Mental Health Quetiapine (Seroquel) for sleeping/mood disorder

[llama112]

I'm already prescribed pregabalin (Lyrica) for anxiety (100mg 3x/day). I have an "undiagnosed mood disorder" (basically psychiatrists won't bother to take the time to figure it out) but they have mentioned it could be BPD. I also have issues sleeping... I'm already past melatonin and the natural stuff unfortunately, even benzos don't work for sleeping, quetiapine/Seroquel is the only thing that works. I went to my doctor for some more (after getting trial run from ER) and he prescribed it daily for three months; I was just thinking occasional use but happy with that. Then the pharmacist doesn't realize it's for sleeping so he says take it every day, don't skip a day. I see online that it can help with mood disorders. I'm wondering I guess if anyone has experience with it?

I'm guessing pregabalin AND quetiapine are maybe not a common combo so I'm not sure if anyone else has experience on both. But anyone with anxiety/mood disorder/insomnia who might have experience? Any input?

I've been taking it for almost a week. Sleep has been LOVELY ohmygosh getting to sleep during the night is amazing (often times it literally takes all night to sleep so I fall asleep at like 8 AM) but I've also been sick so it's hard to judge if it's helping my mood issues or not. I guess it should take another week before anything shows. And I'm taking the lowest dosage (25mg). Plus I guess it's hard to tell if it's the meds that would help my mood or getting a good nights sleep every night that helps my mood.

I feel like I'm taking so many meds but I'll worry about reducing them later, once I get a bit more settled in life!!

 

[SebastianSkip]

Hi,

At 25mg seroquel isn’t an antipsychotic but acts like an antihistamine, you don’t get anti psych unless you go higher. There is no benefit to taking it daily if you’re taking for sleep. It’s basically like taking Benadryl but takes longer for a tolerance to build (if you’ve ever tried taking diphenhydramine nightly you’ll know it quickly takes more to get same effect).

You may be better off skipping days. I’ve heard good things about seroquel as a sleep aide in terms of getting sleep but also that rebound insomnia can be bad. I loved that it gave me ‘a break’ where I’d just pass out but it also made me ravenously hungry.

I take gabapentin prescribed for pain but it ended up being the best thing ever for anxiety (which in turn made me much less depressed). If you don’t already know, gabapentin & lyrical are very similar medications. I think I took both briefly but the gabapentin really took away the need for seroquel which was mostly helpful when I was very depressed and got really anxious.

Personally, I wouldn’t take an antipsych med for a mood disorder unless my behavior could be harmful to myself or others. It really bothers me that anti psychs are now run of the mill ad-ons for unipolar depression.

eta:

I'm already past melatonin and the natural stuff unfortunately, even benzos don't work for sleeping, quetiapine/Seroquel is the only thing that works.

It occurred to me you probably already know the facts re meds you’re taking and weren’t asking for that info, I’ll leave it up for others who aren’t familiar tho

a little more about my experience with seroquel tho, 25mg as needed...

Seroquel wasn’t a great sleep aide for me and I cannot remember why exactly, I think it stopped working. I know I’d end up in the kitchen stuffing my face rather than sleep, it was most helpful before I took gabapentin when I had suicidal depression to calm me the f- down when I wanted to off myself.

A neighbor gave me their insomnia cocktail once and it was the only thing to work during a stubborn bout of insomnia. It was taking: valerian, magnesium and melatonin all at once. I know you’ve tried the natural route but just in case you hadn’t tried that combo and need something else.

 

[llama112]

Aha yeah I knew most of that although didn't know about it not being anti psych at only 25 mg. That info was very helpful! Ohhh dipenhydramine, I got to the max of that (and then some). (and yeah that would definitely be helpful for others! not everyone knows gabapentin as so similar to pregabalin, etc.)

For me, my mood disorder can be pretty bad and harmful so I would be happy to have that reduced. Mostly harmful to myself (self harm, and just doing generally irresponsible things that I normally wouldn't do, especially since I'm generally very responsible).

But yeah I've been taking it every day but now it doesn't work for sleep! I was able to try out Seroquel and it worked SO WELL for me when I had a small amount so I told my doctor and he gave me months worth.

I doubt I've tried that exact combo (all three of those at a time). I tried Valerian on it's own and didn't get any effect from it (I tried it way back before I even started on dipenhydramine and was only using melatonin). Melatonin worked for a while. I have magnesium, I forget if I tried that. I'll try that combo!

The tolerance is really what gets me, I mean, things work for a while, and then they stop working. Or you increase to the max and have to try something new

Note: I haven't noticed any difference in my mood disorder and I've taken it every day. I figure I might as well try it and monitor the results anyway. Just in case, I guess, lol

 

[SebastianSkip]

I maybe shouldn’t knock anti-psychs as add-on anti depression treatments. I imagine they can be really helpful especially if, like me, one is dealing with an agitated depression (that’s when I’d self harm). I just get weirded out by commercials for the stuff but medication commercials generally weird me out.

Yea, it’s pretty unfair how sleep aides, if they do work, don’t seem to last. When I had really bad insomnia I’d occasionally find a way to sleep somewhere else like at a friends or my parents for a night. I even went to a hostel a couple of times. I don’t know why but I could sleep better if I wasn’t in my own bed. It’s not a long term solution but it helped me not go completely bonkers from sleep deprivation a few times.

I feel for ya, hope you get some relief soon!

 

[chompy]

I take 25mg to 50mg for sleep. Works wonders. Ambien and all that other stuff just doesn't work for me.