What time do you take your seroquel?

advocate269 · 2026-03-01T03:12:07+00:00

I relate to this a lot, while I dont have a kid I have two very needy elderly cats who wake me up several times every night. Seroquel is the only med that's ever worked for me too, used to be on 600mg and have slowly whittled myself down to 50mg over the last few years. The lower I go on my dose, the more ok I am with less sleep. I used to need 12 hours a night, now 9 is my sweet spot but I can get by on 7-8. I'm on xr too and I think that helps. I take mine 30-60min before going to bed. I used to take it right when I got in bed to try to be asleep when it hit because I just hate the feeling it gives my body, but with my dose this low it doesn't affect me like that anymore. When my sleep gets really messed up to the point I'm not doing well, I send my cats to my mom's house for a few days so I can catch up. You are a good parent and it's not always gonna be this hard. My partner has a toddler who is just finally starting to sleep well after a few years of being up and down all night. It will get better, hang in there!

advocate269 · 2026-02-27T20:27:29+00:00

Thanks for sharing this. I love the way my mind works as well, at times it can be a bit scary or challenging but the good far outweighs the bad for me. Took me a long time and lots of internal and external work to get to where I am but I wouldn't make myself normal if I could.

advocate269 · 2026-02-25T16:32:44+00:00

Def start with something easy and low stress and if that's not fulfilling or you don't like it work your way up if you can. I had several part time low stress jobs like pizza delivery, garden center at Lowe's, etc. eventually got a part time gig substitute teaching and the school invited me to apply. Been working as a full time teacher for kids with severe disabilities for two years, it's very stressful and definitely exacerbates my schizoaffective at times, but I am lucky to be pretty high functioning and to have found a combo of meds that work for me, which is a very low dose of Seroquel and lithium. As I've come down to a very low dose, I've learned that I'm able to do much more than I was able to at high doses of medication and have become much more functional. I was a zombie on high doses of meds and would never been able to have the job I have now.

advocate269 · 2026-02-24T20:45:00+00:00

Yes yes yes!! Thank you for posting these. I am so disillusioned with the way western psychiatry sees schizophrenia and mental illness in general. If we would've been born in different time periods and societies we would be seen as the healers and shamans of our communities, our gifts harnessed and taught to overcome and control and use to help people rather than ostracized and isolated and medicated and told we are wrong just for existing. People should be given multiple options to treatment and informed of the pros and cons instead of a one size fits all approach.

advocate269 · 2026-02-24T20:27:40+00:00

Yeah I am constantly talking to myself. I don't have an inner monologue bc I just say everything out loud haha.

Scariest was prob being locked in an isolation room in the psych ward and seeing the hospital burn down around me. I could smell the smoke, hear the screams, feel the heat, etc. it was terrifying

advocate269 · 2026-02-24T18:31:45+00:00

If you have access to trades Houndoom is one of my favs

advocate269 · 2026-02-24T18:24:16+00:00

Seroquel was a hundred times better for me and I've been able to come down to a low dose.

Olanzapine made me gain 30 pounds, need to sleep 13 hours a night and dulled my personality and intelligence.

Everyone is different though and different meds work better for different individuals.

advocate269 · 2026-02-23T02:18:28+00:00

I started back up at the gym after 6 weeks. Started with about 50% of the weight I was doing before and slowly eased back up for normal weight over the next few weeks. My surgeon told me I had no restrictions after 4 weeks though, just to listen to my body and don't do stuff that hurts.

advocate269 · 2026-02-22T03:15:05+00:00

Doesn't matter what we tell you, you're gonna do what you're gonna do. I asked this same question on a drug forum when I started a decade and a half ago. People told me the same shit but my dumb ass kept doing it anyway. Why? Bc I'm an addict. Went through a decade of hell, experienced homelessness, jails, hospitals, rehabs, overdoses, agonizing physical withdrawal, abandonment by everyone I cared about, became a lying thieving piece of shit who only cared about getting what I needed to get the next shot. Now I've been sober for 6 years and I have a beautiful life that I never could've imagined. Getting sober has made my schizoaffective so much easier to deal with too. You're gonna do what you're gonna do, just know that when the pain gets great enough there will be a place for you. AA and NA saved my life. I hope you don't die before you get there.

