Jump to content

Seroquel Support Group


[be...]

Recommended Posts

I’m a bit worried reading this... though I know everyone is different so I’ll try not to give into that. Seroquel is not in my signature but I started it 4 months ago when I started my taper up again. I take 50mg at night to sleep. Since I started it I’ve been able to taper easier with less symptoms. I’m sleeping 12 hours a day but for the rate I’m tapering I feel like I should be much sicker. I’ve been taper awhile now and never have I been able to go this fast. I do notice the side effects. Gained 10 pounds fast! Drowsy during the day, crazy junk food cravings. This is nothing compared to my full waves when reducing. I just hope I’m not in for a rude awakening. I plan to try to taper the seroquel slowly after I drop Klonopin. I don’t feel horrible.. I should feel worse.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 728
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • [ga...]

    124

  • [be...]

    95

  • [Co...]

    70

  • [lo...]

    66

I’m a bit worried reading this... though I know everyone is different so I’ll try not to give into that. Seroquel is not in my signature but I started it 4 months ago when I started my taper up again. I take 50mg at night to sleep. Since I started it I’ve been able to taper easier with less symptoms. I’m sleeping 12 hours a day but for the rate I’m tapering I feel like I should be much sicker. I’ve been taper awhile now and never have I been able to go this fast. I do notice the side effects. Gained 10 pounds fast! Drowsy during the day, crazy junk food cravings. This is nothing compared to my full waves when reducing. I just hope I’m not in for a rude awakening. I plan to try to taper the seroquel slowly after I drop Klonopin. I don’t feel horrible.. I should feel worse.

 

I am concerned about this medication as well.  I have terrible sugar cravings with it -- it blocks dopamine, so it is no wonder why.

I do not consider this medication one that I will stay on long-term -- the side effects are too dangerous, but it takes the edge off the benzo w/d symptoms at present. It doesn´t do much, but it helps a bit.  I guess that is all I can ask for at this point.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m a bit worried reading this... though I know everyone is different so I’ll try not to give into that. Seroquel is not in my signature but I started it 4 months ago when I started my taper up again. I take 50mg at night to sleep. Since I started it I’ve been able to taper easier with less symptoms. I’m sleeping 12 hours a day but for the rate I’m tapering I feel like I should be much sicker. I’ve been taper awhile now and never have I been able to go this fast. I do notice the side effects. Gained 10 pounds fast! Drowsy during the day, crazy junk food cravings. This is nothing compared to my full waves when reducing. I just hope I’m not in for a rude awakening. I plan to try to taper the seroquel slowly after I drop Klonopin. I don’t feel horrible.. I should feel worse.

 

I am concerned about this medication as well.  I have terrible sugar cravings with it -- it blocks dopamine, so it is no wonder why.

I do not consider this medication one that I will stay on long-term -- the side effects are too dangerous, but it takes the edge off the benzo w/d symptoms at present. It doesn´t do much, but it helps a bit.  I guess that is all I can ask for at this point.

Yes I’m hating the weight gain but will take it over extreme nausea with insomnia. I was willing for any help too. I’ve been doing this too long and I can’t take it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m a bit worried reading this... though I know everyone is different so I’ll try not to give into that. Seroquel is not in my signature but I started it 4 months ago when I started my taper up again. I take 50mg at night to sleep. Since I started it I’ve been able to taper easier with less symptoms. I’m sleeping 12 hours a day but for the rate I’m tapering I feel like I should be much sicker. I’ve been taper awhile now and never have I been able to go this fast. I do notice the side effects. Gained 10 pounds fast! Drowsy during the day, crazy junk food cravings. This is nothing compared to my full waves when reducing. I just hope I’m not in for a rude awakening. I plan to try to taper the seroquel slowly after I drop Klonopin. I don’t feel horrible.. I should feel worse.

 

I am concerned about this medication as well.  I have terrible sugar cravings with it -- it blocks dopamine, so it is no wonder why.

I do not consider this medication one that I will stay on long-term -- the side effects are too dangerous, but it takes the edge off the benzo w/d symptoms at present. It doesn´t do much, but it helps a bit.  I guess that is all I can ask for at this point.

Yes I’m hating the weight gain but will take it over extreme nausea with insomnia. I was willing for any help too. I’ve been doing this too long and I can’t take it.

