What does Seroquel actually achieve?

I deliberately say achieve. I am sure there are numerous studies about what it does in "med speak". I am not too concerned with what it does to various parts of the brain. I am concerned with how I feel when on Seroquel.

In the honeymoon period, I guess I was blinded by the improvement in my sleep, but what price sleep? My mornings are a constant struggle, anywhere from general anxiety to depression. I very rarely want to get out of bed. If I manage to get up, I have no motivation to do anything. I am writing this just after noon. I couldn't have concentrated well enough until very recently. My evenings and often my afternoons are a different picture to my mornings. I feel like a different person. I suspect Seroquel because of my experiences last year. I reported to my doctor that I had the anxiety. The response was to increase my dosage from 100mg to 200mg and then to 400mg. The anxiety increased and I returned to 100mg, my current dosage.

What about the anti manic properties? I recently had a 7 or 8 week period of hypomania. I took my Seroquel regularly throughout. The only effect that I noticed was that I was physically impaired longer than I was sleeping. I was only sleeping 2-3 hours each night. I don't think the Seroquel did much for the mania.

I am beginning to wonder if Seroquel is causing more problems than it solves. My sleep is erratic. My mornings are a nightmare, And then there are the incessant dreams and disturbed patterns of dreaming. Does anyone else share my concerns?

Sleep deprivation...first hand

I don't normally copy material from another forum, but I think it is worthwhile this time:

Another long day, and a very productive day, but I am running on the fumes. I have to sleep soon or I will crash in a big way. I have taken zopiclone with my seroquel for two nights. The only real effect was two foggy mornings. In my head that is. Tonight, now I have renewed my prescription with the new 200 mg dose, I plan to take the new 200mg of seroquel by itself. I don't think zopiclone agrees with me and my body fights it. It fights most stuff from past experience.

I really know what a zombie would feel like. After taking a self portrait yesterday, I know how one looks. I don't know what I hope to achieve here except to give you a look at the downside of hypomania and insomnia.

I keep trying to stay up late per my gp but it seems to be to no avail. My sleep arrangements are pretty good and I don't have caffeine after the afternoon. I fall asleep with no effort and I am not sure I need meds for that. Staying asleep and getting restful sleep have always been my problem.

I know I try to do too much on too little sleep but I have all the ideas right now. My neighbour came round to clean as usual. I value having someone nearby. She helped me clean up my act. She returned 2 dvd players, a vcr, and a full stereo system to the local recycling shop. She messaged me to say the stereo already had a new home! I'm glad someone else will enjoy it after my brother and myself. I now have room for my new 32 inch tv that comes on Monday. I hope I am making sense. I am typing on autopilot.

This is not the downside of bipolar. I am far from depressed although I have doubts. I hope to report soon that I have had a good night's sleep. Not much to ask.

Do Dreams Mean Anything?

I just saw a program about dreaming. One of the suggestions was that dreams don't mean much, as previously thought. In view of my repeating dream about getting lost, I hope they are right. Last week I fell out of bed onto my back and I couldn't move for a while. This could have happened in a dream according to the experts. If there is a meaning, I am at loss to explain what that might be. I take Seroquel at night after years of poor sleep. It does increase dreaming and dreams can be very "real". The intensity of dreaming seems to be proportional to the dosage. If I double my normal dose to 200mg, I sleep longer but dream more intensely. I have to decide between less sleep and more dreams. It is not an easy choice because the dreams are often disturbing. They are not nightmares however. I do sleep better in terms of hours, 6-7 hours typically but I do not feel rested. Today I feel sluggish and it is just past noon. I had a few days of hypomania and I suspect I might be paying from that usage of energy.