Seroquel

pmiles1124

The neurologist just prescribed seroquel. Any comments

SDianeL

I don’t have experience but others here have. You can search all posts for Seroquel while you wait for a reply. The search thingy is at the top of the page.

harshedbuzz

@pmiles1124

Dad was prescribed Seroquel for agitation that often rose to aggression. He started on 25mg at dinnertime because nights were especially challenging. As he progressed a second dose was added in the morning as well. He never needed more than 50mg daily, but there's a lot of room to increase the dose if needed. One caveat, when dad first started he was sleepier than usual for about a week or so until he adjusted to the medication. His sleep was a mess, so this was a welcome side effect.

I would credit Seroquel with allowing dad to remain at home— safely— with my mom until a few months before he died.

HB

midge333

Seroquel was a godsend for my DW. I am convinced it allowed me to keep her at home another 10 months longer than I would have without it. The dose required is very patient dependent. It took our geri-psych about a year to find the optimal dose.

Rick4407

Seroquel was the miracle drug with my wife. We started at 25mg in early afternoon to prevent sundowning, after a while added 25 or 50mg at around 7-8 PM which helped her sleep. Increased dosage for a week or two on occasion but fell never above 75 mg in the evening. Always crushed in pudding or apple sauce. When ever she had a "treat" i did also but without the added Seroquel. Rick

cdgbdr

DH started with Buspar and Trazodone and then started with 25mg Seroquel at night and Trazodone. That combo started in July. He moved to MC early September. There was a delay in getting the psych nurse to see him. She came today and increased his Seroquel to 25 mg twice daily. I think it has helped his agitation and sundowning. He is a bit drowsy with it but that was not an issue with night time dosing. We will need to see how twice daily goes.

persevere

I had never heard of serequel until getting on this site. Our drugs of choice for agitation have been lexapro and more importantly risperdone. Does anyone have experience using these vs serequel

Metta

DH was violent without it and merely aggressive and abusive at times with it. I Have only been able to keep him home because of the seroquel (quetiapine). 25 mg at lunch and 50 mg at dinner.

I hated to give it to him, but placement in memory care, the other option, would have also required medication for his aggression. So it worked for us to stay home.

harshedbuzz

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/254993#Comment_254993

Your choice is actually very similar to what dad was prescribed. The Lexapro (dad took Prozac) is an SSRI that can help with anxiety/depression which can present as irritability especially in males. The risperdone is in the same exact class of medication— atypical antipsychotic— as Seroquel.

Some folks do better on one specific version of a class of medication than another. This is especially true of the SSRIs. If something is working well for your LO, I'd say stick with it. My only objection would be for Rexulti; it's a newer atypical antipsychotic which has dementia agitation as an indication but is very expensive, not available as a generic and carries the exact Black Box Warning as all the other atypical antipsychotics. I would ask a prescriber to trial the others first.

HB

lruduski

My DH was rx seroquel by his neurologist and has helped with his almost constant crying bouts. He has also been diagnosed with PBA pseudo bulbar affect and there is another med that helped with that but is over $1800/ month. So the seroquel has helped a great deal at a price I can afford

tboard

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/74246/seroquel

Seroquel for people with dementia gets mixed reviews. There is the school of thought that it doesn't help with agitation and the belief that it can cause death in people with dementia. The drug seems to help my husband. He can be very aggressive. The Seroquel makes it possible to keep him at home rather than in an institution.

blacksparky

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/255025#Comment_255025

I’m in the same boat as you. My wife was also diagnosed with PBA. I about dropped dead when I saw how much the prescription cost. There is no way I can afford this so for now the Psychiatrist has now prescribed 40 mg of Zoloft as the Serequol wasn’t working on controlling the constant crying.