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Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) Compared with other Drugs for Bipolar

Seroquel Basics  Seroquel Side Effects  How To Take Seroquel   Comments  Where to Buy Seroquel / Ratings How Seroquel Works & Compares with Other Meds Seroquel for Schizophrenia Seroquel for Other Disorders

 

Studies on Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) for Bipolar Disorder  Keep in mind who sponsors the study, as it will tends to make the results more favorable for the med in question (on average 3.6 times more likely, according to a Yale study).   Risperdal vs. Seroquel - This study small, 3-week study was for 19 people who had to discontinue Risperdal (risperidone) combined with an anticonvulsant because of sucky side effects.  Eighteen of the 19 completed the study, and 15 of them saw at 50% or better reduction on their Young Mania Rating Scale when taking Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and an anticonvulsant than an anticonvulsant alone, and 18 out of 19 had a 50% improvement on the the Clinical Global Impression. Seroquel vs. unnamed mood stabilizers - Finally, a study lasting longer than 3 weeks!  Seriously, most of the studies out there with Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) lasted 3, 4 or, at most, 6 frickin' weeks and used only the Young Mania Rating Scale to determine the results.  Plus there aren't even that many of them.  The food stinks and the portions are small.  At least this study followed 28 people with unreported (in the abstract) forms of bipolar disorder for a year, comparing flexible dosages of Seroquel with the delightfully named "classical mood stabilizers."  As the study was done it Italy I'll presume that was  a choice of valproic acid or lithium and at least two hours a day of Vivaldi.  Moods were charted on the Young Mania Rating Scale, the Clinical Global Impression,  the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and The Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression.  The results - everyone felt better regardless of which med was used.  I think it was a combination of flexible dosages (a big advantage of the antipsychotics) and the Vivaldi actually. Seroquel + (lithium or valproate) - Another small study that lasted a good long time.  In this case 18 months.  This study picked out 16 people from a group of 75 veterans with bipolar 1 who were only partially responsive to lithium or a valproate of some kind (probably valproic acid, but perhaps Depakote (divalproex sodium)) and were given anywhere from 25 to 330mg a day of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate).  Of those 16, nine were "judged much or very much improved" on the Clinical Global Impression scale for bipolar, mainly due to the aspects where Seroquel totally rules - diminished insomnia, agitation, irritability, and mood disturbance. Seroquel as an add-on for rapid cycling  14 people with rapid cycling were followed for 11 to 20 weeks.  At the start of the study they were each in various states of Bipolarland - Manic, Mixed, Hypomanic, Depressed, whatever.  They were started anywhere between 200 and 800(!)mg a day of Seroquel in addition to whatever they were taking.  By the end of the study most everyone was taking less, between 75 and 450mg a day.  Moods were charted on the Young Mania Rating Scale, the Clinical Global Impression,  and The Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression.  Surprisingly Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) wasn't as effective in this study for depression as in other studies, but given the small size that could be a statistical anomaly as much as any indication of Seroquel's working differently for people with the rapid cycling form of bipolar disorder.  Otherwise, as one would expect, giving someone 800mg a day of Seroquel would knock them right into a week-long sleep where cycling of any kind is either not happening or impossible to feel.  Which may not be that bad of an idea sometimes.

Seroquel for Anxiety in Bipolar & Schizoaffective Disorder in Adolescents - I generally don't like using studies with kids, because this is not a kid-oriented site.  But I'm desperate for long-term studies.  Plus this is a tiny study, but I'm taking what I can get.  Anyway, 10 teenagers with bipolar and schizoaffective disorders took 300-800mg a day of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate), but at least they were started at the much saner 50mg a day to start and titrated up to 300mg a day.  They were followed for 88 weeks.  The Clinical Global Impression,  the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) rated their symptoms, which improved "significantly."  Everyone gained weight but otherwise chilled out. Spend $400 a month on Seroquel, not $400 a night on Cocaine - 17 people with bipolar disorder and problems with cocaine.  In addition to the The Hamilton Rating Scale For Depression, Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, and the ever-popular Young Mania Rating Scale, Seroquel's effects were tested on the Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ), urine tests and how much money everyone spent every day or week on coke.  The results - "Dollars spent on cocaine and days/week of cocaine use decreased non-significantly, and urine drug screens did not change significantly from baseline to exit."  So people were still using, just using less.  You'd have to figure it out for yourself if Seroquel would save you any money.  Oh, all other symptoms were better, so that's something. Seroquel - better for mood disorders than schizophrenia? - I don't know how much this one study means, but it certainly explains AstraZeneca's sales reps' huge push of Seroquel as a bipolar medication while letting all the other atypicals pretty much take over the schizophrenia market.  145 patients at a non-profit psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts with diagnoses of bipolar disorder (manic, mixed, or depressive type), major depression with psychotic features, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder (bipolar or depressive type), delusional disorder, or psychosis not otherwise specified (NOS) were all treated with Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate).  I guess the average dosage was 300mg a day, but I'm not sure.  Anyway, people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, manic, mixed, or depressed and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type displayed higher response rates (> 74%) compared with patients with schizophrenia.  "However, this finding did not achieve statistical significance."  Again we get confusing results on the depression issue - Seroquel didn't do that well for the depressed types in this study.   Then again, it may only work well for the depressive aspects of bipolar disorder, and not major depressive disorder all that well.   See the page on a drugs' efficacy for an explanation of the tests used to evaluate if a medication is any good or not.

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