Seroquel makes me stupid

This was kind of addressed in another thread but I didn't wanna hijack. I'm on 100 mg per night of seroquel and it makes me feel horrible. I mean, like my brain will function but it's like I loose my motor skills. Speech gets slurred, I clip walls turning corners, and so on and so forth. Then morning comes and it takes me hours to "wake up." I'm gonna ask pdoc on Tues if i can stop taking it or get him to at least lower to 50 mg. What are yalls experiences with this drug?

Ry

Ahh, the wonderful world of Seroquel. I too get the "stupids" on my Seroquel....feel like a full-on drunk, stumbling about and knocking into things, you know what I'm talking about.

My pdoc told me if the full dosage was too much, it was totally cool to break it in half. But, I'm not a shrink, I just play one with my stuffed animals at tea time

At any rate, at least I'm referring my professional advice on to you.

Hugz and Much Love,
Jenn

Hey Ry, for me Seroquel is my emergency drug. Please keep in mind that the body will adjust to the side affects, the grogginess, the spaciness, the depth perception probles. All will subside with just a little time. My encourament is to stick with it because it is an excellent med. It's only been a short while that you've been on it, I'm hoping you'll give it the chance you deserve. You are on a relatively low dose so the side affects will adjust themselves in just a short period of time. But definately talk to your pdoc about it, he/she is the expert. I'm only speaking from personal experience and everyone is different. I'm also thinking that the interaction with this drug combinded with the mixture of all your other meds may be exaggerating the side affects. Please keep that in mind.
Thinking of you. TgrsPurr. xoxo

Hubby took Seroquel. 25mg...then 50mg...eventually we stopped it because he didn't *need* it. Why pay for something he really didn't need?

He took it right before bed and slept. He really couldn't stay away with it. I refused to let him drive while he was on it. For his own safety.

He took it about 8...and by 10 he was out for at least 8 hours. Once in a while he could go on less sleep, but not too often. I certainly wouldn't try to function or work after just taking it. I would take it and sleep. That's what worked for him.

Of course, I know people on 600mg doses that it doesn't make them sleepy at all. Everyone reacts differently.

I'm gonna ask my doc for either a lower dosage or permission to use only as needed cause this stuff is wretched if you ask me. I don't see how those people take 600 oreven 800 mg. I guess it's worth it if it helps.

Ry

I loved seroquel. It was the perfect drug to sleep for me no matter what crazyness was goin on. I had the slow waking up thing goin on too but it never really bothered me over much. I guess im used to being doped up tho I wish i could get back on it actually. Hopefully those effects wear off or you get to lower the dose or something there Ryan.

I know what you mean, ry. I take it too. Respirdal makes me retarded. I wish there was something that can help without the stupidity and sleepiness as side effects.

Seroquel made me diabetic.....:-(

Janniebug

((((((((jannie))))))))) I'm sorry. Diabetes run in my family too - both sides.

Hmmmmm. If seroquel = stupid and respirdal = retarded, then what does seroquel + respirdal = too? Just wondering......

How are you doing ry? Huggles.

Wow... lotta mixed results here. I'm seeing my shrink tomorrow and I'm asking if I can get off this crap. I really hate it.

Ry

Abilify is another drug in the same class without sedation. I usually give it at 2.5 - 5mg a day for impulsivity, dissociation, anger/rage. The antipsychotics in low doses for people with these types of problems are sometimes known as 'ego-glue' as it frequently helps patients feel more in control. Geodon is another choice at around 20mg, a minority of people though find it sedating. I tried about 20mg of Geodon when it first came out and felt awful for about 24hours. Most of my patients report good luck with it though.

Well, I say the pdoc. Here's the new mix. 60mg/day straterra, 300mg twice a day trileptal, 15mg/day abilify, 100mg/day lamictal, and the seroquel is out if the picture. The doc is hoping to work me off the anti-psychotics and down to one mood stabilizer. That would be nice.

Ry

Ry,

Has your doc considered Zyprexa or Topamax? Topamax won't make you stupid (it didn't me the whole 18 months I was on it). Depending on dose, Zyprexa may knock you for a loop (I was at 20mg). I was also on Strattera when I was on the Zyprexa, and the two seemed to blend nicely.

Sorry the Seroquel didn't work for ya....wanna send the rest of it my way and save me some money??? :grin_nod:

Just a couple of other meds I was put on as mood stabilizers. Topamax was the only one for a long time, until the Paxil CR pooped out, then it was "HELLO, MANIA!!"

Just some food for thought for your next visit.

Hugz and Much Love,
Jenn

Jenn, good to hear from ya. You certainly can have the rest of my seroquel although I don't have much. The ultimate goal is the one mood stabilizer and I guess I forgot to say a bottle of zyprexa in case the psychosis sets in. That's the idea anyway.

