I have lifelong major depressive disorder and have been on all kinds of meds. I've been taking Wellbutrin since 1995 and have added and subtracted other meds along the way. My long-term psychiatrist always said that it was very important that I sleep, which was a big problem. Benzos don't work for me (Valium, etc). The best thing that worked was a combination of Ambien and Thorazine. But who wants to take Thorazine?! So after a while he suggested Seroquel (just for the insomnia, I'm not bipolar or schizophrenic). Started at 100 mg maybe 8 years ago. Gradually worked my way down to 25 mg. Then my doctor died.
In the midst of this, I had a VSG in Jan 2010. Beginning weight was 385, day of surgery 361, lowest 285, today 335. I've learned to eat around the restriction, obviously, but could the Seroquel be part of the problem?
Meanwhile, I'm not sure the Seroquel is working as well for sleep. My new doctor isn't too happy to prescribe it. She would like to see me off of it because it's not supposed to be a sleep medicine, although she's always saying what a low dose it is. (200mg is a low dose; 800mg is a high dose.) So I don't think she'll increase it. Seroquel is known to increase weight, but she says the effect lasts about 12 hours, so since I take it at night, it shouldn't be a problem.
But since it's not working well anyway, and since it might be causing weight gain, I decided to go off of it on a trial basis. Today is day 4. The first two nights were hell. The second two nights were better, but still not good enough to function. But I do feel less driven to eat.
Do you think that Seroquel could be a factor in my less than stellar weight loss results? How long should I suffer through sleepless nights before going back on it? Should I try something else to sleep?