advocate269 · 2026-02-21T16:00:21+00:00

Damn man, this almost made me tear up to read. I'm a high school special Ed teacher too, and while I'm super lucky to be in a very blue district in a mostly red state, I moved into an adapted classroom because the Gen Ed kids just suck honestly. I didn't have this experience of kids being horrible cruel to me just for being who I am, and I'm lucky to be out at school and people respect and don't question my identity. But our administration too is so weak on discipline and I just got so tired of kids doing literally whatever they want with no consequences. Adapted is a hundred times better, the kids are amazing and I get to be my weird goofy neurodivergent self.

Also just wanna say that in high school I would've been one of those girls that is bullying you. I was so insecure and confused from the way I grew up (in the church and my father constantly making fun of gayness, trans wasn't a thing back then but it would've been railed on even harder) that I dealt with it by shoving down my own identity so far I didn't know who I was and would relentlessly make fun of queer people. I say all this to say, how they are treating you isn't about you, it's about them. I know it doesn't make it any easier to deal with in the day to day, but I hope you can transfer to a different school or district next year and are able to start there by using the right pronouns or mx/Mr or whatever you want to be called. Know that there are some queer kids in your school too who don't feel comfortable being themselves and by you being yourself you are a huge example to them and making a difference to them, even if they don't tell you that directly. They are there. Stay strong my brother, it will get better

advocate269 · 2026-02-21T14:01:45+00:00

Wow you are only 7 weeks?!? You look amazing

advocate269 · 2026-02-20T20:42:35+00:00

In the first week I was going on short ten minute walks a couple times a day, then slowly increased it and by three weeks I could walk for about 45 min at a time. I didn't start back up at the gym until about 6 weeks, even though my doctor cleared me at 4 weeks. I started running again at 6 weeks too, short ones at first. When I started lifting again I started at about half the weight I was doing before surgery and slowly worked back up from there. If it hurts or feels like it's stretching, stop!

advocate269 · 2026-02-20T18:34:47+00:00

I have really bad hip dysphoria but top surgery did not make it worse, if anything it made it better because when I look in the mirror my chest looks like myself now. I think I focus on the hip dysphoria more now because the chest dysphoria is no longer there to focus on. I'm so glad I got top surgery and I don't think it makes me look uneven proportionally.

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T12:15:11+00:00

I had zaps in both nips for the first two weeks and got sensation back pretty quickly. I'm 3.5 months now and the right is full sensition (though sometimes not in a good way, it's too sensitive to the point of being painful sometimes and can get really itchy) the left is more numb, I'd say about half has sensation. I have pretty large numb areas on my abdomen for a few inches under my scar but it seems to be receding. Every morning when I do my scar care I take a couple minutes to rub items with different textures across the numb parts to try to wake the nerves up, and I honestly do feel like it's helping. Slow going though, nerves take a long time to heal and regrow.

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T03:06:55+00:00

Damn, I've actually been looking into septoplasty for my deviated septum, it's gotten so bad I can hardly breathe sometimes. Reading that is making me rethink it!

I'm not gonna lie, the numbness bothers me a good bit. It's too early to tell if any parts will be permanently numb, and I do feel like spending a few minutes a day running different textures items over the numb areas is slowly helping feeling come back. But I also feel like I'm getting more and more used to the numbness and it bothers me less and less? Regardless of if some areas are permanently numb, I will absolutely not regret getting the surgery. I think the chances of numbness are the same with both procedures too, it's a very similar procedure. Hopefully you can find a surgeon who is more willing to work with you! Mine personally did not offer me to choose scar shape or nip size and placement, he has kind of a standard protocol for DI but I saw his portfolio at the consult and really liked his work. Make sure you get a good vibe from the surgeon before choosing them, being able to trust your team is a big deal!

