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Just to clarify, this is not an M.D. I am seeing (well, he is an M.D. but a psychiatrist as well, thus well versed in these drugs). He is also very expensive and supposed to be the best in town, but I cannot afford $75 for a 15 minute phone call, hence my waiting until the 19th to spend $150 to talk to him in person for half an hour.
I think the idea was to shift me from the Ambien to the Seroquel for sleep. I'll admit, it does knock me out, but too much when I have to walk to use the bathroom. The Zonegran is to combat any potential weight gain from the Seroquel (if you know anything about Seroquel, you know it packs on the lbs). Regular doses of Seroquel go anywhere from 400 up to 1200 mgs per day for various conditions, yet I'm only taking 25, so as you can see, this is VERY low dose. Ironically, the lower the dose the better for sleep in cases like mine.
In a perfect world I would not need anything to sleep. But it's not a perfect world. It is good to know, from a previous poster, that Ambien doesn't work for everyone. It's also possible I just need more than the average Joe in terms of Ambien due to my very high tolerance level for sedating drugs.
Thanks all for your input.
Whoa!! Wait a minute here.....did you say that your doctor will prescribe all of these medications with a phone call if you pay him $75? I have worked in a pharmacy for 20 years and that is so not right Clearly your doctor is a candy man if he is willing to prescribe controlled medications such as Klonopin and Ambien with just a phone call. I know you said you are going to pay $150 to see him, but, even the fact that you have that option is not right. My doctor will not prescribe Ambien without seeing him and I need to make 90 pills last 180 days and they will no way prescribe me benzos because they are only for people in real trouble and they cause more trouble than anything else in general.
I don't know much about what you all are talking about but DO know that I've tried Ambien and it did nothing. Tried Lunesta--nothing! Melatonin--nothing. Benadryl--on occasion will make me a little sleepy.
If anyone can give me a combo of drugs to use as a sleep aid--go for it. I'm tired of this insomnia and am ready for a good night's sleep.
I agree. But start with talking to a pharmacist. Many physicians know very little about drug interactions. They pretend they do, but actually med schools require little study on pharmacology in general, let alone interactions of specific drugs.
I was once hospitalized in a top university teaching hospital FOR A WEEK, as doctors with many different specialties poked and prodded me because of rather dire symptoms I was experiencing that led them to believe I had an exotic disease. When I showed some improvement, they released me without a diagnosis as they remained stumped. As I packed to leave, an intern came over and whispered that she thought I was having a reaction to a prescription medication I told them I was taking when I was admitted, but I hadn't used while hospitalized. She said she had suggested this to the teaching doctors, but they poo-pooed her idea. She suggested I stop at the pharmacy on the way home and discuss my experience. I did that immediately and guess what? The pharmacist immediately produced paperwork from the manufacturer, issuing a warning about the medication and telling doctors to take patients off it if they were experiencing my symptoms. Problem solved -- after I almost died and heaven knows how much money was spent addressing my "illness."
Wow, lucky for you that you had a sharp intern pull you aside. Hope that hospital bill wasn't too high but at least you got to the root of the problem.
You know, it's an EXCELLENT idea to talk to a pharmacist about all of this and FREE. Honestly, I've always called them about drug interactions but did not think to call them in this situation. They would know better than anyone what I can take together and what I cannot.
That is what I will do on Monday, as I get the majority of my prescriptions filled at Costco and the pharmacy is closed tomorrow.
Since the Ambien doesn't work and the Klonopin does, I took two Klonopin (alone) before bed tonight hoping that would get me through the night. It got me through two hours and now I'm wide awake again. A pharmacist will be a great resource and, you are right, they do know their stuff. I took a pharmacy tech class from one and he knew his stuff. I also know their role has changed and they know longer count out the pills (although they will verify), but their job is now to provide more of a consultative role.
Whoa!! Wait a minute here.....did you say that your doctor will prescribe all of these medications with a phone call if you pay him $75? I have worked in a pharmacy for 20 years and that is so not right Clearly your doctor is a candy man if he is willing to prescribe controlled medications such as Klonopin and Ambien with just a phone call. I know you said you are going to pay $150 to see him, but, even the fact that you have that option is not right. My doctor will not prescribe Ambien without seeing him and I need to make 90 pills last 180 days and they will no way prescribe me benzos because they are only for people in real trouble and they cause more trouble than anything else in general.
