The Nurologist put DH on Seroquel because I told him the Citalopram was not working any more and the Risperidone made him too agitated. I got it in the mail from Medco yesterday and gave him the first one this AM. The pill is 50 mg. Isn't that a lot to start? He has been sleepy all day and finally went to bed at 3 o'clock and its now 5 pm. I thought I remembered several of you mentioning a 25 mg dose. Will he get used to it so he is not so sleepy? I would cut them in half but today he did not notice the extra pill with the 3 he always takes. If I cut it he would surely notice it. Any suggestions would surely be welcome.
just me but i would try the lowest dose possible on any new med to see how they respond. these are very potent pills and can cause alot of side effects sleeping being the main one. i would cut in half and put into a teaspoon of pudding or applesauce let it dissolve, and tell him you made a new dessert and open his mouth to try it! :) divvi
When my DH was given Seroquel, the Neurologist prescribed 25 mg. half in the am and half in the pm. Not easy to cut since they aren't scored but can be done. Then when he had a painful hip our pcp said to just give him half in the pm because it can cause some muscle discomfort ??? Anyway, he has only had 12.5 mg a day for about 4 months and is doing fine.
MaryinPA, my DH takes seroquel, but its a generic called Quetiapine Fumarate in a 25 mg tablet. He takes it at night. We started it when he was getting lost in the house, and very confused. That was about a year ago, and it is working quite well for us, along with other rx's of course. Hope this helps.
We started him on 25mg. of Quetiapine fumarate in the beginning , it was about 6 months ago. Then for that past 3 months it has been 75 at night, and 25 in the am. Now he is taking 100 at night, and 25 in the day...without it he paced constantly and was up all night, every 15 minutes, thinking he had to pee. (he did not)
So I told myself well I saw what happened for just ONE day when he ran out of it, and said I would not second guess again how much he needs it.
Now of course I am wondering if it is the bit higher dose making him so unsteady. And he will not will not just relax he is up and about and falling.
I may try a bit smaller dose tonight, and see, because he is at the point of just losing his legs. I think it is a good medicine, for a time.
(oh and , I did talk to Dr. about Ativan she did not seem to think he should have it.) (?)
Yes, we have the generic also. Its just harder to spell :)
The falling that Coco is dealing with is definately a problem. When DH fell last winter he hit his head on the corner of the dresser and bled all over the carpet. He got up and we got it stopped and he was no worse for wear, but it was scary. He refused to go to the ER so I did a butterfly bandage on it and it healed OK. Don't want to repeat that.
My DH started out with Seroquel 25mg at night which helped him sleep. Then a few months ago he started getting agitated & the doctor upped it to 2 a day (one in the morning & one at night). Well in the past 2 weeks it has escalated & now he is on 2 in the morning & 2 at night & at my request the doctor added Lorazepam 1mg in the morning & 1mg at night. I hate that he is so “drugged up” but it's either that or him being extremely agitated & maybe violent. He is either sleeping in his chair or up & acting like he is drunk (& not a nice drunk either).
Well, I decided to be very conserative this morning and cut the 50 mg tablet in quarters and gave him 1 quarter crushed in some yogurt. He was pretty calm most of the day so I will try that again tomorrow. Maybe on the weekend I will try a half tablet ( 25 mg ). I don''t want him a complete zombie like he was yesterday. Maybe later we will have to give the full 50 mg but will start slowly as was suggested above.
My husband takes 25 mg in the morning and 25 mg before bed. Respiradone made him agitated also. I can give him another 25 mg during the day if needed. It does not zone him out at all. He also takes ativan 1mg when needed. So far nothing knocks him out. He seems to be like the Energizer Bunny. I'd be out for days on those doses.
My dh was on seroquel for about a year and a half. During that time we had to increase his meds twice, both very much against his will. Finally one day he went out of his head with hate for me. I had to call the cops. He threatened to shoot me and the cops if I did that. I called them anyway. He spent time in the hospital, and was put on different meds, one of them being Risperidone. That and the other two pills they put him on have kept him in a nice, compliant place. His three meds which keep him on an even keel are, as I said, Risperidone, and also Donepezil and Citalopram.