Seroquel XR + Alcohol

[1114]

I saw those new commercials for Seroquil XR for depression and I was like "damn, this might suite my needs". It said on the website that alcohol might increase the side effects, but I'm currently taking Venlafaxine XR and drink regularly without any ill effects. I'm fairly certain that Venlafaxine carries the same caveat, so I'm wondering if the good people at Ratiopharm are blowing smoke up my ass again.

Anyone have experience with Seroquil XR and alcohol? Should I bother talking to my doctor about this? I don't want to have another awkward discussion about my drinking habits with that chick 8)

 

[Cane2theLeft]

Quetiapine fumarate (seroquel) is an antipsychotic and it feels disgusting. Its generally only used recreationally in prisons and even then, only shitty prisons where no one is shoving balloons of better drugs up their asses. Its not going to be fun but it is a powerful sedative so with alcohol it will probably just knock you out and/or kill the enjoyable part of the alcohol.

This isn't your topic so I won't spend a lot of time on it but, if you genuinely think you have neurotransmitter imbalances causing mental illness requiring psychotropic medication such as venlafaxine, using substances that adversely affect the stability of those neurotransmitter levels (such as alcohol) is counterproductive at best.

 

[NeighborhoodThreat]

^Exactly.

As Cane mentioned, Seroquel is an antipsychotic, not an antidepressant. Mixing it with alcohol only makes it shittier, if you ask me.

 

[fostersmith12]

Yeah, I did Seroquel when I was locked up, and it was pretty lame. It basically just put me to sleep.

 

[misszee007]

Seraquil is no fun. I took i think 30mgs' at once, just reading about it on Wiki. It had me out within an hour and if you are somewhere that you can sleep, it is HELL. Restless legs, dont know if your coming or going kind of sensations.

Even taking a small nibble of the pill in other trials I have done with it, same effect just a lot lighter of a drowsy feeling, not like you're hit with a ton of bricks at once.

I do not recommend drinking or being social on this drug.

 

[paranoid android]

I have taken seroquel for bipolar disorder many times in the past in doses of up to 400mg's a day or maybe abit more i can't quite remember. I know that for bipolar depression it can help alot and is in fact a pretty fast acting anti-depressant for me. I was not told about it's anti-depressant effects but they kicked in much faster and at a lower dose then the anti-manic effects did. Actually it helped the depression side of my bipolar alot more then the mania. But i have only read about it being helpful in treating bipolar depression and even then usually as a add on to a anti-depressant or one of the 2 true mood stabilizers which would be lithium and lamotrigine. Unipolar depression aka major depression is different then bipolar depression and is certainly treated differently so yeah it is just has anti-depressant properties for some people

However you sound like someone trying to get a high 8) from seroquel and i can tell you that you are certainly looking in the wrong place if you are looking for anything resembling a high. Seroquel is a atypical anti-psychotic and like all anti-psychotics both typical and atypical you cannot get ANY high whatsoever from seroquel. You might as well try to get high off of risperidone or even thorazine. These drugs are not pleasant (medication compliance is a major problem with all anti-psychotics including seroquel so that should be a hint) and are the opposite of euphoric.

Also i know of 2 people who after drinking while on seroquel suffered grand mal seizures so that along with the knock out effect of seroquel and the added and potentially dangerous CNS depression when mixed with alcohol should be enough to turn anyone off this mix. Or atleast anyone with either bit of sense.

As mentioned above in other posts the only people i have known to abuse seroquel are people who are in prison and can't get any better drugs. So they sleep off their time with seroquel or if seroquel is not available amitriptyline, doxepin, mirtazapine or any other knock out drug will do

 

[Torabora]

OP asked if he can drink alcohol while he takes seroquel, not that he wants to abuse his seroquel (which is really no fun).

My girlfriend has also a prescription for venlafaxine and seroquel in combination and she can drink alcohol but it makes her way more sleepy then normal and the effect from the alcohol is much stronger but all in all she doesent get any ill side effects. Just trink carefully and maybe less then normal and you will be okay .

Ah maybe I should add that she gets the seroquel for its anti-depression effects so the dose is quiet low (50mg a day)

 

[misszee007]

The lady who I got the seraquel from ( she is bi polar and in addition takes lithium carb) does drink (beer) on occasion when she is on it. But she has one or two then must retire for the night.

 

[kellyjones]

hi, I am on 100mg seroquel slow release a day and 1000mg of lithium, seroquel has been recently added to my drug combination about 2 months ago, i never had any problems or side effects from drinking alcohol when i was just on lithium.
however with the introduction of seroquel its a very different story, my alcohol tolerance is much lower, 2 glasses of wine is my cut off point otherwise it makes me very sick and i spend the remainder of the night in the bathroom and as previous posts have said you blackout and dont remember, you should be cautious as one minute you are ok then youre not, theres no warning,my therapist said for every drink its the equivalent of 2-3 on seroquel.
Also it sends me really down and feeling low if i combine the two, i have lately been having a couple of glasses of wine a night which i dont usually do, i'll just drink once or twice a week, it was my boyfriend that pointed out since the increase in drinking with the tablets, id been going lower so ive now stopped and feel much better, hope this helps

 

[RedHatcc]

Wanted to add my 2 cents.

Seroquel is a super extremely strong sleep med. I know it is for other use, but if you take 50mg, unless you have a tolerance which takes 3-5 days to build up, your ARE GOING TO SLEEP. It has to be digested, so snorting it will not make it kick in faster. If you take it on an empty stomach you will probably be FORCED to go to sleep within the next 30 mins at most. If you have a full stomach, it can take up to 2 hours. It has to be digested.

Drinking + Seroquel = You are going to go to bed once the Seroquel kicks in. There is 0 benefit to taking it while drinking. Does not enhance your buzz, does not make you sloppier, you just get ungodly tired and forced to go to bed.

Seroquel to me is strong than all other sleep medications. I take in 50mg dosages when I NEED to go to bed. Remember it has to be digested, so if you have a full tummy, give it 1-3 hours. If your on an empty tummy, expect sleep to set in within 30-45 mins. Again 50mg dosages. I took 100mg while I was detoxing from drinking and drugs. It forced me to sleep.

 

[maddiemax]

specifically seroquel and alcohol is deadly... seroquel and alcohol both really slow down heart rate and respiration... u risk dying in ur sleep combining seroquel & alcohol even more than benzos & alcohol... i've talked to my doctor about it cause I'm in college and he said absolutely never to drink them together... I've done it before and I've drank with benzos too... seroquel is strong stuff i would really NEVER combine that with alcohol especially at doses above 100mg (i don't know what dose ur thinking but any dose is bad).... i thought i was going to die to be honest after drinking with seroquel i don't know how to describe it... and like i said i drank with benzos sometimes.... u actually would just pass out before u realize ur dying... and ud die in ur sleep id imagine... but i felt miserable... don't do it!!