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Name of medication: Quetiapine
Also known as: Seroquel
Type: Antipsychotic
Available as immediate-release and prolonged-release
Link to patient information: http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/quetiapine
**Please note all following information is based on individual members experiences.
**Any side effects or any questions should ALWAYS be directed to your own medical team.
I take 50mg of immediate-release quetiapine at night. From the first dose, it had the immediate effect of calming down my obsessive thoughts and allowing me to sleep deeply.
Over time my obsessive thoughts have calmed down overall and I know I can usually get a good night's sleep, without feeling groggy the next day.
I take this in conjunction with 60mg Fluoxetine.
I have found this medicine hugely beneficial.
I was very sensitive to Seroquel. I took the 25mg Immediate release and it knocked me out flat. I was sleeping 16+ hours. Then when I did wake up I was left dazed and confused. One day I woke up and thought I was in China. I went down to 12.5mg and i was still sleeping 14-16hours. I've read a journal that has linked prolonged use to memory loss, but it was a very small percentage.
But like I say all the Nurses said I was unusually sensitive to it.
i have started quetiapine and was looking for a revue . I started a few months ago but stopped it because i felt so tired and drained and couldn't go to work . Since then i have had to quit my job because my moods have nose dived . Now i want to give quetiapine another try . I am hoping it will help me in the long run . I have been treated for depression for nearly 20 years and last year was diagnosed as bipolar 2 .
Noel, hi and welcome. Have you re started quetiapine after speaking to your doctor?
Hi Noel, were you on immediate or prolonged release? Welcome to DWD.
Hi and welcome.
Hi all thanks for the welcome , I should of been taking quetiapine the last few months as prescribed by doctor , but stupidly went against his advice because of work which involves driving . I was very drowzy so stopped taking them . Now i have had to quit job so am starting them again as the doctor prescribed . The packet doesn't say prolonged release so i am assuming they are immediate release . I am taking 50mg at night at the moment and i have been told to steadily increase up to 150mg .
I had a short lived experience with quietiapine.it knocked me out but then kept me awake with the old restless legs if that makes sense.but we are all different so good luck with it
Hi Noel, I take 50mg immediate-release Quetiapine at bedtime to help me sleep, in conjunction with an antidepressant. As long as I don't take the Quetiapine too late, I don't have much trouble getting up in the morning.
If 150mg is making you too drowsy to work, perhaps you could ask the GP if combining with an antidepressant would be suitable for you, or switching to the prolonged-release?
I have found that the Quetiapine has been amazing at quietening down all the 'noise' in my head, even at such a low dose.
Thanks for the replies , any advice from people with first hand experience is great . I think i should keep taking it for a while so i can see how it works for me . I have been reluctant for years to think about different medication as i was scared of hitting rock bottom . The trouble with new meds i suppose is it doesn't happen overnight , a bit like watching paint dry .
Yup, totally. It's a waiting game to see if they suit you....
I am now up to 300mg of quetiapine after steadily increasing dosage by 25mg per day . I am really happy that the initial side effects of tiredness and hunger
have got better as time has gone by . Up until 3 days ago I was feeling hopeless and pointless and generally rubbish . But then I started to feel slightly more
positive with glimmers of hope for the first time in a long time . As always when i start to feel brighter I tried to run before i learned to walk and wanted to
make up for my low mood by being cheerful and had a great evening trying to learn guitar and keyboard with the kids . It was the first time in a long time
that the house was full of real laughter from all of us . I exclaimed to my wife i am on the mend . I know I have to take it one day at a time but just felt
like sharing this on here . Ironically two days before that i had run out of my sertraline so had to wait a few days to get another prescription . I think that
evening i felt a bit more energetic as i had missed a couple of sertraline ( 2x100mg). It has made me wonder if it would be a good idea to ween off the sertraline
which is what my phsyciatrist had first mentioned , but we agreed to see how it went . When i got my prescription and started on the sertraline again after 3 days
I did notice i felt a bit more numb and tired again , although still an improvement overall. I have an appointment with phsyciatrist next wednesday which is good timing .
If anyone else has any experience with these meds together I would be greatful if you have any advice . :) :) :)
I haven't had experience of them together, only separately. I must admit I did not get along too well with Sertraline. I didn't have any side effects, but I felt disconnected from my emotions and therefore decisions became very difficult. Its difficult to know if this was due to the medication or symptoms of depression.
With regards to Quetiapine, I only take 50mg a night and its been an absolute life-saver for me.
