Hiya - Seroquel Advice Needed Please

Hi everyone!!

Sorry I have been a bit quiet as of late but the last couple of weeks have been an awful time. My 14 year old daughter was arrested for assault which has now been dealt with and this led to an urgent psychiatric assessment. She has just been diagnosed as having Bipolar Disorder and Psychosis and has just started Seroquel (200mg) daily. So far this medication has completely knocked her out, she gets extreme tiredness, headaches and dizzy spells. If anyone has experience of Seroquel please can you let me know if this is normal?

Many thanks
Mark

that's pretty much what seroquel was like for me, the effects will either calm down as she adjusts to it, or sometimes not, and then a different antipsychotic can be tried. Not everyone has good luck with seroquel, but many do. It's just a waiting game for your body to adjust. I'm sorry to hear about your daughter, I hope she will find something that works quickly.

Seroquel did the same thing for me, however seroquel xr seemed to lessen the symptoms of sleepiness. Maybe try that?
Colleen

I hope they titrated it up slowly and didn't just put her on 200mg the first day? ....
I'm on Seroquel it can cause the symptoms you mention at first, but for me they went away after a little while. However, my recent episode when they increased my dose during the day and afternoon I had a horrible time with the symptoms you mention, so my Pdoc put me on Seroquel XR (extended release) and boy that made all the difference in the world. I take the full dose a few hours before bed and get a bit sleepy when I need go to bed (plus I take other things before bed to actually help me sleep). Seroquel has been a good drug for me personally and I've tried others that were not as effective. You can ask pdoc about the extended release, I wish I had been on XR since the beginning....seriously!

I'm sorry to hear of your daughter's horrific experience, Mark.
I have had the same experience on only 100mg Seroquel while ramping up to a target of 300mg. After 10 days I was still so sedated and unable to function with normal daily activities like driving kids to and from school or help them with homework that I decided to taper off and look for another solution. I felt I was more dangerous on Seroquel through incompetence, frustration and hopelessness than I was off it.

To be honest Seroquel knocked me on my *** ... I actually slept Whereas before i was lucky to sleep 2-3 hours a nite ..
The side effects from seroquel for me are mixed ,, I LOVE that it allows me to sleep!
My body adjusted after a few weeks .. But the weight gain is a Huge issue for me 20lbs in 3 months and that happenening to an anorexic person would be like a normal persoan gaining 60 + lbs . so i have a love hate relationship .. for right now i will stay on it .. IM not able to eally get out and exercise as i have fibromyalgia ( chronic pain) so i cant fight the weight gain like most others .

Wishing you Peace and Love ~

Yes, I initially gained 20 lbs in 2-3 months also, then after 2 yrs finally lost 25 lbs while on Seroquel by exercise and counting calories.

Now that my dose has recently increased another 100mg I have already gained back 7 lbs, mostly because of cravings for unhealthy foods. Plus I'm not working right now, so that doesn't help things...

I still say Seroquel is one of the best antipsychotic meds though regardless of the weight gain. My Pdoc told me it's one of the best for Bipolar, other then Lithium.

When I tried Seroquel it made me way too tired and gave me other side effects, so I switched to Seroquel XR. Still made me sleep quite a bit (12 to 14 hours a day) at first, but eventually my body got used to it. It has been quite helpful to me, so the side effects were worth it.

And although I never experienced this, many people who go on Seroquel experience weight gain.

I relate to all the above posters. I have been on Seroquel since my dx in July. The first week was hell due to all the symptoms that you're describing for your daughter. Thank God I was inpatient at the time so I was forced to take it, otherwise I would have stopped taking it on my own.

After my body adjusted to it however it has become a life saver for me.

Also to bump what someone else mentioned if she was started on 200mg without building up to it that's pretty bad. If I remember correctly I went from 50mg to 150mg and currently at 300mg.

One other thing you should know is that Seroquel may negatively effect your good and bad cholesterol so it's recommended you have that checked regularly. My most recent blood work showed extremley low levels of the good cholesterol (HDL). My GP has given me three months to try it get in line with exercising and dieting. If it doesn't go up then I'll have to start meds for that. Grrrr.

I hope everything goes well with your daughter. This site is a very good resource for questions that you have or may have.

Good Luck!

I take 200mg of Seroquel for sleep. I tend to sleep 7-9 hrs on that amount. My side effect though is hunger after the dose. Perhaps Seroquel is just too sedating for her.

Seroquel always kicked my *** as well I switched to abilify. Before though I couldn't get up in the morning or anything on seroquel

Yeah, it knocks me out, too. That's why I take it before bed.