[crazymusiclvr]

Has anyone been on seroquel and tried to ween themselves off of it before? I have been taking mg. of it at night to help me sleep for many months now. being my stubborn self, I tried taking myself off of it thinking I may not need it anymore. One night, I took themg, the next 3 nights I took only mg. 2 or 3 days later, I crashed. I became dangerously depressed and that was my first mood swing in months. My question is, has anyone experienced such a drastic mood change when weaning themselves off of seroquel? Thanks all for listening.

[EJ711]

C -

My adopted daughter took Seroquel for her bipolar. It helped even out her moods, and sleep at nights.

EJ

[seanengland]

My girlfriend recently started to think it would be OK to stop taking Seroquel. Within 2 days of secretly stopping she jumped out of an upstairs window! She was VERY lucky just to frature her knee cap. I would urge extreme caution in sudden change in this med.

[sniffles]

I was on Seroquel and had to be abruptly taken off of it, because my blood sugar levels sky-rocketed. I got a little moody, but nothing that another drug didn't fix
Sniffles

[Azalysa]

I've been on it about 4 months - prescribed for sleep. At first it was 50 mg, but it gave me horrible nightmares. I didn't take anymore til my next pdoc visit (I only took it a short time) and he upped it to 72 mg. Now it gives me a good night's sleep with maybe a dream here and there.

I've not taken it sometimes several nights in a row because I thought it was a sleeping pill, take it as needed. Then when I saw info here, I take it nightly.

But those few times I stopped it...no problems...again it was only a short time each.

P.S. Crazymusiclvr...I don't see how much you were on...and other posters? I don't know if I'm on a low dose maybe?

[wheretogo]

i've taken Seroquel for several years - it is an anti psychotic - not sure why drs use it for sleep. was on 300mg which i reduced down to 100, but i don't sleep well, talked to dr she increased back to 300mg which i tried but was very drugged next day, so i'm back to 100, which i will start cutting. i want to try natural melatonin. has any one tried any natural treatment?

[sujunew]

i'm on it right now and have been told many times it is extremely addictive and not to stop taking it. I have played around with my dosage, as I was also told by some silly T that I could have up to a certain amount a day. When I play around with the dose it affects my moods dramatically. Take care

[EJ711]

Just tryihng to switch to Lunesta, after suffering from sleep eating while on Ambien. I'm up eating now -- although I am now asleep -- trying to kill the taste in my mother.

Anyone else have any experience with Lunesta?

EJ

[cherybery]

I used it and it was great for knocking me out but the taste just got to me after a week.

[sujunew]

I was in a real rush earlier and didn't read all the posts properly. I noticed that you, Azalysa, were having nightmares on it. I have been on it for over a year now, 150mg at night, 25mg in the morning and i'm allowed another 25mg during the day for anxiety. I have always suffered from terrible, realistic dreams which I often can't distinguish from what is going on in real life. I find it really disturbing but haven't found a solution to the dreams- i've been told just to keep on with the medication. I also take clonazapam at night, but that doesn't help. I'm due to see my pT soon I think so will have to bring up this issue again with her.

[Evangelista]

I have had the bad dreams too on this med..when I tried to get up in the nightiime had a really hard time walking..

[sujunew]

So does anyone know of something that can help ease off these dreams- e.g. another med- or could it be best to change meds if the dr agrees??

[Azalysa]

Hi, Irish...

Well, all the regular sleeping meds weren't working for me anymore so my pdoc prescribed 25mg Seroquel. I had awful nightmares so I quit taking him. Next visit I told pdoc and he said take 2. I thought if 1 caused nightmares 2 would be twice as bad. Same nightmares but not every night. Next visit (these are like 3 weeks-1 month in between) I said I didn't want to take this anymore because of the nightmares. He said take 3.

I told him I couldn't understand why more would help. Then he said that I was getting the nightmares because I didn't have enough of the meds to put me into the deep sleep where I would know I had a dream but not til I woke up. He's right, on 75 mg/night - I get generally good sleep and sometime dreams but not nightmares.

That's been my only experience with it and only take it at night. I'd be interested on more info on this.

