Seroquel (Quetiapine) is a short-acting atypical anitpsychotic drug that is primarily used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In some cases it is also used as an antidepressant augmentation strategy to treat major depression. It is sometimes used to help manage Alzheimer’s disease and is used at low doses for the treatment of insomnia. Despite the fact that this medication has a variety of uses, it should really only be used for its intended purpose – to treat schizophrenia and possibly bipolar disorder.
Many people take it and it works great to help people manage the positive symptoms of schizophrenia. It also helps prevent major mood swings among individuals with bipolar disorder. With that said, not everyone responds well to this drug – in some cases the side effects become unbearable. Additionally, for some individuals this drug doesn’t work well enough to justify continued usage.
Although this is a drug that can be beneficial for some people, the long term effects are not very promising. In many cases, this drug actually worsens intellectual functioning – especially in elderly with dementia. It also tends to elicit a variety of unpleasant side effects for the person taking it including: weight gain, sexual dysfunction, drowsiness, and worsened motor functioning.
Factors that influence Seroquel withdrawal include…
When you withdraw from any medication, there are important factors that will influence your withdrawal. These factors include: time span, dosage, your physiology, and whether you tapered off of the drug or quit cold turkey.
1. Time Span
How long were you taking Seroquel? If you were taking it for an extended period of time (e.g. over a year), you are likely going to have a tougher time coming off of the drug than someone who only took it for a few months. If you were on this drug for many years, it may be extremely difficult to quit.
2. Dosage (150 mg to 800 mg)
What dosage were you taking? In general, it is hypothesized that the higher the dosage you take, the more it alters your brain functioning. If you take a high dose for a long term, it is going to take your brain a much longer time to normalize in regards to neurotransmitter functioning. The drug comes in doses ranging from 25 mg, 50 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, 300 mg, and 400 mg.
For treatment of schizophrenia, most people take between 150 mg and 800 mg per day. If you are on the 800 mg dose, it may take longer for you to withdraw. Fortunately the dosing is nice if you need to conduct a gradual taper – you can keep cutting your dose in half.
3. Individual Physiology
A lot of withdrawal symptoms will be influence by your individual physiology. Despite the fact that many people experience the same symptoms when they quit taking this drug, some people don’t experience as many symptoms, while others experience more symptoms. Another thing to consider is whether you have a mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar. Withdrawal can trigger symptoms or a relapse of symptoms related to the illness for which you were taking it.
4. Cold Turkey vs. Tapering
How should you quit taking Seroquel? For most people, it is highly recommended to conduct a gradual taper. If you are on a higher dose and you quit cold turkey, you will likely be unable to function. By conducting a gradual taper (e.g. slowly reducing the dosage over time), you are allowing your body and brain to slowly adjust to changes.
If you have been on the drug for a long period of time, even tapering may be difficult. If you are someone that quit cold turkey and aren’t looking back, prepare yourself for a long recovery period and symptoms that feel as if they are never going to go away. If you haven’t yet quit this medication and want to taper, slowly reduce your dosage every few weeks. It may take months to taper off of your medication, but it will minimize the withdrawal symptoms.
Seroquel Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilities
Below are a list of common symptoms that have been reported during Seroquel withdrawal. Keep these symptoms in mind when you come off of the medication so that you know what to expect. Although you may not experience every symptom on the list, it is likely that you will experience something when you quit taking this drug.
- Agitation: If you feel especially agitated, it’s because you’re brain is no longer receiving the drug. This drug helps many people stay calm and reduces agitation. When a person quits taking it, they may become increasingly agitated and it may last for awhile.
- Anxiety: In many cases this drug helps people with anxiety. When you stop taking it, your anxiety may skyrocket. Everything you do may provoke nervousness and intense anxiety. Try to realize that it is just from withdrawal and that you will recover.
- Concentration problems: Although this drug can cause concentration problems while you take it, you may also experience poor concentration when you stop it. Some people call this “brain fog” or foggy thinking – it is due to the fact that your brain is trying to readjust itself.
- Depression: When withdrawing from this antipsychotic you may spiral into deep depression. Any medication that affects neurotransmitters can result in depression when you withdraw – especially if it had a subtle antidepressant effect when you took it.
- Dizziness: A common withdrawal symptom from any psychiatric medication is dizziness. This may be extreme when you quit taking Seroquel, but shouldn’t last longer than a few months. For most people, this sensation goes away after a few weeks, but for some, the dizziness persists for a long time. Don’t freak out if the dizziness lasts longer than you anticipated – realize that it is a result of post-acute withdrawal.
- Fatigue: Feeling excessively lethargic, tired, and fatigued is common when quitting an antipsychotic. Although this medication tends to be sedating while you take it, the withdrawal takes a toll on overall energy levels. When your brain is trying to readjust, you may become extremely tired and feel like sleeping all day.
- Headaches: It is common to experience headaches when you quit taking Seroquel. The headaches may be minor or may feel like full blown migraines. These will subside eventually, but may last weeks before they go away.
- Heart rate changes: You may notice that your heart rate becomes excessive when you quit this drug. Some people notice that their heart beats excessively fast when they withdraw. You may also notice heart palpitations – these are caused by both withdrawal and anxiety.
- Hypersensitivity: A person may become hypersensitive to sights and sounds when they come off of this medication. The person may not realize that it is from drug withdrawal and their neurotransmitters are not functioning properly. Therefore normal sounds may sound excessively loud and normal sights may appear excessively bright.
- Insomnia: It is common to experience insomnia when you quit this drug. Insomnia is usually caused by anxiety and/or sleep disruptions. Your entire sleep cycle may be thrown off when you quit this drug and you may experience increased anxiety.
- Irritability: Don’t be surprised if you become increasingly irritable and difficult when you stop this drug. In general the medication tends to calm people down almost to the point of a stupor. If you feel excessively irritable, know that it’s likely a result of withdrawal.
- Itching: Some people notice when they quit this drug that they become itchy all over. If you are experiencing excessive itchiness when you stop Seroquel, just know that it’s a result of withdrawal. If it becomes too unbearable, you may want to conduct a slower taper.
- Mood swings: It is common to experience mood swings when you quit this drug – even if you are not bipolar. The mood swings may be more pronounced and uncontrollable if you are bipolar, but even individuals that aren’t will notice that they may feel angry one minute and hopeful the next.
- Nausea: One of the most common symptoms associated with withdrawal from Seroquel is that of nausea. You may feel nauseated for an extended period of time until your body becomes used to functioning without the drug.
- Psychosis: It has been discovered that withdrawal from antipsychotics can cause psychosis. In other words, you may experience hallucinations, delusions, etc. when you are coming off of this medication. Most people don’t experience psychosis when they withdraw unless they have pre-existing schizophrenia – but it is still a possibility.
- Sleep problems: A person may notice major changes in their sleep patterns and length when they quit taking this medication. One minute the person may have bouts of extreme insomnia and the next minute they may feel extremely tired.
- Suicidal thoughts: Many people take this medication to help with suicidal thoughts and depression. When you quit taking it, you may feel more suicidal than you have ever felt. This is due to the fact that your neurotransmitter levels are out of balance and you are no longer receiving the drug to help.
- Sweating: A very common symptom is that of profuse sweating when you stop taking Seroquel. This may be prevalent throughout the day and/or may occur while you are sleeping. You may wake up from sleep in a pool of sweat. Just know that this is your body’s response to withdrawing from the drug.