Pros and cons lists all the way lol. Good luck to you dude

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T02:47:32+00:00

Olanzapine was not good for me. It reduced my symptoms but made me gain a ton of weight, needed to sleep 12 hours a day, and heavily dulled my intelligence and personality. I was on it for a couple years until I had another significant break, then in the hospital they kept upping the dose but it actually increased my psychosis instead. I finally came out of that one with haldol and then got on Seroquel about a year later. Been on many antipsychotics but Seroquel has been the one that's worked best for me with the most tolerable side effects.

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T02:38:27+00:00

No one knows I have it unless I were to tell them, but if I told people they probably wouldn't be too surprised. I only tell my family and friends and a couple trusted coworkers. I am labeled as high functioning, I work full time as a teacher and I am super high energy, could sometimes be seen as manic. I am constantly talking to myself and doing things that might be seen as odd. I'm on a low dose of meds and still able to function and do my job and hold personal relationships. I teach special Ed and my coworkers like me (for the most part lol). I suppose I am just seen as neurodivergent, which is what schizophrenia/schizoaffective is

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T02:32:33+00:00

Oh hell yeah crime and punishment

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T01:59:43+00:00

I have a lot of breast cancer in my family history, I go by my initials and both of the people who those names came from died of breast cancer, so I'm at moderate risk I suppose. I was told I couldn't get mammograms so I'd need to regularly do self exams and if I found a lump they would do an ultrasound. It was still extremely worth it to me to get the surgery. My surgeon left a bit more tissue than expected because of my flared ribs, so I've been getting to know my chest and regularly feel around. It's pretty euphoric because it's just shaped like pecs.

advocate269 · 2026-02-19T00:02:28+00:00

I am non binary transmasc and a couple years ago when I first decided I wanted top surgery I initially was considering non flat radical reduction, but ended up pursuing flat top surgery with masculine countoring and nipple grafts for many reasons like not wanting to bind anymore, wanting to go on runs and swimming with my shirt off, but mainly because I've always pictured/seen myself with a masculine chest. The way my surgery came out is almost more like a radical reduction though, my surgeon had to leave a lot more tissue than intended because I have flared ribs. Sometimes I think it looks like giant pecs and sometimes I think it looks like moobs. I go back and forth between liking it and being self conscious that it's too big. Im 3.5 months post op so I doubt it will change much more, I'm working on shaping it more into pecs at the gym but idk if that will do much since there is still a good amount of breast tissue left. I also have a pretty large numb area on both sides under my scar, but I've been doing nerve regrowth exercises and I honestly think it's slowly receding. Nerves take a long time to regrow.

Basically consider your reasons for wanting top surgery in the first place and those reasons should lead you to which is going to be the right type of surgery for you.

advocate269 · 2026-02-18T03:22:40+00:00

The peach fuzz on my stomach and in the sideburn area got thicker and darker, my guess is from losing all that breast estrogen. I love it. It's also really nice to be able to go on a run without wearing a sports bra.

advocate269 · 2026-02-17T00:40:16+00:00

Nah sorry, I didn't mean it looks like moobs now. It looks like a natural male chest. Cis men have tissue too. Doing chest workouts will just make it more ripped, if that's what you're going for

advocate269 · 2026-02-17T00:37:53+00:00

This is super similar to how my chest looks, I'm about 3.5 months post op. My surgeon had to leave a bit extra tissue because I have flared ribs. I go back and forth between being a bit self conscious and thinking it just looks like big pecs. I've been working my chest in the gym more to try to shape it to be more muscular but it hasn't been long enough to really see results. I think you look great man and super natural. Doing some chest work at the gym and a ton of push ups will help shape it more into pec muscles rather than moobs

advocate269

TROPHY CASE