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Misc Peoples experiences with Quetiapine (Seroquel)

I have been on 300mg for sleep for a year now and it is the best sleep aid I've ever been on I am glad that they are precibing it as such because they never did a study on it as a sleep aid even though it works better as on then an aniticycotic since I take lemectil as well witch does work as intended this drug has made my life so much better
 
Benzodiazepines are not a drug to be passed out willy nilly they have serious side effects if you stop using them such as sezior as well as a high addiction rate there is no proven data showing Seroquil is addictive I think Drs are right in giving it for sleep I have been told it is not effective for panic attacks that would be benzodiazepines or something similar they do help panic attacks but should be used in addition to other anxiety meds I take Adivan for my panic attacks but only as needed for dependence on it is high. I think this medicine should be listed as a sleep aid as well since it is proven to work it is a trancqulizer more then anything else. Coming from someone that knows the people that did the initial study they even originally said it could be used for sleep but decided to market it differently
 
It is safe to use as a sleeping pill Ik the people who created the drug or my father does and in the initial studies they found it was a better sleep aid then anything else but decided to market it differently that's why doctors use it for sleep I've been on it for a year with no ill effects as long as u get enough sleep to let it be effective and no be groggy in the morning which goes away after a few weeks of use. Also it is great for people with night terrors for it keeps u in rem sleep and if u have one its passive were u pretty much just toss and turn instead of screaming and going all exorcist on ur partner or the person ur dating I would recommend this drug highly to anyone that needs sleep over any other during most other drugs have serious side effects from long term use which can be very serious
 
Careful with trazadone if you are a male long term use can case ED and penile swelling were they have to drain the blood build up this has happened to my friend that were on it long yet Seroquil does not have these bad side effects if used for sleep properly and doses raised in increments if you get the alotted sleep with it there are no negative effects if you use it incorrectly there can be some drunk like effects but once u experience that u won't do it again and use the drug properly also make sure that ur doctor checks the reactions with ur other meds if you are on them
 
The only side effect I've noticed is an anticholinergic-like dry mouth. Other than that it is the only thing besides opiates and benzos that touches my insomnia. I really need some insurance so I can get back on it. Funny/stupid story: I once ate 600mgs with my chocolate milk at breakfast when I was a freshman so I could sleep the day away. By second period I was asking to call some to pick me up due to a migraine while nodding off in between every other word.
 
I've tried Seroquel.
For sleep.
All too many people have tried it for this purpose when its actually not a sleep aid at all and is actually an antipsychotic meaning that the medication was made for people with disorders like schizophrenia, etc and not insomnia. And even then its a pretty potent medication which shouldnt be just taken without trying safer alternatives first.

Luckily my Dr. isn't stupid enough to prescribe Seroquel for sleep and i just got one pill to try off a buddy that time that i did try it.

However, I have found many Drs do prescribe Seroquel for sleep when it really shouldn't be. Well definitely not as a first choice. There are other medications out there which are more specifically targeted for sleep like Trazadone and Remeron/Mirtazapine.
My favourite is Mirtazapine. Iv'e tried Trazadone but not with much success - However it depends on the patient. I know many people who swear by Trazadone. I just find that it helps put me to sleep but doesn't do a very good job keeping me asleep. Mitazapine on the other hand puts me to sleep, keeps me asleep and allows me to wake up feeling pretty decent aka not groggy too.

Not to mention that seroquel has many negative side effects when it comes to ones health - When compared to a lot of other medications.
I know its really bad for your liver and its enzymes among other things. Probably not the greatest for your brain either as it blocks dopamine - You can utfse to find more info on the negative health effects of using seroquel as there is plenty. It is also a pretty addictive medication if used often too.
 
When I was in detox in the late 90's Seroquel was the only thing they gave me that would put e to sleep. They gave me chloral hydrate but that shit was crazy,my eyes would be closed and I'd be laying down but was conscious of everything going on around me.Seroquel good for sleep blows for recreational!
 
I took it for about 6 months for the antipsychotic effect, did help sleep but after going up to 900mg it wasn't helping much with hallucinations so I switched to risperdal. Also it made me gain about 10 pounds which wasn't really a problem for me but for some it could be. That shit makes you hungry and lethargic!
 
jamesmartin said:
I've tried Seroquel.
For sleep.
All too many people have tried it for this purpose when its actually not a sleep aid at all and is actually an antipsychotic meaning that the medication was made for people with disorders like schizophrenia, etc and not insomnia. And even then its a pretty potent medication which shouldnt be just taken without trying safer alternatives first.