- Vision changes: Some people experience pain in the eye and visual disturbances as a result of taking this medication. It has been hypothesized that this and other antipsychotics could lead a person to experience blurred vision even when withdrawing. Some even hypothesize potential “eye damage” as a result of taking this medication.
- Vomiting: Unfortunately you may vomit a lot when you stop taking Seroquel. This can be a result of intense nausea and/or your body’s way of detoxifying itself. If you feel like vomiting, just know that many people experience this during withdrawal.
Note: It is documented that Seroquel stays in your system for around 1.6 days after you stop taking it. Once the drug is out of your system, it can take a long time for your neurophysiology to recalibrate itself back to homeostatic functioning.
Seroquel Withdrawal Timeline: How long does it take?
The withdrawal process tends to affect everyone differently – therefore there is no predictable timeline for withdrawal. Some people may fully recover from symptoms within a month or two, while others may struggle with symptoms for months after they take their last dose. There is really no telling how long you will experience symptoms, but as a general rule of thumb, I recommend waiting 90 days before expecting any sort of recovery.
If you have been taking a powerful psychiatric antipsychotic drug for an extended period of time, it is going to take your brain and body quite some time before they fully recover back to homeostatic functioning. Your neurotransmitters and receptors have been altered by the long term drug usage, and your brain will need some time to reset its functioning.
In order to ensure the fastest possible recovery, you can make sure that you are eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep, staying productive, and getting some exercise throughout the day. Exercise helps stimulate functioning in the brain and rids toxins from the body. If you are getting some exercise (even if its light), it will go a long way towards helping you cope with recovery symptoms and recover quicker.
If you have been on Seroquel and would like to share your experience, feel free to do so in the comments section below. By sharing your experience, it helps other people realize that they are not alone and not going crazy.
Many of the comments here link seroquel with a racing heartbeat. With me it had the OPPOSITE effect. I love to run and was running 5 miles a day when I was prescribed 300mg of this drug. Afterward, the first time I ran I became so dizzy that I fainted and face-planted on the concrete. My resting heart rate is around 53 and has been as low as 42.
I’ve been off the drug for about a month but the whole time I’ve only been able to run a quarter mile before I feel like I’m dying. When I check my heart rate, it’s very low and won’t rise with exercise. I sure hope this isn’t permanent. Has anyone else experienced bradycardia with this medicine, especially while exercising?
Was scaled up to 200mg and then backed myself off, all over a time of 18 months. Stopped taking any 6 months ago.
Immediate side effects: Insomnia (went away after about a week, slept fine since)
After a week I started getting frequent wide muscle spasms, severe itching and tinnitus. Six months later: none of these side effects have gone away and the lingering feeling that they are permanent (which with these drugs is technically possible) has made me fall into a state of depression that was worse than before I was taking it.
To anyone reading this who is thinking about taking it: Don’t. You will regret it.
I have been on Seroquel for 8 years. Way too long. Am down from 150xr daily to 50xr every other day. Hardly any physical withdrawal but lots of anxiety which affects my breathing. I am a chronic asthmatic and find it really hard to tell if it is really my asthma or anxiety. Scary.
Just a warning: do not underestimate the itching! I didn’t know it was a symptom of withdrawal and spent a year trying to figure out why I occasionally randomly started itching before finding out that it was anytime I missed my medication for a few days (for example, if you are having trouble getting the prescription filled or insurance has changed).
This is EXTREME itching. I would claw myself until I bled because the pain was more bearable than the itch itself. It also occurs everywhere all over your body and will drive you crazy. After trying every OTC itch cream or lotion I could find only to realize none of them helped in this particular situation, I found the solution..
Use an antihistamine (I specifically use Benadryl). I don’t know why or how it works, but it does. Just know that there is hope and there is a way to manage the symptoms that doesn’t involve compulsively and pathetically crying into the oven mitts you’re wearing to keep yourself from scratching.
I have taken several days to read all these comments. I have been on 600 mgs of Seroquel for a little over 20 years. Back when I began taking it, not much was known about long term side effects and withdrawal. I gained 75 lbs on Seroquel, my cholesterol is high, my blood pressure is high, and I’m prediabetic. All caused by Seroquel.
I tried cutting my dose in half and the withdrawn was so bad I began hallucinating. I found this site and I’m so glad to know I’m not alone. I resumed my usual dose until I could speak with my Dr today. He is a great doctor, I’m very lucky. I told him of my experiences and shared this site with him. He agrees it is best to taper VERY slowly.
And we are going to try reducing the Seroquel by 10 mgs every month or so. He mentioned that if I need to, I can taper even more slowly, and he made sure I understand that I can talk to him if something isn’t working and we will come up with a plan to address it. I plan to begin my taper at the beginning of next month when I get my meds refilled.
I’m very very nervous, even scared. I know I have a rough few years ahead of me while I work to completely get off of Seroquel. I will keep a journal of my journey. And I will come back to this site and share my experiences. If anyone would like to talk privately about our experiences with Seroquel, please email me at [email protected]. I would love to hear from others going through this.
I started on 100, 200, 800 mg of seroquel cuz apparently I had schizophrenia. From the beginning is started with it very badly. I could not breathe thru my nose and when I wanted to breath thru my mouth, my mouth would get very dry, plus I would get cramps in my legs which instead of helping me sleep it kept me awake at nights. Due to Seroquel, I was diagnosed with sleep apnea which is very dangerous.
I trained myself to breath thru my nose and stopped snoring but the side effects such pain on feet and the cramps, breathing problems, heart pounding really fast, was so unbearable that I did not know what to do. I decided to taper it slowly and 6 weeks ago I was able to downgrade it to 300 mg. Amazingly, all the pain went away. Now I can’t hear my heart pounding and I don’t know if thats normal.
It’s been six weeks and I manage to sleep only a couple of hours per night. I honestly don’t know whats going to happen to me due to the lack of sleep. Interestingly, I feel energized during the day, no fatigue, no vomiting, no headaches, no diarrhea, a bit of runny nose but it will go away, and concentration problems. I also stopped biting my tongue and the walls inside my mouth which occurred as soon as I started falling in sleep, waking me up at nights.
I must confess that while reducing it I also used alcohol – which I don’t recommend to anyone unless you really know how to do it. As I did not want to overdose myself when I got drunk, I would reduce from 800 to 25 to keep me sleeping the entire night. Good side effect? I would get very sexual for several times by next day. But the next day I would get back to 800 mg and that’s when that fun would begin.
I could not breathe and the pain on my feet was killing. I would do my praying several times before going to bed and even wrote my will just in case. I really thought that something was going to happen in one of those times, for years I would say. I truly believe in God and would ask him every night to help me with all my heart. Well, one evening it occurred me to take 600 instead of 800 and interestingly, the side effects decreased.
I kind of liked it and decided to reduce it like that slowly until I reached to 300. Problem? When I decided to stop alcohol 6 weeks ago I could not sleep for 2 weeks at all, only a couple of hours per night now. I feel good cuz the pain is gone, my sex drive is back and the alcohol is gone. I feel proud for achieving this. I am determined to stop alcohol and eventually will completely get rid of quetiapine.
Oh, I also stopped Clonazepam 6 weeks ago which gradually eats your memory. I guess I am just so strong, but not without my love of God. I think without God I would not be here now talking about this proud achievement. I really suggest that you give him a try. I promise you. I think my sleep will eventually come back.
