Australia a progressive country

[[Mo...]]

Smiff, not only Australia has a love affair with seroquel, its the same

all over Europe. 

[Guest [to...]]

Smiff, not only Australia has a love affair with seroquel, its the same

all over Europe. 

 

 

Oh no really 

[[Sm...]]

Lame

 

It is because from the outside it seems like a cure-all: everyone is calm and sleeping

But it comes at a lobotomy-esque cost as well as physical costs to insulin resistance etc

[[...]]

Not sure that we in Oz are having a 'love affair' with Seroquel.

 

I'd never heard the word before I came to Benzobuddies! Wouldn't have had a clue what it was and I have seen a few psychs over the last 20 years (briefly  . I also know quite a few people who have suffered depressive conditions and also know people whose children are taking medication for conditions such as ADHD.

 

Most relevantly I read HEAPS online about these sorts of mental health issues and hadn't even heard of it.

[[Sm...]]

Xana is it me or are you happiest playing devil's advocate?

 

This was a 7.30 report, and article, on it from november

 

"Seroquel, sold by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, initially excited the medical community as it seemed a promising alternative to more addictive sedatives like Valium.

 

Medicare statistics show that in Australia, the prescribing of Seroquel grew from about 1,500 scripts a year in 2000 to almost a million by the end of last year.

 

The trend is not mirrored by other anti-psychotics, and forensic psychiatrist Erik Monasterio from the University of Otago says that raises questions.

 

"How has it come about that a medication that's designed for the treatment of a very rare condition has become so popular? That is the ultimate question that needs to be answered," he said.

 

University of Sydney psychopharmacologist Professor Iain McGregor has charted the explosion in use of the drug for a host of maladies for which it is not approved or intended.

 

"We see quetiapine being used in anxiety, it's used in depression, it's being used for insomnia, it's used a lot in people who have drug and alcohol problems, it's used in things like anorexia nervosa," he said.

 

"Just about any condition where there's an emotional problem, you'll find quetiapine being used these days.

 

"I think of it as the Swiss Army Knife drug ... it has all these different tools within the one tool for different applications."

 

Until last year, Seroquel was the fifth-largest selling pharmaceutical of any kind, generating $6 billion in global sales for its manufacturer, AstraZeneca.

 

In 2012, the patent for Seroquel expired and AstraZeneca's sales plummeted. But it is estimated that sales of the generic drug quetiapine have only increased since then because it is so much cheaper."

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/growing-concerns-over-side-effects-of-seroquel/5120554

 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3900419.htm

[[Be...]]

Smiff, not only Australia has a love affair with seroquel, its the same

all over Europe. 

 

 

Oh no really 

 

Yep, afraid so.  It's popular in the UK mostly for schizophrenia & bipolar, but they also prescribe it as an anti-depressant (a psychiatrist once tried to offer me it - I refused it and settled for Remeron).

 

 

B

[Guest [to...]]

Xana is it me or are you happiest playing devil's advocate?

 

This was a 7.30 report, and article, on it from november

 

"Seroquel, sold by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, initially excited the medical community as it seemed a promising alternative to more addictive sedatives like Valium.

 

Medicare statistics show that in Australia, the prescribing of Seroquel grew from about 1,500 scripts a year in 2000 to almost a million by the end of last year.

 

The trend is not mirrored by other anti-psychotics, and forensic psychiatrist Erik Monasterio from the University of Otago says that raises questions.

 

"How has it come about that a medication that's designed for the treatment of a very rare condition has become so popular? That is the ultimate question that needs to be answered," he said.

 

University of Sydney psychopharmacologist Professor Iain McGregor has charted the explosion in use of the drug for a host of maladies for which it is not approved or intended.

 

"We see quetiapine being used in anxiety, it's used in depression, it's being used for insomnia, it's used a lot in people who have drug and alcohol problems, it's used in things like anorexia nervosa," he said.

 

"Just about any condition where there's an emotional problem, you'll find quetiapine being used these days.

 

"I think of it as the Swiss Army Knife drug ... it has all these different tools within the one tool for different applications."

 

Until last year, Seroquel was the fifth-largest selling pharmaceutical of any kind, generating $6 billion in global sales for its manufacturer, AstraZeneca.

 

In 2012, the patent for Seroquel expired and AstraZeneca's sales plummeted. But it is estimated that sales of the generic drug quetiapine have only increased since then because it is so much cheaper."

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/growing-concerns-over-side-effects-of-seroquel/5120554

 

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3900419.htm

 

 

 

 

Smiff - when you go into a private hospital for detox/rehab everybody is loaded on Seroquel then ripped off it when they leave!!!!  I know I was in and out of hospital both private and public all through my taper.  I was given Seroquel for 6 months and tapered off it myself 6 weeks after I finally jumped.  It is a disgusting drug and I can safely say it only made me more sick than I was!

That would account for many of the scripts!

[Guest [to...]]

