Seroquel Support Group

[[ba...]]

Mirtazapine did not work for me either.

 

Good luck on discontinuing the seroquel.  You might need to taper if  it bites you once you stop using it.

[[Fi...]]

I haven't taken it 5 days in a row, I've taken it spread out over the month.  I hope I don't have to taper.

 

Just started a slow taper off the Mirt.

[[ba...]]

i hope so as well. If you can just stop, and maybe have a few qlitches, that would be great. Or have no glitches

[[Fi...]]

I'm so nervous Gardie.

 

My use of it seems to be increasing because I can't sleep.

 

I keep wanting to stop but then turn to it. Took it last night but it didn't help.

 

 

[[ba...]]

Gard is spot on. I follow the same routine, and spend the 2 hours after I take my  first seroquel dose watching a movie, reading, or something else calming. It feels about as sedating as a glass of wine. And, it only lasts a few hours.

 

It completely stopped working for a while, hence I am slow tapering it, but it has come back and I am getting some benefit from it again.

 

It is a very poor sleep aid, overall.

[[Fi...]]

Thank you both.

 

[[ba...]]

I know you want ot sleep, we all do.

 

However, seroquel does not work well, and has many side effects.

 

One of them is metabolic syndrome. I have gained 60 pounds in 5 years because of seroquel. I have never been heavy in my life, even through 4 pregnancies.

 

It also has other horrible side effects:

The biggest disadvantages of Seroquel are the potential long-term side effects, which can include tardive dyskinesia, increased blood sugar, cataracts, and weight gain. For teens and young adults, the medication may also cause an increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviors.Oct 22, 2021

 

Seroquel (quetiapine) - Psycom.net

 

 

[[Fi...]]

I know you want ot sleep, we all do.

 

However, seroquel does not work well, and has many side effects.

 

One of them is metabolic syndrome. I have gained 60 pounds in 5 years because of seroquel. I have never been heavy in my life, even through 4 pregnancies.

 

It also has other horrible side effects:

The biggest disadvantages of Seroquel are the potential long-term side effects, which can include tardive dyskinesia, increased blood sugar, cataracts, and weight gain. For teens and young adults, the medication may also cause an increase in suicidal thoughts and behaviors.Oct 22, 2021

 

Seroquel (quetiapine) - Psycom.net

 

Thank you. I had one more dose and it didn't work. Now I know its not the med for me. I hate that I took the 6 doses but I was desperate.

 

Back to sleeping every other night until my brain heals and I taper the Mirtazapine.

 

 

[[ba...]]

I understand being desperate. I am glad the seroquel quit working before you became dependent.

 

Sleep deprivation is just awful, we are so tired, but we just lay in bed, and we don't feel the sleep "juice" coming.

 

I hope you find ways to get some good rest, and get sleep wherever you can.

[[Fi...]]

Thank you.

 

I worry that my body will feel the lack of Serequel since I took those recent doses.  I'm already feeling the effects of my first Mirtazapine cut.

 

Have to just keep my intention on healing.

[[Fi...]]

Thank you Gardie.

 

I remember you saying you started out taking it a few times a week and then it moved to nightly. I can see how that happens. If it worked consistently for me, i would be doing that.

 

For now, its back to Mirtazapine and the the patten of getting bits of sleep, every other night.

 

[[Fi...]]

Didn't have much sleep last night and my brain was screaming for me to take something like Serequel but I didn't.

 

Trying to get more non Serequel days behind me.

[[wi...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

[[...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

 

Nope, it is an anti-psychotic.

 

--

 

I am taking seroquel everyday, 25mg a day to sleep. Still working as wanted. 12.5mg used to be fine for years, but wasn't knocking me out like 25mg. Was more like a sleep aid.

 

The good part -> almost no side effects ( even after 10 years daily ) / good sleep.

 

The bad part -> addicted to it / long term side effects ?

 

But I am so scared to give up Seroquel. I wasn't expecting to manage to stay away so long from benzo. So I want to do more. But I don't want to go too fast.

 

Should maybe try half a pill again ? But I am scared, I won't be able to sleep. I should just try. And get used to it. But giving up Valium is still hard. I found a lot of support, but never seems enough ...

[[ga...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

 

Yes, it is technically an antipsychotic, but at low doses it's an antihistamine, a very strong antihistamine. (Antihistamines are naturally sedating.) Q has an affinity for H-1 (histamine) receptors. That means, it wants to go there first. When the H-1 receptors are all full, it goes to other receptors and does other things. My understanding is it doesn't become an antipsychotic until over 150mg, maybe higher, for most people. If your doctor prescribes, he is likely to prescribe 25mg because it is the smallest tablet made. I know of people who used only half of the tablet. Others need 50 or 100mg for sleep. I suggest trying the smallest tablet first. No point in starting higher than you need. Seroquel has nasty, dangerous, potentially permanent side effects at higher doses.