I have faith. Does anyone have suggestions for the sleep issue? Finally, if I knew about these bad side effects of seroquel I would have never tried, NEVER. For those deciding, think first and talk to your Dr, second opinions are always suggestible. Going cold turkey can make you suicidal. I tried it too. Good luck to you all, will pray for you, please pray for me. Paul :)
I have been on Seroquel for over four years. I can’t take regular antidepressants due to them causing suicidal ideology. However, the Seroquel is literally killing me now with uncontrollable high blood sugar and off the charts triglyceride levels. So now my med provider and I are starting a slow taper of 25mg every three weeks at least until my blood sugar and triglycerides are under control.
She may decide to keep me on a low dose as long as it’s not having a negative effect on my general health. The first taper down dose started last night. I will keep you posted on what, if any, withdrawal effects I may experience and how I deal with them.
I have been taking 600mg of Seroquel XR for a little over two years. I have been diagnosed with bi-polar and PTSD. I was suffering from late night manic episodes. I would frequently go 2 maybe 3 days with no sleep. Even taking 4 Tylenol PM only gave about 4 hours sleep. Since I have been on Seroquel I have no energy, no ambition, and I have no emotions.
I have added 100lbs and have had issues with my stomach and my heart and I am now as depressed as I was before. I have gone 2 days without the med a couple of times and I feel like I am about to die. Migraine level headaches, stomach pains, vomiting, muscle pain, and sensitive eyes.
I have 4 kids and want to have the energy to keep up with them. I take 2-300mg pills every night. I want to come off of this and I am trying to figure out the best way to do it. Cold turkey is not an option for me as it puts me down after day two. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I’m posting an update to a post I made here in Nov. I was on 25 mg for 2 years. I tapered off this low dosage over 6 weeks and my withdrawal side effects like headaches, nausea, heart palpitations lasted for 3 months after my last dose. This stuff is poison! And whatever you do, no matter the dosage, do not stop cold turkey.
Why would anyone want to quit seroquel cold turkey? The withdrawal symptoms are probably so much worse then tapering off. I was on 300mg of seroquel for about 3 years. It didn’t help me at all and I didn’t like what it was doing to my heart. It also made me completely numb and indifferent to everything.
I tapered off 50mgs at a time it took about 3 & 1/2 months to get off them but the withdrawal symptoms were very mild. Each time I went down 50 mgs. I would get headaches, itchiness and blurred vision for about 2 days then the withdrawal symptoms went away. Don’t go cold turkey just taper off trust me.
I have been taking Seroquel for about 5 years now. Within those 5 years, I have quit cold turkey twice. Bad idea people!! Both times I chose to, not by doctor’s orders.
Both times I got put into funny farms, sorry if some of you feel offended by my terminology… I quit solely because I felt more like me. I thought I didn’t need Seroquel anymore. Well, Seroquel was why I felt more like me.
I am currently back on the medication. Have been for a few days now. If you are being prescribed this medication and feel like you want off of it – please take my advice. Speak with your doctor about it FIRST. The side effects can be detrimental!!!
If you’re reading comments to help you or a loved one decide whether or not to go on Seroquel, especially as a low dose ‘adjunct’ for depression treatment — DON’T DO IT. I was put on Seroquel about 6 months ago, building up to a dose of 300 mg over a few weeks, to supplement my regular dose of the SNRI Effexor (which I’d been on for about 2 years) to treat my MDD (Major Depressive Disorder).
Adding the Seroquel helped slightly with my mood and depression, but it also made it nearly impossible for me to wake up and get out of bed in the morning; most mornings I felt paralyzed laying there, like I wanted to get up but couldn’t actually move. My sleep patterns and energy levels were thrown off completely while taking it, and I was hungry all the time and gained about 15 lbs. in 2 weeks — bad news for a diabetic. So my new psychopharmacologist suggested getting off both medications and maybe trying an MAOI instead (still undecided about that part).
Withdrawal has been a living nightmare. I’m not sure what’s being caused by lingering effects from tapering off the Effexor (which I did first) and what’s being caused by tapering off the Seroquel (which I did next over about a 4 week period; I’ve been off it completely for about 10 days now) — there’s a lot of overlap in the lists of withdrawal side effects for both drugs — but the main side effects of withdrawal are hitting me now and they are making me miserable.
I feel concussed. I can barely think, let alone concentrate (it’s taken me 3 hours so far to write this comment). I have a twilight sensation in my head at all times, like I’m not getting enough blood to my brain, and just turning my head to the side leaves me lightheaded and foggy. I am crying all the time, at the slightest provocation. I am tired all the time and want to crawl back into bed every 5 minutes.
I am extremely irritable. My limbs feel like they’re made of lead and my joints feel creaky and odd, like I have no control over them. Just climbing one flight of stairs leaves me aching and breathless and sets my heart racing. I am periodically nauseous and feel the need to throw up but can’t. My vision has gotten much worse — extremely blurry.
My dreams have gone from vivid and kind of antic but entertaining (like another commenter here, I would frequently wake up laughing in the middle of the night), to being just as vivid but deeply, deeply upsetting and bleak. They’re not exaggerated or grotesque in a nightmarish way, but they are profoundly dark and disturbing — all the things I’m most concerned or troubled about in life play out in excruciating detail while I sleep, and I’m somehow conscious that I’m dreaming but can’t wake up or stop them in any way.
And the worst withdrawal side effect of all is this: while I was deeply depressed before and would occasionally think about suicide as a way out (which is why Seroquel was added to my treatment), I was thinking about death but not feeling in any way compelled to act on that feeling. But now I am thinking about death uncontrollably, ruminating about it constantly, like it’s the only concrete thought my mind can actually form. It’s scaring the sh-t out of me.
Don’t take Seroquel and don’t let Seroquel be prescribed to anybody you love, if you can help it, at any cost.
I was on 300 mg Seroquel for 12 years for treatment of diagnosed bipolar disorder. For 10 years I had no doctor supervision, as my pdoc declared me stable after two years and only required me to check in “if” I experienced any mood symptoms. About five years after I had stopped seeing my pdoc, I began to reflect: I had had no mood episodes. NONE. I began to wonder if I had received the right diagnosis.
Another three years, no mood episodes. I asked my family doc if I could consider reducing the Seroquel dose because I was noticing impaired memory function. I reduced first to 150, then to 100 with no noticeable mood effects. Because of a mixup with my pharmacy, I have now been without Seroquel entirely for a few days.
Still no mood effects, but I’m experiencing (mild) physical withdrawal symptoms. Just putting this out there, because I suspect I was prescribed Seroquel when it was new and fashionable and perhaps it wasn’t really helping me all that much, after all.
I’ve been on Seroquel since August 2015. I was in a car accident which gave me a concussion and a bad movement disorder. All of my Drs. told me I had “Conversion Disorder” and prescribed a Psychologist/ Psychiatrist, who placed me on Seroquel for sleep. I started to taper (from Seroquel 300 XR to 25mg) over a couple months.
I have always had issues even when I would forget for just one night. The next day I would feel like I had a very bad hangover; headache, nausea, sleep deprivation, and very sluggish. I took my last 25mg pill two days ago thinking that the tapering would stop or dull the symptoms.
It did not, at all. I still feel horrible, my mind is still foggy, my memory is almost non existent, and I am at my wits end. I am going to try to join a gym, hopefully this week to help combat this feeling of dread. Wish I was never introduced to this damn drug. Makes me feel so stupid and flighty.
I have taken Seroquel for about 5 years at 200 mg. My doctor gave me Latuda to replace it but did not talk about the withdrawal of the Seroquel at all. Withdrawal started immediately!! I’m only on day 2! I was so relieved to read that others had my symptoms of cold turkey even though I have another antipsychotic to replace it.
