need people experienced with seroquel and quick

Hello,

I have been hypomanic lately and only on 150mg lamictal for the past year or so. anyways, the doc today put me on 25 mg seroquel 3 times a day and 150 extended release at night for this bought of hypomania (it's been about 2 weeks of it).


I took ONE 25 mg pill today and it KNOCKED ME OUT. I felt drunk and had to lay down and sleep for a bit. This is obviously not going to work long term and has me questioning this medication.

it also has me worried about the extended release 150 i'm supposed to start tonight. Will I feel like that for 12 hours or does it release the medication slowly? I can't be all groggy and snowed for work (I am a nurse).

Hi hurricaneroll. It is very common for people who just start Seroquel to experience notable sedation. For many (it was in my case), it takes a little while to get used to the medication, but after a while, I think most people adjust to it and then the excess sedation wears off. It can take a little patience, though.

If the 25 mg X 3 during the daytime seems to knock you out too much, you might want to call your psychiatrist and tell her/him that. Perhaps they may allow you to reduce the daytime dose(s) a bit? I would consult with them, though, because they have a plan for knocking out your hypomania. But if you can't function, they may consider an adjustment.

I have taken small and large doses of regular Seroquel AND extended release Seroquel throughout my bipolar treatment. Sometimes smaller doses can be more sedating than larger doses. I've read (see Quetiapine - Wikipedia) that low doses act like an antihistamine. With that in mind, people shouldn't think that possible future high doses (like 400 to 800 mg) will knock them out significantly more than say, 150 mg.

I found that the regular release Seroquel and extended release were both helpful for me. I still take extended release (650 mg) and occasionally low dose regular as an "as needed". They may affect some people slightly different than others. In my case, there was also an adjustment to the extended release. I'd find myself very drowsy well into the morning. Again, time to adjust helped. Also, I had to find the best time to take the extended release to avoid excess drowsiness. For me, taking it at 7 pm is best. I just took mine 15 mins ago, and it's 7:13 pm. Also, it's important for me to go to bed at a reasonable time. No more "night owl" for me. It is best if I go to sleep by 11 pm, ideally. I can do a midnight occasionally, but only because I'm more than used to my Seroquel XR after 8 years. Frankly, when I take 50 mg of the regular Seroquel in the morning (when hypomanic), it no longer tires me out at all. It maybe curbs the flames of my hypomania, but that's it. That's "adjustment".

As a final note, I am more a fan of the extended release than the regular. For me, the extended release is mostly weight neutral. Especially since I mastered the when to take it, and when to go to bed. And adjustment. The regular release's timing seems to trigger bigger appetite in me than the extended release. What I call "the higher and quicker spike" of the regular release is part of that, for me.

Not a fan. I'm weaning off the drug after being on it for two months and cannot recommend it. The side effects weren't worth it and the drowsiness didn't help with my sleep. If you have second doubts, inform your doctor that you want to try something else.

I was on Abilify for a while. Might get back on it after finishing this one.

I did try the 150 mg extended release last night. I went to bed at 9 pm (I never go that early). I slept well and this morning just sort of feel like I'm floating along. not up or down. the only different affect is that my mouth feels sort of dry and thick. We will see how the day progresses but as of now I do feel a difference, a sort of slowing down which feels okay. I don't feel totally sedated or anything like I did with the fast acting yesterday.

I did take the 150 mg extended release last night and feel pretty "in the middle" this morning... I'm assuming that's a good thing! I haven't had the urge to clean my entire house within 1 hour of waking up so that's nice. I'm just sitting and enjoying my tea. My mouth feels a bit thick and dry but that's the only real side effect besides mild sedation. It will be interesting to see how I will work out the extended release with working nights. The nights I work, I 'll have to take the extended release in the AM when I go to sleep and on my days off , switch back to taking it at night.

Hurricaneroll, I have always preferred the XR over the instant release Seroquel. It has been the best antipsychotic yet, for me.

I have over 7 years of experience with Seroquel. I can share with you how it worked (or didn't) for me.

The first time I took Seroquel I was completely loopy. I had trouble walking from the bathroom to my bed. I fell into bed and slept like a rock. That was somewhere around 200mg.

After the first 3 nights, the "falling down drunk" feeling was gone. But whatever S. was supposed to do, it didn't. The pdocs I had kept insisting that I stay on the stuff, which I did. In 5 years I gained over 100lbs. I felt that if my stomach was empty I was starving and felt unwell...nauseated and weak.

After 5 years my pdoc reluctantly agreed to drop the dose. By that time I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high glucose.

I went down in dose - still insisting that the Seroquel wasn't doing anything except make me insanely hungry, especially for sugary foods. Normally, I'm a cautious and healthy eater, so the hunger thing was upsetting - to say the least.

At long last, 6 years into taking S. I flatly refused to stay on the higher dose. My pdoc dropped the amount down to 50mg, then 25, then 12.5. At that dose the purpose was to have good sleep. It worked for that.

Eventually, at about the 7 year mark, I completely stopped taking it. And could not sleep for more than 2 hours at a time (after trying to fall asleep for an hour or more).

So. Here I am, back on 25mg every night. Sometimes the 25mg helps me sleep, other times, not at all.

I am not pleased about being on it and wish I would have been proactive in the beginning, told the first pdoc who prescribed it "NO."

I always took Seroquel at night. I was on ER for a short time and found it weird. I don't exactly remember why, but I know I had it changed back to regular.

So, to summarize. For me, Seroquel didn't do anything except cause me to gain a lot of weight and develop health problems. At the very low dose, 25mg or less, it sometimes helps me sleep.

Many people find Seroquel to be extremely helpful. I am not one of those people.

As far as dry mouth, dry eyes- in my experience all AP's cause that, at least intermittently.

I am currently taking an AP, Trilafon, that dramatically lessens my severe anxiety and doesn't seem to have an excess of side effects.

Seroquel was awful for me. One thing I can share is a lower dose is actually more sedating than a higher dose. There are people who take seroquel for sleep and are on lower doses like 25-100mg but for managing psychotic symptoms or for mood stabilization a higher dose is usually what works. Was this given to you for sleep? Or is it meant for managing the symptoms I mentioned above?

hi! It was given to me for hypomania and more specifically EXTREME irritation and annoyance . I feel overstimulated all the time and don't want to be touched/bothered. Loud noises bother me and it has made it very hard with having all my kids at home. I haven't taken the seroquel regularly since posting and told my psych about it. It seemed like the fast acting actually made me MORE annoyed (not sure if it was because I was so sedated). I was thinking about trying the 150 XR at night again, i felt that also made me more annoyed.

Wow, your reaction is identical to mine! I told my pdoc that and he was surprised. I was only able to stay on it a few days (against his recommendation bc I just couldn’t tolerate it). think it was the grogginesss that made me more annoyed and sensitive to loud noises and interruptions. I got mad at people for asking me to do something or interrupting me. Then, I seemed pretty stable in the evening (I guess since it was wearing off).

Pretty disappointing since my pdoc said it is used commonly to treat comorbid bipolar and OCD (which I have) since it has properties to benefit both. Keep us updated; I’m curious to see how you do I’m the XR since I never tried that.