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I keep thinking about this and I feel a need to write. A few weeks ago someone wrote that their Parkinson's loved one was having delusions and hallucinations. Their Dr had prescribed Seroquel (and maybe another drug) and a bunch of letters followed, many saying their LO's had good results on Seroquel. My own experience is- I'm BiPolar and I take several drugs, but none has been as wonderful in my life as Seroquel. I used to take 1 or 2 hours EVERY NIGHT to fall asleep. Now I fall asleep in 10 or 20 minutes and would sleep all night except for having to go pee! (I'm 74 years old.) I am 5'3", weigh about 110 lbs. and I take 200 mgs. every night. My Dr & I keep track of all my drugs, but the tiny amounts in some of those letters (2.5 mgs) seems to help sundowning, insomnia, hallucinations. I guess the point of this note is to question not letting our LO's have these miracle drugs which can help them so much. If you can't pin a Dr down for advice, find a nurse who works w/ older people. If you've gotten this far, I've spent much of my life in a gray depressing world. When I started w/ Seroquel it was like opening the door from Dorothy's black and white Kansas world into the technicolor world of Oz. That's how effective some of the new psych drugs are. Think twice when bringing an "all drugs are bad and harmful" attitude into caregiving. Love and Peace

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In the original Star Trek series there was an episode where Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy time travel back to earth in the twentieth century. McCoy is appalled at the state of medical science. He tells Kirk something like, "Jim! They are cutting patients open! They actually have entire sets of knives and instruments for opening the living body!" He shutters. We are not at a point now where we can heal someone by doing a mind meld, but surgical incisions have at least gotten smaller in many cases. I think it will be fantastic if we can eliminate cutting into the living body and still heal people. Meanwhile, I'm grateful for the oral surgery that was available to me last week!

Someday perhaps we will be able to do a lot of healing without drugs. Before that we will probably develop ways to determine what drugs will work for which people. (That is actually being researched for dementia.) Personally, I'm not waiting for that advancement in medical science. I'm taking prescription medicines now.

Seroquel was extremely helpful to my husband's quality of life.

While recognizing that the present state of medical science is far from ideal, I'm in favor of making the most of what is available.
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I'm so glad that Seroquel helped you. It's helping my Alzheimer's husband too, and allowing me to keep him at home longer. It is a powerful drug with a Black Box Warning because of it's potential danger. But that doesn't mean that it's not very useful for some people
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Dear Betsey,

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I know how hard it is to find the right medications. Some individuals are highly sensitive to side effects while for others there is none. I'm glad this drug helped you though.
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