Seroquel -Non BiPolar /Non Schizophrenia Uses

Crimson125

Hi All,

To be absolutely clear on this, and to respect the forum charter.

I am not looking for any medical advice for myself here.

I am not going to give medical advice to anyone either.

The goal of this thread is purely information sharing of personal experiences.

I am an individual and am not researching on behalf of anyone - purely trying to help myself and others in similar situations.

I ask that all contributers please maintain the same discipline to ensure the thread stays open and other people in Ireland can hopefully gain some value from our individual experiences which we can document here.
______________________________________________________________


Have you got any experience of being prescribed Seroquel for conditions other than those conditions approved for Seroquel treatment by the FDA - ie Bipolar Types I or II / Schizophrenia ?
( See here for FDA approved classifactions : http://www.drugs.com/pro/seroquel.html )

If so,

1) What condition was it prescribed to you for (if you feel comfortable disclosing) ?
2) How did it work for your condition ?
3) Are you still taking it or did you complete the course ?
4) If you completed, how did you stop ?
5) Were there side effects or withdrawl symptoms ?

______________________________________________________

OK - I'll start:

1) Condition/Prescription
My own situation concerns substance addiction.

I've been prescribed Seroquel for a non bipolar / non Schizophrenic condition - (3 X 25mg per day - for the past 10 days) - a relatively small dose on the grand scale of things. I understand some people are prescribed upwards of 1000mg per day and more in certain conditions - I've read about 1600mg per day

The goal and context of my prescription was to help me sleep and relax, get me over a hump, and Seroquel was chosen as it was a better drug than various Benzo's, available as it's "not addictive like Benzo's are"

As a caveat, my GP said :

"Don't worry about the fact that it says it's only for Bipolar / Schizophrenia, that's fine, we use this all the time for other conditions".

2) How's it working:
I'm finding myself sleeping about 11.5 consistently every day. I'm in a position to be able to survive with that, though it's quite concerning and not sustainable for me at all over a period of time. I am finding that I get quite irratible before I take my evening time pill.

I didn't feel like I needed medication for my condition, and felt I could brave it alone - I was fully involved and participating in my own treatment plan - I was going to get this thing under control - fully motivated.

Based on the doctors advice, "you won't even notice you've taken anything with this stuff", I felt it was OK. I can't agree that I "didn't notice" this medication. The very first pill I took, I "came up" on the thing in the cafe in the Botanic Gardens on an afternoon last week. It scared the utter crap out of me as I wasn't expecting it at all based on GP's advice. As a result, it caused me a lot of confusion and upset as I felt I had been misled about it's effects.

3) Still taking / Course completed ?

Currently, I've seen my GP 4 days ago, and advised him that I wasn't happy with the stuff, and told him about all the above. He said, no worries - that's not right - let's cut it down. Just take it only in the evenings before bed - one pill, discard the other 2 from the schedule. I was happy with the plan to do that. Next evening, I had gone without morning and afternnon pills as planned. I ended up stuck down the Country for business, and decided to stay the night. No meds with me.

About 1:30am, I experienced a full on Panic Attack, Extreem Nausea, Hot Flushing, Restleness - all this snuck up on me quite slowly, starting with dizzyness. I needed to wake my other half via the phone in Dublin, and then get in the car at 3:30am and drive there in full panic to get the meds asap. I realised nothing else would help except more of this stuff.

As a result, I want it out of my life. I didn't feel I needed it - now I definately don't want it so I'm going to wean myself off it by reducing dosages with a pill cutter and slowly cut it out of my system.

Saw GP today, and he advised he'd "never heard of a case like mine", and at such a small dose this was hightly unusual. However, fair enough, need to stop it. I advised that I would cut down doses myself with pill cutters, and wanted something to counterract the withdrawl symptoms of Nausea (anti-sickness stuff), Panic (was open to his suggestion).

The tragic irony of it all was that he now prescribed Benzo's lol ;-)

Librium 10mg.

Needless to say, I haven't taken it and I plan not to if at all possible.

So after all that, he has had to resort to what was not best for me in the first place, to counterract the thing he gave me that I didn't feel I needed ! Talk about a lab rat ;-) I have my own cut down plan to get this out bit by slow bit, and will be carefully monitoring myself during every stage.



4) If completed, how stopped.

I haven't got there yet, but hope to soon. Weaning down pattern for me.


5) Side Effects / Withdrawl Symptoms,

Aside from the situation the other night when I didn't take any all day, not enough experience yet with this, though that was a horrible evening.





I searched the web for information on Seroquel use, and found very little information about it on Irish forums.

Given my above situation, I understand it's seriousness, and I got quite upset when I found the following thread on boards.ie (even if it was the Rec area I find some of the comments in here deeply offensive) : http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showt...p?t=2056368478


That was when I felt a geniune thread for people to feel they had a voice and somewhere to hear about others' experiences would be a great value to them.