Body pain, nausea, head aches, insomnia, and mental discomfort! I hope that some home remedies and the knowledge of all your input will help. I also plan on starting an exercise for 10 min a day.
Hey guys, So it’s been about 2 months since my last post, and just over 3 months since I stopped taking Seroquel, and I thought I’d give a little update on my experience. From all the research I knew that minimum recovery time from withdrawal was 90 days, so I was really looking forward to January 1 2017 (3months for me), and was hoping I could ‘tick’ this episode of my life of the list.
Um…not so much. So for me the biggest symptoms I faced were acute insomnia and nausea. In the first 2 months I couldn’t get more than 2-3 hours sleep a night! My last posting described the lack of sleep as physically painful. Now I get 5-6 hours of broken sleep.
Last night my sleep was ended at 2am with me waking up knowing that I was going to die…good old impending sense of doom had returned (he and I go way back). I am also getting nauseated at least 2-3 times a day. I have absolutely no ability to concentrate on ANYTHING, and my balance is still way off.
Having said all that, there is a definite overall improvement. So I just wanted to let you all know, it does get better. Hang in there… I can see the light at the end, or at least a faint glimmer of some kind.
Anyway, I’ve documented my withdrawal, combined with a little guidance advice on YouTube and hope it may help other out there: https://youtu.be/eZ2lbLFeUFQ Thanks, Michael
Thank you for posting!!
My son (age 34) was on Quetiapine for about 3 years, 175mg. He tapered off slowly and took his last 25mg 2 months ago and has been through hell since. I realize now that he should have tapered the last 25mg slower, he did take every other day for a few days but then stopped. His anxiety and panic attacks have been really bad, trouble sleeping, plus much more.
He had put on weight but has now lost more and probably now weighs less than 8 stone. This has mainly been due to throat tightness caused by the anxiety so now lives mainly on soup. Over the last few days he has slept slightly better and been a little less anxious but now depression has set in. He has little energy and has become over focussed on his breathing and heart and is paranoid that he will stop breathing or that he will have a heart attack.
He cannot work as everything he tries to do is too stressful. We are trying to make sure he goes out for a walk daily but doesn’t manage to go very far. He is taking supplements but we have to find them in powdered or liquid form as he cannot swallow pills. I just want my son back. Can we please have more people coming back on here to say they are fine? Did anyone else go through similar and how long did it take to get better?
I have read many, not all of the comments on this site and for the most part, there are many who have been on moderate to high doses of quetiapine for months to sometimes years. My comment is about even short term use at low dose and what I personally, have been dealing with (of course it depends on an individuals physiology) and how that continues right now. I have had PTSD for many years and have dealt with it through a therapist and am making progress.
Couple months back, I had a bit of a breakdown from what I thought were PTSD related issues and it turns out they were not. I saw a doctor and was prescribed quetiapine low dose (25mg) to help me sleep which it did and took it for around two weeks (ish) until I came to understand that my issue was not PTSD related (I was associating) and am now dealing with the issue separately. The quetiapine was also making me feel quite bad during the day, so I felt I should just get off this medication altogether.
As it has only been around two weeks and low dose, it should not be a problem. I was told to ween by cutting the 25mg in half for one week and then 12.5mg for one week and then completely off thereafter, which I did. Again, everyone’s physiology and sensitivity to medication and withdrawal is different so this may not be typical, but I have to tell you, this has been a very difficult experience coming off this drug, even at that low dose for only a two week duration.
I am now in my fourth week since quitting and I have had insomnia for several nights to begin with, and since then have gotten better. I have had very high anxiety with some moments of paranoia and the symptoms seem to come in “waves”. There have been days where it has not been too bad and then the next day the anxiety seems to return along with other body symptoms and then it will subside.
I can still function OK but it is very difficult at times and very concerning, because I was only on this stuff for two weeks and at low dose! How can that happen??!! My expectation (as I’m sure many people think) is that I should recover in about the same period of time that I took the medication and that has turned out to be completely wrong, there is no timeline, so don’t put any timeline on your recovery.
It will take as long as it takes and as I said, people are different so your experience may be completely different than mine. The only thing I took coming off the quetiapine is high dose vitamins and amino acids to help, which it has. My comments are not meant to frighten or concern those who have taken this drug longer and at higher doses, it is meant to inform people of the power of this drug and how that seems to be taken very lightly when it’s prescribed by most doctors.
It is a very powerful drug that should only be prescribed to those it is intended to treat and even at that, it should be used with extreme caution. I think my recovery will take several more weeks to feel more consistently better every day, and this is a lesson to me about medication in general, but particularly seroquel. It may have its purpose but it is far more powerful and long lasting than is told to people when it’s prescribed.
I sincerely hope that everyone going through this will remember, it’s not you, it’s your system trying to recover back to normal, even though it may not seem like it at the time.
4 weeks, 6 days after being completely off seroquel. The anxiety seems to have gotten worse and intense, particularly after getting any form of exercise or physical activity. I’ve been told it’s whats called a “med release” which can make the symptoms much worse. I am taking more of my supplements to offset the symptoms and continue to ride it out.
I was on 300mgs of Seroquel XR for 7yrs. It has taken me a full year to taper off completely. I have now not had any Seroquel in my system for 3 months. During the year tapering, I experienced mainly the the following symptoms: nausea, dizziness, irritability, sensitivity to light and sound, agitation, insomnia (waking stimulated… almost electrically charged it felt like), decreased appetite… and the list goes on, but those were my most prominent.
Now that I’ve been off the drug entirely for 3months, I am experiencing anxiety to the point of my stomach is in knots. Crying fits (in the middle of stores… very embarrassing). Extreme sadness for the state the world and people are in. Zero appetite. Paranoid delusions… fueled by anxiety and vice versa.
But some good also, I’m seeing the beauty in life and feeling invigorated and excited to live it. But the paranoia and anxiety are debilitating. Especially the paranoia. So, it’s mainly the psychological effects I am contending with now.
(NOTE: I never experienced paranoid delusions before taking this drug). I refuse to give in and start taking this drug again. I know the effects and know the dangers of long term use. (In my personal opinion any use is dangerous). Although, I really hope my brain readjusts very soon. Has anyone else had similar experiences?
I am decreasing a 100mg per week from being on 300mg for almost a year. I am miserable. Is anyone else having hot flashes? Horrible body aches? Please help.
I’ve been on Seroquel for 2 or 3 years. I’m 22 years of age. I’ve begged my doctor over and over again to take me off this medicine and he keeps on upping my dose. I’m not crazy!! There’s nothing wrong with me. I have PTSD. My parents don’t wanna deal with me so they use this drug to shut me up. I have come to the last resort of quitting it on my own.
I have been experiencing withdrawals everyday. Violently vomiting, extreme nausea, extreme headaches, my whole body shakes & aches. From 300mgs I’ve lowered my dose to 50mgs. I cut my pills with a razor blade so there’s no way to know for sure how many milligrams I’m taking. I’m going to lower my dose once again to 25 mg. My question is how long should I stay on the extremely low dose before I quit altogether?
So sorry that your doctor is upping the meds when you are asking to be weaned. Are you able to work with a different doctor? With the severe withdrawal symptoms and not knowing how quickly you went from the 300 mg to 50 mg makes me wonder if you should stay at 50 mg until you adjust to that better.
This is a tough med to get off of and going slow seems the softer, easier way off. Now that you started the weaning on your own, I can only suggest that you allow a decent spread of time between the decreases. What a decent spread of time means for each of us is different when dealing with individual systems coming off of the seroquel.
