serequel withdrawal/symptoms

[spaceman]

currently on 300 mg of serequel which was prescribed for depression. Doesn't help with depression so I want to stop taking it because it has kept me from losing weight and causes constipation. dry mouth etc...

Stopped taking it 2 weeks ago and immediately experienced insomnia which lasted for 2 weeks so I gave up and restarted it and insomnia immediately stopped.

Anyone else experienced this? Is this to be expected? should I step down the dosage (200mg x 1 week/100mg i week etc? I would like to just sleep normally and have 1 less chemical floating around in my bloodstream.

Any input would be helpful.

Thanx

Brian

[Maddy]

Stopped taking it 2 weeks ago and immediately experienced insomnia which lasted for 2 weeks so I gave up and restarted it and insomnia immediately stopped.

Anyone else experienced this? Is this to be expected? should I step down the dosage (200mg x 1 week/100mg i week etc? I would like to just sleep normally and have 1 less chemical floating around in my bloodstream.

Any input would be helpful.

I've never experienced insomnia from stopping Seroquel IR nor Seroquel XR.

[tryp]

Have you talked with your doctor about this? It's never good to start or stop a med without consulting your doc.

Stopping 300 mg of Seroquel all in one go probably isn't the best idea. As you say, you should probably taper down. Your doc can work out a taper schedule with you that should stop you getting hit so hard with the withdrawal.

[Pamito]

I definitely get insomnia if I stop or miss Seroquel. Talk to your PDoc about tapering it, as others have said. Going off it cold turkey may not be as nice to your system as tapering is. The month that I had to stop taking seroquel, I would not sleep at all unless I took a sleeping pill.

[spaceman]

I just started 150 mg last night down from 300 mg. I didn't notice any difference in the sedating effect at all.

Is 150 mg considered a very low dose with serequel . At that level would the side effects be less or none at all?

If so I may stay at this level or go down to 100 mg just for the sedative effects.

Thanx,

Brian

[tryp]

Whether or not it's considered a low dose depends on the purpose - it's on the high side for insomnia, low-moderate for depression and low for bipolar/scz.

As for the sedation, Seroquel tends to be more sedating/just as sedating at the lower doses. It has to do with Seroquel's effect on histamine receptors. It doesn't take much Seroquel to hit the maximum effect on histamine/maximum sedation. The other side effects, it depends on the person. You'll just have to wait and see, unfortunately.

I think I've gained more on 300 than I did on 150, but I definitely had noticeable side effects on both doses.

[spaceman]

I never really noticed any effect on my depression at all. I don't think I have gained any weight either. After

reading your post I may do 150 a day for a while and then level off at 100 mg. I never gained any weight but I didn't

lose any either despite working all summer in the heat and eating moderatly. Will dropping from 300to 100 make a

difference or as far as using it only as a sleep aid would 50 mg do it?

[tryp]

For a sleep aid, it depends. For me, I need 150 mg at night to make me sleep. For other people, as low as 12.5 or 25 mg does the trick. You have to experiment a little to find your sweet spot.

Have you talked to your doc about this? There are other options for sleep meds that are better tolerated than Seroquel.