I hope the mods and the contributers will ensure that other Non BiPolar / Non Schizophrenic Seroquel users can find a thread of value on boards.ie that won't make them feel that only people discussing their medication are laughing and be-litteling their situation.

Lastly, please remember - no advice on meds/psych/etc here. Information sharing only.

Best Wishes to you all,

Al.

Odysseus

I have been working with addivition over 14 years never came accross a case like your. Now for my personal questions. OP How long where you off your drug of choice when the above happened? I'm surprised to see you experience withdrawal/discontinuation from the meds, could it be from you drug withdrawal?

Delighted to hear you geeting through it though.

Crimson125

Odysseus wrote: »

I have been working with addivition over 14 years never came accross a case like your. Now for my personal questions. OP How long where you off your drug of choice when the above happened? I'm surprised to see you experience withdrawal/discontinuation from the meds, could it be from you drug withdrawal?

Delighted to hear you geeting through it though.

Hi Odysseus,

Thanks for the quick reply :-)

In fairness, Ive been reguarly "off" my drug of choice for short periods of a few days at a time, though this is the first time Id not used in 2 weeks for a few years.

i know my own self and the drug very well - this is not causing it. im confident of that as ive stopped using for months at a time years ago.

A quick search online for Seroquel Withdrawl will show multiple cases where this substance is reported to do this, so Im confident the side effects are from the meds. It does seem surprising that it would onset so fast though -but given Im not bipolar or schizophrenic, Treating a paper cut with a triple bypass may well introduce complications.

Do you have any experience of this med being used for non bipolar / schizophrenic reasons ? Ie as a sedative, or sleeping helper ?

Al.

Odysseus

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi Odysseus,

Thanks for the quick reply :-)

In fairness, Ive been reguarly "off" my drug of choice for short periods of a few days at a time, though this is the first time Id not used in 2 weeks for a few years.

i know my own self and the drug very well - this is not causing it. im confident of that as ive stopped using for months at a time years ago.

A quick search online for Seroquel Withdrawl will show multiple cases where this substance is reported to do this, so Im confident the side effects are from the meds. It does seem surprising that it would onset so fast though -but given Im not bipolar or schizophrenic, Treating a paper cut with a triple bypass may well introduce complications.

Do you have any experience of this med being used for non bipolar / schizophrenic reasons ? Ie as a sedative, or sleeping helper ?

Al.

No not this drug, onther anti-psychotic are often used in early detox though. I would say that you would know how your body reacts to drugs. As long as you not experience are current issues, I would say **** it, focus on getting better/ recovery which every suits you better. Have you a history with benzos? It just puzzles me a bit.

neemish

Hi OP,

I currently take anywhere between 12.5 and 37.mg of seroquel PRN (as needed)

1) What condition was it prescribed to you for (if you feel comfortable disclosing) ?
My Consultant recommended for me in jan of this year instead of valium and/or sleepers for anxiety/PTSD.
2) How did it work for your condition ?
great - but it completely flattens my mood to the point where I feel nothing. I just go around in a blur. I do get a great nights sleep, but it works by knocking me out! I'm not actually dealing with anything.
3) Are you still taking it or did you complete the course ?
As needed, but have had to cut it way down so that I can function better.
4) If you completed, how did you stop ?
n/a
5) Were there side effects or withdrawl symptoms ?
I THINK its affecting my short term memory. I have difficulty remembering things and am eternally writing lists (this is separate to anxiety/my original condition). It's like being in a dream-like state. i'm constantly wondering if something really happened or if i just dreamt it.
I have an annoying tic in one of my eyes.
I have to have at least 12-15 hours free when I take it because I'm literally unconscious.
if I cut it out/down, my sleep pattern is all over the place (not as good as sleepers for knocking my sleep into place)


and YES, I have discussed all this with my doc!
Overall verdict - probably better for me than benzos and brilliant when I'm in a bad way but not a medication (for me) that is compatible with a full-time job and day to day living

Crimson125

Hi Neemish,

It sounds like you are not quite taking a course of this stuff, and are more taking it as and when you need it. Do you find that has any withdrawl symptoms when you are on a few days, off then a few days ?

I agree with the sleep thing - it's absolutely ridiculous - sleeping 12 hours a day is leaving me waking up annoyed and under pressure to get productive as it's generally around 11:30, and I feel I've missed 3 or 4 hours of my day.

pejay

i was on serequel 200mg and doing fine then got it increased to 275mg and doc found it was giving me irregular heart rhythmns so decided to take me off it i had only been on it a month withdrawal was horrid vomiting severe panick attacks and feeling like i had the flu, i was also taking valium with it.

Doc then tried me on abilify that did not suit either so she switched me back on to a low dose of serequel 100mg daily as i seemed to tolerate it apart from it was having an effect on my heart at higher doses.

