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Can Serequal Be Discontinued If Taken At A Non-therapeutic Dose?

Posted on Mon, 6 Apr 2015

Question: I have been taking a combination of medications to treat my mental illness for a number of years. I have always been of the opinion that drugs such as epilem.lithium and risperidol injections have made no difference to my individual case. I have been taking serequal and that particular drug has changed my life in a very positive way. I can actually feel this drug work and upon taking it I noticed an improvement, though gradual, whereas the other medications made no difference. I have been taking 1000mg of epilem every night for the past eight years and it has never been a dose that could be said to be in the theraputic range, so I feel that I have proved that these sort of "mood stabilizers" don,t have a use for me. The problem is that because this drug is indicated for my illness the doctors think I should stay on it, but if it is not at a thearaputic dose what difference does it make if I take it or not? I have fairly recently weaned myself of paxam and I have noticed a difference in that I am not as tired as usual. I am trying to take myself of unnecessary medications and wish to eradicate epilem as well. In your opinion, if a medication is taken just for the sake of taking it to keep others happy should I be taking it? I ultimately wish to just take the serequal as I am sure it is doing me good. Also, if ergot is put in bread and is eaten can it cause miscarriage in women?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
discontinue the drug if no benefit; abortion possible with ergot.

Detailed Answer:
Hello
Welcome to HealthcareMagic.

I can understand your concerns.

First, no psychotropic drug should be taken just for the sake of taking the drug because others say so.

Just for your information about epilim (sodium valproate), the recommended therapeutic doses of this drug are in range of 20-30 mg/kg. And, the therapeutic blood levels of this drug should be between 50-125 ug/ml.

So, 1000 mg may or may not be a therapeutic dose depending on the body weight.

Despite this, when there is no benefit of a drug, it should not be taken. The dose does not matter in this case.

In short,
You should not take the drug if there are no therapeutic benefits, irrespective of the dose.

Seroquel is a very good drug as it has broad spectrum of action. It acts as a mood stabiliser, anti-anxiety and sedating drug.
If you have benefits with this single drug, there is no use of taking multiple drugs unnecessarily.

Yes, ergot can cause miscarriage in a woman when eaten, as it can cause uterine contractions.

Hope this answers your query satisfactorily.

I will happy to help you if you have more issues to discuss.

Wish you good health.

Thanks.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Shubham Mehta (19 minutes later)

Thankyou for your advice. I know that the epilem in my system is not enough because of blood tests I have had. With regard to the ergot, if someone was putting that in food without your knowledge would that be illegal? Or putting in your food without telling you what may be an outcome of taking this? Would it be a possibility of contraception used in a large group of women?

Answered by Dr. Shubham Mehta (46 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
do not think its illegal; abortifacient.

Detailed Answer:
Hello again.

I do not think putting ergot in food without knowledge is illegal.

If it has resulted into serious consequences, then there can be legal liabilities.

However, the state laws may vary in this regard.

A forensic or legal expert can answer to this better.

Ergot can serve as an abortifacient in a group of women, if given to them unknowingly.

Hope this helps.

Thanks.

Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar