SEROQUEL (Quetiapine)

Coming off of Seroquel is brutal. And potentially fatal. You are not alone. Here is a resource with a lot of personal experiences of coming off of Seroquel. There is an enormous gap in anecdotal evidence and the information the medical community has about seroquel withdrawal.

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=13&m=550040

I am new to the forum and this is my first post, but need to talk about my own seroquel use. I was prescribed Seroquel in '07 I think, and have been on it off and on, sometimes they tried me on other stuff at the VA hospital, but now am on 400mg, and no other psychiatric drug, but also take marijuana medicinally as a "self medication", since I do not live in a formal medical marijuana state. I was at one point on 800mg of seroquel, and asked to have it reduced, and am now taking 400mg.

I have ptsd, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, major depressive disorder, and have been diagnosed bipolar, but I don't think that fits me. I do have times of rapid thoughts but that is more anxiety related, and have never been 'grandiose'. I was severely depressed for many years, and a big part of that was my addiction to crack cocaine, but have been free of that for four years now.

I did gain a lot of weight on seroquel, but lost about 30lbs when the dose was reduced, and still need to lose a good sixty pounds at least, but only a part of that is related to my medication I think, I really am not at all active and spend a lot of time sitting in front of the computer, so I think that is most of it, and have made plans to start working out more..it is hard to plan going on walks and stuff when it's hard to know which day I will have it in me to be able to leave the house. Somertimes I have 'good' days when I can get out and around, but most days I am too afraid to leave my house. The marijuana helps my anxiety a lot, and I think it's better for me than benzodiazepenes, which are physically addicting, and one can build up a tolerance to, neither of which happens with cannabis.

I do take physical meds for high blood pressure and other symptoms, so I take metoprolel, 100mg, fosinipril 20mg, levothyroxine .05mg, omeprazole 20mg, potassium 20meq, furosomide 60mg, vitamin D 2,000, loratadine10mg, and singulair10mg.

I do want to say that when I was first prescribed seroquel, the dose was far too high, and the other medications I was taking I don't think went will with the seroquel and might have been a case of too many psych drugs, so for now am sticking with the 400mg. I don't sleep too much, usually about 6-8 hrs a night, and am not drowsy during the day, but don't have the severe depression I had for many years any longer, and have finally a year or so ago come out of that long dark tunnel, and it was quite a surprise to find out that the light at the end of said tunnel wasn't an oncoming train after all!

perhaps someday in the future I might want to try further reducing my dose of seroquel, but for right now, I am okay with my meds as they are, so wanted to put this out there for people that it might help some people to take seroquel as I think it has helped me, and that it's not all awful..I really think the seroquel has helped keep me from being suicidal all the time.

I've been on regular Seroquel for about 5 years and about 2 years ago it seems to have slowly stopped working, even after an increase from 200mg. to 300mg., along with Tegretol 200 mg. for bi-polar 2. I have gained 50 pounds in the past 2 years, and I am sleeping about 14 hours every day, and completely isolating for the past 2 years as well. When I first started taking Seroquel I thought it was my wonder drug. I've tried so many different drugs and Seroquel is the only one that seemed to work, until the past 2 years anyway. Everything in my life is just about perfect, I really couldn't ask for anything more, but the past 2 yrs. have been Hell. It's like I am in a constant state of deep depression, like I was before Seroquel. I really do not want to increase my dosage because the stuff already knocks me for a loop at night and until afternoon after waking, more would make me a complete vegetable, plus the side effects I have read about on higher doses are not something I want to deal with. I can't stand how I feel anymore. I have a Dr. appointment tomorrow and I am going to ask him if I can go back on Prozac, which is the very first drug I tried, way back when. I know Prozac really isn't good for Bi-polar people, but when I was taking it I at least had a life, I was happy, yes maybe too happy, I did things during the day, (I'm on disability so my days are free.) and I felt alive, and my weight was normal. I'm thinking of going off both Seroquel and Tegretol and going back on Prozac and increasing the amount of Xanax I take during the day. We'll see what the Dr. says, when I ask to go back on Prozac he'll probably laugh at me, it's worth a shot. I am scared to death of weaning off Seroquel after all the stories I have read.