I take it as a mood stabilizer but my anxiety is high so i have also been put on a drug called lyrica that was prescribed originally for pain but recent studies showed it was also good for anxiety.

As for an annoying tic in the eye i also i get that and a fluttering sensation in the chest.

I find that it causes great amount of dizziness and this starts my panic attack do you find you get dizzy on this med

Crimson125

Hi pejay,

I find it certainly made me sleepy when I first took it - but that wore off after a few days. I did t take it one day, and it hit me like a tonne of bricks - dizzy, panic, sweats - i got one into me asap. I only take 25 mg at night at the moment and am trying cutting that down to 12.5mg per night now - hoping that moves to 6.25 and down to 3.125 etc. This is all to try and counter the rotten withdrawl I experienced last week.

I tried 12.5 last night and I was panicking so I popped the other 12.5. Ive just taken 12.5 a few minutes ago amd hope that tonight will be successful.

Bed in the next few minutes and fingers crossed ;-)

Sleep tight ! 12 hours sleep coming right up !!

pejay

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi pejay,

I find it certainly made me sleepy when I first took it - but that wore off after a few days. I did t take it one day, and it hit me like a tonne of bricks - dizzy, panic, sweats - i got one into me asap. I only take 25 mg at night at the moment and am trying cutting that down to 12.5mg per night now - hoping that moves to 6.25 and down to 3.125 etc. This is all to try and counter the rotten withdrawl I experienced last week.

I tried 12.5 last night and I was panicking so I popped the other 12.5. Ive just taken 12.5 a few minutes ago amd hope that tonight will be successful.

Bed in the next few minutes and fingers crossed ;-)

Sleep tight ! 12 hours sleep coming right up !!

yeah the withdrawal kicks in preety quick i must say i find even if i miss a dose i get the withdrawal symptoms i take 50mg at night and sometimes it knocks me out depending on how tired i am do you not find though even after a good nights sleep that there is a fogginess in the morning still or a dizziness in your head as i do

it takes me a while to get moving

pejay

are you actually breaking the serequel 25mg in half because they are a tiny tablet just wandering how you manage to break it

Crimson125

Yeah - the morning takes a bit to get going indeed. One of many reasons I want to get off it. The fact that I sleep that long isnt a good sign - but im somewhat in a position to sleep. If I had to get up after 8 hours Id imagine Id be a zombie for a few hours.

pejay

Crimson125 wrote: »

Yeah - the morning takes a bit to get going indeed. One of many reasons I want to get off it. The fact that I sleep that long isnt a good sign - but im somewhat in a position to sleep. If I had to get up after 8 hours Id imagine Id be a zombie for a few hours.

yeah you would be i used to be able to get up early now i find myself feeling like i am in a drunken stupor and have to get back to bed that could stay with me all day then as i also take this med during the day so the dizzy/tired feeling never goes away

Crimson125

pejay wrote: »

are you actually breaking the serequel 25mg in half because they are a tiny tablet just wandering how you manage to break it

I bought a "pill splitter" for 7 quid in the local Bradleys pharmacy. Its a godsend. Ive had to split pills before (lexapro) to come off them, and I dont know how I managed without this before !!

Crimson125

pejay wrote: »

Crimson125 wrote: »

Yeah - the morning takes a bit to get going indeed. One of many reasons I want to get off it. The fact that I sleep that long isnt a good sign - but im somewhat in a position to sleep. If I had to get up after 8 hours Id imagine Id be a zombie for a few hours.

yeah you would be i used to be able to get up early now i find myself feeling like i am in a drunken stupor and have to get back to bed that could stay with me all day then as i also take this med during the day so the dizzy/tired feeling never goes away

I have the luxury if being able to stay asleep - though the novelty is wearing off - i expect it will get very frustrating soon.

pejay

can i ask why you are on serequel in the first place??

i was put on it as they put me on a drug called lustral and this sent me manic they then gave me serequel as a come down and found at the high dose at 275mg was giving irregular heart rhythmns so was took of it then put back on it at lower dose which i dont see the point as she cannot get me to theraputic stage without increasing it so at some stage i have to be withdrawn again and go through the vomiting and all that

Oh are you starting to fall asleep yet ;)

Crimson125

pejay wrote: »

can i ask why you are on serequel in the first place??

i was put on it as they put me on a drug called lustral and this sent me manic they then gave me serequel as a come down and found at the high dose at 275mg was giving irregular heart rhythmns so was took of it then put back on it at lower dose which i dont see the point as she cannot get me to theraputic stage without increasing it so at some stage i have to be withdrawn again and go through the vomiting and all that

Oh are you starting to fall asleep yet ;)

Will PM you ;p

Crimson125

Ps - in bed and getting drowsy now.........finding im getting impatient with phone and feeling a bit light headed

Crimson125

Now im not asleep yet, and am having difficulty relaxing. Im feeling dizzy, and am a bit panicky.