I did close to a month on the 25 mgs and ended it there because I was already enduring the itching and wanted to finally get past it. Had I been able to, I would have cut the 25 mg in half for a few weeks. Be patient with the process. Give yourself as much time getting off as you need.
Your body and brain are used to the chemical changes of the seroquel and will require time to change back to the normal functioning it once had. Do you have a support system in place to deal with your PTSD? Are there any groups you could get involved with where you can connect with others who also deal with PTSD or medication related issues?
A group setting is a great place to hear how others have dealt with a myriad of issues. The benefits of having nonjudgmental group support are many along with knowing that others have your back. Also the experience you bring to others is priceless. Good luck with taking the best care of yourself.
Hi, My daughter is finally off the Seroquel. I brought her down from 350 to 200 to 100 to 50 and now she stopped one week ago. She’s getting the full withdrawal effects of the drug: headaches, flu like symptoms, itching, anxiety, nausea, insomnia as well as heart palpitations. However, she’s more of herself lately, she can think better and remember things better she’s less irritated and her appetite has decreased (this drug put about 15 pounds extra in 2 months).
My poor daughter has been through so much ever since she was diagnosed with “unspecified mood disorders” 4 months ago at her short age of 12. I am taking her to an acupuncturist for her sleep and anxiety problems. She’s now taking melatonin with serine and Gaba along with fish oil, B complete, and a bunch of other natural supplements.
She’s also on a strict diet very healthy staying away from sugars, eating all organic fruits and veggies lots of fish specially wild cough salmon and organic meats. She also working out 3 to 4 times per week and exposing herself to more natural sunlight in the early mornings. Her cycles are decreasing time/intensity wise she seems to control her moods a little bit better on her own.
The Seroquel was making her hungry, forgetful, anxious and unable to focus or do the things that she used to do creativity wise. Her last episode lasted one week compare to the first two episodes. There’s a cure for all this chemical imbalance problems but it requires lots of efforts it’s a total lifestyle change.
But I rather have my daughter on all this natural supplements, good diet and exercise than have her on all this crazy drugs. Which in time will destroy her brain, kidneys, thyroid, personality, etc.
Thank you all for sharing your stories! It is good to know I am not alone. I have been on Seroquel for 7 months now. It helped to calm me down in May after a psychotic episode, but now I don’t need to be on it.
Now, I am taking Niasafe (a non-flush form of Niacin) B vitamins, 5HTP, Magnesium and probiotics and amino acids to help my brain chemicals normalize and heal. This is my second time on Seroquel. (The first time was 8 years ago) and I don’t remember any withdrawal symptoms last time I took it. This time, I started with 25 mg and worked up to 100mg twice a day.
I would get so drowsy when I took it in the day, and I couldn’t focus on anything. So I started taking just one pill at night. My doctor gradually tapered me back down to 25 mg. I have tried a few times to stop taking the 25mg and I had problems falling asleep. That got me worried.
I am planning on using melatonin if this happens again. I am on my third day off Seroquel. I have experienced some of the withdrawal symptoms, feeling nauseated and not feeling like eating. But not at extreme levels.
Elizabeth, Try the melatonin (5mg chewable peppermint) with Gaba and Serine. We use the Source Natural brand. This is working for my daughter she’s sleeping better from 8 to 10 hours and only waking up once or twice. For the withdrawal symptoms try B Supreme and lots of water to flush and clean your body from the drug.
By my own experience. 5 years using Seroquel for generalized anxiety disorder. Started with 200mg dosage at bed time. Then along with the time, reduced to 50mg a day, 1/2 of that dose, then 1/3 and finally 1/4 for the last 3 months. However, when dropping it totally, I could only sleep 2-3 hours a night.
I then tried the middle, inside green part of the lotus seed (EMBRYO NELUMBINIS). The dried ones that look like tea. I believe you can find it in most Asian or Chinese supermarket. As for me, I could find the fresh ones and fried it by myself on a pan. Just use it like Chinese tea.
One teaspoon in a mug of very hot water. You then can add as much hot water as a gallon to it as you like for drinking during the whole day. This simple but well known oriental medicine did help me to sleep again, soundly at night. Not feeling sleepy during day time, though. Hope this helps somebody.
Thanks for the article! I have been taking 100mg for about 3 months and didn’t get a refill before I ran out. This is my first night without it since I started taking it and I cannot fall asleep. I will be weening myself off of it when I get my next bottle. I’ll go down to 50mg then 25mg. No other drowsy pills seem to make me sleepy anymore. I didn’t realize how strong these pills are!
I started taking this antipsychotic drug after a visit to hospital suffering with what I now know to be anxiety, stress and paranoia triggered by PMDD. After an hour talking with the doctor about my life I was given a prescription of 600ml XL, told I had psychosis and that I would need to take the medication for at least two years. When I first took this medication I felt as though I was strapped down to my bed unable to move or do anything this lasted a couple of days, I then developed an expressionless face, severe constipation and a increased appetite for carbohydrates which lead me to over eat and gain 100lbs in weight.
Late last year my Psychiatrist reduced the med to 400mg and a few months after that to 300mg. I was starting to fell better and take control of my life… regular CBT therapy, started to exercise, eat healthier cut out meat and processed foods, lost my first 14lbs. Things were looking up. I was then allocated a new Psychiatrist.
During a initial meeting with her I expressed that I didn’t believe I had Psychosis or Schizophrenia but actually believed I had something since my teens called PMDD (PreMenstrual Dysphoric Disorder) and that I want to slowly come off the medication to which she replied “well maybe you have Bipolar then.” This response triggered something in me and I knew it was time to come off the medication without her ‘help’. I made appointments with my GP (who is great) to get blood work, scans and see specialists regarding PMDD.
Between May and November I reduced my medication twice by 100mg from 300-200 and then 200-100, giving my self a few months in between to readjust. I also started taking supplements to support my withdrawal. Magnesium, Ashwagandha, Iron, Macca root and epsom salts. I noticed a huge change in my personality from 300mg downward I felt extremely irritable and snappy. I’m a very creative person and I felt as though all my creativity had been zapped out of me, I felt numbed.
Mentally I also noticed my thinking was confused, paranoid and hostile on the lower doses. After two years with this drug I decided enough was enough and I’ve have now been off the medication for 1 month after going cold turkey on 100mg.
WITHDRAWAL:
-The first week I experienced insomnia (wasn’t able to sleep for the first two nights then could sleep up to 5 hours), nausea, uncontrollable crying and a lack of appetite.
-The second week I experienced limited sleep, nausea and itchy feet.
-The third week I had increased anxiety, sensitivity to sound.
-The fourth week I came down with a severe ‘cold’ had vomiting and diarrhea, nausea, increased thinking, sweating, and a headache every day. My sleep has increased however and I am now able to fall asleep when my body is tired.
I cannot understand doctors handing out Quetiapine / Seroquel so easily especially to children or people with just sleeping issues. Thanks to everyone who has shared their story! Stay strong everyone! Love xx. “Tough times don’t last, tough people do”
Please, please do not EVER take Seroquel! I was given a low dose for just insomnia. My GP thought it was a better choice than Ambien. ? The horrible side-effects started immediately; racing heart, nightmares, sinusitis, rebound insomnia, tingling vibration in legs, depression and social anxiety disorder! I almost lost my mind. Now, after four months, I am having to SLOWLY withdraw. My doctor NEVER told me this drug was dangerous. It’s been a nightmare.
