Seroquel, Celexa, Strattera and/or Hydroxyzine -Plus More
When we first joined the “RTC set” my son was on multiple prescribed medications. It was almost daunting to think about and I did not have experience with any of them so we had to trust the Doctors. I was worried, but overall it ended up working out well. I learned that many of the drugs are developed for one diagnosis, but may be prescribed for other diagnosis. Here is an overview of Seoquel, Celexa, Strattera and Hydoroxyzine. My son throughout time has been prescribed three of these four medications, but today at his request, is not taking any. I received the following information on medications from a psychiatrist friend that also had a teen in an RTC.
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Seroquel is a mood-stabilizing and mildly tranquilizing medicine; it’s used to treat both the depressive and manic phases of manic-depressive illness (Bipolar Disorder) but it is finding a niche in the “get the person to go to sleep” medicines, when less potent medicines like hydroxyzine or Vistaril don’t get the job done. Seroquel is part of a class of medicines that have been around for about 50 years, known by the otherwise ‘horrifying’ name of anti-psychotic, but they are life-saving when they work, and they’re probably taken by as many or more people who do NOT have psychotic symptoms, especially by calming the centers of the brain that modulate anxiety, agitation, fear, etc., so thus, it can reduce disabling anxiety or agitation, stabilize daytime mood or help induce calm for sleep at night.
Seroquel, (like any sleep-inducing medicine), can induce so much nighttime ‘calm’ that it lasts into the day and is then transformed into unwanted ‘lethargy’, and then we see the ‘zombie’ syndrome, which should lead to the immediate lowering of the dose, or its discontinuation.
Other medicines used by RTC’s to help get teens to sleep include:
- the mildly antidepressant trazedone or Desyrel;
- anti-histamines like Benadryl and hydroxyzine or Vistaril which have been around for years and years and are generally very safe, although can also leave some morning lethargy;
- Rozerem, which is relatively new and works by the body’s more natural Melatonin system;
- a couple other anti-depressants; a host of herbal remedies
The more typical ‘sleeping pills’ are usually reserved for adults, Halcion, Ambien, Restoril and about a dozen others, since they are in the benzodiazepine class and can become habit-forming to some degree if used too regularly. Although some very new ones are not technically in this habit-forming class any more.
Our son was prescribed hydroxizine at his last RTC, and has recently been taken off of it because it was such a low dose and he basically did not need it. One parent mentioned that since their daughter has returned home and is now over 18, if she really can’t sleep they give her a fraction of one of the adult sleeping pills. She is also able to tolerate quite high dosages of all medicines or nothing mild works for her. My son also has trouble sleeping at night so it will be interesting to see how he does without the hydroxizine.
Strattera is a very popular antidepressant which has a good safety record, relatively mild side effects, and a dual mode of antidepressant action. Celexa is another popular anti-depressant which is a bit more potent than Strattera. Strattera is also prescribed for ADHD, and Celexa is also known to help with ADHD symptoms.
Feel free to add your comments or experiences with these medications or others your teen may have tried.
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