Makes me want to take the other half of my pill, but im gonna try and brave through this one.

mathepac

OP, this is not medical advice. It is patient information from the Irish Medicines website, our drug licensing authority, from the patient information leaflet included in the drug packaging.

The manufacturer's recommendation is that the tablets be taken whole, either once or twice a day, so you might want to discuss the use of a pill-splitter with your pharmacist / medic.

some oral medications have coatings that dictate where they begin working (what part of the digestive system) or how long their effects last (slow release mechanisms). By breaking tablets you may interfere with either of these actions.

http://www.medicines.ie/medicine/7911/PIL/Seroquel+Tablets+25mg%2c+100mg%2c+200mg+and+300mg/

Crimson125

mathepac wrote: »

OP, this is not medical advice. It is patient information from the Irish Medicines website, our drug licensing authority, from the patient information leaflet included in the drug packaging.

The manufacturer's recommendation is that the tablets be taken whole, either once or twice a day, so you might want to discuss the use of a pill-splitter with your pharmacist / medic.

some oral medications have coatings that dictate where they begin working (what part of the digestive system) or how long their effects last (slow release mechanisms). By breaking tablets you may interfere with either of these actions.

http://www.medicines.ie/medicine/7911/PIL/Seroquel+Tablets+25mg%2c+100mg%2c+200mg+and+300mg/

Hi mathepac,

Thanks for the link :-) I have the printed copy beside me here thanks - it eve has yellow highlighter on it from my studying !

Id already agreed this strategy with my GP as the debilitating effects frkm simply stoppng them cold turkey were so ugly. Having researched online myself, and seeing what other users went through - we decided this was the best approach.

Do you have any experience with Seroquel yourself
?

kumate_champ07

Im on 50mg of seroquel to help me sleep, otherwise I stay awake for 5hrs untill I eventually fall asleep and then wake up every hour. my mind has no off switch so this stuff helps


they switched me from zyprexa maybe 4 years ago, at first I had 300mg(x2) in the afternoon and evening, I dont know if the doctors realise exactly what its like to be on some of the meds they prescribe. I spent the whole day napping and eating sweets/junk. I went down to 300-200-100, after being on 100 for a while Im now on 50mg the past 2years.


Im also on effexor for depression.

the biggest side effect of seroquel is it makes food taste amazing 30mins after ingestion, I would stagger to the kitchen like a zombie just to get a packet of biscuits and munch away as I fall asleep. I try not to have anything sweet around because of the weight gain potential

mathepac

Crimson125 wrote: »

...Do you have any experience with Seroquel yourself?

No my experience with these drugs is from the "other" side having clients take them for a variety of reasons, that's why I'll point you to information sources (if I can) and not offer anything that could be construed as medical advice.

The discontinuation / withdrawal symptoms you experienced are all listed on the PIL you have, but obviously severity is very much an individual thing and a very unpleasant experience reading your post.

If you want to read the summary of product characteristics (if tech stuff floats your boat) then the SPC is available from that site too, here's a link -
http://www.medicines.ie/medicine/10785/SPC/Seroquel+Tablets+25mg%2c+100mg%2c+200mg+and+300mg/

I check in fairly regularly, so if I can point you to more on-line official information or offer non-medical opinion, I'll be glad to.

BTW, I find your reasons for starting the thread laudable and I'll respect them and the charter. There is however a caveat: I respect people's right to privacy and the inalienable freedom they have to post or not, but I don't get involved in PM'ing information as I see that as being contrary to the thread's purpose and the forum's charter.

Crimson125

Hi Mathepac,

Understood !

Thanks again for the info sharing ;-)


As for me, I'm wide awake now - should be asleep. Seems a few sleepless nights may be on the cards for me.

~:A:~

nesf

I went from 400mg to 0mg without stepping down, not on doctor's advice (I was rather ill at the time and seriously this was one of the stupider things I've done while ill!) it was for bipolar/suspected schizophrenia at the time in conjunction with Solian. I had withdrawal symptoms and they were pretty damn nasty but it wasn't addiction. I just waited out the unpleasant symptoms and have never felt like taking it since. I had most of the symptoms that withdrawal can cause except for the two most serious ones if I remember correctly. I was pretty ill back then though, so I could be wrong and remembering it incorrectly!

Odysseus

Crimson125 wrote: »

As for me, I'm wide awake now - should be asleep. Seems a few sleepless nights may be on the cards for me.

~:A:~

Sadly as you know that is too be expected with the situation you are addressing. If you don't mind me asking have you got supports to help you through the coming months?

neemish

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi Neemish,

It sounds like you are not quite taking a course of this stuff, and are more taking it as and when you need it. Do you find that has any withdrawl symptoms when you are on a few days, off then a few days ?

I agree with the sleep thing - it's absolutely ridiculous - sleeping 12 hours a day is leaving me waking up annoyed and under pressure to get productive as it's generally around 11:30, and I feel I've missed 3 or 4 hours of my day.

