Obligatory not a doctor/nurse disclaimer.
Does the urine smell sweet by any chance? Polyuria is a symptom of diabetes, and quetiapine has a risk of triggering diabetes. Googling foamy urine gave me results saying it can indicate the presence of protein in the urine and, therefore, kidney dysfunction. /end armchair patient NAD hypothesizing.
At the very least, I would see a doctor and have them get blood work and test your urine. Your prescribing doctor should know the risks posed by quetiapine and your other medications. Your general practitioner/family doc/primary care doc may also know. I'm in the USA, and a lot of providers are very hesitant to prescribe quetiapine off-label in part due to the side effects. I've had to twist their arm to get my 25 mg on an as-needed basis for sleep.
It may not even be the quetiapine. You're not in a position to know and neither am I. I wouldn't ignore this. See a doctor.
Thank you very much to all of you for your replies! I really appreciate it!
I haven't notice a sweet smell, though, I haven't been of a mind to notice the aroma I suppose. Plus I don't seem to have the best sense of smell right now.
I've had a fair few blood tests over the last year in particular and if I recall, my blood glucose levels were at times in the "red". Unfortunately getting my GP to actually care has been more than a challenge. I currently have polycythemia (too much red blood cells, haemoglobin and at times rather high white cells too. So there's a lot going on and I have at long last been referred to a couple of specialists and this is ongoing and a little slow due to covid restrictions etc.
It has occurred to me that after an initial 7-8 years of rather good response to quetiapine, that maybe it's turned around and started to cause some physical damage and as a result become less effective.
I have posited the notion, that perhaps this is the case and suggested that perhaps it may be time to (in my mind) reluctantly change meds. This resulted in my "psychiatrist" shouting and snarling at me that "I AM NOT GIVING YOU LITHIUM!!!!". This I found rather odd as I've literally never requested or suggested it.
So it's been rather difficult to navigate this odd idea that seems to be now copied into the consciousness of other medical professionals I encounter, that my concerns about my meds are a subterfuge to obtain other things. So more often than not I'm dismissed. So it's been a non starter.
Both sides of lower abdomen? How's your back feel? I'm not a doctor, but my understanding is that kidney pain commonly shows up on either side of the lower back. In either case, it sounds like it could be a urinary tract issue, and it definitely needs to be checked out by a doctor ASAP. I don't know if the hospital is necessary, but it needs to be checked out, that kind of stuff doesn't just go away on its own.
Are you taking painkillers regularly? If you're taking painkillers they might be masking a fever. If you haven't taken any painkillers yet today, might want to check your temperature if you've got a thermometer handy.
I hope you feel better soon. I've had some UTIs in my day, they can be pretty brutal.
To be honest my back feels awful and has done for a number of years. This started long before I had and "mental health" relapses. For a year, my energy, stamina and pain levels when doing anything physical (and I used to be very physically active) were through the roof. But again, this fell on deaf ears when I visited the doctor. After a while I was almost literally knocked sideways by a massive plunge into depression and anxiety, and of course, feeling suicidal.
There is, I suppose, the possibility of a UTI as I've read that fairly long term use of procycladine can cause this. I was prescribed it for the horrible restless legs etc that was caused by quetiapine quite suddenly. It caused horrible dry mouth and made urinating akin to squeezing toothpaste through the eye of a needle.
Of course reporting this lead to the usual interpretation of "drug seeking". So 18 months ago, I decided to take control, quit the SSRIs and procycladine and things improved quite rapidly but didn't completely resolve.
Now my previous GP managed to cock up my urine test and refused to arrange for another, they also completely lost my last blood test. So the UTI status has not been confirmed. I am with a new GP now so I will call them to see if they will be more amenable to conducting some tests.
I don't seem to have a fever, and I do regularly take pain killers but I'm certainly not hooked on them if that makes sense. I try to go for as long as is humanly possible before taking them. Unfortunately this has had a knock on effect with my sleep in particular. I think the effect is becoming cumulative now. I'm basically constantly exhausted :-(
So thanks for all your responses! I guess you are all right and I should go see the doctor. As usual, based on the reactions I received from medical professionals, I've been reluctant to seek their "help" unless it's absolutely necessary as they always dismiss my issues as attention seeking. Sometimes I feel like I need to get other people's perspective so I can avoid this.
Today's "urinary experience" though was a new one, I had wondered if perhaps in my sleep deprived state I had been consuming that tasty looking fruit scented dish soap that my girlfriend likes to buy so much! :-)
Thanks for your help everyone! Sorry if I've written a hell of a long post! :-0
