[alwaysrejoice]

Ive been on it since 2004. I take it only at night. I have been on 50-300mg. They kept changing it due to how tired I would be during the day. For the last six months or so I was on 50mg. Well I ended up in the hospital on 9/27. The doc i saw first took me off the Seroquel and the Abilify I was taking at the time. She went on about how I was on all the wrong meds and my pdoc must be an idiot. (she didnt say that exactly but you know what I mean.) The most awesome thing happened- I stopped eating everything in sight! Now this was after 10 rounds of ECT too. I then developed high anxiety so my pdoc put me back on the 50 mg of seroquel and im PIGGING OUT AGAIN! I can't tell yet if the Seroquel is helping with my anxiety. I think it might be. I was so happy about losing the out of control appetite, now it's back. What would you do in my situation? I'm about 50 pounds overweight.

[zooropa]

hate it. seroquel made me gain weight, too, but worse than that it made me suicidal. Very suicidal.

[dirt69juggalo]

I didn't like how tired I felt on it but changing the dose fixed that I like it now

[mgran]

I'm tired on it, and three stone heavier than before I went on it. So I hate that.

On the other hand I love that I'm not psychotic, that the hallucinations are minor and manageable, and that the depression isn't as bad as it used to be. (Though that might be the lamactil.)

For me, I like Seroquel and how it has helped. I never gained any weight on it simply because it just increases appetite. I just kept in mind that if I ate the same diet without giving into urges, I wouldn't gain weight, and it worked!

Seroquel helps me to get a good night's sleep and helps with anxiety.

I have seen many people on this site post about the weight gain from Seroquel. I think it really depends upon the individual - if they really can't resist that increased appetite and are gaining lots of weight, maybe it would be beneficial to try a different medication.

[jlock4507]

Seroquel works great for me. I am on 400 mg at night for sleep, and pdoc just started me on 50 mg during the day as needed for anxiety. i have actually lost weight on it, because I'm not up all night munching (like to used to do when i couldn't sleep) works great for me. oh, and I keep a food diary, that helps keep me in line as well.....lol

[pgrundy]

I like Seroquel so far because I can finally sleep well. I take 100 mg at night, and then 300 mg of Effexor in the morning. It's made a huge difference in how I feel. I'm more rested, more calm, happier.

I haven't noticed a weight gain, but maybe it will creep up on me, I don't know. It's been just under a year on it. When I first went on it I couldn't eat, period. Now I eat normally.

[Flooded]

Love how I slept well once I got up to 600mg. Hated how my appetite increase and became suicidal.

[~Christina]

I have a Love /Hate relationship ... I loved that FINALLY something allowed me to sleep .. I hate it because i have dealt with anorexia all my life bascially and i have gained 30 lbs ... Seroquel can cause a metabolic problem with your body that will cause weight gain regardless of what you eat ( my case) ..

Now my Pdoc just wants me to take Seroquel every other day and see how that works for me ..

Personally i feel all medications can cause lots of side effects .. Some to me are worth it and some arent ... Its best to really discuss all the up and down side of meds with your doctors .. I seriously doubt any pdoc is going to want you to stay on a medications that are going to have you gain large amounts of weight as that is only going to lead to more health concerns ie: heart , diabetes , to name a few..

bottom line ,,its a great medication as long as the side effects dont cancel out the good .

Wishing you Love and Peace ~

I LOVE that seroquel keeps my husband from having completely off the wall, irrational, paranoid thinking. (Off seroquel he's an absolute disaster to live with.)

I HATE that seroquel increases my appetite and makes me feel sluggish in the mornings.

I did take seroquel xr at one time, and it was much easier to tolerate as far as appetite and drowsiness went.

[Yady Smith]

I hate it. Although it probably saved my life when I was on 700 mg daily. Overall I found it did make me numb and gain weight. It also affected my libido which doc says was unusual.

Withdrawal symptoms were brutal also!

[SeaBreeze]

Originally Posted by Happy Chappy

I hate it. Although it probably saved my life when I was on 700 mg daily. Overall I found it did make me numb and gain weight. It also affected my libido which doc says was unusual.

Withdrawal symptoms were brutal also!

Happy Chappy What kind of withdrawal symptons did you experience? I'm in the (long drawn out) process of coming off it. Am now only on 25mg seroquel at night combined with 300mg Epilim. Am due to continue reducing it, but have been a little cautious about finally coming off it.

Overall I can't say I like the drug, although it has helped with sleep. But my main complaint is that I have gained a lot of weight on it so deeply unhappy about that.

I hated it, Did anyone actually find that they couldn't sleep when on these? These kept me awake I gained so much weight too but now I am not on them anymore.

