Seroquel/Quetiapine—side effects, withdrawal, EPS?

[MrBrightside2129]

Hey everyone, I’m on 200mg IR Seroquel and 15mg Mirtazapine.

I’m a 28 y/o 220lb male who was hospitalized in October for debilitating tinnitus-induced insomnia and at that time, was on 300mg Seroquel. In a month I dropped down to 250, then in another month down to 225. For all intents and purposes I basically stayed on this dose until April 1st, when I dropped down to 200mg. I am 7 months in now and just dropped to ~187mg last night.

I’m glad I’ve been reducing the dose because around the end of March, I noticed a VERY SLIGHT tremor in my hand when using a dropper for skin care. This tremor has become more pronounced and when I lift weights my whole body feels like it’s shaking with certain exercises. I’ve been lifting for 12 years and have never experienced this sensation. It is incredibly upsetting and I fear that this will be a long-lasting or permanent EPS of Seroquel.

However, because of the reduction dates and timing of this symptom’s appearance, I can’t accurately say whether this is PAWS or a tardive side effect of quetiapine. Sometimes a body part of mine will twitch. Sometimes when I move my neck it feels more jerky and less smooth. My hands shake a bit which is apparent with food on my fork and with my skincare regimen. When I flex my forearm/wrist/hand will shake uncontrollably. It’s not severe, but it’s unsettling.

My questions for people who have been on seroquel: did you ever experience this trembling/twitching/shaking? Did it appear late? Did it appear during withdrawal? Did it dissipate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Aeon Psyche]

No, i've used seroquel a bunch of times when i really can't sleep. It's just very sedating and honestly i find it quite useless medication if you are not in a psychotic state. It also changes your metabolism so after long use you will gain weight. I lost my sixpack a long time ago because of anti-psychotics. The mirtazepine is probably more the cause of any twitching which i've used for quite a while now. I never noticed any withdrawl effects from either meds. I have the shakes nowadays when i smoke, probably because my lungs are fucked. Anyway, i have spastic movements from lyrica but i use quite high doses. some alcohol and benzos always help in this case. But i refuse to mix trazodone or seroquel when i combine all the other ish i mentioned. Try quitting and see if a complete sober state with lots of fruitjuice and water help your condition, that's my recipy for when things get a bit to hectic. Like for example, i fell a couple of times because i was so high and fell on a small piece of furniture and broke the legs so it's trash now. anyway, only use seroquel if you actually need it to prevent psychosis or want to abort a psychedelic trip. Fucking lyrica makes it hard to type sometimes. annoying for a computer addict like myself. Well, i think you should look elsewhere to diagnose your problem but I cannot say that i am absolutely sure. Good luck.

 

[MrBrightside2129]

No, i've used seroquel a bunch of times when i really can't sleep. It's just very sedating and honestly i find it quite useless medication if you are not in a psychotic state. It also changes your metabolism so after long use you will gain weight. I lost my sixpack a long time ago because of anti-psychotics. The mirtazepine is probably more the cause of any twitching which i've used for quite a while now. I never noticed any withdrawl effects from either meds. I have the shakes nowadays when i smoke, probably because my lungs are fucked. Anyway, i have spastic movements from lyrica but i use quite high doses. some alcohol and benzos always help in this case. But i refuse to mix trazodone or seroquel when i combine all the other ish i mentioned. Try quitting and see if a complete sober state with lots of fruitjuice and water help your condition, that's my recipy for when things get a bit to hectic. Like for example, i fell a couple of times because i was so high and fell on a small piece of furniture and broke the legs so it's trash now. anyway, only use seroquel if you actually need it to prevent psychosis or want to abort a psychedelic trip. Fucking lyrica makes it hard to type sometimes. annoying for a computer addict like myself. Well, i think you should look elsewhere to diagnose your problem but I cannot say that i am absolutely sure. Good luck.

Thanks. I can’t rip myself off of it cold turkey because I will not sleep and side effects may get worse. What dose of Seroquel do you take and how long have you been on it?

 

[JessFR]

Hello @MrBrightside2129, welcome to bluelight.

I have only been on seroquel once for anxiety for a short period of time, so unfortunately I don't have a lot of experience with its side effects.

You mentioned PAWS, have you recently stopped taking opioids? Regardless, tremor is not generally a symptom of opioid withdrawal.