I don't know what he'd do by phone but I do know the phone calls are more situations like "help, I'm in trouble, what do I do?" Well, I am never in that much trouble (I'd have to be on the verge of doing something really stupid) before I'd spend $75 over the phone. I highly doubt that he'd prescribe something like benzos over the phone and am having my doubts he will even keep me on them. I must admit I do think the Lunesta worked better though but it's super expensive.
As to him being a "candyman," all I can say is
My last Dr. was so conservative that when I asked him for two Klonopin to get me through my father's funeral all he said was call me when he dies and I'll see if I can help you out. TWO! One for the plane ride and one for the funeral. So can you understand why I'm thrilled to have a new Dr. like this? Old Dr. wouldn't give me Ambien either (you know - substance abuse potential and all that) and insisted on Lunesta ($80 copay for me, even though the pharmacist told me both have abuse potential and are basically the same in that department).
Oh, and I've been Dx'd with generalized anxiety disorder and phobic disorder so I think that does merit the benzos. I don't abuse them and even undertake them if anything.
I don't know much about what you all are talking about but DO know that I've tried Ambien and it did nothing. Tried Lunesta--nothing! Melatonin--nothing. Benadryl--on occasion will make me a little sleepy.
If anyone can give me a combo of drugs to use as a sleep aid--go for it. I'm tired of this insomnia and am ready for a good night's sleep.
Thanks
Well, if nothing has worked, you might be a good candidate for a low dose (and I mean low) of Seroquel. It kicks my butt and I consider myself to be a hard core insomniac. Ask your Dr. about this. I am not sure a GP would feel comfortable veering off into psychotropic territory and not with an anti-psychotic, but a shrink will for sure. If you have the money and good insurance you have nothing to lose. I won't take the 25 mgs again, but I will try halving them and see what that does in conjunction with the melatonin.
Sort of like how Zonegran is NOT prescribed, even off-label, to "combat any potential weight gain." Off-label, it -is- prescribed for obesity. But that isn't potential weight gain. That's actual obesity. On-label, it is a powerful anticonvulsant prescribed to people suffering from grand-mal epilepsy. Drowsiness is one of the most common side effects. As I said in previous posts, I think her doctors are giving her medications for things they're not telling her about. She's posted about taking antipsychotic meds, she's said she's been diagnosed with all kinds of mental illnesses, plus sleeping pills, and she's been adjusting the meds on her own, taking a little more of this, a little less of that...
Either she's lying, or she is being intentionally misled, or she is completely misunderstanding what she's being told. Regardless, no amount of advice from an online forum of strangers is going to be of any help to her at all, unless the advice is to discuss ALL of this with her doctor, and with a pharmacist, and hopefully with a responsible adult who doesn't take any of these medicines present to make sure she is understanding what she's being told.
Anonchick, you will have to trust that my Drs know me better than you. Since this is an online forum, I am also not going to divulge all my medical history (common sense).
And who said I wasn't fat? I have put on 70 lbs in the last three years. See, once again you don't have all the facts and go making assertions based on these supposed facts in your head (and I am not going to divulge everything and I already said that). So, yes, the Dr. DID prescribe the Zonegran off label in order to not add MORE weight to an already existing problem and hopefully to even help it, as one of the side effects in some is loss of appetite. Or maybe he DID prescribe for an existing condition that I am just not going to tell YOU about.
You'd be hard pressed to know more about these meds than I do. 'Nuff said. And for some reason, I really get a lot of helpful posts in this forum (witness the few above) and it's not a constant battle of who knows more - you, me, or my Dr. Now, with all due respect, unless you are willing to accept what I have said and take all factors into account, I'd appreciate a little less of your online Internet research since you obviously do not have real world experience with any of this.
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Clearly your doctor is a candy man if he is willing to prescribe controlled medications such as Klonopin and Ambien with just a phone call. I know you said you are going to pay $150 to see him, but, even the fact that you have that option is not right. My doctor will not prescribe Ambien without seeing him and I need to make 90 pills last 180 days and they will no way prescribe me benzos because they are only for people in real trouble and they cause more trouble than anything else in general.
A pharmacist will be a great resource and, you are right, they do know their stuff. I took a pharmacy tech class from one and he knew his stuff. I also know their role has changed and they know longer count out the pills (although they will verify), but their job is now to provide more of a consultative role.
