Zeldox

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Right now I'm on Seroquil which is an antipsychotic and is also used for people with bipolar disorder. My doctor put me on it to help me sleep and to reduce my anxiety. The problem is I found that I've been gaining a lot of weight and have a hard time losing it, also my drug plan doesn't cover the dose of Seroquil that I'm on, they have to make it into a whole bunch of smaller doses which I find annoying because I take other pills as well.

My friend is on Zeldox and she switched to that from Seroquil because she had a weight gaining problem as well. She's lost a lot of weight. Zeldox is made also for people with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. My friend actually has both bipolar and schizophrenia though unlike me.

I'd like to try Zeldox as well but I have a question. Seeing as how I take Seroquil as more of a tranquilizer rather than for bipolar or schizophrenia would it have the same sedative effect on me as Seroquil because that's the purpose of me taking the Seroquil, for the sedative effect. Does Zeldox have the same effect? Will it help me get to sleep and relax me? If it doesn't then there's no point in me switching over.

I've heard of Seroquel being used off-label for sleep and anxiety. It's also sometimes used as a mood stabilizer for bipolar. That's what I'm taking it for, as I used to be on Lamictal but I developed the killer rash on it.

I've never heard of Zeldox before though. I'd be hesitant to take an antipsychotic medication if I didn't have a psychotic condition.

There are other meds you can use to help you sleep. There are benzodiazepines such as clonazepam, or xanax, but they are addictive so they're not really a good idea for long term. One med I've heard of as used for sleep is Trazadone, it's an antidepressant, but apparently is good at helping you sleep.

I am not a doctor though. Your doctor might know more about why he/she wants to put you on it. Or is this your own idea? Taking it just because it helps your friend might not be a good idea - meds affect different people in different ways. Ask your doctor about what he/she would switch you to instead.

I might recommend first trying non-med based approaches to sleep problems; however if you need medication then things to try might be (in this order):

1. diphenhydramine (Benadryl) will work temporarily, but the effects will wear off after a while and become effective.
2. any of the "benzos": say clonazapam, diazapam, etc.: work great; however with continuous use you will build a tolerance very quickly and you will develop withdrawls when you need to stop. It is just the nature of this class of drugs. That is why they are best used temporarily.
3. any of the "z drugs": say zolpidem (Ambien), zalaplon (Sonata), Lunesta etc. work great for insomnia, but can some bizarre side-effects that you should be aware of, say sleepwalking etc. Eventually these are also tolerance building, but not as bad as the benzos.
4. Trazadone deserves a mention. It can cause drowsiness, and it may or may not work for you. So it is hit and miss.
5. Atypical antipsychcotics such as you mentioned could ceratinly be used, but they will probably hit you hard and make you feel groggy and out-of-it. There is also the very serious side-effect of weight gain which would probably make them unsuitable for only sleep problems (ie. no mania). All of them cause weight, some worse then others. The med you mentioned Zeldox would fall in this category.

I personally would not consider any of the atypical antipsycotics unless your insomnia was tied to mania somehow.

Whether a med helps your friend or not is not relevant--you are both different people with different histories. If your anxiety and sleep problems are clinically mild I would recommend non-medication approaches. It would probably be healthiest, of course if that doesn't work then start working through different meds.

I hope that helps.

When I got a diagnosis of Bipolar II, I was prescribed 200mg of Seroquel XR. While on it, my waist circumference expanded by 6 inches. I moved onto another medication months ago, and I'm still trying to lose the weight.

From what I've read, Zeldox is known to cause sedation, but it is less likely to do so than Seroquel.

Zeldox (ziprasidone) is also known as Geodon.

I have been taking 40mg twice a day since last December and at first tiredness would hit me about two hours after I took it and I would have to take a nap. But that effect has worn off and I don't get tired at all. I still go through phases of not being able to get to sleep at night. Another thing it did was induce a hypomanic episode which lasted three weeks and was, to me, very enjoyable. I am stable now though.

Previously I was on haloperidol which made me gain weight. Since I have been on the Zeldox, I have lost most of the excess.