 

Personally, I think sleep is important to healing, so a temporary sleep aid is not a terrible thing. I got off my benzo and then got off my Q.

[[...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

 

Nope, it is an anti-psychotic.

 

--

 

I am taking seroquel everyday, 25mg a day to sleep. Still working as wanted. 12.5mg used to be fine for years, but wasn't knocking me out like 25mg. Was more like a sleep aid.

 

The good part -> almost no side effects ( even after 10 years daily ) / good sleep.

 

The bad part -> addicted to it / long term side effects ?

 

But I am so scared to give up Seroquel. I wasn't expecting to manage to stay away so long from benzo. So I want to do more. But I don't want to go too fast.

 

Should maybe try half a pill again ? But I am scared, I won't be able to sleep. I should just try. And get used to it. But giving up Valium is still hard. I found a lot of support, but never seems enough ...

 

I know someone who is on Q permanently for sleep because of severe migraines. She has been on it for over 20 years. Of course, she is on a low dose, I believe 25mg.

 

I decided the benzo was more dangerous than the Q, so I used the Q as much as I needed to get me through the benzo taper. Then I tapered the Q by dissolving it in water and making tiny reductions every few days. It wasn't fun, but it was much, much easier than the benzo taper.

 

Thank you for the answer !

[[wi...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

 

Nope, it is an anti-psychotic.

 

--

 

I am taking seroquel everyday, 25mg a day to sleep. Still working as wanted. 12.5mg used to be fine for years, but wasn't knocking me out like 25mg. Was more like a sleep aid.

 

The good part -> almost no side effects ( even after 10 years daily ) / good sleep.

 

The bad part -> addicted to it / long term side effects ?

 

But I am so scared to give up Seroquel. I wasn't expecting to manage to stay away so long from benzo. So I want to do more. But I don't want to go too fast.

 

Should maybe try half a pill again ? But I am scared, I won't be able to sleep. I should just try. And get used to it. But giving up Valium is still hard. I found a lot of support, but never seems enough ...

 

 

Liam you are totally off valium?

[[...]]

Is seroquel a z drug that is going to act on the gaba receptors I am trying to heal?  I don't think it is, I think it is an anti-psychotic.  I don't feel like googling it, that is how weird my benzo brain is this second.  Valium taper gives me nightmares EVERY night....I wake up so many times a night.  And it is hard to get to sleep even through my body is depleted my inside CNS is on overload.  This shit sucks.

 

Nope, it is an anti-psychotic.

 

--

 

I am taking seroquel everyday, 25mg a day to sleep. Still working as wanted. 12.5mg used to be fine for years, but wasn't knocking me out like 25mg. Was more like a sleep aid.

 

The good part -> almost no side effects ( even after 10 years daily ) / good sleep.

 

The bad part -> addicted to it / long term side effects ?

 

But I am so scared to give up Seroquel. I wasn't expecting to manage to stay away so long from benzo. So I want to do more. But I don't want to go too fast.

 

Should maybe try half a pill again ? But I am scared, I won't be able to sleep. I should just try. And get used to it. But giving up Valium is still hard. I found a lot of support, but never seems enough ...

 

 

Liam you are totally off valium?

 

Yep, 3 months in 2 days

 

I am now taking half a pill ( seroquel ) instead of one, and seems to be OK.

[[Fi...]]

I want to thank Gardie and baddove for their feedback.

 

I haven't taken Serequel in 5 nights after those 6 doses.

I've had some tough nights but didn't turn to it. I think my body has felt a bit of med wd but nothing horrible.

 

Focusing in my Mirtazapine taper and healing from my setback.

 

Final healing

[[ba...]]

Glad we could help. Seroquel has so many awful side effects, hence, if you can minimize or not use it your better off. At the same time, I completely understand being desperate to sleep.

[[...]]

I did not take Seroquel yesterday. Managed to sleep 3 hours, but feeling so bad right now ...

 

I went to friends, but forgot my quetiapine home.

 

Going to try one more day without it ...

 

 

[[ba...]]

Tapering off of seroquel has led me to be in the midst of a Mass cell Activation Storm. It is a night mare. There is a lot of data about MASin other areas, but this is a whole new level of hell, then the huge weight gain is something I cannot tolerate anymore.

 

Please be careful. This is an evil evil drug that can cause outrageous damage and issues.

 

I have not read through this entire blog, I will as I am able, but am wondering how other folks tapered off seroquel who experienced mast cell activation.

 

I was at 500 mgs over 3 doses through the night, cut out 50 mgs about 2 weeks ago. The bomb went off yesterday. My pdoc advised a 50 mg taper per month, and if it is too much, a 25.