Luckily my Dr. isn't stupid enough to prescribe Seroquel for sleep and i just got one pill to try off a buddy that time that i did try it.

However, I have found many Drs do prescribe Seroquel for sleep when it really shouldn't be. Well definitely not as a first choice. There are other medications out there which are more specifically targeted for sleep like Trazadone and Remeron/Mirtazapine.
My favourite is Mirtazapine. Iv'e tried Trazadone but not with much success - However it depends on the patient. I know many people who swear by Trazadone. I just find that it helps put me to sleep but doesn't do a very good job keeping me asleep. Mitazapine on the other hand puts me to sleep, keeps me asleep and allows me to wake up feeling pretty decent aka not groggy too.

Not to mention that seroquel has many negative side effects when it comes to ones health - When compared to a lot of other medications.
I know its really bad for your liver and its enzymes among other things. Probably not the greatest for your brain either as it blocks dopamine - You can utfse to find more info on the negative health effects of using seroquel as there is plenty. It is also a pretty addictive medication if used often too.
Click to expand...

Golden post mate, lots of good info. I forgot about the liver issues. Any idea whether if it's high doses that are bad for the liver or is it just bad all the way around? I'm worried as my 13 year old sister takes 100mgs for sleep and my dad has been on 900mgs a day for like a decade. I still think I'm going to try to get back on a lowish dose because it really is the only non addictive drug that can put me to sleep. My mother also mentioned that my sister's neurologist said there are studies show that it may be used to combat G.A.D. or even better it could help with my crippling social anxiety/agoraphobia. Fingers crossed...
 
I had gone through opiate induced psychosis a few times and the first time it happened the doctors were unsure if I had some major underlining psych issues so they put me on 1000mg of seroquel.

I remember feeling like forest gump, it felt like I talked like him, I was basically chemically lobotomized.

It would knock me out cold, that is for someone who was used to taking 240mg of methadone and a quart of whiskey daily.

It made me gain 60 pounds and then I got tested for diabetes and the doctor told me I needed to start taking meds for that, at which point I relapsed on heroin, stopped taking seroquel, loss the 60 pounds and was fine except for the opiate dependency.

I think seroquel is bad news, I know I was on a very high dose but I still feel that only people who are locked away from society should be prescribed it.
 
FlawedByeDesign said:
Golden post mate, lots of good info. I forgot about the liver issues. Any idea whether if it's high doses that are bad for the liver or is it just bad all the way around? I'm worried as my 13 year old sister takes 100mgs for sleep and my dad has been on 900mgs a day for like a decade. I still think I'm going to try to get back on a lowish dose because it really is the only non addictive drug that can put me to sleep. My mother also mentioned that my sister's neurologist said there are studies show that it may be used to combat G.A.D. or even better it could help with my crippling social anxiety/agoraphobia. Fingers crossed...
Click to expand...

I would believe no matter what dose you are on Seroquel is never good for you and is most likely the opposite aka bad for you.
Of course though, it goes without saying that the higher the dose the worse for you it will be and the more pressure it will be putting on your body (including the liver yes) and brain.

If you are going to use it then for the sakes of harm reduction start of low and work your way up until you find a dose which works for you.

I'm no Dr... But knowing that some Dr's prescribe Seroquel for sleep (Which is a big no no especially if you haven't tried medications intended for sleep & are safer or less toxic first. Something that seems all too common these days from reading forums such as Bluelight, etc) makes me question if I am just as clever if not more clever than some Drs. lol.

I have never taken a dose bigger than 50mg.
I find 30mg to be sedating enough. I remember the first time i took it, i took 30mg and i was almost glued/paralyzed to my bed.
I remember semi-getting up once in the night as i needed to pee (drank more than usual before bed) but was so bloody sedated I had to hold it until the effects were reduced a bit. It was only then I could actually stand up and go to the bathroom.
Even when i managed to do this however, the body load and sedation i felt from the Seroquel was extremely powerful.

I remember the morning after using it for the first time one of the most pervasive thoughts going on in my mind at the time was questioning how my friend (the one who gave me them to try) and many others take 100mg or more of this shit on a daily basis ! - Many of whom do this when it's first prescribed with no tolerance to the drug as well 0_0

I was originally going to listen to my friend & the internet when they suggested I take 100mg or at least 50mg minimum my first time. But i'm so glad i didn't listen. If i took the 100mg my guess is that I would have literally slept for maybe close to 40 hours.
The 30mg already made me sleep a good 12 hours and had me waking up kinda groggy. Tbh if I didn't use it on a weekend like I did and used it during the week when i have work &/or classes idk how i would force myself to get up lol after taking Seroquel the night prior.