Hey Crimson125,

have no problem coming off it except with my sleep pattern.

The big problem is coming back onto it - hits like a tonne of bricks! Takes a few days to settle.

This is the big disadvantage of seroquel vs benzos imo. It is much better in the long run, but I can take valium one day and not have it again for a week and its fine. whereas with seroquel, every time I take it, its like starting again.

PS always had my pills split while in hospital. there was never any problem with it

Crimson125

Odysseus wrote: »

Crimson125 wrote: »

As for me, I'm wide awake now - should be asleep. Seems a few sleepless nights may be on the cards for me.

~:A:~

Sadly as you know that is too be expected with the situation you are addressing. If you don't mind me asking have you got supports to help you through the coming months?

Hi odysseus,

I do indeed. Combinations of counselling and complimentary therapies such as accupunctures on the cards.

Intrrestingly, I only had 5.5 hours sleep last night and managed to get out of bed grog free. Thats the first day in two weeks ;-)

Odysseus

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi odysseus,

I do indeed. Combinations of counselling and complimentary therapies such as accupunctures on the cards.

Intrrestingly, I only had 5.5 hours sleep last night and managed to get out of bed grog free. Thats the first day in two weeks ;-)

Good stuff, best of luck with it.

pejay

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi odysseus,

I do indeed. Combinations of counselling and complimentary therapies such as accupunctures on the cards.

Intrrestingly, I only had 5.5 hours sleep last night and managed to get out of bed grog free. Thats the first day in two weeks ;-)

Hi crimson how you getting on with withdrawal from serequel??


I too now am going through it i went to see my doc and she wants me off it due to side effects i am on 100mg daily i take 50mg at night but she has reduced it to 25mg i was awake till 3.00pm last night because of the decrease, today i am missing that extra 25mg i feel like i have flu my bottom jaw chatters and i feel hot and then cold my legs are aching

Just wondering how you are getting on

Crimson125

pejay wrote: »

Hi crimson how you getting on with withdrawal from serequel??


I too now am going through it i went to see my doc and she wants me off it due to side effects i am on 100mg daily i take 50mg at night but she has reduced it to 25mg i was awake till 3.00pm last night because of the decrease, today i am missing that extra 25mg i feel like i have flu my bottom jaw chatters and i feel hot and then cold my legs are aching

Just wondering how you are getting on

Hey pejay,

When you say flu - you mean blocked nose or more ? I've had the blocked nose since I started on the stuff.

I went with 12.5 last night again and interestingly I was able to wake up a lot easier this morning after 7 hours sleep. I was up till 2am though.

After I took my 12.5 last night, I was feeling quite out of it once I hit the bed about 30 minutes later. I grabbed the ipad and spent 90 minutes browsing utter crap on the web just to keep my mind occupied - I had leveled out a bit by about 1:30 and was wrecked by 2, so fell asleep shortly after that.

I've been feeling a bit panicky at times during the day, but have been doing breathing exercises to try to keep that at bay. I'd say it hits me about 2 or 3 times. Finding it happens a lot in the car when I'm at lights, and just dealing with traffic - frustration situations.

Did your doc come up with a plan for you to weane you off after moving down to 25mg's or is it planned cold turkey ?

I'm considering not taking the stuff at all this evening - It's been 3 days now on 12.5 so I'm going to brave it. Have it on hand to take it if I need it. I've had a busy day, so hopefully I'll be tired once I hit the bed and will fall asleep easily enough.

Hang in there mate - you'll get there ;-)

Crimson125

neemish wrote: »

PS always had my pills split while in hospital. there was never any problem with it

Interesting comment neemish.

I've been told by a health professional that splitting pills can sometimes only be effective to a certain point. Because the manufacturers use "buffer" materials to make up the mg of the pills (eg, 25 mg seroquel may have say 10mg of other material to make it a certain size/weight), that the splitting process can become unbalanced once you start to split too much.

I guess that the theory is that after a certain point, you can't be sure that the active medication is evenly spread inside the pill, so technically 2 evenly cut halves may not actually contain exactly half of the active medicine.

She suggested that once you start going further down in splits, this can becomes more of an issue.

It seems that in certain medication halves might be somewhat ok, maybe quarters less ok, and maybe eights even less so etc

Food for thought on splitting any medication.

pejay

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hey pejay,

When you say flu - you mean blocked nose or more ? I've had the blocked nose since I started on the stuff.

I went with 12.5 last night again and interestingly I was able to wake up a lot easier this morning after 7 hours sleep. I was up till 2am though.

After I took my 12.5 last night, I was feeling quite out of it once I hit the bed about 30 minutes later. I grabbed the ipad and spent 90 minutes browsing utter crap on the web just to keep my mind occupied - I had leveled out a bit by about 1:30 and was wrecked by 2, so fell asleep shortly after that.

