Hi cris,
Sorry to chime in late, but this thread is extremely interesting. I'd just like to add my experiences if it helps.
My dad has been on quetiapine 25mg twice a day for over a year now. He is definitely a lot more settled and calmer than before. More importantly he seems more at one with himself (if that is possible with alzheimers!) rather then constantly agitated and painfully confused as he seemed before.
The only negative effect on dad (as many have pointed out) is that dad can get very sleepy on occasions. In fact, it becomes almost impossible to wake him up when he drops off in the day. When he is active, he is very active and still wanders the floors and garden, but when he rests it becomes a real deep sleep.
My reason for contributing is that I've been toying with asking the GP to review his medication again. I'm torn with dad seeming very balanced and calm at the moment and being concerned about the knock out sleep sessions. I'll see what the GP says and take it from there.
I'm just going to mount my high horse for a bit:
Whatever drugs that are recommended or prescribed carry some sort of risk. Pick any drug out of your medicine cabinet and read the leaflet - it can be terrifying. I just think you need to balance the benefits with the risks. It is also a fine line between someone being 'drugged up' as some people put it, or 'calm and stable'. The carers and people close to the person with dementia should be involved in assessing this, not just the medical experts.
There is also a lot of negative publicity about these drugs. Personally I wish the people responsible for this negative publicity would speak to the relatives who need to make these difficult decisions on a day to day basis. We need to make informed choices and not live in fear.
I'd also like to add that Seroquel/Quetiapine is also used for the treatment of sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, autism, tourettes, post-traumatic stress dissorder and OCD not just schizophrenia and behaviour problems.
I'll step off my high horse now
Kind Regards
Craig