Seroquel 12.5mg for Sleep

I noted in another post - my pdoc prescribed me seroquel at a very low dose for sleep. I was so desperate to sleep that I did already take it once and it was probably the best night of sleep I can remember in a very long time. A little hung over after but it was ok.

 

Ive seen some posts saying not to take seroquel due to potential side effects - which are in fact very scary - and as a result I did not take it again yet.

Like prozac, celexa, and paxil, (and first generation anti-psychotics) there seems to be potential for it to cause Akathisia.

 

Ive also seen many members posting in different threads that seroquel has helped them through this terrible time in low doses for sleep. I've also read that at low doses (like 12.5mg) it acts as an antihistamine.

 

If you have feelings about it can you write a brief summary of your experience, thoughts? Please include the dosage and duration of your seroquel use.

 

Thanks. I'm going to try some unisom tonight.

 

 

Hey Seekinghope, I have chronic migraines and I have been taking it for 24 years, at the sleep dose.  Sleep is the number one thing to help your migraines.  Over the years, I have taken 12.5 to 50 m.  I have never had a problem.  I know some people have,  higher doses are for completely different problems, so I have no idea of their dose.  I would never tell,u to take it or not, only u can decide that, but I have never had any trouble.  Good luck

Like with any prescription medications, you have to weigh the benefits against the potential side effects. Most of us have gotten through the worst of our insomnia, or are currently dealing with it, without having to resort to powerful drugs, so it is doable.

I tried it in the beginning of my insomnia but it made me worse. Heart going crazy and kept me awake. If it helps you so much than i would take it. I am almost 11 months after cold turkey temazepam. Still horrible sleep. But is i am really exhausted then mt brain finds its way tot sleep. Even though it is only short sleep it is better than norhing. I believe we sleep more than we think. Just some part stays active because of the benzo. I think recovery will come but it is a long and hard road.

I was also prescribed it for insomnia -- 25 mgs.  It helped me to sleep but I have been tapering off of it since January 2016.  I am down to 3 mgs.  I have mild akasthesia which I did not have until I started the seroquel.  I wish I had not started it.  I have found it very difficult to taper off of due to the histamine rebound.

 

Again, everyone responds to meds differently and your experience may be completely dissimilar.  Good luck!!

 

Carol

Seroquel didn't make me sleepy.  I took it for anxiety for about a year at 50 - 25mg.  I tapered it off last year and didn't suffer serious withdrawals.  If it makes you sleepy that's great, just take it occasionally.

 

I suffered depression during the time I took seroquel, and it was gone very soon after I stopped it.  Not sure if there's a correlation.

I took Seroquel for my bipolar and also insomnia. They started me out on 12.5 to 25mg and leveled out between 150 to 300mg. I took that for about five years and it did do wonders for my insomnia, however I don't think it really did anything for my bipolar symptoms. Whenever I stopped taking it, I tapered in a very short time, under a week. I didn't have any withdrawal effects that affected me physically or mentally, EXCEPT I had gotten so used to taking it that I could not sleep without it. Literally I couldn't even get an hours sleep at night. I went through about 13 Benadryl and a handful of melatonin gummies and it did nothing other than make me groggy. I literally did not sleep for about 3 days and ended up going into the doc and she gave me Ambien. The reason I stopped the Seroquel is because I was trying to get pregnant and I stopped the Seroquel about a week before I started trying. The doctor saw no risks in me taking Ambien while pregnant. But anyhow, whenever I had my daughter, my doctor started me on combination of Ambien and Xanax for sleep and as needed, and gradually raised my dose to up to 3mg a day which is what got me into this whole mess of benzo recovery. Personally in my experience with Seroquel, it will definitely help you sleep, but your body can become dependent on it very quick. On top of that, I had to get at least 10 to 12 hours of sleep to not feel hung over the next day. Even on the lowest dose. So making the decision to take Seroquel is all up to your personal preferences and if you have the ability to sleep in at least 10 to 12 hours, sometimes more

like any CNS med - chronic use will alter your brain and require tapering.  if you are truly desperate - i understand needing to go down that path.  i did try it for my insomnia years ago and the side effects quickly appeared and i got off it fast.  sleep is hard to come by in withdrawal during at least the first 6 months - so - i understand why people get desperate enough to use other CNS meds.