I've been feeling a bit panicky at times during the day, but have been doing breathing exercises to try to keep that at bay. I'd say it hits me about 2 or 3 times. Finding it happens a lot in the car when I'm at lights, and just dealing with traffic - frustration situations.

Did your doc come up with a plan for you to weane you off after moving down to 25mg's or is it planned cold turkey ?

I'm considering not taking the stuff at all this evening - It's been 3 days now on 12.5 so I'm going to brave it. Have it on hand to take it if I need it. I've had a busy day, so hopefully I'll be tired once I hit the bed and will fall asleep easily enough.

Hang in there mate - you'll get there ;-)

well i had the blocked nose when i started it so i had to get a nasal spral also a dry mouth no i mean flu like symptoms aching legs and that i fend i get trembles in my legs or shaking,

Yeah you can feel quite panicky and anxious.

i have to go down 25mg for 2 days then dow another 25mg for 2 days and then remove the remaining 50mg before i go back in next week to see her but i am not going to rush it i will go depending how my body feels as you get a dependacy on it.

Last night was bad for me my husband had to stay awake till 4.00am to keep an eye on me as i was wide awake and thought i could hear things in the room i eventually killed it by taking the new drug i am on Lycria and valium,

i dont know what the extent off your withdrawals are but mine are not nice i have a constant shake in my hands, aches, fluttering in the chest did you notice any of these starting or withdrawing ???

Keep the 12.5 close to you and take it if ye need to better than having the ****ty withdrawals or try and split that 12.5 in half now sometimes just knowing you have some of it inside you helps as i find if i miss my morning dose or take it late symptoms start appearing until i take it.

Crimson125

pejay wrote: »

well i had the blocked nose when i started it so i had to get a nasal spral also a dry mouth no i mean flu like symptoms aching legs and that i fend i get trembles in my legs or shaking,

Yeah you can feel quite panicky and anxious.

i have to go down 25mg for 2 days then dow another 25mg for 2 days and then remove the remaining 50mg before i go back in next week to see her but i am not going to rush it i will go depending how my body feels as you get a dependacy on it.

Last night was bad for me my husband had to stay awake till 4.00am to keep an eye on me as i was wide awake and thought i could hear things in the room i eventually killed it by taking the new drug i am on Lycria and valium,

i dont know what the extent off your withdrawals are but mine are not nice i have a constant shake in my hands, aches, fluttering in the chest did you notice any of these starting or withdrawing ???

Keep the 12.5 close to you and take it if ye need to better than having the ****ty withdrawals or try and split that 12.5 in half now sometimes just knowing you have some of it inside you helps as i find if i miss my morning dose or take it late symptoms start appearing until i take it.

Hey,

You're lucky to have your husband helping you - that support can be vital in getting through those crappy nights - interestingly it's night time I find the most difficult. Make sure you thank him and let him know how important that surely is to you ! Myself and my other half have been key to keeping the anxiety down for each other.

Tremmors, not so much. I've been having some strange pains inside my left leg which was a bit freaky - constantly there, but wierd. Chest pains - yes. I've had some wierd palpatations and pains in my chest over the past few days - trying not to think about them too much and keep busy, but again, night time is difficult.

Have the pill splitter box loaded with 12.5 doses beside the bed - gonna brave another night since last night was quite successful. My other half is going to try the same tonight aswell - so fingers crossed we'll get to sleep early and not need to dose up !

Sweet dreams ;-) :pac:

jtsuited

hmmm....I take 50mg (and have been for the past 3 months) at night, sleep like a baby for 8 hours and wake up perfect. Miracle pill would be an apt description.

pejay

jtsuited wrote: »

hmmm....I take 50mg (and have been for the past 3 months) at night, sleep like a baby for 8 hours and wake up perfect. Miracle pill would be an apt description.

yes some people do say its a miracle drug i suppose it depends on the person and what its treating,

We are on about coming of the drug and the way it makes you feel, which is not very nice.

Crimson125

jtsuited wrote: »

hmmm....I take 50mg (and have been for the past 3 months) at night, sleep like a baby for 8 hours and wake up perfect. Miracle pill would be an apt description.

Hi jsuited,

Good to hear a positive report ;-)

Are you on it for reasons other than Bipolar/Schizophrenia ?

Have you ever not taken it for a period / cut down ?

Crimson125

@pejay,

So, I didn't take the 12.5 last night. I was awake until sometime between 5 and 6. I was feeling dizzy towards the end of that, not sure if it was tiredness or something else. Eitherway, I got about 5 hours sleep in the end, and I'm still alive !!

So, will be monitoring closely today as it's now almost 30 hours since I took any. Have to say the mere thoughts of not touching it ever again are relieving.

pejay

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hey,

You're lucky to have your husband helping you - that support can be vital in getting through those crappy nights - interestingly it's night time I find the most difficult. Make sure you thank him and let him know how important that surely is to you ! Myself and my other half have been key to keeping the anxiety down for each other.