Two weeks off of Seroquel. The itching has been the worse part of the detox. I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to find out from the doctor if taking Benadryl would only prolong this process of itching. Yes, it would prolong the process. Dang! When I have areas of intense itching I put some ice in a paper towel and place that on the area. That has been a saving grace.
I have had some days of just feeling really tired and fatigued. The brain fog hasn’t completely lifted though I do feel like I have a bit more clarity with my thoughts. I can care enough to keep the thought in my head going. I am finding that I am suddenly remembering things I thought were long buried. I guess that means my brain is trying to work again! :-) Staying with it.
I am a 22 year old female. I have been taking 50 mg of Seroquel and 2 mg of Abilify for years. Recently, when I ran out of medicine, I went without it. It’s now been 1-2 weeks off both medicines and I have experienced strange symptoms. At night I have been extremely hyped up. I have started to see faces appear in my room as I look around. I am wide awake and am absolutely positive I am not dreaming.
I also have bizarre thoughts and lie awake wondering why I am thinking them, all of which I can’t recall the content. The thoughts and faces keep me up the majority of the night. I also can’t lie still to fall asleep. I have a history of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Hey a Cheyenne, When you see these “faces” do they kind of look like wispy smoke-like faces that change? Or that you see shapes and things? I sometimes get that (usually if I’m VERY tired and have been fighting my normal bedtime). I brought it up with my doctor BC I was concerned and he said they were “illusions” and not to worry. Our brains do weird stuff.
Today is my first day being off of Seroquel. It helped me when I slipped from a manic phase (that I’d been in for a few months) to a deep depression. The manic phase I think was precipitated by starting to smoke pot (daily) and going off my SSRI (paroxetine). My bipolar is a recent diagnosis; I know SSRIs can induce mania, but that drug really helped me (anxiety was my main problem before), even with the near complete loss of interest in sex.
So now I’m switching from seroquel XR 200mg a day to lamotrigine. The main reason I decided to switch was because I slept way too much. I didn’t mind the haze as much because it helped the depression, even if it was still present. Anyways, my psychiatrist said going cold turkey was fine. Today is my first day.
I’ve only been on seroquel like 4 months, but reading all of this I’m worried, but also glad to be going off seroquel after all the negativity of it for people on it long term. I guess we will see what happens. I’ll post again in a week with an update of how it’s going. I feel like life is an uphill climbing maze, searching for a peaceful flat plain. I wonder if I’ll ever get there. I want to hope again.
Never give up on the hope! I don’t know if being on it for a short time of 4 months will make it easier doing it cold turkey. If you find yourself and your body having a really hard time doing it cold turkey, maybe consider cutting it in half for a few days or a week and then keep cutting in half until you are weaned off. Do what works and is the most comfortable for you. Good luck!
I was on Tegretol, Lithium and Seroquel since November of 2010. Doctor said I had bipolar depression. In March of 2016, I had a mental breakdown. So, I stopped taking the tegretol although my doctor argued that it was the lithium that was causing the issues. Even though all the side effects I was having was tegretol related.
Months later I was still having problems and realized I needed to stop the lithium as well. I would throw up stomach acid on and off since on the lithium and it was only getting worse since stopping the tegretol. I told the doctor about it, but he didn’t seem to care. So, in September I stopped the lithium. The whole time I was on seroquel I wasn’t able to be awoken if there was an emergency and I had a hard time waking myself up to use the bathroom at night.
The last couple months of taking the seroquel I had an irregular heart beat and was very dizzy. I told the doctor and he asked if I was getting 8 hours. I said yes and he asked what the problem was. I told him I was also having nightmares of people dying, but the doctor stated I don’t understand the problem when you are sleeping and that bipolar sometimes causes you to have those dreams.
The last 3 nights I took the seroquel I had an irregular heartbeat and was very dizzy and ended up throwing up after taking it. So, I stopped it cold turkey. I started taking cod liver oil and a b-complex to help with the withdrawals and it seems to be helping. I have been sleeping better and am able to fall asleep on my own. I was told by another doctor that I have anxiety and depression not bipolar.
I also realized that since off the medication I was taking it was making me act and think like someone that actually had bipolar. My mental health seems to be better and I feel like I can actually think straight. Plus, I found out by a different doctor that the seroquel, lithium and tegretol interacts with each other and this doctor was surprised that I was able to take them that long and was never in the hospital. And my therapist wondered why I was on both tegretol and lithium because she had other clients that was on one or the other not both.
Yes, I had very bad withdrawals for about 5 days after stopping the seroquel. I was on 200mg at the time. I slept for crap and was throwing up throughout the day. And wasn’t able to eat. But after a week I was able to realize I can sleep and fall asleep without it. Yes, my anxiety level is bad somedays and I worry a lot when I am just laying in bed waiting to fall asleep. But learned that if I just focus on my deep breathing I can calm down and fall asleep.
Hey everyone, I’ve been on seroquel since 2013. I started at 300 mg every night. It was good for me for about 2 years but after that it just wasn’t working. I actually felt like it gave me more anxiety instead of helping it. Every time I’d take it I’d experience hearing and feeling my heart pumping in my head, adrenaline rushes, and just anxiety ridden nights falling asleep on it.
Over that time I started to ween myself off. I am now taking whatever half of 25 mg is. However, this is my first night trying to be completely off of it. I’ve done this before at a higher dose of 125 mg and could go for like 3 days but the symptoms are horrible. I experience major insomnia, anxiety, uncontrollable shaking here and there, stomach problems, and headaches.
So knowing this, I’m going to prepare for tomorrow by keeping Advil by my side, trying activated charcoal pills for nausea, and taking my CBD oil which is great for anxiety. You don’t need a medical card to by it either. When I get anxious I found pacing, deep breathing, putting heavy pressure on anxious parts of my body, exercising, positive thinking, and COLD air helps for me.
Cold air makes me feel like I can breathe and for some reason makes me more comfortable. Sleeping on my stomach also helps because that’s where most of my anxiety is stored. I hope this helps in any way! I’m with you all! I hate this drug and can’t wait to be free from it!
I hate being dependent on it because it’s so hard to get refills from the terrible, slow mental health system in this state. Waiting lists, unavailable psychiatrists, and all kinds of obstacles to keep up with it. I’m done being dependent! We can do it guys!
Tapering is the way to go. I started at 400 mg for about 2 years. Went to 200 mg for 1 year. 100 mg for 1 year. 50 mg for 1 year. These first 4 years I wasn’t too anxious to get off of it, but I am sure someone could cut back much quicker than one pill size a year. I tried to go to 25 mg next but it was too big of a jump, and I had other stresses in my life at the time. I had strange thoughts and slight auditory hallucinations.
Now I am taking a 25 mg pill plus half a 25 = About 37 mg. I’ve been doing this for a month and only slightly lethargic/irritable/anxious. I am going to go to 25 mg for another 2-3 months, then 13 mg for 2-3, then maybe down to zero. My advice to anyone is to taper.
Just bite the bullet and take it until your body/brain can handle the next dose down. It will be better than being on it for life, having to go back on a higher dose, or (for me) ending up back in the hospital. Good luck everyone.
So I have to share a little background info first: I was diagnosed as bi polar when I was 22 (I’m 37 now). I refused to accept my diagnoses for many years and used drugs to cope and self-medicate (mostly cocaine). I’ve always experienced more depression than mania so that’s why coke was my drug of choice. I also had 3 very serious suicide attempts. When I was 30, I finally went to rehab and have been sober from drugs and alcohol since August 30, 2008.
