Misc Quetiapine (seroquel) dose levels

[Quickfixgrrl]

I have been prescribed Seroquel (low dose for now) 25mgs in the mornings and 100mgs at night. I am usually completely fine with this, but for the past 2 weeks I've found myself taking more to induce the sleepiness effect (which calms me) when I'm particularly anxious or panicky. Nothing outrageous, just regularly added an extra 25 or 50mg in the afternoons, especially if I have run out of my benzos (I pick up weekly and and am only given exactly enough to cover 7 days) and last night couldn't fall asleep even though I felt tired so I took an extra 100mgs, meaning my daily dose was 250mg as opposed to 125mg.
I'm wondering whether taking random doses one day and then sticking to my prescribed dose the following few days could muck things up for me; as in, becoming accustomed to the higher doses/withdrawals or worsening of my condition etc.
This medication has worked wonders for me but on the rare days where I just feel off I take more. I feel like I should be sticking to a strict regular dose and am unsure as to whether taking as required/ extra will ruin my progress so far? Will I become dependant on the increased levels and end up needing or becoming reliant on taking more every day?
Ideally I would like to stick to 125mgs per day.

 

[SKL]

Those are small doses in the grand scheme of things; psychotic people take well upwards of 1000mg daily. 25-100mg is a sleepy dose. However, 250mg is getting towards the dose for mood issues, etc. You'll find a lot worse side effects, etc. there although it will make you sleep. You'll also run out of pills. Dependency as such isn't an issue, but not sleeping well (which can come with some nasty psychiatric effects) without it is quite possible. Just talk to your doctor about alternatives, or increasing the dose. Have you tried trazodone, vistaril, some of the new sleep meds (Belsomra: weird drug), even stuff like melatonin and a nice chamomile tea? The last sounds patronizing but it really can help, as can "sleep hygiene" issues (looking at screens, using the bed for non-sleep/non-sex activities, regular hours, etc.)

 

[Quickfixgrrl]

Thanks for your reply.
The 100mg at night usually works very well for sleep. Within half an hour of taking it I feel my limbs relax and I can fall asleep instantly. It's just recently that I've found it not working properly all the time.
I take this as a mood stabilizer/ anti anxiety and sleeping pill. I am also on Effexor and clonazepam. The trio has been extremely successful and I'm ecstatic with the results.
I won't run out as I have a lot and many repeat scripts.. It's the clonazepam that I often run out of as the dose my doctor put me on is slightly too low but she refuses to increase it.
I don't use my bedroom during the day, don't watch T.V etc in there and will sit up in the living room until I need to go to bed.
I am very wary of side effects, which is why I would like to try and stick with my prescribed dose. My doctor asked if I wanted to up it but because it had been working so well I declined.
I need to be up early every day so really don't want to add another sleeper to my regime :/

 

[Jabberwocky]

Dependency as such isn't an issue,

More than a few people, myself included, have found that they become very habituated to anti-psychotics like seroquel and then find it very difficult to stop taking them. In my case, habituation led quickly to major anxiety when I tried to stop taking them. Admitedly I had some anxiety problems before I took seroquel, but after taking them attempts to stop led to greatly increased anxiety. Seroquel is not the worst for this though. Abilify is ten times harder to stop taking.

I also noticed a change in effects from small (50 mg) to mid-size (300 mg) doses of seroquel. At 300 mg I lost coherence and could not keep my eyes open in a way that was unpleasant and left me with a 24 hour hangover. At 50 mg I just got a great night's sleep with no hangover.

 

[SKL]

Dependency as such

More than a few people, myself included, have found that they become very habituated to anti-psychotics like seroquel and then find it very difficult to stop taking them [...]

as such

is pretty expansive yes ... there is an effect with antipsychotics of (presumably and also with novel neuroleptics, inter alia) dopamine stopping to be downregulated and then a further increase in symptoms. This is notorious with Clozapine but present in other drugs and can lead to serious symptoms up to mania and psychosis far worse than what was being treated. I'll readily believe anxiety and sleeplessness.