 

I understand completely.  <3

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

I'm going to go back and read all 49 pages after this reply. I'm going through the same thing right now, it's been mostly bad. I had been tapering from 350mg down to 200mg over the course of a few months, no withdrawals. Then from 200 to 0 within a couple weeks. Felt fine for a while then everything went downhill. At the same time, I was also tapering paxil and didn't think the seroquel would cause any w/d's because up to that point, there had been nothing. I went back on the paxil, same dose.

 

I've since read everywhere else (and here) that the real problems don't begin until you come off seroquel completely:

 

(Quote from Birdman)

 

"Hi BG, thanks :).  It get's fairly addictive after 100-125mg since it starting to hit a1 hard.  At 150 to 250 mg its hitting H1, a1 and a tiny bit of D2 which are the really addictive receptors.

This is one drug you really can't taper with a calendar because of that champagne fountain effect.  Getting past D2 is one stage and next a1 so people must set taper speed by how they feel and hold when needed.  As you turn off each receptor group the taper changes.  I think the a1 is the hardest part and I went extra slow from 100mg to 50mg.  The taper got easier at 35mg and I could go faster then (h1 phase)"

 

 

So after two weeks off the seroquel, the worst withdrawals..A lot of nausea, cold/hot chills with sweating and shivering, very bad insomnia, and I was really itchy for a few days but that went away. Neuropathy is another one too, the nerves in my hands hurt. The insomnia slowly got better, a new pattern developed: I was sleeping every two days for about 8 hours, but it was still rough. During this time I was losing weight due to the nausea, about 20lbs (from 190'ish to 173 last count).

 

Finally, five days ago, I caved and took 25mg and it was the best feeling ever. But it didn't last. I upped it to 50 and kept upping it, slowly, just to kill the withdrawals. The honeymoon lasted three days, maybe four. Last night though, it took a turn for the worst and the usual w/d's came back. Still slept. Today was really bad too, I took something like 150mg throughout the day and it didn't do much. I had to take 0.75 of klonopin just to relax a bit, but I know it's temporary.

 

The plan now is to go cold and see it all the way through. I don't know if I can, but I want to. Before, I was on my own. Sleeping on a couch with nothing. But my parents agreed to take me in and help me eat, keep company, keep busy, stuff like that. I don't know how long it's going to take but I'd like to post on here with notes and progress.

 

Why did I quit to begin with? High cholesterol, weight gain, restless leg syndrome. A few other things but, it was prescribed for sleep, 50mg and it kept increasing to 350.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
[c8...]

Hello,

I was put on 100 mg. Seroquel at a Rehab facility when I was taken off Klonopin and Ambien and put on Librium.  All was a total mess and I ended up leaving on 12.5 mg Valium!  A tapering Prozac right now, but do not want to continue at such a high dose of Seroquel.  Suggestions for lower it at this point?  It has been six weeks.

Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[c8...]

Yellow,

I not sure which to taper first.  I know Seroquel comes with potential side effects and would like to get rid of it as soon as possible, but would like to taper 10 mg valium and am wondering if I should wait until after that as I know my sleep will be affected. Was put on Seroquel strictly for sleep purposes.

Thank yo!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[c8...]

From experience, seroquel tapering and withdraw is brutal. After a few tries, I knew I could not handle tapering the benzo and sero both. I decided to leave the sero alone, and just do the xanax. Once off, and reasonable sane (depending on how long post benzo it takes for me to stabilize,) I will do the seroquel.

 

Anticipating a difficult experience when that time comes. It may amp the sxs post cesation from the benzo. So, I have to go into it as prepared as possible.

 

-my thoughts on the sero vs other med taper.

Thank you for your reply.  I guess I will leave it through the Valium taper.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[a9...]

Hello everybody.

 

I don't have the focus right now to read through 49 pages.

 

I've been falsely diagnosed by idiots of doctors when I was 16, I'm 34 now.

 

For 18 years I have been on Seroquel

For 15 years I have been on benzo's

 

Highest dose Seroquel: 800 mg. Current dosage: 100 mg XR

Highest dose benzodiazepines: 20 mg Lorazepam (200 mg Diazepam). Current Dose: 2.6 mg Diazepam.