While in rehab I began to see a psychiatrist that I really bonded with. After I detoxed from the cocaine, my doctor started me on Lamictal as a mood stabilizer, Wellbutrin for the depression, klonopin (as needed for anxiety), ambien and seroquel to sleep. I have been a horrible insomniac my whole life. I believe we started with 300mg of the seroquel and through the years it went all the way up to 800mg at night before bed.
In the past 5 years I have gained 65lbs and I have always been a very tall and thin person with a fast metabolism. I know it’s the seroquel that did this. I finally saw my doctor last week and told him I could no longer take the weight gain and other side effects so he agreed to slowly wean me off. He also switched me to Lunesta because I felt the ambien was no longer effective.
This is the first week I’ve dropped down to 600mg at night with 3mg of klonopin (it helps my anxiety and racing thoughts at night), and the Lunesta. I’ve been sleeping ok. Nothing to write home about. I’m hoping I can decrease the dosage by 200mg every 2 weeks, give or take until I am completely off it. I feel like the drug helped in the beginning but now my body is just used to it and I’ve developed a high tolerance to it. 800mg is a lot!
I can’t wait to be free of this. I don’t think it would be wise for me to go cold turkey. I once ran out for 3 days and ended up in the ER after not sleeping, a massive migraine, and horrible nausea. I had to get anti nausea meds and fluids so I’m wary of going down that route again. I just wish I’d never even taken this drug. Has anyone come off a high dose by tapering over time? How long did it take? Thanks all!
With such a high dose, I would think it would be good to taper pretty slowly. To go from 800 mg to 0 mg should maybe take at least 2 years, maybe even 3 years. This is because you’ve been on it so long and at such a high dose. Patience, and you’ll be rid of it eventually.
I have been completely off of it for a few days now. I have been tapering down from 100 mgs for a month. I was put on Seroquel 8 yrs ago for major depression/anxiety. I was tried on every SSRI on the market and could not tolerate them. They made me feel like I wanted to jump out of my own skin along with major head aches and brain zaps.
I guess you could say they worked opposite on me. That led to the doctor trying seroquel. At one point she had me up to 300 msg. That was way too much for my system. I was able to tolerate 100 to 125 mgs. I was having the long term effect of the not being able to retrieve my thoughts to verbalize them. I could see in my mind what I wanted to say, I just couldn’t bring that thought from my brain to speaking it.
I would start to say something and not be able to follow through with the thought. It was terribly embarrassing. I knew I had to get off of the seroquel or continue down this path. I tapered down by 25 mgs each week until I reached 25mgs and then I stayed at the 25 mgs for three weeks. At the 25 mgs I was having some of the itching.
Now, a couple days into being completely off of the seroquel the itching is pretty intense. I need to find out if taking Benadryl would help that or if the benadryl would only prolong the itching once I got off of the benadryl. I say that because I read somewhere that Seroquel has a histamine in it. Not sure how true that is yet.
Since the tapering I have been experiencing less sleep, aching back and fatigue. I am determined to get through this. I thank all of you for sharing your stories. It gave me the courage to do the same. I anyone has found relief for the itch and aches, please pass that on. Good luck to you all with your journey.
My daughter went from 350 mg. to 50 she only experienced headaches and difficulties falling asleep. She’s now taking 10 mg of melatonin together with 500 mg Gaba as well as only 50 of the Seroquel. She will be going down in one more week to 25 and eventually she will be taken off this horrible medication. This medication gives my daughter hallucinations and sense of being lost as well as over eating habits and other ugly side effects.
She’s now on almost 85% of natural supplements and a new healthy diet in combination with exercising 3 to 4 times per week. She has shown a great improvement on her mood swings and for the past 3 months, this is the first time she hasn’t gone on another cycle. I believe exercising together with a good diet as well as natural supplements have made a huge difference on her symptoms. Not only she looks better and feel better but me as her only caregiver can breathe easily for the first time in three months. (:
Thanks to all of your for your informative words. I was on Seroquel xr 400 for almost two years. It was a life saver at first. Roll forward to today and i have gained fifty pounds and don’t remember anything even in same day of collecting task. I am thankful to have my children’s father that moved back in with me.
So I decided to take the gene swab test and it came back that Seroquel is not a good drug for me. I changed and overlapped with Pristiq for about a week and half cutting down Seroquel to 200 but had major anxiety pop up and she took me completely off both Seroquel and Pristiq. She upped my latuda to 40 mg and I also take 100 lamictal in morning and 200 at night.
Latuda is in evening also. I have been up earlier than ever in my life and when I sleep vivid dreams from past PTSD experiences along with soaking wet in bed. Anyone have any similar experiences? I also feel like I can’t breath laying down so sleep is hard.
I’m determined to not go back to Seroquel xr but this is scary it’s been four days off and I’m concerned about going back to work in three days. I have a job that handles a lot of money daily and afraid I will just space out or argue with someone as I am very very testy. Thank you in advance for any help and replies. I’m thankful for this board as I almost checked into the ER two nights ago until I was able to find this information.
Been off for almost 2 months now nausea has gone away and insomnia, but I’m tired all the time and I can’t concentrate at all. I see everything, but the connections are a lot harder to make. Plus my blood pressure has been higher than normal. I’m only 16 I have been on seroquel for 4 years, have changed, and I’m finally off, but this medication may have altered who I am and I don’t know if I will completely stabilize…
I been on 300mg for 5yrs for anxiety and insomnia. Started Vekira Pak Chemo for Hep C 12 days ago and Dr said to just stop Seroquel… never mentioned any side effects!!!! I’ve been living in hell ever since. Resting heart rate of 104, can only walk about 10 steps and heart races again, extreme fatigue etc. So can’t work, can’t do chores, can’t make dinner… my life has come to a complete standstill. But I can sit and lie down and be ok. Finding this site was a true blessing for me as I didn’t know about withdrawal symptoms but it all makes sense now.
Update: I stopped Seroquel in June. I had been on this drug for 15 years from doses of 50 mg to as much as 400 mg per day for briefer periods. I have complex PTSD. I used it for sleep and anxiety but have never been diagnosed with schizophrenia. So I am 5 months off of it and still have anxiety, heart palpitations, irritability, brain fog and cannot focus or concentrate.
I’m glad I checked this thread out to remind myself it is mostly just prolonged post acute withdrawal. My doctor said it would take at least 6 months to start feeling better. It could take longer. Everyone is different. I am using a little Ativan for sleep and occasional morning anxiety and I hope that I will begin to feel better soon. I want to get off the Ativan but not ready at this point.
I also have been keeping to myself as I find social contacts difficult. I have been quite depressed but not as bad as when I was on Effexor. I’ve tried all kinds of supplements and herbs but if they’re helping any I cannot tell. It’s difficult to eat, exercise or function at all. I feel restless and can’t stay focused and on task for long; in short, I can barely function. I’d like to come back here and say I am feeling much better in another month. We’ll see. Thanks for all who have written here, it does help!
Well, last night I didn’t sleep at all! I took 175mg of Seroquel and 12.5mg of Baclofen. I am feeling awful. Shaky inside, nervous, tingling arms and legs… I don’t know where to turn or what to do. This after only 9 weeks on these 2 awful drugs!!! Should I go to a hospital and asked to voluntarily commit myself to get help? Kris
Hey Kris, My daughter was put on Seroquel for bipolar disorder. She’s almost off this horrible medication but we did it slowly. And she changed her eating habits, incorporated exercise as well as some natural supplements and acupuncture. She sleeps between 8 to 10 hours every day but she has to follow a regime in order for her body and mind to understand what’s happening.