Tremmors, not so much. I've been having some strange pains inside my left leg which was a bit freaky - constantly there, but wierd. Chest pains - yes. I've had some wierd palpatations and pains in my chest over the past few days - trying not to think about them too much and keep busy, but again, night time is difficult.

Have the pill splitter box loaded with 12.5 doses beside the bed - gonna brave another night since last night was quite successful. My other half is going to try the same tonight aswell - so fingers crossed we'll get to sleep early and not need to dose up !

Sweet dreams ;-) :pac:

Thats great see how you get on and take your time if you need it its always there

That pain in your left leg i can relate to that i have it at the moment i dont know what its like it feels like a nerve or a pressure its a weird feeling the palpitations also that can be serequel withdrawal,

I have to come down another 25mg somewhere today and not looking forward to it at all i take 25mg @ 9am, 25mg@4.00pm ,and 25mg@ 9pm, so i think i might try the 4.00pm one and see how i get on i dont care what anybody says these tablets are habit forming because the brain misses them and starts looking for them so thats why we are getting the symptoms of not having them.

Keep me posted crimson and best wishes to you

Crimson125

I've found that I sometimes get panicky when I'm on this thread lol !!

The more I'm thinking about the seroquel at the times when I've been cutting down, the more I find it makes me anxious. Best to keep as busy as possible and not to dwell on what might happen - just do stuff you enjoy and keep your mind busy.

The reason that we chose the night time one to leave in place was based on the idea that if we woke up in the morning and felt OK, we could push out taking the pill as long as possible. If we were feeling rotten in the afternoon, then we would take it. But if we were feeling OK until late evening, then we'd take it before sleeping. We were worried that if we took one too early we might end up having to take another one later in the evening - given our goal was to cut down.

We're meeting our counseller/psychologist today for the first time - it's been a long 7 days waiting for that to happen. That should give us strength and we're curious to hear what she has to say about this drug as we got an indication on the phone that she didn't feel it was suitable for us.

I'll be in here over the coming days as I'm not 100% convinced that all will be rosy now in terms of side effects. The goal of this thread was for future Seroquel users to have somewhere to see other's experiences in Ireland, and if I had to put money, I'd say my Seroquel "experience" isn't yet fully over.

jtsuited

Crimson125 wrote: »

Hi jsuited,

Good to hear a positive report ;-)

Are you on it for reasons other than Bipolar/Schizophrenia ?

Have you ever not taken it for a period / cut down ?

yup not on it for bipolar or schizophrenia.
never not taken it for a period or cut down (I'm on a relatively tiny dose).
guys, i don't want to be seen as giving medical advice, but why be so 'i'm coming off it. that's it' about it?

It seems like an awful lot of effort for what gain?

Now granted the side effects for some people are unmanageable, but anecdotally speaking, the extended release version seems to work very well for those people.

Odysseus

Crimson125 wrote: »

We're meeting our counseller/psychologist today for the first time - it's been a long 7 days waiting for that to happen. That should give us strength and we're curious to hear what she has to say about this drug as we got an indication on the phone that she didn't feel it was suitable for us.

I'll be in here over the coming days as I'm not 100% convinced that all will be rosy now in terms of side effects. The goal of this thread was for future Seroquel users to have somewhere to see other's experiences in Ireland, and if I had to put money, I'd say my Seroquel "experience" isn't yet fully over.

Be careful there, a therapist may have an opinion, but they are not a medic. Speak to your doctor before you make any changes to your meds. Some who work in the area have very ridig views about meds.

But hey you still here so keep up the good work.

jtsuited

yeah your counsellor/psychologist are not qualified whatsoever to talk about any drug. and if they do, leave. there are a bunch of frankly awful people out there without medical degrees spouting nonsense about psychiatric drugs.

nesf

jtsuited wrote: »

there are a bunch of frankly awful people out there without medical degrees spouting nonsense about psychiatric drugs.

A medical degree is no proof against such. Look at Thomas Szasz for instance.

Crimson125

To be clear on why myself and my partner are stopping:

Our GP has advised both of use to get off the stuff asap due to the adverse reactions we were having.

That was last Monday.

When we sat with him and told him what we had experienced, he seemed surprised, and pulled out a reference book to look at the drug's details.

We told him that we had been researching online, and spent a lot of time looking at other peoples experiences all over the world with this medication. We recounted some of those experiences to him.

While he found our reaction remarkable in his own experience, he recommended we get off Seroquel immediately.

He recommended by cold turkey - we advised that we were extreemly scared of inducing the negative withdrawl effects with such an abrupt stop - he seemed supportive with the strategy of a short term pill splitting method.

Crimson125

jtsuited wrote: »

yup not on it for bipolar or schizophrenia.
never not taken it for a period or cut down (I'm on a relatively tiny dose).
guys, i don't want to be seen as giving medical advice, but why be so 'i'm coming off it. that's it' about it?

