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FuriousGeorge
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Default Jul 01, 2011 at 09:34 AM
  #21
Hi Jaded,

Glad to hear that you have successfully tapered off and have regained your sleep. The 2 months must have been rough.

I've tapered Seroquel down to 50mg so far, and have had interrupted sleep. I can't seem to sleep for more than 1.5 hours at a time. Although I'm still getting 4-6 hours a night. The idea of being off it completely kind of scares me. I easily go manic if I don't sleep for a night or two.

Would you have any sleep aid suggestions? I'd like to discuss this with my pdoc before I go off the quel.

Thanks and good luck.
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Default Jul 01, 2011 at 01:03 PM
  #22
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Originally Posted by FuriousGeorge View Post
Hi Jaded,

Glad to hear that you have successfully tapered off and have regained your sleep. The 2 months must have been rough.

I've tapered Seroquel down to 50mg so far, and have had interrupted sleep. I can't seem to sleep for more than 1.5 hours at a time. Although I'm still getting 4-6 hours a night. The idea of being off it completely kind of scares me. I easily go manic if I don't sleep for a night or two.

Would you have any sleep aid suggestions? I'd like to discuss this with my pdoc before I go off the quel.

Thanks and good luck.
Definitely a rough 2 months in terms of sleep. do you use any other sleep aids like Ambien? it worked for me before i took Seroquel and it's working again now. i don't feel sleepy or hung over in the morning either.
also melatonin, Benadryl or even Tylenol PM all make other people tired. I've been having trouble sleeping since the late 80s so i think I actually make myself worse about it.
Another person i know takes Restoril which is a benzo type drug.
some people like Trazodone too - personally I had nightmares from it but it does work for other people -
i was actually getting really really close to taking a low dose of Seroquel to sleep if i didn't start sleeping this week - I still have some 25 mg in my drawer....my pdoc was suggesting it last time and I fought it.
SIGH....
One battle down.
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Default Jul 16, 2011 at 07:12 PM
  #23
ive been on seraquel for 8 years and am trying to get off it for the past year ive been taking 400mg and two months ago i started taking 500mg the past two weeks ive gone from 400mg to 200mg the past few nights my weight has been going down by the day and i sleep a little bit less but i feel a lot better. i also take 3mg of klonopin a day. well taking it for so long ive got my body accustomed to only eat at night when i take it so know that ive cut down im not hungrey at night. theway ive always takin it was 200mg and then another an hour later .
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Default Jul 19, 2011 at 10:34 AM
  #24
I gained a LOT of weight on Seroquel and Depakote. I tried exercise, diet... nothing worked. I went off both cold turkey (with my Dr.'s consent), with no ill effects, went on some new meds and have slowly been losing weight ever since. I miss the great sleep I had with the Seroquel, but that's about it.
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Default Jul 26, 2011 at 09:20 AM
  #25
since the lowering of three hundred mg a nigh off seroquel i notice that im less what they call by polar and in a really good mood all the time and im still losing weight and my constant random movements have become less and less of a problem

and i still sleep around eight to nine hours a night

Last edited by Christina86; Jul 26, 2011 at 12:25 PM..
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Default Jul 26, 2011 at 01:32 PM
  #26
I'm down to 250 and am begining to be frightened and paranoid, But I think that might be for good reason. I don't want to stop going down if this is just a blip caused by stressful circumstances. But it might be that the circumstances only seem stressufl because I'm coming down. what do you think?

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Default Jul 26, 2011 at 02:41 PM
  #27
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I'm down to 250 and am begining to be frightened and paranoid, But I think that might be for good reason. I don't want to stop going down if this is just a blip caused by stressful circumstances. But it might be that the circumstances only seem stressufl because I'm coming down. what do you think?
You know, i had so many situations going on when i was coming off of Seroquel, plus right after, that there were quite a few times that I didn't know if it was the 'coming off of the meds" or the actual stress/situation, that was messing with my mind.

