I have been on quetiapine (Seroquel) for nearly eight years now. There are pro's and cons as Anti-psychotics are powerful drugs. I have a chronic condition yet I need a fairly reasonable 300mg. It was upped to 500mg for two to three years but it dampened my mood a lot so it was decreased. I am amazed that someone can tolerate up to 1500mg! But like others have said 50mg is a low dose.
Side effects for me? Not so much the weight gain, I did while on Olanzapine. I would be more worried about lithium to be perfectly honest as it is a salt and will rot your liver and it messed up my thyroid in a mere three months! The quetiapine was started right away at 300mg for me but I needed it as I have racing thoughts and the inability to sleep. I experienced dizziness and low blood pressure to begin with but no in a complete turn of events my pulse rate is high and my b.p. is just normal. I take a combo of mirtazapine and venlafaxine for depression.
My biggest fear is diabetes as my gran had it and my uncle has it. I had to put sugar in my coffee after swimming today as my hand was shaking, which is low blood sugar.
You have to watch what you eat and drink on these medications. You may also have to build up fitness. I will never be as fit as I was now I need meds though. But, meh I can give up jogging no big loss.
I have tried all these - risperidone, Haldol, aripirazole, clozapine, amisulpride, Olanzapine. Now, clozapine nearly put me six feet under and Olanzapine is horrible. Risperidone was pretty rough too - throbbing calf muscles, face twitching, restlessness, stiffness, periods stopped, paralysed tongue yet it was nowhere near as effective as Quetiapine because I needed the sedative.
It is a case of cannot live without it. I know their is a big long-term risk but if I look after myself I may be okay. I just live and hope that they will develop new drugs with less side effects.
There's no cure but symptoms can be alleviated 100%. I do hope I do not develop TD as it sounds quite debilitating.
Quetiapine is a life saver for me and the best one I have tried.