
From www.druginformationonline.org
"The following instruction should be followed to take the SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) – 50 - 200 mg: (1) Take SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything except plain water. 2) Take SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) while you are sitting or standing up. 3) Take SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) with 6 to 8 ounces (about 1 cup) of plain water. Do not take SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) with any other drink besides plain water. Do not take SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) with coffee, tea, juice, milk or other dairy drinks. 4) Swallow SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) whole. Do not chew the tablet or keep SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) in your mouth to melt or dissolve. After taking SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate) you must wait at least 30 minutes BEFORE: 1) lying down. You may sit, stand, or do normal activities like read the newspaper or take a walk. 2) Eating or drinking anything except plain water."
Thanks, to all. That was all I could find but wondered did I miss anything. DH takes his dose with water. He loves ice cream and has it every day. As Elaine said, "what's it going to do, kill them." This is a drug "not for people with dementia or the elderly" which would discount my DH before he ever got around to taking it with milk!!
Update on DH and Seroquel. Dr. has increased his dosage...50mg at 7:00 AM, 25mg at 2:00 PM and 50mg at 7:00 PM. "They" say give it around 7-10 days to really have full effect. This is the second day. He slept most of the day but his body is in almost constant tremors and sudden jerks. I don't know how he can rest. Also has a slight temperature. Nurse says it has nothing to do with increase dosage, just the disease itself. I'm not convinced. I want answers from the doctor.
A few weeks ago DH's neuro raised the Seroquel from 50 to 75mg because of his paranoia. As of last night I have taken him off the extra 25mg. His paranoia was worse and his legs were getting really weak. I thought he was going to fall down a couple of times, he barely made it to the kitchen where he hung on to a counter. One time he made it back to his recliner and stayed until it passed.
My husband admitted to me this morning that he was depressed. I gave him 1/4 (.25 mg) Xanax pill. I don't know much about these type of drugs; but, I don't think I've seen Xanax talked about on this forum. Can any of you enlighten me on anti-depression drugs and Xanax. I took one of those Xanax pills one night to sleep and I was depressed for days after.
Okay, I need to ask for something to control the depression and aggression? Is Seroquel the drug for that? Also, for those of you whose lo's have started Sundowning, what stage does that occur in?
My husband is on an antidepressant (cymbalta) and anti-psychotic (seroquel). These are for his aggitation, depression, etc. I believe sundowning can happen at any time during the disease.
Well, my experience with it so far is a nightly bad attitude towards me. He also sneaks beers or wine because he knows I think he's drinking too much. I'm wondering if there is a way I can make the drinks taste really awful. Also, I don't think alcohol and most of these medications mix together so well. I'm not going to get into a bruhaha with him every night over this issue, if he puts himself into the hospital, so be it.