Anyone ever rapid-taper off very high dose of Seroquel?

I am moving from Seroquel to Clozaril in the next few weeks and there is a major interaction between the 2 (cardiac issues). So after a good bit of discussion I have chosen to be admitted to come off the Seroquel rapidly (I don't know how rapidly) and start the Clozaril when it is safe (which will be sooner in the hospital where they can monitor). I am currently on 1200 mg. I have read that coming off 300 mg rapidly can be pretty hard on the body so I'm kind of scared of what 1200 will be like. But there is no way a slow taper is going to get me treatment that I need fast enough. My pdoc said I will have a few horrible days and then will be able to start feeling better. I think she expects them to pull me off completely very quickly and then start the Clozaril immediately. But I'm not sure. She was contacting the IP pdocs to determine a plan but I don't know it b/c she's off this week.

In scouring the internet I found one person who came down from this dose and he wasn't very specific about what it was like aside from hard and he seems to have done so more slowly.

Anyone out there?
Thanks

I've already said some stuff about my taper of Zyprexa in your other thread in the Bipolar forum, so I won't talk about that here. I just wanted to say - if I remember correctly I quit 300mg cold turkey (well, I was on 300mg XR + 50mg for sleep and I went back to just 50mg for sleep) on the say-so of my pdoc and I didn't have any problems. So coming off 300mg doesn't necessarily have to be problematic.

Jesus!?! My doc told me 800mg was the Max dose available in the US. I'm on 400mg and sometimes my voices talk me into going off my meds. I know I get shooting pains in my head behind my eyes and I start tripping out. I have hardcore hallucinations (which is usually what makes me decide to take my meds again.) Being as you'll be in hospital im sure they can help with those issues. All the best of luck to you.

800 is the max approved dose but drs. can prescribe whatever they want and a lot of pdocs will go higher b/c it is a very safe drug. In my case 800 wasn't enough and 1000 and then 1200 did work for a long time. I was doing reasonably well on 1200 for a year or two which is a long time for me. I tried 1500 but it didn't help and the side effects were hard to handle.

I am glad I'll be in the hospital for this.

I can imagine. I am considering asking to go to at least 600 because ive been on 400 since October and it ain't working anymore. I never considered that I might need to go into hospital to taper off if I stopped it. I wish you the best of luck, I'm sure you'll be fine. The fact that you have this much support from your Dr speaks volumes about your care team.

I have hardcore hallucinations (which is usually what makes me decide to take my meds again.) [/QUOTE]

I noticed several hard core hallucinations after forgetting Seroquel for a few days. I thought it was just lack of sleep, but they were different from my"normal" lack of sleep hallucinations. Good to know it could be squashed by taking my meds..........duh!

You can probably get off without going IP. I am doing it this way because I have to get off it fast and that is not easy. With most drugs you can also start something else as you taper off the Seroquel but with clozaril that's not possible (except maybe in the hospital) where they can monitor very closely because there is an interaction that causes a serious heart issue. That's not a common interaction with Seroquel. I believe it exists with Saphris too but I don't think it is as strong and that you don't have to be as dramatic getting off Seroquel to go on Saphris.

It's one of those things were ideal I'd taper off over several months (and it would take many b/c 1200 mg is a ton) and then go on clozaril but I don't have that kind of time, I need to go on clozaril now.

So don't worry. I have weird circumstances. 600 mg was my sweet spot for a long time. No weight issues (lost weight), no sedation, no real side effects at all.

Good luck to you.

I attempted to stop 600mg of Seroquel in 1 week. It didn't go well. Moods were all over the place and I didn't sleep for many of days. I wish you the absolute best of luck.

That's about what I'm expecting. The good thing is that I'll be where they have good drugs and hopefully will keep me asleep when I need it. Or through a lot of it for all I care. I am willing to be sedated to miss out on some of this. It doesn't sound fun no matter how much I think about it. But hopefully they'll be ready with haldol or something to get me through it.

Both Seroquel and even Seroquel XR have a short half life, so most people get at least some withdrawal symptoms. usually pretty significant. The only personal experience I have is stopping 100 mg cold turkey and I did have some rebound insomnia and some mild anxiety and mood instability.

Glad you'll be in the hospital. Good luck.

The worst for me was from 300 to 200. I heard that drop can be hard because it works on different neurotransmitters around the 200 level. We are still dropping mine after a year and he's talking about going from 50 to nothing now and I'm freaking out after 7 yrs on it.

Glad you'll be monitored!