Mood stabilisers and Antipsychotics eating my words?

[greenday]

hay how r u today

[tellingstories]

I didn't sleep very well even though I took Zopiclone. I spent £300 yesterday in ninety minutes, including getting a really ugly tattoo that'll be with me for life.

My mother is worried about me. She's telling me about bad stuff I've been doing in the last few weeks. Not illegal or immoral, just selfish and argumentative. Stuff I have no recollection of and I don't understand why because I am not psychotic. I know everyone says that, but I'm not, never have been. I feel like she's ashamed of me, and I am ashamed of myself.

[greenday]

hay dont be ashamed of your self be happy

[tellingstories]

Thankyou Greenday for your support. How old are you by the way?

[squiggle]

quetiapine completely knocked me out. i was on the maximum dose, i couldn't think straight, i would stop talking in the middle of sentences, i was barely coherent, i couldn't read which i hated because i love books. it turned me into a zombie and a completely different person, sounds a bit like what you're experiencing. oh, and it had no effect on the mania.

as for mood stabilisers i've tried lithium and valproate, neither of them gave me side effects (that i noticed).

just after xmas i was admitted to hospital after an od, i was immediately taken off quetiapine and despite horrendous withdrawal for the first two weeks i felt a noticeable difference immediately. i am less tired, i can concentrate, i don't feel like my head is made of cotton wool. i cannot believe how i put up with those side effects for 18 months. Are you noticing any positive effects of the quetiapine/carbamazapine? if not i'd say definitely worth thinking about asking if you can try other meds

x

[tellingstories]

I've been on quetiapine for about three years. I don't know where I'd be without it. It stabilised my sleep, calmed me down, made me less impulsive, stabilised my moods... to an extent. Hence the carbamazepine. It's really too early to tell if that's helping, I'm not on the full dose yet. I have to have bloods and as I understand it the therapeutic dose is determined by the levels in my blood, because everyone's body metabolises it differently (or something- I'm told it's the same process as with lithium, I'd be interested if anyone could clarify)

[greenday]

hay tellingstoriyes im 16 and becoming 17 this june i feel sad and hate my life

[tellingstories]

Aww bless. You're very young, why do you hate your life?

[squiggle]

i can't say i understood a lot about the metabolising stuff but here's what i did get, if it's any help.

there is a therapeutic range of the concentration of the drug in your bloodstream, and it has to be between a particular set of two numbers for the drug to be effective. too high can lead to poisoning and bad side effects, too low and it won't work. for lithium its 0.4-0.8mmol/l. everyone metabolises drugs differently, so the same dose in two different people will result in different concentrations of the drug in your bloodstream. they have to do blood tests to check the level, if it's too low they'll increase your dose, too high and they'll decrease it. when you're in the therapeutic range you won't have to have bloods as often as the concentration should remain pretty stable.

hope this is what you were asking, if not, apologies.
x

[Reeta]

Hey TS, I have the same problem with forgetting my words and stopping mid sentance etc. Ive even started doing what my gran used to do and going through everyones names until I get the right one!

I tell everyone its early onset Alzheimers. Obviously a joke, but that is what it feels like to me.

Im not on any APs and the AD I am on now is mirtazapine but I am also on a high amount of pain killers (tramadol, diclofenic co-codamol and the oh so effective para) so you might be on to something with that idea.