Seroquel

[rs929]

Is it as terrible as they say?

 

[CharlieBrown]

I feel I need Seroquel. I don't know if it helps or if my body is very addicted to it. I know that at the very least that it helps me sleep. If I go a few hours past the time I normally take Seroquel, I start to turn into an anxious / crying mess. My memory and focus has been impaired but I also had ECT treatments, and the doctor who performed the treatments prescribed me Seroquel while I was under his care. I never stopped taking Seroquel after ECT, so I don't know the true cause of my memory problems. Also, it does make me ravenous at times to the point that I eat too much too fast and get sick. In the end, like I said, I feel like I need it.

 

[Celerity]

What's your dosage? What are you taking it for? Have you taken any medications you regard as similar to Seroquel (or which in the same drug class as Seroquel)?

I take an extremely low dose for insomnia: 12.5-50 mg as needed. I simply can't speak to the experience of people taking higher doses for longer periods.

Years ago, I was originally prescribed Seroquel 25-50 mg/day as a trial run because one of my old therapists believed I might have Bipolar 2. She talked my psychiatrist into trying it out on me. At that dose, I did not have any of the nasty side effects I have heard about. However, it did not seem to be the miracle drug my care team was looking for - it alleviated my fits of anger to an extent but mostly helped me sleep - so they took me off it and gave me meds I did much worse on.

Ambien worked like a dream, but I abused it and quickly became dependent. It may have contributed to my depressive episode then, but I can't know for sure. Trazadone nearly killed me, but the dose was extremely high (pharmacist actually called the doc to verify the dose) and I stupidly stacked it with booze.

What I do now with Seroquel works for me, but I do respect the risks and limitations the drug poses. I make sure I have at least 12 hours after I take the drug to do fuck all and accept that the peace I feel the morning after will be accompanied by a degree of brain fog. I have noticed that I have difficulty finding my words and am more likely to transpose numbers. I have heard that 2-5% of people who take Seroquel experience slurred speech (dysarthria). I'm not sure if my symptoms would fall into that, but to my uneducated ears, it sounds related.

 

[CharlieBrown]

I've been taking 400 mg daily for 9 years off label for Major Depressive Disorder, panic attacks, and insomnia. I tried all the traditional antidepressants and they either did nothing for me or made me feel worse. The only other antipsychotic medication I tried was Abilify, which made me feel manic and I hated it. I also have a lot of trouble finding my words and my short term memory just isn't there. We do what we have to in order to get through the day while we're still here, I suppose.

 

[Celerity]

I've been taking 400 mg daily for 9 years off label for Major Depressive Disorder, panic attacks, and insomnia. I tried all the traditional antidepressants and they either did nothing for me or made me feel worse. The only other antipsychotic medication I tried was Abilify, which made me feel manic and I hated it. I also have a lot of trouble finding my words and my short term memory just isn't there. We do what we have to in order to get through the day while we're still here, I suppose.

Like you, traditional antidepressants have done nothing for me. I wish I could take a higher dose of Seroquel, but the side effects give me pause like OP.

Do you have any concerns about developing tardive dyskinesia?

 

[UseItOrLoseIt]

But srsly, I've taken it. Helped in the beggining but the sides were too brutal. I couldn't take it through the day because it would turn me into a nonfunctional drooling zombie.
Helps with sleep, obviously.

 

[existtosuffer]

It stops the intensity of my mixed episodes, but it doesn't leave me motivated to actually continue existing.

 

[Flippy]

I used to find Seroquel/Quetiapine worked amazingly well for me. Once my dose was worked out and I was switched to the extended release variant. I think I had around 6 years of mostly great mood and was very focused and goal oriented for just about every hour I could wring out of the day. It was like I was mostly mildly manic and it was wonderful, albeit with some minor depression creeping in around autumn/winter, but they were extremely mild.

I finally had a more prolonged episode of depression after those 6 years, but within 6-8 months it lifted again and I was more or less back to normal.

Unfortunately for me, something seems to have changed around the middle of 2017 when I started to get anxiety and more severe depression, coupled with some horrible side effects and other physical symptoms.

I would say I got almost 9-10 years of recovery, or some version of recovery while on seroquel at 300mg extended release. It used to sedate me on an evening, so if I needed sleep it was basically guaranteed I would get it. The way I see it, this med reversed the mood cycles and made depressions trivial. High mood never got out of control so I was just a whirlwind of activity without the head full of rushing thoughts and noise and wonky ideas.

Sadly now it doesn't have that affect on me at all. I take it still as I fear the alternative may be much worse than the pain, restless legs, the lack of energy and brain fog.

The other thing I should mention is that the problem may not actually be the medication, it could be that some issues I have with my blood and body chemistry might be interacting in an unusual way with the seroquel.

I suppose I will find out once the doctors figure out what's causing these issues. I hope that perhaps I will return to my happy hyperactive, ambitious, focused self if they fix the problem.

 

[DepressoEspresso]

I took it in highschool. (2x daily, morning/night)

If I wasn't passed out on my desk I was "nodding" like I was on other drugs. The worst part was when I would kick my legs forward during class because I thought I was falling.

Works great for sleep... Not depression and severe anxiety. That's just my experience though.

 

[Bedrock48]

It seems very mixed on how people find it. Half say it was the worst half say its the best. I take mine as an anti-psychotic and it helps me sleep. It's the best medication I've tried and I really like it.

Getting used to it is tough though, when I started on just 25mg I was basically a zombie for a few weeks. Slept easily 16 hours and could barely stay awake outside out of that. Now I'm used to it and taking 50-75mg I'm generally fine. I take it 12 hours before I'm due to be awake the next morning so it should be out of my system by the time I'm awake.

It really helps, the only side effects I've had are tiredness and feeling super hungry shortly after taking it. Kinda how people describe getting the munchies after weed. Overall maybe an 8/10.

 

[stellabelle]

Is it as terrible as they say?

I think it helps some people.
but I think there's a difference between environmental causes of depression (example, your mother sexually assaulting your sibling, refusing to love you and wishing your father dead and chasing money and your older sister instead of helping you get through school) versus chemical imbalances.

if it helps someone sleep and get life on track, more power to it. But I think that people are too reliant of psychiatric meds and blaming the people who take them instead of the people who cause the problem in the first place.
If you're begging someone to stop doing something and they continue, popping pills will not drown out the crazy shit going on.