Or well I don't take it at all and only took it a few times so who knows (people who take Seroquel regularly?) - Maybe when taken more often, Seroquel tolerance kicks in and the super strong sedating effects become more bearable and not so intense.
BUT ^ tolerance to Seroquel is not exactly something you want as it can be addictive and have some pretty nasty withdrawals. To withdrawal you would have to taper off the medication. Something which may sound easy but i know a few people trying to quit it and are tapering. They are finding it extremely hard.

One of my good friends has been taking it for almost 2 years now and over the last 6 months has trying to be tapering off Seroquel to the point where his dose is so low he can stop.
He's told me that the withdrawals from the medication make him feel like utter shit. He can barley sleep and when he does the sleep isn't of good quality. He is also having nightmares more often, thrashes around in bed.

From this lack of sleep he feels fatigued every day, irritable and not in the greatest state of mind.
Sometimes he caves because of this or other reasons, can't take it and takes a larger dose that will stop his Seroquel w/d but kind of ruin his taper regime which he has come so far with until he caved.
Not to mention some more worrying side effects or withdrawal effects he's told me that he's getting and aren't uncommon amongst others weaning of Seroquel... More physical effects like akathisia, restless legs, tardive dyskenia, liver issues and other side effects such as a higher risk of parkinsons desiese when older especially from meds playing around with the brain's dopamine reuptake.

Anyways, yeah definitely try it if you want. But if you can try and ask your Dr. about trying some safer.
Like i mentioned earlier there are much, much safer and less toxic options available in terms of medications for insomnia.
My favourites include Remeron (Mirtazapine), Trazadone, St. Johns Wort, Valerian, marijuana (For some. I know for some it can keep you awake. Strain can also play an important role in it's success for insomnia treatment) and if they don't work then Benzodiazepines...

Benzos i don't believe are good for you either and would advise against using them unless you really need it and have tried other, safer/less toxic/less side effect meds first (aka the other ones in the list above). In fact benzos aren't good for you at all and i find they are horrible when it comes to the side effects they have on ones cognitive function which i guess can be reduced by taking a small dose vs large dose - but this doesn't make the cognitive side effect completely go away. Just reduced.
However, even though I believe benzos are bad for you & don't think you should take them unless really necessary I personally still believe they do less damage to ones body when compared Seroquel. And this is the only reason as to why i listed it ^

My favourite sleep aid would be either Remeron (Mirtazapine) or a heavy indica weed strain with not much weed tolerance in me (With high tolerance I find weed barley works. However after coming back from a tolerance break from weed when having a low tolerance I find it is then that it works like a charm for helping one get to sleep and stay asleep.).

I would recommend them^ and they are my favourites as they...
1) Get me to sleep and keep me asleep. Something that keeps me asleep is something I need as I have more of a problem with that than getting to sleep.
2) Seem, feel safe, least toxic and have low side effect profiles (both short term and long term) when compared to other medications used for insomnia.
3) Don't make me nearly as groggy and/or out of it in the morning and throughout the day when compared to other medications used for insomnia. After waking from using these medications before falling asleep I feel my cognitive functions haven't been negatively effected all too much - Especially when compared to other medications like Seroquel or Olanzapine aka Zyprexa (an psychotic which shouldn't have been prescribed to me in the past for sleep but was anyways -_-. A year later after being prescribed it I've still got the box of pills, untouched lol.)
I mean theres nothing better than a drug free, good quality sleep. But for many of us that is hard to come by and I feel my favourite medications for insomnia that help me come closest to sleeping a drug free, good quality sleep would be Mirtazapine &/or Cannabis.
4) They seem to have the least addictive qualities... Sure, blasting some opiates every night or taking a handful of benzos would make me sleep and keep me asleep great but at the same time it would be a terrible idea as the addiction formed is not worth the good sleep. This applies to Seroquel, Olanzapine and even Trazadone. However, i find when i've used Mirtazapine or Cannabis a bit too often, more than I've liked or too much it's easier vs the other meds i've mentioned to stop with side effects/withdrawal symptoms no where near as bad as the other insomnia medications mentioned in my post.

Hopefully this helps! :)
 
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its great for my insomnia which I tried literally everything else for and after years of benzodiazepine dependency i said fuck it and started trying antipsychotics and my first choice was quetiapine, and I was lucky enough to have been right in my research about which medication would be the best for me to try next and have it work and not have a horrible dependency and withdrawal like benzos.
 