 

My question is this:

 

Do you guys think my brain is permanently damaged from all these years of Seroquel? I read so many articles and according to those I'm basically (pardon my french) fucked.

 

 

 

(For those who live in Holland, there are Seroquel taperingstrips and in a few months there will be Seroquel XR taperingstrips. I myself am waiting for those, because you can't taper XR without switching to IR. Maybe they will ship internationally, you'll have to ask. I don't think they will make a problem out of that.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[c8...]

Hello,

I was put on. Seroquel about 8 week ago at 50 mg. For sleep reasons.  I have read some nasty things about this drug and would like to taper off.  Any idea how go to about that?

Thank you,

Lookinup

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[a9...]

Looking for advice about tapering Seroquel.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks!

 

 

We have taperingstrips in The Netherlands. Maybe your prescriber can get a prescription.

 

If you have the instant release Seroquel, you could buy a precision scale and a rasp/grate/knife and take a little bit off every day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
During the last part of my temazepam taper, I was prescribed 25 mg seroquel prn, for sleep. Trying to avoid tolerance, I alternate it with otc sleep aids, last week one day on and one day off, is this wise?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

During the last part of my temazepam taper, I was prescribed 25 mg seroquel prn, for sleep. Trying to avoid tolerance, I alternate it with otc sleep aids, last week one day on and one day off, is this wise?

 

I tried something like that but it didn't work for me. I think taking it every other day is too often to avoid becoming dependent on it.

 

Also, Seroquel and most OTC sleep aids are all antihistamines. You're alternating 2 things that are very similar.

 

My doctor told me I needed to take Q every night. I ended up taking 25 mg every night. It continued to work for me during my benzo taper, but I believe I am now dependent on it. I got withdrawal symptoms when I reduced it too quickly. I am now tapering off of it slowly without much trouble. I was never on a high dose, so it is only an antihistamine to me. Higher doses cause more effects and would likely make it harder to come of off.

 

BTW, many people don't need 25 mg. It is a very powerful antihistamine. You might try taking half a tablet if you can spilt it very evenly. The less you take, the less dangerous it is.

 

Best wishes,

 

Gardie :)

 

P.S. I see you've jumped! Congratulations!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had some 200mgs tab and cut those in quarters then cut those down to small chips and take that at bedtime sometimes and that knocks me out and messes up my thoughts and mind.  Q is very very powerful and not good for us, IMO.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Does anyone know if it's possible to have few to no symptoms after stopping Seroquel for a few months and then have a lot all at once?

 

I started taking 50 mg Seroquel around 2002 I believe for Tourette's tics. I honestly don't think it ever helped and it made me fall asleep so I started taking it before sleep.

 

It always made my heart race and caused weight gain, so I started tapering, first to 37.5 mg then to 25 mg. Then I had a spell where I kept falling asleep without it, and so I just skipped it. And then stopped it altogether after having been on it almost two decades.

 

I kept sleeping fine, but I did lose a significant amount of weight.

 

But recently, several months after stopping it altogether, I have been more "up" and had a hypsersexual libido I have never had before in my life. It's kind of driving me crazy--it's above normal, and before this I had a libido way below normal. I'm still on Paxil and Ativan. I don't know if a side effect of stopping could be that delayed but I thought it might be possible given how long I was on it. I really don't want to restart it because it did make my heart race in unpredictable ways--one time I had to go to the ER as I was falling asleep and it turned out I was having SVT, which I still think to this day was from the Seroquel but the doctor said they don't know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

I came out of a detox rehab and I’m on Seroquel.

But I’m not gonna beat myself up about it.

In time when my anxiety is better I can get

off of it. I’m going to read more of the posts

here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is anyone still taking seroquel and if so how

are you finding it? I’d like to quit it but have not

been off benzo long enough to stabilize.

Hope you people are still around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am still on sero. I tried to taper it in concert with xanax, it was too much. For now, I am just doing 1 drug at a time. It does help me get through the night, very choppy sleep, but without it, I don't think I would get any.

 

When I miss doses, as I did last night, I feel better (no headache, grogginess, or aches and pains,) but my anxiety is through the roof.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am on 100 mg Seroquel now at bedtime.