Ry

hiya - just my 2cents - seroquel made me really drowsy the first time, all those drunken things like walking into walls and stuff. i was on 300mg for quite a long time, about a year or so. it was acutally the antipsych that had the least badness for me.

but then i went on it an emergency regime last year and it landed me in casualty! it awakened some dormant bug or something and i started being sick and fainting. niiice.

anyway, i hope you get a decent alternative and i hope it works out xx

WEll i've just been prescribed it so i'd better do alright on it! the psychiatrist seemed confident i'd have no side-effects..he even seemed complacent! conspiracy! for sure....no disrespect to him, but i think he lies and twists stuff so's to enhance the effect of placebo.

Seroquel can really make you drowsy...it is a good thing you went to check with your t...

best of luck

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Seroquel makes me stupid.

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yep, it made me stupid, too. antipsychotics = "ICK"

I must be one of the lucky ones...I was on seroquel several yrs ago before going off all meds. When the trauma hit last Dec, I was put on Klonopin which didn't have any effect. I had some left over seroquel (like tons), so I tried it at 25mg 3x/day...a little more calming effect than klonopin, but at that dose, I still wasn't sleeping &amp; went weeks on 2 hrs /day sleep waking up with nightmeres &amp; it seemed like the 2 hrs was full of nothing but bad dreams.

I saw my Pdoc 2 weeks ago &amp; he gave me a bunch of seroquel samples at 100mg &amp; said if I wanted I could cut the dose down or figure out what worked best....he seems to always leave it up to me to find out what works best for me instead of a specific prescription. I decided it was too much work to cut the pills, so just took one a night &amp; one around noon....still no sleep &amp; the bad nights continued.....&amp; exhaustion was continuing. My psychologist suggested taking 200mg at night before bed to see if I could get some sleep, so I experimented...200mg at night lets me sleep without all the bad stuff that was going on in my mind....I finally slept 8 hrs &amp; woke up kinda groggy but it went away as soon as I got up. Then later in the day, I take 100mg to take the edge off the anxiety that builds up.

There are still nights where I can't sleep even with the 200mg &amp; then get up &amp; have to be completely functional. I have to be since I'm working with my trainer &amp; my horse for our dressage showing &amp; it requires both physical &amp; mental work to be successful along with practice daily.

Adding to the seroquel is the 200ug/hr of Fentynal (narcotic) for my migraines. I feel lucky to be able to be functional don't know if it is because I have to be or because I just am.

It is good that your pdoc is working with you to find what works for you...that is a sign of a good pdoc that doesn't insist that something HAS to work.

Debbie

I take 100 mg at night and 25-50 as needed during the day. It works really really well for me. Actually low doses are more sedating than high doses---at 600mg a day it does not have a sedating effect.

bump

We use Seroqual as an emergency sleeping drug, at 100mg.

It does make us feel a bit dissociated in the morning,

but it's better than going more than 3 days without sleep,

because that makes you crazy as a bed bug.

At first I hated Seroquel. It was prescribed for me as a sleep aid since I'm apparently now immune to all the ones I previously used.

I was first prescribed 25mg, then 50mg - both gave me horrendous and I mean HORRENDOUS nightmares. pdoc upped it to 75mg and I do ~wonderfully~ on that.

Now, here's a strange twist - I get a full, restful night's sleep on 75mg of Seroquel PROVIDED I take it along with my other "night meds" - Depakote, Wellbutrin and Zoloft. If I take the Seroquel ALONE (as I have once or twice in the daytime to get some needed sleep) THEN I get "the stupids," lay awake in that semi-awake state, and then take forever before the grogginess wears off.

Strange, eh?

I have slowly made my way up to a dose of 550 mg of seroquel. I started at a dose of 25mg one year ago for sleep. It seems like especially over the last two weeks that I keep upping it and upping it still does not help me sleep. Well, my doctor a while back suggested to do what many of you are doing. He suggested to take some earlier in the day. However, yesturday I took 200mg at work and it made me feel so drugged it was embarassing. However, it sounds like for everyone else, by taking a really small dose during the day, it helps even out the effect for better sleep at night. I will try that. Your comments have really helped. THank you and sweet dreams.

I take 25mg which is enough to sleep well. I also bump into walls etc and never coorelated the two.
Pdoc wanted me to slowly increase, saying normal dosage is 800mg. Well, on 50mg I was like a zombie the next day.
So, back to 25mg.
I do not know how anyone could function on 800mg.
But, I guess we all react to chemicals in our bodies in different ways.
Hope your Pdoc can give you answers.
((ry))