[regentag]

The titration process is always so individualized with these meds. I had an awful time becoming acclimated to Seroquel: nightmares, cold sweats, hallucinations (!?), etc. In time, they subsided and it was a great drug for me for several years except for too much sedation/lack of motivation in my waking life. I did end up tapering off it without any drama whatsoever, blessedly. Abilify, on the other hand, was quite a different story. I felt like I was being tortured for two months coming off of it. I suppose the moral of the story is that no two people are going to have the same experience with any med. Just drink lots of water, make sure you have an attentive support system around you, and keep reminding yourself, hourly, if necessary, that it will pass! Good luck!

[crazymusiclvr]

Thank you all so much for your replies. All of your posts where you describe your experiences with seroquel have really helped me. My number locks were on. I started out at 25mg which used to knock me out. Here we are about a year later and i'm up to 450mg. My doctor told me I could go up to XX amount of mg and to take it as needed. I'm really starting to think that this is not a casual "take as needed" drug but it works great for me some of the time. Does anyone else find that they go through a streak of nights where they get great sleep and then maybe the next week they have trouble sleeping? That's me. One interesting thing, I barely ever had a dream until I went on seroquel. It helped me achieve that deep sleep but it does take me forever to wake up in the morning. When I went from 450mg and then for 3 nights went down to 100mg, I became so depressed I almost went to the hospital. Thanks again everyone and hang in there!

[SilverGirl]

I am currently taking Seroquel and I have *issues* when I go off of it. I take it in conjunction with other meds for my bipolar and when I stop taking it I not only go throught horrible withdrawls but I also get extremly violent. I assaulted a girl in one of my classes during a seroquel hiatus and almost got kicked out of school. I also get horrible nightmares when I don't take it. You know, the kinkd where you wake up screaming. I kind of want to switch to a new med but I don't know if I can handle not taking it.

[Estee1]

I am on seroqeol. Have been for a few months I think. I also have a bad memory. Lol. It helps me to sleep all night unless I am extremely anxious. But I do have very horrible dreams. I don't wake up at the time, but I remember the dreams well. Maybe I need to tell the doc next time I am there. The dreams are terrible, people I love dying and also reliving relationships with people who have abused me in the past, feeling trapped. Not nice stuff.

[sujunew]

Is serequel mostly prescribed for bipolar? I thought it was an anti-anxiety drug? I don't have bipolar...

[Estee1]

It's for bipolar, and schizophrenia. But dr's use it for other stuff. It slows your thoughts down. So I was told. I don't have either of those but it has been good for me.

[sniffles]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
Estee1 said:
I am on seroqeol. Have been for a few months I think. I also have a bad memory. Lol. It helps me to sleep all night unless I am extremely anxious. But I do have very horrible dreams. I don't wake up at the time, but I remember the dreams well. Maybe I need to tell the doc next time I am there. The dreams are terrible, people I love dying and also reliving relationships with people who have abused me in the past, feeling trapped. Not nice stuff.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

I have this same problem. I'm off my seroquel and I keep having horrible dreams about my family members dying. I wonder if I should tell my doctor about this.

[cherybery]

I have used Seroquel and been off it for a couple months because of the SE's but my new pdoc is starting me on it in a couple weeks again. It did help me sleep real well minus the nightmares but he wants me too use it for my BPD as well as the Bipolar. We shall see how it goes. I felt like my waking life was in slow motion but it did prevent me from "over thinking" We shall see how this goes......again.

[Azalysa]

I was prescribed Seroquel during my last major depressive episode when none of the other sleeping pills would work (Restoril, Ativan...and I don't even want to talk about Lunesta -bleh-) so that's when pdoc put me on Seroquel for sleep. So, I thought it was another sleeping pill...lol.

When I had it fill at my pharmacy I asked the pharmacists (love that group...so helpful) the pharmacist said that Seroquel is listed as an anti-psychotic (at which time my eyes bugged out) but he said it was also being used for other issues as well.

That's when I went from 25 mg/night up to 75/mg as previously posted. After a few months of no nightmares, now they have returned. In addition I'm feeling a hangover effect from them that continues through the day. pdoc took me back down to 25mg. Still drowsy today, but probably experiencing the half-life thing.

This med seems to be an unusual one in the variety of disorders it is used for and in how much dosages can vary. Not to mention how expensive it is!!!!