Now that I've been off of it for a couple of months, got my sleep in order and still have stressful situations, the dr and I realized that a lot of it is the situation and how I react to things.
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Default Aug 10, 2011 at 04:34 AM
  #28
my personl belief is if that you take a benzo well coming off of seroqual it gets rid of a lot mental problems from withdrawel i also seem more driven being off so much seroquel at once
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Default Aug 10, 2011 at 04:36 AM
  #29
melatonin helps a lot when taking less and less
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Default Aug 14, 2011 at 04:37 AM
  #30
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Originally Posted by 5454454544 View Post
melatonin helps a lot when taking less and less
I've actually been doing a lot of yoga and i think that helps wih my sleep and other stressors.
The weight is not "pouring" off of me like others have said, but I have lost about 8 pounds - I really watch what I eat plus the yoga, so i think that helps.
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Default Apr 08, 2013 at 10:05 AM
  #31
Hi Jadedmoonbeam, good to see you're on the forum again!

It's really a coincidence for me that you came back only a few weeks ago. I've been reading your posts about getting off seroquel & losing weight. I'm myself still struggling with the insomnia that the coming off it is giving me and it has made life very difficult, I feel I'm back where I started two years ago before starting quetiapine.

How did your sleep evolve in the months/years after you stopped seroquel? You said that it became better, but now that it has been a while, how do oyu look at the whole thing in retrospect?

So for my question to you .

The difficulty for me is solely due to the lack off sleep/shallow sleep. I'm not hypomanic or depressed, not even dysphoric, even though the tiredness does affect my mood and I'm quite lethargic. The latter I already had the last five months of my normal quetiapine dose (400mg.), the reason I wanted to get rid of it since it had lost it's value.

I'm continuing my lamictal (200mg) and so far I feel it is effective as a monotherapy.

It took me four months to get to the dose I'm now taking (12,5mg) and I feel I can finaly try 0mg. without getting extremely nauseated. I'm afraid though that the waking up and shallow sleep will stay with me for a long time, considering it took so long to get from 150 mg to 12,5 (from 400 to 150 went much, much quicker).

Anyway, I found a lot of comfort in reading that I'm not alone and there is a lot to read on forums about people trying to quit this drug. For me it has been very informative, much more so than all the research articles I downloaded. So my thanks to all those people!

If anyone, - now or years from now! - has any questions about how I went about it (and how it's going), just ask here or sent me a PM.

I know a lot about this drug and psychopharmacology in general (partly because of my background in neuroscience, and partly because I studied this drug for the 2 years I've been on it extensively). Maybe I can provide people with some answers when their psychiatrists can't or don't want to...
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Default Apr 09, 2013 at 02:37 AM
  #32
I stopped taking it a few weeks back after I'd only been on it for about 2 months and the weight gain was too much for me, plus I was just too tired. I tried to take 50mg at night every other night, but on the night I didn't take it, I had bad insomnia.
My weight is now coming back down again, and I can only hope my depression doesn't come back with a vengeance

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Current Meds: Epitec (Lamotrigine) 300mg, Solian 50mg, Seroquel 25mg PRN, Metformin 500mg, Klonopin prn
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Default Apr 10, 2013 at 06:22 AM
  #33
Oh yes, I didn't even mention it, but the weight gain was an issue too. I was on 400mg., but you can get it with doses as low as 25mg. At the time I thought I could handle it, since I work out a hell of a lot (and intensive too). I did have to resort to eating superhealthy and all, but I would never get back to my normal level. And eat a bit too much for a few days, or not work out, and boom - weight back on (with interest).

If it's for depression you're taking it, I'd say ask for different meds first, because when you're stuck with this for a while and you're sensitive to it... ...you're not going to get rid of it easily. Good thing you stopped.