I also noticed a change in effects from small (50 mg) to mid-size (300 mg) doses of seroquel. At 300 mg I lost coherence and could not keep my eyes open in a way that was unpleasant and left me with a 24 hour hangover. At 50 mg I just got a great night's sleep with no hangover.

If you're taking it regularly this will pass as you become accustomed to it. If you take it infrequently, you can expect some nasty effects above about 200mg.

OP, have you tried trazodone, up to 200ish mg? Vistaril about 100mg? A baby does of thorazine (25-50) or even something like a tiny bit of zyprexa?

 

[Quickfixgrrl]

is pretty expansive yes ... there is an effect with antipsychotics of (presumably and also with novel neuroleptics, inter alia) dopamine stopping to be downregulated and then a further increase in symptoms. This is notorious with Clozapine but present in other drugs and can lead to serious symptoms up to mania and psychosis far worse than what was being treated. I'll readily believe anxiety and sleeplessness.

If you're taking it regularly this will pass as you become accustomed to it. If you take it infrequently, you can expect some nasty effects above about 200mg.

OP, have you tried trazodone, up to 200ish mg? Vistaril about 100mg? A baby does of thorazine (25-50) or even something like a tiny bit of zyprexa?

I haven't tried anything to combat my chronic anxiety except for antidepressants and for a while Mirtazpine as an aside. Nothing worked for me. I was on Lexapro which was useless and then Zoloft which made all of my symptoms worse.. to the point where I had to quit my job and didn't feel like being alive anymore. As soon as I was switched to Effexor combined with Seroquel I finally, after years, feel so much better. (Except when I've run out of benzos and feel moody and anxious and so very irritable).
It's almost unreal because I had honestly given up. I've never heard of the meds you've mentioned but will look into them.
Maybe I could start 200mgs of a night time on a regular basis as the 100 just isn't cutting it anymore. I'm scared of increasing though... and becoming tolerant and upping again..

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[SKL]

I haven't tried anything to combat my chronic anxiety except for antidepressants and for a while Mirtazpine as an aside. Nothing worked for me. I was on Lexapro which was useless and then Zoloft which made all of my symptoms worse.. to the point where I had to quit my job and didn't feel like being alive anymore. As soon as I was switched to Effexor combined with Seroquel I finally, after years, feel so much better. It's almost unreal because I had honestly given up. I've never heard of the meds you've mentioned but will look into them.

trazodone - Antidepressant but very widely used for sleep. Will knock you out. Some people are good with a small dose some people need more than is commonly prescribed. Can have you a little tired in the AM depending on how long you get to sleep. Worthwhile.
vistaril - basically stronger version of Benadryl plus a weak 5ht blocker (traz & cpz & olz are too) which means it has some anxiety effect. 50-100mg for sleep, ~50mg as a prn for anxiety.
thorazine - hardcore old school anti psychotic. a last measure for sleep but works. 25-50 or up to 100 for sleep.
zyprexa - a hardcore new school anti-psychotic. can make you diabetic but not at the doses we're talking about if you're reasonably healthy. probably the sketchiest drug on the list to be honest. 5mg-ish.

 

[Quickfixgrrl]

trazodone - Antidepressant but very widely used for sleep. Will knock you out. Some people are good with a small dose some people need more than is commonly prescribed. Can have you a little tired in the AM depending on how long you get to sleep. Worthwhile.
vistaril - basically stronger version of Benadryl plus a weak 5ht blocker (trazodone & thorazine are too) which means it has some anxiety effect. 50-100mg for sleep, ~50mg as a prn for anxiety.
thorazine - hardcore old school anti psychotic. a last measure for sleep but works. 25-50 or up to 100 for sleep.
zyprexa - a hardcore new school anti-psychotic. can make you diabetic but not at the doses we're talking about if you're reasonably healthy. probably the sketchiest drug on the list to be honest. 5mg-ish.