We still working on getting her completely off both medications. She is on 50mg Seroquel and 600mg lithium. Look for other alternatives, I firmly believe that medication is not the answer to cure any disease – a total change in your life is the answer. Good luck to you.
Day 17: success, finally. I am now done with this rat poison, never ever again! What has helped me enormously (apart from massive doses of Omega 3) is the adding of a second AD (on top of 45 mg Mirtazapine): Maprotiline is the name to remember. It does wonders, especially for anxiety (which was my main issue during Seroquel withdrawal).
If you are suffering from anxiety attacks, please mention Maprotiline to your doctor. This is probably my last entry here. I wish you all the best. Seroquel withdrawal can be done and is some much worth it, even if there are some difficult moment.
Thanks so much for these posts. I’m on day 7 and feel horrible. Mornings are the worst. I’ve never been an early riser but up by five AM now. Nauseous, confused and paranoid. I see that it took approximately two weeks? I have to get this poison out of my system. I’m just hoping the latuda they gave me isn’t as bad. Thanks again for your posts.
Day 15 after Seroquel: unclear tendencies. The anxiety attacks, especially in the morning, do persist. Other than that, almost no W/D symptoms left.
I think I am slowly getting there, but the uncertainty of how long I will have to suffer still is driving me crazy. I probably should not say this, but I found that a glass of wine (or two) in the evening are good for the appetite and also helping against the general malaise. Wish me luck.
Day 12 after Seroquel: not a pretty picture. I had thought (hoped) this would be 100% done after a few days, but nope. Anxiety (especially in the morning) actually getting worse. Sometimes frightening dark thoughts, but they usually disappear relative quickly. The awful weather here (Berlin) does not help much, either.
Smoking far too much and hoping this will be over soon. Appetite not great, but trying to eat at least something on a regular basis. Sleep is reasonably OK, but I might need some help tonight (after a few days without). Difficulty in concentrating – should prepare an exam in a few weeks from now, but struggling to get my act together.
No nausea, no vomiting, no itching. It means a lot to me to share my experience with all co-sufferers out there. I am confident this will be over before the end of November. Will let you know.
I was given Seroquel 200mg for sleep in rehab from Ativan I used for insomnia. I was told Seroquel was not addictive at all…they also gave me 20mg of Baclofen nightly with the Seroquel. I was on this for 6 weeks. After reading this and learning of the withdraw of both of these, I decided it was time to taper off. I went from 200mg to 150mg for 1 week and then to 125mg the next week, leaving the Baclofen at the 20mg for now.
I am so nauseated and have a numbing affect in my face and hands..when I breathe in I have this strange cooling numbing affect in my nose, throat and even my stomach, which is really nauseous. I am thinking to hold at 100 for a couple weeks until the nausea subsides. In the meantime I will drop the Baclofen from 20 to 15mg. HOPING to go to 75mg of the Seroquel in a couple weeks and 10mg of Baclofen.
I am furious that the rehab Dr’s put me on 2 meds that have horrendous side affects and withdraw symptoms, especially when I was there to get off Ativan that had been prescribed for insomnia for 2 years! Benzos for insomnia…should only have been prescribed for 2 to 4 weeks tops, not 2 and 1/2 yrs!!! All they did was switch me to 2 other drugs I now need to get off. THE withdraw of these are going to be harder than the Ativan!!!
I am so upset!!! Not looking forward to the next drop at all after reading for hours the posts on this site…the nausea is awful now with stomach pains and the sleep is starting to be not very good…I am also a bit shaky. Will keep you updated.
Day 10 after Seroquel: Unfortunately, I am still experiencing mood swings and anxiety, especially in the early morning hours – most probably as a direct result of Seroquel withdrawal. Overall, this is manageable as I have now entered my second week without Seroquel (which makes me somehow proud), but I am nevertheless wondering when I will be back to normal – whatever that means.
(Male, 25 years old, 80kg, smoker). I’ve been taking seroquel XR 100mg for nearly three months, and today is day 3 of going cold turkey. My sleep has been highly disrupted, going from 9 solid hours a night to maybe 4 scattered hours throughout the same 9 hour timeframe.
I’m determined to quit. I’m 100% sure the only reason I ever needed the stupid pink pills in the first place was to deal with my (now ex) partner and her abuse. Will keep this post updated as the turkey gets colder.
Hey all, so these comments have helped a lot the past few days. I’ve been on seroquel since 2004 and over the past 5 months have been being weaned off. Monday night was my last 50mg dose and I can honestly say that I didn’t sleep a wink Tuesday night. Wednesday started with extreme exhaustion, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shakes and itchiness like I’ve never felt before.
Here I am, it’s now Thursday and I slept last night in two increments of about 4 hours each with a gap of 3 hours in between. I have found that taking two benadryl and a melatonin capsule knock me out for at least a few hours and relieve the itchiness. For the nausea I’m drinking ginger ale before my tiny meal, I say tiny because I can only get down a few spoonfuls before the nausea kicks in.
I’m hoping the withdrawals don’t last too long, but I have found that sleep helps even though it’s the hardest piece of the puzzle to get right now. I wish you all luck in this journey to a cleaner form of caring for yourself and your illness. Be blessed!
DO NOT GO COLD TURKEY. This is not a competition to see how tough you are. DO NOT GO COLD TURKEY. DON’T DON’T DON’T. I was a two-pack-a-day smoker and quit cold turkey. On Seroquel I was taking a measles 75 mg dose and decided I was tough and could quit cold turkey. It almost killed me. Insomnia, psychosis, agitation, suicidal impulses… Did I mention insomnia? I should have tapered, DO. NOT. QUIT. COLD. TURKEY.
I decided to quit taking seroquel cold turkey about 1.5 weeks ago. My dose was pretty small compared to others (only 75 mg) in the pm. The biggest withdrawal that I am having is insomnia. My body no longer knows how to sleep since I started this medication 16 years ago. Does anyone have any advice on natural ways to fall asleep while dealing with this and how long it will last?
I don’t want more prescription drugs to deal with this, since the whole reason I quit was to rid my body of medications and I need to sleep without getting dependent on another drug. I was put on seroquel when I was 10, but now that I’m an adult these issues I had are no longer existent. Thank you to whoever can help and good luck to everyone who is going through this as well.
Hi everyone! I am so grateful for this thread. I am currently tapering and withdrawing from 25mg of Seroquel. This is the 3rd time I’ve done this (the first time was cold turkey and I almost scratched my scalp off). I was prescribed a low dosage to help with insomnia and anxiety after I relapsed on crystal meth 2 years ago.
I find it does nothing for my sleep or anxiety. I am prescribed medicinal cannabis which gives me the results I need without the side effects of a pharmaceutical. I decided I wanted off this stuff after 2 years as I know the longer I am on it, the longer the withdrawal. I am actually very surprised at how hard this is hitting me. I cut my 25mg pills in half almost 2 weeks ago.
I am tired all the time, in tears, nausea and vomiting, headaches and joint pain. Funny enough no anxiety and sleep is okay. To top it off I work in a stressful kitchen where I don’t eat enough and exercising hasn’t been a part of my life for a couple of months now (I am an avid runner) – so I am guessing because of my job and lifestyle currently that I am getting hit extra hard with my withdrawal symptoms. I hope they end soon. I am so glad I didn’t go cold turkey, even on this low dosage.