I’ve build op tolerance to the sedating effect of Seroquel 300 mg. So I’ve chosen to use 10 - 20 mg Clopixol besides of the depot. So now I sleep 8 - 9 hours every night. It’s only possible to take that high amount of typical because my good friend Seroquel remove the apathy and problems with concentration caused by the high dose of Clopixol.
1 Like
I took Saphris for a long, long time and the sedation never wore off or got less. I would take it and 15 minutes or so later my eyes were rolling back in my head. I wish I could still take it, I love that stuff.
1 Like
I examined what antipsychotics are the most sedating and found that Saphris(Asenapine Sycrest) is one of the most sedating atypical antipsychotics ever made. But I’m on the most sedating antipsychotic ever made Clopixol and only that one can bring me sleep.
2 Likes
800 mg Seroquel 8 years was very sedating - i found myself dozing off at my desk at work - was dangerous to drive cause of dozing off lanes and bumping cars at red lights. Had to take the train - and miss my stops almost all the time cause of dozing.
1 Like
I found this paper Antipsychotic-induced sensitization and tolerance: Behavioral characteristics, developmental impacts, and neurobiological mechanisms - PMC
Due to the (cross)-tolerance effect
It is thus possible that antipsychotic sensitization and tolerance may develop to one effect of a drug, but not to another
first-episode schizophrenia patients respond to lower doses of antipsychotics; are more sensitive to side effects; and have comparatively higher response rates than chronic schizophrenia patients
Spooky stuff, it works without being in your system.
This finding suggests that upon initial exposure, physiological events initiated by a drug enhance the antipsychotic’s effects beyond its presence at the receptor, thereby inducing efficacy without requiring constant receptor binding.
In those patients, it is often observed that a gradual increase in the dosage is necessary to maintain a therapeutic effect, possibly due to the fact that antipsychotic treatment is needed to control both the endogenous psychosis and supersensitivity psychosis. This drug-induced increase in dosage increase indicates the development of tolerance to antipsychotic effect. In other words, the appearance of supersensitivity psychosis reflects the fact that chronic use of antipsychotic drugs causes a tolerance effect.
2 Likes
there’s an ad for thorazine that shows a man giving a black power salute and it says try thorazine to make them complacent.
1 Like
@microware That could be the case it appears that there is dose-dependent sensitisation and tolerance effects
@Leaf My sincere condolences for your loss. To truly have schizophrenia is to love many antipsychotics.
@Kxev You’re basically a tank take taking that much Seroquel anyway. Hope you’re back out there crushing cars on the daily drive again 
@Quehead You would be hyper-aware of any sedation while driving, I imagine it would be scary. Interestingly the paper I read talked about the situational dependent effects of medication. Also bro I did not realise that was a black power salute Thorazine sounds really messed up
2 Likes
oh sorry that’s what it was in the 60’s and 70’s. I can’t find the ad anymore. the salute is also associated with socialism. not a dirty word to me.
this is going to get hidden
I’m currently on Saphris, Seroquel, and Lithium Carbonate.
I’ve been on Seroquel for awhile and it still knocks me out. I take it before getting ready for bed. If I’m not in bed by about 30 minutes, I’ll start to feel loopy. I feel confused, my heart starts racing, I feel light headed…
I started Saphris recently. The first few days, it made me really, really tired. But now, I don’t feel any more tired at all, after I take it. Which is good, because I have to take it twice per day.
1 Like
I’m not surprised that Seroquel knocks you it is after all specifically used as a sleep agent as well as an antipsychotic. I literally remember preparing myself to sleep for a week whenever I changed meds. Do you think Lithium helps with your symptoms at all?
1 Like
Yes, definitely. It’s a powerful mood stabilizer.
2 Likes
What about with positive symptoms did you notice any difference?
1 Like
No, Lithium is only a mood stabilizer. It doesn’t have any antipsychotic abilities. It helps me feel less depressed and have fewer manic episodes.
But the Saphris and Seroquel really help with the positive symptoms! 
1 Like
@Mr_Hope how’s it going with the med switch? have you decided to do it?
edit: Oh and for the topic. I don’ really get sedation on the meds (zyprexa). They make my mind slower, but I don’t get sleepy.
MrHope speaks the truth that it’s often is very difficult to quit an antipsychotic after year of use. I experienced exactly that when quitting Ziprasidone cold turkey 6 weeks ago after 20 years of use.
I stopped olanzapine 3 days ago. So far so good. Unless I get adverse reactions I’m sticking to the new meds.
Probably won’t know for sure in a month or so. That’s how long it took me to relapse the times I stopped olanzapine cold turkey.
1 Like
I got added some Clopixol in the depot and pill form when I quit Geodon. My opinion is just that you should never mix 3 antipsychotics because the result is unpredictable. So max two antipsychotics so in my case very calming s meds namely Clopixol and qutiapine.
1 Like
Moderate to high quality evidence (medium-sized sample,consistent, precise, direct) suggests a small effect of adjunctive lithium in combination with antipsychotics for improving overall schizophrenia symptom severity when measured by BPRS reduction scores, however low erquality evidence (imprecise, very small samples) is unable to determine any benefit when measuring specific symptoms of schizophrenia.
@columbus
Polypharmacy isn’t great in general but when you run out of options it can be the only way. Also in the context of medication simply being a tool that a desired effect sometimes it matters less how you end up there. For example there are many ways to paint a picture and using one brush is not necessarily better then two. What is important is that you are able to paint the picture, producing the desired effect.
I don’t advice people not to go on more than two antipsychotics. It was just what I was told by a doctor that he only was able to predict interactions between two antipsychotics. So I just want to add that it was a personal opinion colored by my experience of having used 3 antipsychotics for more than a decade that made me state that. I’m now on two medications for the fifths week.
1 Like