 

Looking for any other high sero dosers who tapered, or tried to taper.

 

Thanks friends, everyone have a great weekend.

[[ba...]]

An update on my experience quitting seroquel.

 

I began a taper on 11/21, and my body started responding very badly to seroquel, and what was going to be a 50 mg a month taper, has turned in to a reduction to half my starting dose in 26 days.

 

My dosage got clear up to 500 mg, and I was sick of it. 75 pounds weight gain, fog brained, lots of body aches, near daily migraines.

 

Then it quit working. I think  I have been on it 6 years?

 

So I met with my pdoc, and he approved me tapering it even though I am still tapering xanax.

 

I studied how it works per the links in here, and was left totally confused about what dosage hits what receptors.  It doesn't matter though, because my body is rejecting it. The 100mg  dose 1 helps me relax, and sometimes that leads to a few hours sleep. Then I would take dose 2, which led to a longer period of sleep, then dose 3 to get me to 5 am or so. It really only worked 3 hours max. My dosage was 150 mg/200 mg/150 mg

 

It has not even been a month, and my body is literally rejecting it. I made a cut of 50 mg (I took dose 1 to 100mg), within a week, my body started to respond very badly to  dose number 3.

 

I dropped dose 3 (150mg)

 

I was taking 200mg for my second dose, and last night was the end of that. I woke up, fully awake, but paralyzed, and terrified. I wondered if I was dying from seroquel.

 

So now, I will take 100 x2 or 3 a night. Mostly to keep it in my system , and I don't even know if I need to do that. Tapering it is a complete puzzle to me.

 

I had a day from hell yesterday, it was mostly mental anguish, I think that was seroquel wd. I had a previous "bomb" on the 8th, which I wrote about in my previous post.

 

Today I feel more alert, the wd pain is way down, and even though I am sleep deprived, I am ok. My mood is much better, and more "whole." I know the seroquel was making me an emotional zombie. No body aches or headache.

 

I have no idea when or if I will get more horrible days, but overall, I feel better than I have in a very long time.

 

I AM NOT ADVOCATING ANYONE DRASTICALLY CUT SEROQUEL, OR EVEN TAPER IT WHILE STILL ON YOUR BENZO OR OFF OF IT.

 

Sharing my experience as part of the collective information in this forum

 

Peace

-Dove

 

I tried benadryl and hydroxine, neither one did anything for sleep. I suspect the am benadryl I took this morning calmed down the Mast Cell Activation, however. I am going to be joining the insomnia forum before long.

[[ba...]]

Thanks Gard It is really good to hear from you, and a delayed congrats on your tapers. I hope things are going well. Going to read your success story.

 

Again, I AM NOT ADVOCATING ANYONE DROP SEROQUEL QUICKLY, OR EVEN AT ALL. JUST MY EXPERIENCE FOR REFERENCE.

 

I was given an SSRI years ago, and had a horrible reaction to it. My pdoc put me on xanax to deal with it. He then tried 2 more antidepressents over the next 2 weeks. They all made me nuts. SO, I understand the paradoxical reaction to anti depressants. That's how how I ended up on xanax for the second time in my life. Gave up on trying to take an SSRI and ended up on xanax instead.

 

The anti psychotic felt more like my body was rejecting it. The less I take, the better I feel. I think as seroquel represses dopamine and serotonin, (which are thought to create psychosis) I was very deficient in both, and that no doubt not only made me a zombie, but most likely had a negative impact on my xanax taper, which has been very difficult.

 

I just assumed that the process involved getting off your benzo first, then your other drugs. I realized I didn't have to do that. And, as I already had xanax in my system, which is supposed to help with getting off an anti psychotic, and I was not benefitting from seroquel, to taper it now, and not after.

 

I am my own petri dish in this process. Following what my body tells me. I never thought I would be zooming off of it like this. I took 3 doses of 100 mg  last night, not knowing if I should take 2mg total or 3, but I am concerned about tapering to fast. Just throwing in a 3ed dose for stability. No idea if it matters. I think that 3ed dose will drop off on on its own.

 

As to the WD, I get hit by intense mental anguish every evening (feels like serotonin syndrome), and I just get through it. When the next one hits, I am going to take a benadryl and see if it helps. I also get  days that are "bombs," when its a lost cause, but I have always had those. Stomach issues and sweats, but the physical sxs are not anything I don't already deal with on xanax.

[[ba...]]

Gard-

 

I am in your P-log, and reading through your link:

https://www.benzo.org.uk/kwotez.htm

 

So much info, I think it's going to take time to go through the whole thing. Some things, of course, resonate more than others, but it is all pertinent.