Due to postural hypotension caused by clozapine, i told my new pdoc to reduce clozapine and add quetiapine. He declined even after begging several times. He told me quetiapine is a useless drug and is not a first line drug for psychosis. He says no other drug beats clozapine in terms of effectiveness. And he said staying on as low medicines as possible is the best way to stay away from side effects.
He told me to sit and wait for few seconds before standing. This may not cause postural hypotension.
I sometimes wonder if the pdoc’s would be so eager to give us certain medications if they had to endure the side effects too. I’ve been on Seroquel 400 x 2 daily for over a decade. I thought it wasn’t having any effect on me, until I didn’t get it for several days. I was more anxious than I cared to be.
I was on 400mg Quetiapine for years, ands it is a very good medication - havent had a decent nights sleep without it since i come off it. but it tended to royally screw up my pancreas whilst i was taking it. I do believe im right in saying that if you are on it for many years, it can increase your risk of pancretitis - so im on the depot now. But yes - that drug suited me well for a very long time.
@clinic Your doctor is right in saying that Clozapine is a very effective drug. But that does not mean that Quetiapine is a useless drug. He is right in saying that we should stay on as few medicines as possible. Perhaps he is trying to discourage you from using unnecessary medication. One should not add drugs just like that even for one symptom. Your doctor can judge how many medicines you must take and on what doses. No drug is ineffective for all people and no drug is effective for all people. Which ever drug suits you and alleviates your symptoms is effective for you.
Clozapine is not a first line drug for psychosis. Literally learned that in basic neuropsychopharm in college. It is true it is clinically the most effective antipsychotic and works for 90% of people even if no other AP worked for them before, but due to the large amount of and often severe side effects it causes, it is usually only used as a last resort if several APs have already been tried & were not effective.
Seroquel is absolutely a very solid med for sz and is in the same class of medication as clozapine even. Pines are potent APs.