I am so far off clonazapam. The seroquel helps

me sleep. I have not tried to stop it. I think

of reducing dose but have not so far.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, when I finally realized that I was having interdose withdrawals from the temazepam and that I would have to taper, I was actually on TWO anti-psychotics at the time (long story).  I was on .5mg of risperidone and 75 mg of seroquel. At that time, I read somewhere that anti-psychotics can make benzo withdrawal worse so I got scared and tried to decrease both anti-psychotics before starting my taper.  In the end, I ended up getting off the risperidone and staying on the seroquel. As a side note, I realize now that what I did was really stupid because I took myself off the risperidone WAY too quick (in the matter of about one week) and I had really severe withdrawal symptoms. I think at the time I just wasn't thinking clearly because I was also going through these after afternoon/evening interdose withdrawas from the temaz. After getting off the risperidone, I decided to stay on the seroquel through the taper because I believe it helps with my mood symptoms. In fact, during the second day of my temazepam to diazepam cross over, I had such severe depression and mood symptoms that i asked my psych if I could increase my seroquel to 100 mg. She said yes and it really did help. So for me personally I believe the best plan is to stay on the seroquel until I complete the benzo taper, as I believe it helps to stabilize my mood. Then after I complete the benzo taper, I can consider a very SLOW taper off the seroquel if I decide I want to get off of that drug. I think this is best for me but of course everyone is different. I couldn't imagine trying to get off the benzo while at the same time trying to get off the seroquel. I just think that would be WAY too much for me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

I am currently on 100mg of Seroquel and 7mg of diazepam

Long story short, I have been tapering off the diazepam and things were going okay until I cut from 8mg to 7mg. Now I've been holding for almost a month.I not only struggle with sleep but when I wake up I feel horrible... This weird sensation in my head.  I am wondering if the Seroquel is making things worse. I am wondering if I should try tapering off the Seroquel while I am holding at 7mg in my benzo taper. Does anybody have any thoughts about this? Which one is better to taper first? I originally sent on Seroquel for sleep but it stopped working for sleep

However at the beginning of my taper (during the cross over when symptoms were absolutely horrible) I increased the Seroquel from 75mg to 100mg because at the time it helped alleviate the severe depression and mood swings I was experiencing.

 

Any input is appreciated--especially sharing your experiences with trying to taper off of both a benzo and Seroquel

 

Grace

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am sorry your current cut is difficult. However, cutting seroquel wont help reduce your wave, just the opposite in fact.

 

Issue 1 your current cut:

I am experiencing the same thing, many of us get "bad" cuts. Our body is just being very reactive, for whatever reason, and fighting it. Be patient, it will usually start to ease off, but slowly. We may not even realize the intensity and frequency of nasty symptoms is toning down when it does start to happen. Keeping notes (we have blogs in here, you can use one to make notes and whatever you wish,) often prove invaluable in seeing cycles, and also, things that worked well, and things that did not. Even something like an ibuprofen throwing you off.

 

Issue 2 polydrugged:

This is when we are on more than one psych med that has to be tapered. It is strongly advised to only do one at a time. Each psych drug hits it's own recipe of receptors in your brain. When you are tapering a benzo, the biggest receptor of the 5 or so various benzo's modulate is GABA. Seroquel, hits different receptors, mostly dopamine, but others as well. AT different doses, it affects different receptors. Seroquel is an anti-psychotic mood stabilizer.

 

If you start tapering 2 meds at once, you are giving your brain a double withdraw whammy. It , for me, was unbearable to do it. Some people can.

 

If you are in a bad spell, adding in tapering another psych med is usually going to create more chaos in your brain.

 

Even though these meds, from benzo's to SSRI's to anti psychotics, stop working, we still have to taper them in a way that is not overly distressing. These drugs are so strange. They stop working and yet you can't stop them. You taper them and they wreak havoc on you!

 

I highly advise you leave the seroquel as is , at least until your current cut stabilizes. Even then, tapering 2 of these meds , even if your stable, is very distressing to your nervous system. Be cautious.

 

At this point, I will taper the seroquel once I am off of the benzo long enough to feel stable. Most buddies choose to go with one at a time, based on experience and input from the BB comunity.

 

 

Be well

Link to comment
Share on other sites


×
×
  • Create New...