[nacht]

I'd be happier with it if it didn't make me sleep forever, but it's worked wonders for my anxiety. So... I guess mixed feelings?

[alwaysrejoice]

I'm glad you guys started talking about this again. I forgot I posted this, and my pdoc put me on 25mg as needed during the day. I haven't tried it yet, I'm afraid it will make me sleepy. 50 mg makes me sleep right away. It's going to make me even fatter, I wasn't even thinking about that when I was in his office.

[Yady Smith]

Originally Posted by SeaBreeze

Happy Chappy What kind of withdrawal symptons did you experience? I'm in the (long drawn out) process of coming off it. Am now only on 25mg seroquel at night combined with 300mg Epilim. Am due to continue reducing it, but have been a little cautious about finally coming off it.

Overall I can't say I like the drug, although it has helped with sleep. But my main complaint is that I have gained a lot of weight on it so deeply unhappy about that.

Sounds like a good idea being on the final dose of 25mg at night. You probably won’t even notice coming off it. If you were to be ultra cautious maybe you could cut the 25 in half. ASK YOUR DOC.

Ok as for me: I was down to 50mg in the morning for a few weeks and decided that since I had never really felt any major withdrawal symptoms before, I would just knock it on the head there and then. So I stopped and didn’t take the morning dose.
By late afternoon I started feeling pretty nauseous and ended up throwing up a few times before going to bed, and it was a very uncomfortable night with a bucket sitting beside me.

During the next week my digestive system simply shut down and although food was going in, nothing was coming out! Ok you get the drift.

Now I can feel you panicking at this stage.

No need, my GP knowing what medical problems were going on in my life suggested that I may be suffering from anxiety. He prescribed Xanax. About 5 days worth of a small dose daily. Ended up I took it as I felt I needed it (after researching acceptable dosages) probably 2mg daily, and I was perfect within 2 to 3 days. While a lot of what I just described was due primarily to anxiety I think a lot of the nausea was because of withdrawal.

I think you'll be fine, sounds like your doc knows what they are doing. Ending on the nighttime dose is a good idea. You are on a lower dose than me, and most likely have been for a longer length of time than I was. I don't think you'll have any problems.

Good Luck anyway.

[SeaBreeze]

Originally Posted by Happy Chappy

Sounds like a good idea being on the final dose of 25mg at night. You probably won’t even notice coming off it. If you were to be ultra cautious maybe you could cut the 25 in half. ASK YOUR DOC.

Ok as for me: I was down to 50mg in the morning for a few weeks and decided that since I had never really felt any major withdrawal symptoms before, I would just knock it on the head there and then. So I stopped and didn’t take the morning dose.
By late afternoon I started feeling pretty nauseous and ended up throwing up a few times before going to bed, and it was a very uncomfortable night with a bucket sitting beside me.

During the next week my digestive system simply shut down and although food was going in, nothing was coming out! Ok you get the drift.

Now I can feel you panicking at this stage.

No need, my GP knowing what medical problems were going on in my life suggested that I may be suffering from anxiety. He prescribed Xanax. About 5 days worth of a small dose daily. Ended up I took it as I felt I needed it (after researching acceptable dosages) probably 2mg daily, and I was perfect within 2 to 3 days. While a lot of what I just described was due primarily to anxiety I think a lot of the nausea was because of withdrawal.

I think you'll be fine, sounds like your doc knows what they are doing. Ending on the nighttime dose is a good idea. You are on a lower dose than me, and most likely have been for a longer length of time than I was. I don't think you'll have any problems.

Good Luck anyway.

Many thanks for your reply Happy Chappy!! Much appreciated. It is hectic trying to get off these drugs. Sorry that you had such horrible experiences.

I am in fact due to half the 25mg for about 10 days and then go to a quarter for another 10 days after that. So it will be a really drawn out withdrawal. So seems the PDoc is giving good advice. I had actually gone down to the 12.5mg but the timing was bad and I started struggling with anxiety again due to various circumstances. So went back up again. Between my T and Homeopath Drs we have decided to have another go after Xmas period. Not a good time of year to mess with meds when your medical support system is away!! So must be patient!! It is very helpful to hear about your experience, will definitely help me be a little more patient and cautious!!

[Miss Laura]

As much as I have gained weight on my stomach and breasts it has been a god send. I am me a lot more now we have got me stable on it. It has been changed to the slow release and upped and I am coping so much better and my anxiety levels and sleep levels are so much healthier.