Thank you.

 

[Zonxx]

ive described how bad seroquel can affect people in the past, and well theyre more private stories, but my first experience with 200mg of the stuff was when i was about 15 and asked my mother for something to sleep and without giving a shit because i had an exam the next day and needed to sleep took it, well i woke up feeling completely blasted/wasted, and stumbled out of my room, i think i almost fell over a few times, i know i used to walk to school w my friend oly, lol. when he asked me "are you on something" and i told him i had a sleeping pill... well, on that exam i wrote an N instead of my whole name which is a super guarded secret mk, i remember stumbling over to the teachers desk to hand the thing in, she looked at me, and i look at her and slurred god was i slurring like i was drunk "what?" and she just shook her head lelel, i had a phys ed class that afternoon, it had started wearing off but i didn't feel confident enough for that shit, so i chilled with omar on the bench, i totally fell asleep and he ended up poking me, to which i asked him wtf he was doing, he woke me up to tell me the class was over, the librarian whom has seen me absolutely fucked up asked me if i wanted to hang out in the library for awhile, there were comfy recliner chairs, fuck yes i wanted to hang out there. and nothing eventful after that, took a good day to recover, Dont fuck w the stuff unless you absolutely have to

 

[Jabberwocky]

trazodone - Antidepressant but very widely used for sleep. Will knock you out. Some people are good with a small dose some people need more than is commonly prescribed. Can have you a little tired in the AM depending on how long you get to sleep. Worthwhile.
vistaril - basically stronger version of Benadryl plus a weak 5ht blocker (traz & cpz & olz are too) which means it has some anxiety effect. 50-100mg for sleep, ~50mg as a prn for anxiety.
thorazine - hardcore old school anti psychotic. a last measure for sleep but works. 25-50 or up to 100 for sleep.
zyprexa - a hardcore new school anti-psychotic. can make you diabetic but not at the doses we're talking about if you're reasonably healthy. probably the sketchiest drug on the list to be honest. 5mg-ish.

Add Abilify (Aripiprazole) to this list - also a newish anti-psychotic that works well to settle the obsessive / circular thought patterns that uinderpin many people's anxiety. Also one with the least side effects.

 

[Lucy20]

I don't agree with antipsychotics and antidepressants for sleep. Not for me anyway, i tried mirtazipine when I got off methadone and it made me even more depressed with mood swings but that could have been clean in 15 years. I feel better off them
Benzos are the best for anxiety for me and I can go from taking. .5 clonazepam a few times a day to days with none after a few years. I don't really get physically addicted to benzos for some odd reason. Alot have trouble using therapeutically
Zopiclone or another actual sleeping med is safer imo
But what works for me doesn't work for others.
I just feel uncomfortable with antipsychotics for sleep but I know nothing of their actions

 

[Quickfixgrrl]

The fact that it helps me sleep is a bonus. I'm taking it as a mood stabilizer primarily and also an anxiety med. It's not only used for psychotic conditions and I've found it usually works very well. My concern was taking irregular doses here and there if I'd run out of my clonazepam. I was adding extra Seroquel to my day as a replacement and was/ am worried that my body will get used to the higher doses and no longer work at my preferred dose. I'm also taking Effexor for depression, it has no impact on my sleep.
Mitazapine was useless for me when I was on it. I have improved massively since starting the combo I'm on, and this is literally after years of trying other medications.
Thanks all for your input and advice

 

[TripSitterNZ]

i Knew people who would do seroquel as a recreational drug taking up to 600 mg. I did it a few times purely to put me out for long periods using 200 mg+. Always felt mega refreshed but even the next day i would completely asleep. Slept for 18 hour straight stone cold knocked out on 200 mg seroquel and 2.5 mg xannax after i took them on the comedown of my acid trip i also had edibles a joint and did ritalin along with them the one thing i remember doing while that fucked up before it completely knocked me out was drinking out of the toilet because my mouth was so dry.