It seems like an awful lot of effort for what gain?

Now granted the side effects for some people are unmanageable, but anecdotally speaking, the extended release version seems to work very well for those people.

Jtsuited,

Speaking for myself only; if you've read my posts on this thread, I find it strang that you would even question why myself and my partner would want to get this out of our system asap.

Perhaps as you have not attempted withdrawl, and experienced what we experienced, you don't have the same perception about this drug that we do. That's completely understandable.

A quick google of "Seroquel Withdrawl", and you will find that what some of us are discussing here on this thread is not all that strange or unique unfortunately - and that goes for the full spectrum of patients taking Seroquel.

Ultimately I started this thread for individuals who are not Bipolar / Schizophrenic - People in Ireland who in the future will end up where we were.

I found the lack of discission for our particular group non existant - therefore I started this thread so that in the future, people in our situatoin wouldn't feel so alone and would have a place to share and belong.

Other's experiences are important, especially if you are feeling alone, confused and experiencing disturbing side effects.


There seems to be a lot of bipolar/schizophrenic individuals who are prescribed this - that that makes sense - Seroquel was designed for that use.

We are in the other group - prescribed it for uses other than what it appears to have been designed for.

I recommend anyone interested in this topic to research the history of the use of this drug in the USA for example - specifically for non bi-polar/schizophrenic individuals - it makes for some very interesting reading.

mathepac

jtsuited wrote: »

yeah your counsellor/psychologist are not qualified whatsoever to talk about any drug. ...

not necessarily true.

jtsuited wrote: »

... there are a bunch of frankly awful people out there without medical degrees spouting nonsense about psychiatric drugs.

Yes unfortunately, the "internet qualified" experts willing to waffle at length about drugs of all kinds.

jtsuited

mathepac wrote: »

not necessarily true.
Yes unfortunately, the "internet qualified" experts willing to waffle at length about drugs of all kinds.

unless your counsellor/psychologist has a medical degree or even a pharmacology degree, they shouldn't open their mouths about medications. it's not their area of expertise, and they are often dealing with people who will suffer greatly without the drugs.

jtsuited

nesf wrote: »

A medical degree is no proof against such. Look at Thomas Szasz for instance.

ah there are fringe medical doctors on everything (from Aids to depression to multiple sclerosis).
But the counselling/psychologist world in Ireland is not regulated to any proper standard and a huge number of them sound an awful lot like Thomas Szasz.

jtsuited

Crimson125 wrote: »

Jtsuited,

Speaking for myself only; if you've read my posts on this thread, I find it strang that you would even question why myself and my partner would want to get this out of our system asap.

Perhaps as you have not attempted withdrawl, and experienced what we experienced, you don't have the same perception about this drug that we do. That's completely understandable.

A quick google of "Seroquel Withdrawl", and you will find that what some of us are discussing here on this thread is not all that strange or unique unfortunately - and that goes for the full spectrum of patients taking Seroquel.

Ultimately I started this thread for individuals who are not Bipolar / Schizophrenic - People in Ireland who in the future will end up where we were.

I found the lack of discission for our particular group non existant - therefore I started this thread so that in the future, people in our situatoin wouldn't feel so alone and would have a place to share and belong.

Other's experiences are important, especially if you are feeling alone, confused and experiencing disturbing side effects.


There seems to be a lot of bipolar/schizophrenic individuals who are prescribed this - that that makes sense - Seroquel was designed for that use.

We are in the other group - prescribed it for uses other than what it appears to have been designed for.

I recommend anyone interested in this topic to research the history of the use of this drug in the USA for example - specifically for non bi-polar/schizophrenic individuals - it makes for some very interesting reading.

A quick google of any popularly prescribed drug and you will find horror stories whether it's in taking the drug or in coming off it.

The facts are that quetiapine seems to be very effective as an adjunct therapy for major depression. As is evident here

If you want this to be a drug-scare thread, fine. But I'm fairly sure it will contravene the charter.

The vast majority of people who take a drug don't have wacky and weird serious side effects. A few people will. Doesn't mean that those few people should try and start internet movements where they warn people away from said drug.

nesf

jtsuited wrote: »

ah there are fringe medical doctors on everything (from Aids to depression to multiple sclerosis).
But the counselling/psychologist world in Ireland is not regulated to any proper standard and a huge number of them sound an awful lot like Thomas Szasz.

My point was more that just because someone has a medical degree doesn't mean they talk sense (or know what they're doing I'm sorry to say from personal experience), not that psychologists should be giving out advice on medication.

jtsuited

nesf wrote: »

My point was more that just because someone has a medical degree doesn't mean they talk sense (or know what they're doing I'm sorry to say from personal experience), not that psychologists should be giving out advice on medication.

ah yeah but my point is that someone giving medical advice (and it is medical advice regarding drugs) should at least be a qualified medical doctor (as the law sort of says it should be).