Don't they now more prescribe it for its off label use as a sleep aid? that's how I got it, and it worked very very well. But since Im now on effexor, not so sure it'd be a good combo. But since ambien doesn't work, I might ask anyway.
 
David Wooderson said:
I had gone through opiate induced psychosis a few times and the first time it happened the doctors were unsure if I had some major underlining psych issues so they put me on 1000mg of seroquel.

I remember feeling like forest gump, it felt like I talked like him, I was basically chemically lobotomized.

It would knock me out cold, that is for someone who was used to taking 240mg of methadone and a quart of whiskey daily.

It made me gain 60 pounds and then I got tested for diabetes and the doctor told me I needed to start taking meds for that, at which point I relapsed on heroin, stopped taking seroquel, loss the 60 pounds and was fine except for the opiate dependency.

I think seroquel is bad news, I know I was on a very high dose but I still feel that only people who are locked away from society should be prescribed it.
Click to expand...
I'm on two 100mg dose and one 200mg dose for my schizophrenia and I don't think people who need medications like this should be locked away. Should we lock up people who are bi-polar as well? Seroquel is a god send if you're on a crash or going mental, it really helps the major down side is how much is slows you down. You can't feel enjoyment out of thinks like normal without stimulants or any recreational drugs tbh. But that's what it's pretty much designed to do.
 
BritishLad said:
I'm on two 100mg dose and one 200mg dose for my schizophrenia and I don't think people who need medications like this should be locked away. Should we lock up people who are bi-polar as well? Seroquel is a god send if you're on a crash or going mental, it really helps the major down side is how much is slows you down. You can't feel enjoyment out of thinks like normal without stimulants or any recreational drugs tbh. But that's what it's pretty much designed to do.
Click to expand...

Didn't mean to be insensitive, but I do have personal experience dealing with psychotic people, who are locked away. Every person I have met in person who was not a danger to other people and was made to take it, hated the medicine, as it made them retarded. In my observation yes, some bi polar ppl should be locked away. But then again I'm not the kind of person who lowered the bar for bi polar diagnosis to where damn near everyone can be diagnosed.
 
Fascinating thread I'm currently on 50mgs a day, just started seems to be an effect building up now I've been on it for about a week. As others have said maybe a deeper sleep, experiencing a slightly dry mouth, and I would say looks like I'm gaining a bit of weight on it. I'm prescribed it for bipolar. As a side note has anyone else with bipolar/manic depression considered self medication with ketamine? Seems to be some some fairly conclusive evidence it is proven to be a powerful anti-depressant. I was considering using 333mg weekly split between 2 IM doses https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00088699
 
Replying to "Cliffy78" or anyone else who has experienced side effects from taking Seroquel (Quetiapine) for insomnia. I'm a staff writer at The Washington Post where I write mostly about mental health. I'm currently working on a story about the abnormally high off-label use of atypical antipsychotics. So I'm hoping someone out there would be willing to speak with me on the record about their difficulties with the drug. I'm especially curious if your doctor told you beforehand that it was an anti-psychotic...You can reach me at: [email protected]
In the interests of transparency, I am bipolar, have written about it for The Post and elsewhere, and take medication -- although NOT seroquel.
Thanks in advance!
Amy Nutt (yep, that's for real, unfortunately)
 
Quetiapine is good for getting to sleep. I usually take 25mg at night. It feels similar to Diphendhydramide

When I took higher (50mg-75mg) I didn't like the effect at all. I think it's a dissasociative, and made me feel very strange and panicked a bit. I'm absolutely stunned that some people are prescribed hundreds of miligrams doses - I can't imagine what that would be like
 
It was good for getting to sleep that's for sure but waking up was hell.
Like the original poster I had lucid dreams where I felt half awake/half asleep and more often they were closer to night terrors, not like nightmares I'd experienced before but usually very violent and gory.
I don't recall my doses, I know I started low and then went to a very high dose to treat bipolar. I only took it for a few months because I didn't feel like I could function, I could barely wake up, I would lie in bed feeling physically incapable of moving my hand to turn off my alarm clock.

I was shocked when I was in inpatient rehab (for alcohol) at how easily they offered it to everyone for sleep.
Every night when I was receiving my last round of meds they'd just casually ask if we wanted something for sleep and your choice was between Seroquel and something I don't remember. And that was on top of withdrawal meds and whatever else we might be taking like antideppressants or different mood stabilizers.
 
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