Hello,
I was prescribed Seroquel a few years back and have somewhat recently (about 9-12 months ago) stopped taking it. I was only taking it for about 2 years. I thought the stuff was great. My psychiatrist first had me on 50mlgrms. a night and I was to increase by about 25 milligrams every other night untill reaching 200. about 6 months into treatment they moved me up to 600 a night. Everything was good. I was sleeping very well, my symptoms were completely gone, i was finally gaining weight, I was gaining my motivation back and started taking a more active role in society. Well after being on the 600 for a certain amount of time (I don't recall how long) I was still feeling fine as mentioned above, but I also started noticing weird things about my body. Excessive dry mouth/dehydration, stomach irritations, and an all around 'cold' feeling along with an often dizzy/lightheaded feeling, even while laying down or resting. I dont know why but sometimes I would also get a 'flashy' feeling in my head like the lights were spinning and or flashing esp. when I'de close my eyes. Also I think the Seroquel may have somehow changed my immune system, as I would feel ill very easily and when I would get sick it always felt to be more intense and last around longer then normal. Maybe for me it was all a coincidence, but I do know that these are all side-affects. I also felt like I was developing some kind of tolerance, because I always wanted more and more. I told my psychiatrist and he said because of taking a higher dose, my chances of experiencing side-affects are greater. But he also swore to me that taking Seroquel was Non-Habit-Forming which I have to completely disagree on. I felt like it was a huge challenge just to take myself off of em and once I finally did stop taking em I still had urges to continue them (and still do). I dont think its because they were helping with my symptoms either, because even on days were I felt I didnt need help or treatment, I still wanted the Seroquel. Well I apologize for the length of this reply and I will try keeping itg shorter in the future. Hope this helps to some degree.

Post Edited (plzvalidate) : 7/29/2012 11:30:21 PM (GMT-6)

Hi.
I am a chronic pain sufferer who has bi-polar and insomnia.
The latter sets off the mania if I don't sleep for several days and I used to be addicted to sleeping tablets.
Not wanting to go back on the Zyprexa because of the weight gain( I put on 16kg(35lb) in 9 months), I agreed to go on a drug trial for Seroquel.
Big mistake.
I put on 33kg(72lb) in 12-18 months.(This put me at risk of diabetes and a heart attack)
That is only the beginning.
I got every negative side effect you could imagine.
It caused in me paranoia, psychosis, auditory and visual hallucinacions, sweating, overheating, dry mouth, tremors and so on.
I was on 800mg per day.
I used to have to take Stilnox(Zolpiden tartarate) 15mg per night for sleep and to lessen the side effects of the Seroquel.
Coming off it was fun.(NOT!)
Going through the withdrawal from one medication , while getting used to the side effects of another can be hell on wheels.
I'm now on 15mg Abilify and I have my life back.
I am now up during the day(unlike when I was on the Seroquel), and I am in control.
For me it is a wonder drug and I wouldn't be without it.

Post Edited (CHI-ROH) : 8/19/2012 2:51:17 PM (GMT-6)

Hi guys. I hope everyone is well. I've been taking Seroquel XR 150mg for about 4 years now. I was diagnosed with Depression, Bipolar (rapid cycling I think) and also Borderline Personality Disorder. I am high functioning. I used to take Pristiq 50mg but stopped in January 2014 as per doctors instructions.

When I was diagnosed, I was diagnosed by a Psychologist. I was then referred to a Psychologist by a GP. I was initially, in a very unhealthy relationship and the environment I was living in was severely affecting me. I noticed that when I removed myself from that environment, my so called symptoms pretty much disappeared. I am not convinced I have bipolar however can see why others may have thought I had it - (environment factors, not being able to cope etc). I can see why I would have had BPD in my childooh, teens to early adult hood but I do not have exhibit any of those symptoms now (I am 33 this year). I no longer have feelings of hopelessness or depression, nor have I for the last 3 years).

I just got the OK from my psych to come off Seroquel and he said I could come off it cold turkey. I was suprised and so I told him if I ever missed a dose for whatever reason, (sometimes I would do it on purpose to stay up late or just forget to take it - all very rarely), I would feel soooo sick the next day and have a pounding headache afterwards all until I took the next dose the following night. It was the most horrible feeling. So because of this, he told me I should slowly decrease by 50mg each week. Since Saturday, (today is Monday) I have been experiencing sharp sudden pains in my head, how can I explain... almost like an electric shock or a sharp stabbing pain. This has happened a handful of times so far. My biggest challenge will be sleep I think. I am completely reliant on Seroquel for sleep. On the rare occasion I will actually fall asleep on my own without taking it, but will still feel like crap the next day until I take it again. This stuff makes me sleep forever. I feel like I could easily sleep 12 to 16 hours a day without issues - if I didn't have to wake up in the morning and get up for work! The reason I am coming off is A) doc said I am fine to come off and B) I want to have a baby soon (which is all very good for me as I don't want to be on it while trying to conceive). I have gained about 35kg while taking Seroquel. Im not happy about this since I am the biggest I have ever been and hoping that by stopping Seroquel, I can lose the weight before I try to conceive. So I have a few questions I would like to ask you lovely people:

Have you lost weight after coming off Seroquel?

I was wondering if anyone has come down slowly 50mg a week until none at all and if you experienced issues sleeping?

Did you do anything to help get you tired throughout the day like exercise etc?

How did you cope without being to sleep?

Did it take long to get back to a normal sleeping routine?

Sorry for all the questions.

This is my first time posting here and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks so much.