Oh dear, Seroquel. For me it's pretty hit and miss. I started off on 25mg not just for sleep for also for mood stabilization. I got that slowly increased all the way up to 600mg, believe me that was not an experience I enjoyed! I was in hospital at the time and all I could do all day was sleep, I had no energy, and my heart was racing all the time. It's close to the maximum legal dose here in the UK, and when on that dose it is a requirement I went for regular liver toxicity checks.

Anyway. Now I'm down from the 600mg to 200mg and it helps me sleep more often than not. However I'm now on Citalopram which gives me side effects which include insomnia, so it's not doing too well at helping me at the moment. I can normally take 200mg once I am sort of tired and within a couple of hours I feel sleepy enough to close my eyes and drift off. Though I'm also on 6mg circadin (slow release melatonin) so I'm not sure I can say it's just the Seroquel that helps me.

Though some nights instead of helping me sleep it sends my heart rate through the roof, and whilst on a slightly higher dose I had heart arrhythmia (an irregular heartbeat) in a few ECGs. Now I'm on a lower dose my heart rate is at most times okay, though 1 night in 20 or so I will have bad chest pains, anxiety and a very fast heart rate (in excess of 130BPM).

So do be careful when you increase your dose and only do so at the advice of your P-Doc. Good luck with the 200mg, I hope it helps you! I've found it's more effective when I'm slightly tired and I've sunk into a routine now of putting my meds and a drink next to my bed, putting something on the TV, turning the light off, taking my meds, having a final cigarette and watching TV for about an hour or so until the medication has taken effect.

RB