any luck with seroquel-lexapro?

Hello ,  I'm new to chat.  Im  a 63 yr old female, finally  diagnosed with bi polar 11 . This is only my 3rd major time with depression.  Dr is giving me both seroquel and lexapro, which I feel might work against eachother.  Seroquel is for mania  and I think I'm just depressed now with alot of anxiety and what I call obseessive thoughts.  Keep thinking the same things over and over. Why i didn't do this,  how my feet hurt.  6 wks now feel no better - he upped meds from low doses to 100mg seroquel to 20 lexapro.  Has anyone had any luck with these drugs? 

seroquel is "my drug of choice!" but it does work and work well for some people and not so well for others. you are still on a very low dose. i now take three 25 mg 3Xday and one 500 mg at night. it helps slow down cycling, calm racing thoughts and just plain give you a break from bouncing up and down. does it gently, not not sure if seroquel or trazadone helps me sleep better, but one of them does. you might ask about trazadone, as it's a weak antidepressant, but a great sleeping pill.

as far as interactions, you might look up both lexapro and lamictal and look for possible drug interactions. i would also search for "lexapro, interactions with seroquel" and see what comes up. there's also "ask a patient.com" where patients rate medications and usually give any side effects. linda

hi loretta,
i am new on this board also.
my doctor put me on lexapro about 3 months
ago i only take 20 mlg a day. i was in a
very deep depression feeling like my world
was ending and i thoughts of killing myself.
i have ulcerative colitis so that put my
into a drepression again.
I am 32. i didn't know what was going on.
so i saw my doctor and he put me on lexapro
and it has worked GREAT for me. its my
first mood stableizer. i am also on
an anti-anxiety pill.
my dad and sister have by-polar and
my sister takes med my dad doesn't.
stuborne. sorry can't spell well.
my doctor i think thought it would be
safe to put me on lexapro since bi-polar
runs in my family.
maybe ask your doctor to just stay with
the lexapro for a few months and see
how it works with nothering else.
good luck and hang in there.
these people are wonderful to talk to
here
donna

I am on Lexapro and it seems to work for me.  I did take paxil, but seemed to sedate me.  I was on 20 of lexapro but reduced it myself to 10. I find that I have "brain surges" when I don't take it.  Feels like electricity running thru my head. The lexapro works good for me.  I still have some bouts with depression or anxiety, but they are controllable.  So far I have had more success with this than any other meds.  I take ambien at night for sleep and this is the best med in the world.  I sleep and when I get up, I am awake......no hangover. 

Jallen, my husband is bipolar. I am so sorry for what you are going through.He was dx's 16 years ago. We have been married for a little over 6 years. He has had to be hospitalized one time since we have been together. But I guess he had a hard time and so did his family when he first got sick. Thank God he has a good family. He was a pilot and aviation mech. before he got sick. His parents helped him get on S.S.D. and into a program they have in are comunity.Which is a God send. He was never married before we got married. When he had to go into the hospital it was the worst. Here I am married to the best man ever and not a darn thing I could do to fix him or really help him. I had been married before I think it's a woman thing to make eveything all for those we love and here we are dealing with something only meds.,therapy and a lot of time will make it better. I don't know if your doing the right thing by helping him. What does his DRS. say?Bipolar is an Illness of the mind. It is not something he can help having. With my husband I make sure he takes his meds. after he starts feeling good he decides he should go with out them. I just learned that it gives me peace of mind to give them to him. I learned a long time ago to go with your gut feeling on things. As long as you are in no danger I would be there for him. I am usually on the epilepsy board because I have epilepsy.But my husband and I both check out this board . His name is Scott i'm Mary you can vent to me any time I promise I wont write a book each time. Take care. Things do get better just not as fast as we would like. Mary

any sorry i didnt even answer you question maybe your dr should up the seroquel, i used to be on 300mg but it made me a zombie it i think about stuff overand over but it mostly about how stupid people are in my town.  but i blame that on being a girl lol

the only real problem i have with taking psych meds is the make you gain ALOT of weight

Hi Loretta,

I was diagnosed with Bipolar I and I am prescribed Divalproex aka Depakote, Seroquel and Buproprion.  Every since I started the Seroquel I have had very few and far between episodes of mania, however, I find my sleeping 12-16 hours at a stretch and sometime find myself sleeping a whole day and night away.  I have become severely depressed myself as well and have been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks now in which I never used to have this bad. So I can definitley relate to you. I would like to know what is going on with this myself because I have been told you can't have anxiety as part of your Bipolar and that it has to be a completely seperate issue. So what gives.. is it the medications causing me my anxiety? I have no idea. But I also found that since starting Buproprion over a year ago, I have been doing nothing but vomitting on a regular basis. I have went from 150 lbs all the way down to 118 lbs and they are trying to tell me it is not medication related. If you have any other information that you can share, please do so.

Post Edited (lfrazier31) : 10/14/2011 9:38:00 PM (GMT-6)

Anyone got any updates?
I'm on 20g lexapro (once it was up to 30mg)which caused hypermania and was then sedated with firstly lithium which bombed me out night and day, then olanzapine which caused a 20kg weight gain in a matter of weeks followed by seraquel which has sedated me for about 8 years. I was at levels of 350-400mg but have lost years of my life sleeping. So now I'm down to 15/20mg lexapro and 125g seraquel but with creeping anxiety and depression. I was always wondering about the theory that the antidepressants caused a hypermanic reaction in certain people and was told "No, the biploar was just latent all the time and the antidepressants have 'uncovered' it. Then I met a psychiatrist who said that that was indeed true and there is more evidence emerging to support it - that ADs can cause a manic reaction. It makes sense really. I just want to get off these darn drugs. Whaddya reckon? fitzski