[o.kay]

I loved it for sleep but I was taken off it due to weight gain (50lbs). I still haven't found anything that works as well for sleep

[jlock4507]

I commented before about actually losing weight on Seroquel...Well that didn't last long...I have been watching what I eat, and exercising AND STILL I gained another 5 lbs....On top of it, I have been really sick and barely eating...but low and behold I went to the doctor and still gained a couple pounds....I am going to see if I can change meds or something....

[chrysalis22]

i just started seroquel friday night, the 13th. this is my 3rd day "on" it.

i took 50 mg (half of the 100 mg pill) two nights in a row around 6pm per pharmacists recommendation. cuz by then i was tired anyway, from life.

then last night was my first whole pill (100 mg) night. whoa. i suddenly got sooo incredibly groggy about a half hour later and then intensely dizzy. it was downright scary. i wanted to puke so i could get it all out of me but of course that wouldn't have worked as it was already in blood system. so i just prayed and went to bed. i was out for the count probably that first minute. my kids helped clean up, take the dogs out, etc. cuz i just couldn't stand up straight w/out feeling so overwhelmed emotionally (scared) or feeling like i was going to faint or something. next time i will get in bed when i take my pill. horizontal is better than vertical for sure. i worry my daughter, 9, the oldest, will fall into a caretaker role and have a complex as an adult but i trust that w/ all she's seen me go thru mentally and w/ her natural birth order as the eldest, and w/ my being in recovery w/ as an adult child of alcoholics, in recovery in emotions anonymous, codependents anonymous, she will turn out alright.

all in all i'm feeling really great. not as groggy this morning as i felt on the half a pill, which i did NOT expect. i think this med may be helping me. i got annoyed w/ my mom but it wasn't the adrenaline-fueled annoyed i usually experience where i either rip her a new a-hole or i go hide out in my room or on computer until she leaves. i actually just joked and said 'why are you telling me this and that and trying to fix me...why can't you just listen and shut your mouth'? i said it nicely. lol albeit petty harsh. but i was serious. and she said 'cuz i care about you and i love you very much. i want to see you feeling better' and i was like wow. something is a happenin' here. this may be my med sweet med...

also want to ad that later on this afternoon i encountered what i could have easily turned nasty with someone and instead, i said my peace and moved on. w/out this med my adrenaline surely would have taken over me and maybe i wouldn't have shown it but i would have been consumed w/ making her my 'authority', giving her power, so to speak and would've been in quite a tizzy about it for days to come, i'm sure. instead, i remained calm, cool and collected. i allowed myself to feel the anger and fear i felt in the interaction but i just kept going, acknowledging them w/in my own head privately. owning my part. moving on! wow.

[KazzaX]

I like seroquel in that it lets me sleep and it helps with my impulsive aggression. The downside ofcourse is now I am as fat as the side of a house. However I think it is a matter of priorities - my mental health is more important that my physical appearance. I would rather be a free fattie than be a skinny person and in jail. It's as simple as that really.

[chrysalis22]

i am now not so sure this med is working for me. although i'm noticing something between the first 2 nights taking it and the latter 2. the latter 2 i didn't take the med at 6ish pm like i did the 50 mg. half a pills. i took the whole pill 100 mg around 7 or 8ish pm and then couldn't fall asleep til like 9 or 10pm. i didn't allow myself to go to bed when i WAS needing to for the night (6ish) so my mind raced and raced...just wouldn't shut down. i felt frustrated.

also yesterday morning i woke up very very agitated. that was my first night being on the 100 mg dosage. i then had had a soy latte out w/ my friend and i think maybe it set me off in the wrong direction because i was very agitated. i seriously felt like i was gonna snap. and in some ways i did in certain moments.

this morning i let myself sleep in til about 9:30am...i woke and went back to sleep kinda thing...but i'm not feeling rested and i'm grumpy and agitated. kinda groggy too. i also didn't eat anything real substantial til 2:30pm and i was sooo hungry.

i'm very discouraged. but maybe this is because 100 mg isn't for me??? maybe the 50 mg was? or is it too soon to even know these things? does this med just work and you know it or does it show it's true colors about that later on, in time? i am so very disappointed as it seemed to take away these agitated feelings i experience soooo intensely. now it almost seems like i'm back to my normal bipolar self. this sucks. i will update more in a bit...........after noon.

[Umbral_Seraph]

I really liked Seroquel when I took it. It works for me better than anything else I've tried, other than propranolol and mirtazapine. I wasn't able to keep taking it due to the price with my insurance.

[pachyderm]

My feeling is: who cares? Seroquel was one of the few psychoactive medications that had any effect on me, which was that it let me sleep a little bit better. That was all. I now take no such medications -- and that makes basically no difference at all.