Tapering off Seroquel, going through hell

Hi! I have been slow tapering from Seroquel for the past 15 months and have been going through hell the whole time. I am totally paradoxical to both it and Remeron which were given to me for my chronic insomnia. They do anything but help me sleep, in fact they cause burning, tingling, numbness, vibrations throughout my body and head, adrenaline surges, heart palpitations, depersonalization/derealisation, sensory overload, anxiety/panic attacks, fear of going insane from the 24/7 lack of sleep, and the list goes on. This past month I have attempted to speed up my tapering as the constant lack of sleep is slowly killing me. I was down to 7.25 mg. per day (I get my medication compounded) but was having such horrendous symptoms I decided (against my better judgement) to up dose it to 10.25 mg. per day. I am still feeling horrendous and would appreciate any feedback or suggestions I can get that might help make the rest of this withdrawal a little easier. I have basically tried everything under the sun I can think of. When it comes to supplements it appears that whatever I take only makes me much worse.

Has anyone else on here had horrendous chronic insomnia from being on Seroquel and Remeron? I have read that the first time you go on it, it will help you to sleep. It did this with me. As this is now the second or third time I have been on it, it isn't helping one bit. I think it is because both it and Remeron have a antihistamine base which are know for helping to sleep for a few days then turning around and having the exact opposite reaction. I need to get off both these poisons a.s.a.p. before they kill me. I had another medication do that to me in the past (Atarax) and since then I can't touch any antihistamines. I am having to go through this all by myself as my family of origin shunned me four years ago and haven't spoken to me since and have basically left me to die on my own. I also suffer from Lyme Disease, Bartonella, Babesia (co-infections of Lyme), hypo-hyperthyroidism, gluten intolerance, adrenal exhaustion just to name a few. I would truly like to speak with anyone having any experience similar to mine with these horrendous poisons.

Thank you.

Sorry for what you are going through. Try slowing down your taper to 10% or less every 3 to 4 weeks, for that might help.

Hi, speciallady 1, and welcome to Psych Central! I hope things will get better soon. Yes, a slower taper will be good.

I have no experience with Remeron. For me Seroquel is great for helping me to sleep. I tried to taper down from it but I got to 50mg at night and found that sleep was very hard to come by so now I am back up to 100mg at night sleep is much better.

Given your very complex situation are you tapering off under the guidance of a doctor. Do they know about these complications? If they do maybe it's time to get another doctors opinion. Doing a fast taper without supervision cast have very long term bad side effects on your body. Please be careful.

Hi, I haven't had insomnia from being on Seroquel, but I sure have had major insomnia when trying to go off Seroquel. The sleeplessness was so bad, I finally gave in and went with 100mg. Seroquel at bedtime. When the time comes for me to drop my dose down, I will do so very slowly.

Hi! Thank you for replying to my post. I went to see a new psych doc yesterday as my regular one won't be coming back. We discussed what I am going through and he agreed that I should go fairly slow with my taper from the Seroquel. I will be tapering at 1 mg. per day and holding for two weeks. As I never seem to stabilize no matter what dose or how long I hold before tapering again, I am just hoping this will be enough time for my body to adjust before cutting again. I will be doing another drop on September 13th and holding that for two weeks. This will mean that it will take more time for me to be totally off the Seroquel. I am hoping with the smaller cuts, the symptoms won't be quite as intense. He will be seeing me again in a month so we can reassess the situation.

sorry it can be pretty hard. when I stopped it I was shivering every night in my sleep ...and had weird dreams

Hi! I did another drop in my Seroquel last Tuesday from 10.25 mg. per day 2 9.25 mg. per day and have been going through hell ever since. Also, last Monday I had 2 say goodbye 2 my best friend in the world my little dog Kayla who had liver cancer. I feel like I am in a deep depression along with all the w/d symptoms I am having from the Seroquel. My w/d symptoms are: chronic insomnia (no sleep most days and nights), burning, tingling, numbness, vibrations throughout body and head, heart palpitations, depersonalization/derealisation, adrenaline surges, blurry vision, sensory overload, anxiety/panic attacks, and the list goes on. As I am extremely paradoxical to both the Seroquel and Remeron, I need 2 get off both of these as quickly and safely as possible. Due to the fact I also suffer from hypo-hyperthyroidism and Seroquel is known to interfere with thyroid functioning, this is another major concern of mine. Ever since going on Seroquel my thyroid never stays balanced so I believe some of the symptoms I am experiencing could be due to my thyroid. Has anyone else on here experienced problems with their thyroid while taking and tapering from Seroquel? I am feeling horrendous 24/7 to the point I just want to die most days to get some peace from all this suffering.

I am so, so sorry about the loss of your dear friend.

Withdrawals are bad for you, and should try making even smaller cuts when you are at such a small dose to avoid this. It seams like you made a 10% cut basically, and that was to much at that low of a dose. You should try a 5% cut or less when you get to doses that small. You have to slow down when you get to low doses.