I hope someone else can give you a better answer than mine, all I feel I can suggest is seeing a doctor.

Id like to again welcome you to bluelight, but I also must ask that you please not create duplicate posts in different areas of the site.

In this instance, I would guess the best area for your question might be the other drugs forum.

 

[MrBrightside2129]

Hello @MrBrightside2129, welcome to bluelight.

I have only been on seroquel once for anxiety for a short period of time, so unfortunately I don't have a lot of experience with its side effects.

You mentioned PAWS, have you recently stopped taking opioids? Regardless, tremor is not generally a symptom of opioid withdrawal.

I hope someone else can give you a better answer than mine, all I feel I can suggest is seeing a doctor.

Id like to again welcome you to bluelight, but I also must ask that you please not create duplicate posts in different areas of the site.

In this instance, I would guess the best area for your question might be the other drugs forum.

Thank you. Sorry for the duplicates, but I had no idea of where to post and have gone unanswered in at mental health forum.net

No street drugs. Just this terrible shit.

 

[JessFR]

I understand.

A lot of us live in different parts of the world and check bluelight at different times of the day, so it can sometimes take a little while to get an answer.

You said you were on 300mg seroquel last October, how long had you been on it then?

 

[MrBrightside2129]

I understand.

A lot of us live in different parts of the world and check bluelight at different times of the day, so it can sometimes take a little while to get an answer.

You said you were on 300mg seroquel last October, how long had you been on it then?

Oh, i meant another forum. If you could leave them up for just a day I’d be incredibly grateful because I’m quite scared at the moment.

 

[JessFR]

I can imagine. I'm really sorry for what you're going through.

I'm only directly a moderator for this part of the site (health and recovery). So it's not really my call what happens to the others.

To my interpretation, the one in other drugs is probably the best place for it, would you be OK if I closed your thread here, but moved the messages already here over there, and left a message here indicating that the thread has been moved there?

So basically, id close this one, but leave a message here for anyone who reads it indicating where they can reply. That sound OK?

 

[MrBrightside2129]

Sure, thanks.

 

[JessFR]

No problem.

If I may ask, how long have you been on seroquel? It seems like the seroquel would be the most likely reason for the tremor since it's a known side effect.

If so, it's probably only started recently and hopefully your doctor will be able to take you off it or reduce the dose or something and the tremor will go away.

Again, if you don't mind my asking, what are you on the seroquel for? You don't have to answer I was just wondering because if the tremor is a side effect, it wouldn't be surprising if your doctor wanted to take you off it.

I'm not sure, unfortunately this isn't an issue I'm super familiar with. I've been on seroquel, but wasn't for very long, and only 50 or 100mg,i forget which.

 

[MrBrightside2129]

No problem.

If I may ask, how long have you been on seroquel? It seems like the seroquel would be the most likely reason for the tremor since it's a known side effect.

If so, it's probably only started recently and hopefully your doctor will be able to take you off it or reduce the dose or something and the tremor will go away.

Again, if you don't mind my asking, what are you on the seroquel for? You don't have to answer I was just wondering because if the tremor is a side effect, it wouldn't be surprising if your doctor wanted to take you off it.

I'm not sure, unfortunately this isn't an issue I'm super familiar with. I've been on seroquel, but wasn't for very long, and only 50 or 100mg,i forget which.

I’m on seroquel for tinnitus-induced insomnia. I was sleeping for 3 hours on 10mg Ambien and would have to get up and take 5mg or more to get back to sleep. The psych upped my dose from 100 to 200 to 300 over the course of my hospital stay because I just wasn’t sleeping with them and he wanted to avoid use of benzos, which is understandable, but the potential for permanent EPS is what is scaring me the most right now. I’m working on reducing the dose and hopefully will be able to remain sleeping at ~187mg and lower. I could honestly deal with this side effect if I knew it’s nature and that it was temporary.

 

[JessFR]

I’m on seroquel for tinnitus-induced insomnia. I was sleeping for 3 hours on 10mg Ambien and would have to get up and take 5mg or more to get back to sleep. The psych upped my dose from 100 to 200 to 300 over the course of my hospital stay because I just wasn’t sleeping with them and he wanted to avoid use of benzos, which is understandable, but the potential for permanent EPS is what is scaring me the most right now. I’m working on reducing the dose and hopefully will be able to remain sleeping at ~187mg and lower. I could honestly deal with this side effect if I knew it’s nature and that it was temporary.

