[elevatedsoul]

im soo sleepy all the time!
i take caffeine pills and drink coffee and it doesnt help at all
what do you guys do to fight off sleep? constant fatigue?
i've been having these "spells" where i can barely hold my eyes open

[Disorder7]

I noticed you're on seroquel xr. I'm not on xr, and I'm able to shake off the sleepiness by mid-morning.
Maybe your doctor will reduce your dosage or switch you to regular seroquel. (????)

[BadWolfC]

It might have something to do with whatever medication you might be on, could be too high of a dose or the type just might not work well for you. I had sleepiness issues in the past with certain meds and it stopped when I discontinued them.

[elevatedsoul]

ive been taking seroquel for long enough that i would think the sleepiness issue wouldnt bother me any more but it has to be the seroquel because im not taking anything else

i want to talk to my doctor about changing the seroquel but he seems to think that changing my meds wont help so he keeps me on the same ones and i end up quitting them on my own, when i report to him that i stopped a med he doesnt change anything else (i guess because he thinks that i would simply quit taking the seroquel if i didnt want it?)
the seroquel has been fairly tolerable besides this fatigue

honestly im at the point where im thinking about coming off everything and flushing my system out to see what symptoms i need help with

my pdoc makes me really anxious though and i end up clamming up and not speaking my mind when i meet with him

i just want to have some energy, some drive, and desire to move and get things done

[raspberrytorte]

Seroquel really wore me down when I was on it. I went from a highly energetic and motivated person, to a lazy, sleepy person, who even stopped cleaning the apartment. It also gave me a sweet tooth with chocolate cravings that were so intense it was like the cravings I had when I was pregnant!

I mean, it helped a lot with my anxiety, and kept me from being depressed, but it just turned me into such a lazy person. I couldn't even get up before nine in the morning. It was ridiculous, and I gained eleven pounds in seven months.

Sorry. I really hate seroquel. Lol.

Tell your doctor it's making you too tired. If that side effect is intolerable, there are other options, or there has to be something. If your pdoc dismisses your concerns, argue with him. Be firm. Tell him it needs to be changed.

Good luck!

[Nammu]

Could be your in a place now where you don't need the dose your on, could you ask your doc to lower the dose? I've found it more helped to lower or raise the dosage as needed than to stop altogether.

[wiretwister]

I don't know but for me it's not my meds , it's my poor sleep, ... I nod off during the day if I stop, ... and I nod (catnap) all night before I actually go to bed, am getting 5-6 hours but I am not rested in the am ... jmo

[wiretwister]

Originally Posted by elevatedsoul

honestly im at the point where im thinking about coming off everything and flushing my system out to see what symptoms i need help with

I'm with you, ... every day of my life ...

[Edgar's Mom]

I've been dysfunctional for a long time and find it nearly impossible to get out of bed. I need 9 or 10 hours of sleep and I haven't been able to make any commitments that require me to get up for some time. It might be since I was my dosage was increased and changed to XR's from regulars...

I couldn't tolerate Seroquel XR either. Too drowsy all day. My pdoc switched me to non-XR Seroquel. I'm not taking Seroquel anymore but I do recall the drowsiness from XR.

[Disorder7]

If you decide to stop seroquel, tapper correctly. Don't just stop like I did.

I had one of the most violent mixed episodes of my life. If my "victim" had decided to call the police, I'd still be in jail.

Seroquel sucks. But if you decide to get off of it, do it carefully. Take care.

[WibblyWobbly]

Provigil could help you, but it might be hard to get a script if you have anxiety.

[gina_re]

I feel your pain. I'm groggy every morning too and take one a day energy vitamins and still end up drinking caffeinated sodas to help. I bring it up every time I visit the pdoc and we tried lowering my trileptal, but then I started getting irritable and such so apparently this dosage is therapeutic for me. : (

[william_so]

Sleepiness and fatigue are typical symptoms of the depressed state in Bipolar illness. The depressions often look different than the unipolar where under-sleep is more prevalent. It is called depression with atypical features. It could also be the medicine as other posters have mentioned.