So far I haven't become depressed, even thought I'm tired as hell every day from sleeping badly. Might be that lamotrigine (Lamictal) is acting very well as a monotherapy. If it is, than thumbs up for that stuff because it is much milder and, at least for most, easy to get rid of.
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Default Apr 11, 2013 at 01:24 AM
  #34
I've tried a few SSRIs and now take Wellbutrin after the SSRIs weren't too effective. I am also on Sodium Valproate. I have started the 25mg Seroquel at night again.
Last night I had vivid dreams and woke my boyfriend up twice because I was grinding my teeth. I'm not sure that this med really gets on well with me.
I was prescribed Seroquel after I hit a serious downer and my pdoc wanted to try something new.

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Current dx: Bipolar Disorder Unspecified

Current Meds: Epitec (Lamotrigine) 300mg, Solian 50mg, Seroquel 25mg PRN, Metformin 500mg, Klonopin prn
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Default Apr 12, 2013 at 06:44 AM
  #35
Well, 25mg isn't that much, so coming off it shouldn't be a problem if you need to stop. However, if you're going up to the official dose for depression (300mg) you're going to get the whole wheight issue and daytime drowsiness issue again.

I did read an article about five case-studies of middle aged women that got stable and were free of depression with a dose of 50 - 75 mg. So a low dose could work after all.

I got restless legs with this med, althoug it finaly dissapeared after a year. I was in a sort of artificial hybernation every night, but according to my wife I did seem a bit restless in my sleep and I snored. So I guess like you I woke my significant other up too .
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Default Aug 28, 2014 at 09:04 PM
  #36
Good thread. Made me register.

This isn't my first time with an anti psychotic so I'm aware of what weight gain can happen (zyprexia)

Lost a ton of weight after coming off all meds and kept it off.

Insomnia became an issue for me and I found seroquel to be the only thing to work. ..
200mg at night, a year later vane the weight. .

SO SICK of hearing people say it makes you hungry and eat....
I do not eat not eat any different than I did when ok was thin...

I am a fim beliver in this drug causing TERRIBLE metabolic syndrome.
Ive since started cardio and cutting down on my dose, and calorie counting my already reasonable food intake...

Don't know what's going to happen but the weight has gotten out of control regardless of actually getting sleep at night........
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Thumbs up Sep 26, 2014 at 08:59 AM
  #37
Hey Everyone,

Talking about my use with seroquel, well before that...My PCM thought I just had generalize
. Anxiet, so he prescribed me zoloft and xanax that was Sept 2013. I weighed 138 pounds. Holidays came up, so I ate a little more. Feb. Had a grade two ankle sprain from running stopped running, weighed 155 pounds in March 2014, which i didn't care, I was comfortable. And all of the sudden April 2014 had an emotional breakdown, badly. Wanted to call 911 for no reason, felt like I wanted to scream in class, I drove on the edge (wanted to flip my car, just to see if I would actually fo it, had very intrusive thoughts (i cannot watch the news at all).

Finally say my doctor, right away I got a refferal. Had my first appointment with my psychiatris. Later then told her habits, how much sleep i get, how i feel, and so forth. I'm diagnosed with bipolar, generalized anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD, but not full blown. Im not going to put my past on here. So she prescribed Trileptal, Seroquel and Vistaril (to sleep), Klonopi . ( which is better than xanax), and xanax for emergencies. So I began my trial...Im really weight consciou . If i go above 160. Well guess what I was gaining a pound and a half a week. As of two days I go I weighed 195 pounds, every month i would have to buy new pants. So from April 2014-Sept 2014 I gained 40 pounds, and mind you I was running even though my joints hurt so bad.

So I said I was going to do an experiment. I'm going on a low carb diet and going to right down my weight and see if it is the holy grail (i lost 30 pounds on a low carb diet before any meds) so thw first week I lost 10 pounds, weighed myself everyday so I was 185. Then guess what the weight ceased and no matter what I did I was gaining half of a pound and on the same.diet.

So seroquel does make u gain weight that cannot be explained.