The tremor you're experiencing is very minor right now yeah?

If it is the seroquel causing it, and that sounds likely, then the tremor will probably disappear if you get off the seroquel. Which unfortunately you might need too.

Dunno, hopefully your doctor will have a better idea of what you should do.

While extrapyramidal symptoms can be permanent, one this small and acted on this early seems unlikely to be.

 

[MrBrightside2129]

The tremor you're experiencing is very minor right now yeah?

If it is the seroquel causing it, and that sounds likely, then the tremor will probably disappear if you get off the seroquel. Which unfortunately you might need too.

Dunno, hopefully your doctor will have a better idea of what you should do.

While extrapyramidal symptoms can be permanent, one this small and acted on this early seems unlikely to be.

Isn’t abruptly stopping after 7 months of medication extremely dangerous? Would a fast taper with Ambien/clonazepam as a PRN be more advisable?

 

[JessFR]

Isn’t abruptly stopping after 7 months of medication extremely dangerous? Would a fast taper with Ambien/clonazepam as a PRN be more advisable?

Far as I know abruptly stopping seroquel isn't usually dangerous, but it can have withdrawal symptoms that could be unpleasant and warrant tapering off it over a couple weeks.

Seroquel is not a benzodiazepine and doesn't to my knowledge operate on GABA receptors so I'm not sure why a benzodiazepine would be warranted. I don't think Ambien would be either. Other than that it would help with insomnia, which is apparently a seroquel discontinuation side effect.

But again these are all things hopefully your doctor will have a better idea about.

 

[Aeon Psyche]

I only take it occasionally as i prefer other medication and i don't have psychosis, but it can happen with the wrong drugs. Like methadone for example, makes me psychotic. I take 200mg or 300mg pills, if i taka 400mg my heart rate goes up to much to feel comfortable. I never noticed any withdrawl from any anti-psychotic. And i have taken pretty much most that are prescribed in the years i spent in psychiatry.

Is he insane or a genius?

 

[CfZrx]

AP's are hard to kick due to rebound insomnia IME. That's great you're reducing. I found that at 50 mg it did the same damn thing it did at 200 once I adjusted to the dose. Much easier to deal with the food cravings at a lower dose That overeating seems to be the main cause of a perceived change in metabolism, because when I forced some discipline in my nightly feeding, the weight disappeared. ...Until I got to Gabapentin, and now I am struggling to stay at 160. Hope to get back to 155 soon. Gabapentin sure erased a chunk of my pain though. Good luck! Careful of that racing heart stuff. I found that combining seroquel with other substances could lead to extreme pulse increase.

 

[MrBrightside2129]

AP's are hard to kick due to rebound insomnia IME. That's great you're reducing. I found that at 50 mg it did the same damn thing it did at 200 once I adjusted to the dose. Much easier to deal with the food cravings at a lower dose That overeating seems to be the main cause of a perceived change in metabolism, because when I forced some discipline in my nightly feeding, the weight disappeared. ...Until I got to Gabapentin, and now I am struggling to stay at 160. Hope to get back to 155 soon. Gabapentin sure erased a chunk of my pain though. Good luck! Careful of that racing heart stuff. I found that combining seroquel with other substances could lead to extreme pulse increase.

Good to know I shouldn’t be going through a ton of pain when reducing. The shaking is really unnerving though. I love lifting for the sense of power and control it elicits and my experience yesterday was incredibly depressing. Pronounced shaking for an hour or so after exercise as well. How long did it take you to reduce?

 

[CfZrx]

Good to know I shouldn’t be going through a ton of pain when reducing. The shaking is really unnerving though. I love lifting for the sense of power and control it elicits and my experience yesterday was incredibly depressing. Pronounced shaking for an hour or so after exercise as well. How long did it take you to reduce?

I can't recall exactly how slow I tapered. I have found however that If I take a small amount before I normally would at night, like 25mg at 7:30PM, then by 10PM I am starting to feel ready for bed, then I chew up another one and go to bed. If I was lucky, I would fall asleep, and when I wake in the middle of the night to go pee, I chew another 25mg and go to sleep.
So there is a strategy you may not have considered! Some variation on that may help as you push towards a lower dose.