Seroquel for Bipolar II

[nekokun]

I have been recently diagnosed as Bipolar II although i already had one episode of hypomania about 4 years ago, although my psychiatrist was reluctant to give me a diagnosis because i was using a lot of class As especially uppers like MDMA and Coke. I am now not taking street drugs very often and have had my diagnosis. What i don't understand is why i have been given seroquel (on 400mg right now) since everywhere i look i see it is for Bipolar I and i have never been manic enough to have hallucinations or psychosis. Unfortunately i don't get to see my psychiatrist for 1 more month to ask them so I'm asking here.

The second question is about its effect on me, I'm not really sure it is really working. I take 400mg daily the doctor said to take it twice a day but if it makes me too drowsy to do it just at night.
I started with 100mg for the first day 200 mg next 6 days 300  for the next week.
After 2 weeks i started taking 400mg and trying to take 1 tab early evening and 1 just before bed so i don't feel so retarded in the morning.
The issue i have is that all i'm feeling is sedation till about 4-5pm and then the hypomania starts again. It certainly doesn't make me fell "normal" not yet at least. It's been about 4 weeks since i started now. is this all that the med does? will the sedation start to wear off after a period of taking it so i can maybe start taking one in the morning one in the evening?

Thanks for the replies in advance

[ILADVOCATE]

I would ask your psychiatrist about Abilify. This is the newest antipsychotic and least likely to cause sedation and weight gain. Psychiatrists sometimes use antipsychotics as mood stabilizers and it depends on the person and what they have (some people have bipolar with psychotic features) so I can't make a reccomendation there but among mood stabilizers, Lamictal is the most tolerated. And there are medications out there in development (I'm on glycine which is in Phase II study by the FDA) that don't cause sedation, weight gain/diabetes or tardive dyskanesia so as new treatments are approved people will see better results with less side effects.

[Willl]

400 mg is a lot of seroquel. I have been taking it for 3 months and I am just now getting to where I can take 100 to 150 mg at night and not feel groggy most of the next day. Make sure you remember to not drink alcohol with seroquel or it will intensify the tired feeling.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

I can't second guess your psychiatrist.  Some doctors have their own experience base and use medications like this because they judge it to be effect in a particular case. That said, you should not be taking any medication that makes you feel doped or drugged or too sleepy, so you should call your doctor, tell him about your experience with the drug and ask him to either modify the dose or the medication.