Me being pissed off, i go back to my psychiatrist. (She knows my weight bothered me). Says okay lets taje you off seroquel on Sept 23, 2014. Now I begin my journey and will share with you the results, if it is true about seroquel. I got prescribe ambien to sleep now, which ia not as good as seroquel (i wake up at 2am wide awake). Im going to weigh myself every month to see if weight comes off a little.
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Default Feb 17, 2015 at 01:44 AM
  #38
[FONT="Comic Sans MS"]
How are you doing? Have you been able to stop the Seroquel and sleep well and loose the weight? I started tapering down, and my pdoc said that he would prescribe a sleep medication to bridge the tapering/sleep issues. I got scared that it wouldn't work so I haven't done it yet.
Seroquel and other atypical antipsychotics are guilty of causing 'metabolic syndrome symptoms, weight gain, especially around abdomen, increased blood pressure, increase blood sugar/diabetes.

How is this going for you? successes, setbacks, side effects that you've experienced?
Quote:
Originally Posted by megankelly1989 View Post
Heyeryone,

Talking about my use with seroquel, well before that...My PCM thought I just had generalize
. Anxiet, so he prescribed me zoloft and xanax that was Sept 2013. I weighed 138 pounds. Holidays came up, so I ate a little more. Feb. Had a grade two ankle sprain from running stopped running, weighed 155 pounds in March 2014, which i didn't care, I was comfortable. And all of the sudden April 2014 had an emotional breakdown, badly. Wanted to call 911 for no reason, felt like I wanted to scream in class, I drove on the edge (wanted to flip my car, just to see if I would actually fo it, had very intrusive thoughts (i cannot watch the news at all).

Finally say my doctor, right away I got a refferal. Had my first appointment with my psychiatris. Later then told her habits, how much sleep i get, how i feel, and so forth. I'm diagnosed with bipolar, generalized anxiety, and symptoms of PTSD, but not full blown. Im not going to put my past on here. So she prescribed Trileptal, Seroquel and Vistaril (to sleep), Klonopi . ( which is better than xanax), and xanax for emergencies. So I began my trial...Im really weight consciou . If i go above 160. Well guess what I was gaining a pound and a half a week. As of two days I go I weighed 195 pounds, every month i would have to buy new pants. So from April 2014-Sept 2014 I gained 40 pounds, and mind you I was running even though my joints hurt so bad.

So I said I was going to do an experiment. I'm going on a low carb diet and going to right down my weight and see if it is the holy grail (i lost 30 pounds on a low carb diet before any meds) so thw first week I lost 10 pounds, weighed myself everyday so I was 185. Then guess what the weight ceased and no matter what I did I was gaining half of a pound and on the same.diet.

So seroquel does make u gain weight that cannot be explained.

Me being pissed off, i go back to my psychiatrist. (She knows my weight bothered me). Says okay lets taje you off seroquel on Sept 23, 2014. Now I begin my journey and will share with you the results, if it is true about seroquel. I got prescribe ambien to sleep now, which ia not as good as seroquel (i wake up at 2am wide awake). Im going to weigh myself every month to see if weight comes off a little.
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Default Feb 24, 2015 at 09:33 PM
  #39
Did anyone notice weight loss while tapering down to a lower dose or not at all until discontinued?

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Crazy Mar 02, 2015 at 12:14 AM
  #40
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Originally Posted by Gray Rider View Post
Did anyone notice weight loss while tapering down to a lower dose or not at all until discontinued?


I don't know that being on any amount, however small, will help rid the weight, etc. I've studied and heard that small doses are still sedating and the histamine response is still triggered. I'm down to 50mg at night. I've not lost weight around my midsection, my B/P is still high.. metabolic syndrome symptoms. I hope to be off sooner or later, but then I almost expect to need time for all the ADME ( absorption, digestion, metabolism, excretion ) to take time and for my own body chemistry to adjust or correct.
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