Oh I have also been told by a friend who has a daughter on a methadone programme and is addicted to Xanax.  Consequently she is in and out of goal, poor lost soul.  Any way my friend was telling me they also load the inmates in prisons on Seroquel    in an effort to keep the peace. 

[[...]]

Smiff:

 

I was not disputing the increased use of the drug, I was merely saying that, unlike other subjects that get a lot of airing if they are a problem, I hadn't heard about it. Thus I queried the description 'love affair' with it.

 

It would have sufficed to just give me the links to read so I could be further educated. I didn't see the current affair program you speak of.

 

I am not defending the drug. I have no knowledge of it except I know it is an anti psychotic and I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

 

Why so touchy?

 

There are people who haven't heard of benzos. If you mention the word, they look at you blankly. I guess we all seek information about the things that affect ourselves or the ones we love.

 

Thank you with providing me with the means to educate myself further. I will read the links later this evening.

[[Mo...]]

Toward, lets go one step further, they also give seroquel in old peoples homes,

poor souls are walking around like zombies.

oh yeah, how do i know ? common knowledge, no need to provide proof, right ? 

 

first time i must agree with xana, ...education is everything. :thumbsup:

[Guest [to...]]

Wow, drugs go through "fashions"   50 years ago they would be giving them Valium/Stelazine or the likes of (a very old anti psychotic)/barbiturates , 20 years ago Xanax/Klonopin  and now back to anti psychotics.

 

 

That is so wrong

 

 

 

 

[Guest [to...]]

Toward, lets go one step further, they also give seroquel in old peoples homes,

poor souls are walking around like zombies.

oh yeah, how do i know ? common knowledge, no need to provide proof, right ? 

 

 

 

  no and its so sad, no wonder my grandmother only lasted a couple of weeks before she died in a nursing home  :'(

[[Be...]]

I was not disputing the increased use of the drug, I was merely saying that, unlike other subjects that get a lot of airing if they are a problem, I hadn't heard about it. Thus I queried the description 'love affair' with it.

 

My bold:

 

Your first post did seem to triple-stamp the reasons why you were questioning the validity of the love-affair claim with Seroquel, rather than just saying you hadn't heard of it:

 

1:

I'd never heard the word before I came to Benzobuddies! Wouldn't have had a clue what it was and I have seen a few psychs over the last 20 years (briefly  .

2:

I also know quite a few people who have suffered depressive conditions and also know people whose children are taking medication for conditions such as ADHD.

3:

Most relevantly I read HEAPS online about these sorts of mental health issues and hadn't even heard of it.

 

..but your original post mentioned nothing about it in comparison to other drugs.

 

 

Not sure that we in Oz are having a 'love affair' with Seroquel.

^This^  looks more like a counter-statement than a 'query', as I see no question mark or question, nor comparison to other drugs as claimed in your second post.

 

 

There seems to be a shifting of the goalposts occurring.

 

 

B

 

 

 

[[Sm...]]

Oh I have also been told by a friend who has a daughter on a methadone programme and is addicted to Xanax.  Consequently she is in and out of goal, poor lost soul.  Any way my friend was telling me they also load the inmates in prisons on Seroquel    in an effort to keep the peace.

 

Not cool man

 

Here is an article on its use in Australian prisons

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/dangerous-drugs-used-to-restrain-inmates/story-e6frg6nf-1111112217860

 

The wikipedia article on it refers to its big use in US prisons but there they talk about it in the context of it being used for recreational purposes as 'suzie-Q' or 'quell'

 

These are on its abuse/use as a street drug too

http://www.australiandoctor.com.au/news/latest-news/abuse-of-anti-psychotic-drug-rising

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2848462/

[Guest [to...]]

Wow - totally not cool

[[Mo...]]

Wow - totally not cool

 

totally awful, the more i find out about  Pharma Industries , the more

cheesed off i'm getting. (wanted to use other words but i'm trying my best to be ladylike.)

[[ro...]]

Humm I cannot come up with one good thing about US health care other than the legalization of marijuana. Let me think for a minute.....................................................................................

 

nope, can't think of anything.

 

And thanks God I live in Colorado!!!!!

[[ba...]]

Wow - totally not cool

 

totally awful, the more i find out about  Pharma Industries , the more

cheesed off i'm getting. (wanted to use other words but i'm trying my best to be ladylike.)

 

[[be...]]

Ban every drug yes evil

[[be...]]

Why don't they make this this drug sched 8 then

[[Tr...]]

Ban every drug yes evil

 

I do not share your sentiment.  Statements like that are fodder for those who would like to disregard folks like me as anti-drug ideologues.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

Even clonazepam, a drug that proved deleterious to my nervous system has legitimate applications in the medical world when prescribed appropriately.  Implementation of the ban hammer leads to nothing more than a game of wack-a-mole.

Is that how you spell it?  Wack-A-Mole?  Hmmm....  Get some! Get some! 

 

 

[[be...]]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^I know nothing wack. I know YOLO