No experience of the two together but I was on sertraline 200mgs per day for about 4mnths a few years back.it did little for my depression and gave me even more insomnia,but I know people whom its helped with depression to great effect
thanks for your replies everyone , sorry i forgot to mention i have been on sertraline 100mg for nearly 15 years on its own , and tbh I have been ok but always seem to
relapse in to depression usually once a year for periods from 1 month up to 3 months , always get better eventually but really affects any job i have . so for the past
15 years i manage to get a job keep it for a while , even get commendations for my work , but i always know depression is just around the corner . Everything starts to become difficult , even communicating with others , then out of the blue to any employer i quit . Switch my mobile off and don't even go out till i feel ready . The quetiapine should hopefully
help me live a reasonably normal life and stay well for work . The bipolar diagnosis is rescent and the doctor says the quetiapine is more suitable than sertraline .
sorry to go on a bit , it is refreshing talking to other people who understand from experience . thank you all .
Hello I am concerned about side effects of this quetiapine . I had a panic attack last night while trying to sleep . my heart was thumping and felt like i was struggling to breath . I had to sit up , put the fan on and found it very hard to control . My stomach was in knots and i think the only reason i stayed in bed was i didn't want to scare my kids . I was close to shouting for help but eventually with the fan on i managed to calm down . I felt it just hit me all of a sudden and i wasn't thinking of anything in particular . It felt like i was being smothered . Scared the hell out of me . Earlier in the evening i did consume a lot of caffeine and i ate a load of biscuits just before bed . I am going to phone the p doctors in a minute just to talk about it . Has anyone on here got any advice or had similar ? ps I don't usually suffer panic attacks , if that is what it is .
I've never taken quietapine so I can't comment on that side of things. I know we have a number of members that are on it though so I'm sure one of them will be able to.
Panic attacks are horrible tho(bear) - what you describe does sound consistent with one - but we aren't medically trained here so getting in touch with your doctors and telling them what happened is exactly the right thing to do. They will be able to advise.
From my own experience I do find that symptoms of anxiety are a lot worse after high intakes of caffeine.
Thank you amaeru , I am going to ring the doctor . Along side the caffeine i chew nicoteene gum and where i am trying to keep my weight under control i tend to chew more than i should instead of over eating too much . All probably a recepie for disaster . It was a very horrible experience .
Had you just taken the Quetiapine? I take mine about half an hour before bed and sometimes when I get into bed my heart starts to thump and race like I have just run for a bus. The psychiatrist told me that's a really common side effect, she also asked me to have an ECG just to check, which I did and it came back fine.
I can't have proper coffee from a shop because of the amount of caffeine in it, I get very jittery and feel like I am in a panic for hours.
I think you have already identified that caffeine, nicotine and quetiapine and sertraline together was not going to help.... I hope you are able to speak to the doctor and get some reassurance.
Thanks rose . I had taken the quetiapine about half hour before i went up to bed . It did seem to be the stairs that made my heart beat fast but as i laid down it didnt want to slow down and the panic feeling started . I am reasonably fit but i think i will be more careful after taking the tablets especially when going up to bed . I phoned the doctors and they gave me another number to ring regarding medication and they were very helpful . She also said to see my gp for an ecg and other checks . I am staying away from coffee for now aswell .
I just wanted to update my progress on quetiapine . I found for me the 300mg immediate realease at night has helped with my depression but was too much of a dosage for the side effects . It made me very drowsey soon after taking it and felt the heart palpitations too much and also restless leg syndrome , oh and the "munchies" . All of which were soon after taking it at night . Although waking up in the morning was difficult i felt no side effects during the day . My pdoc said to me from the begining that i should try to work out for myself the best dosage that i feel most benificial with the least side effects , so i have gradually reduced it down to 150 mg and found it more tolarable at night with less of the worrying side effects . I manage to get to sleep no problem without the heavy stoned feeling , more of a natural tiredness and the restless leg syndrome has eased up completely . Time will tell how well this will prevent my depression returning . I was thinking of talking to the pdoc about coming off it completely because of the side effects but am hopeful that reducing the dosage will be more beneficial . I have also reduced the sertraline to 50mg in the morning , and i am trying to keep as physically fit as possible by excersize and good nutritious food . I hope this helps someone else on quetiapine or starting it . I will update it again soon .
Really helpful! Thank you!
This stuff is the best. Quietens down my thoughts, helps me sleep... what's not to love. Oh, it makes me eat, that's a downside for sure!
I take quetiapine 25mg twice a day, plus a 3rd PRN occasioccasionally. I also take 100mg at night. I really find this helps with my racing thoughts and helps my brain slow down enough to let me be able to sleep without needing to resort to night sedation. It turns down the sound a bit.
However I do have to be careful of my blood pressure dropping with it. I do not tolerate the slow release quetiapine because of this. I have a few lumps and bumps on my head to prove it 😁