Seroquel made me delusional?

[Parapluie]

As the title says... hmm

To preface, I have never experienced psychosis or delusions (to my knowledge) and I haven't been diagnosed with anything related to that.

I started taking 12.5mg of Seroquel as an add-on for my citalopram, to help me sleep and to control intrusive thoughts about SI. I took it for 4 days, and on the fourth day I had this strange idea that someone (God? The universe?) was sending me messages via windows. I was pretty well convinced that I had to decipher the reflected images, that I was the only one who could understand them, and I eventually worked out that the message was where/how to kill myself. I was aware that this thought was ridiculous, but I was obsessed with it anyway. I quit taking the Seroquel and I have an appointment with my doc next week. This was on Saturday and the thoughts have since gone away.

Has anyone else experienced this on Seroquel? Even at such a tiny dose? I'm guessing it was related to the Seroquel because it lessened the day after I quit taking it and now the strange idea is gone... ?

[Eden]

Ya know, I've never experienced or heard of such an occurrence, but the brain is a funny thing. The slightest change to your brain chemistry can cause all sorts of odd things. The dosage was small but obviously it was enough to change something in you, I would suggest telling your doctor everything and never going back on seroquel.

Gotta say though, very odd.

[bpladybug]

hmmm ms umbrella

that is really odd

obviously Seroquel is designed to prevent delusional and disturbed thinking

I don't know how old you are

but this is either a coincidence and you might have other episodes

so you should tell your doctor!!!

or you had a very, very strange reaction to Seroquel

I certainly hope it is the later, hope it was the medication'

good luck and keep in touch about this

you might go over to CrazyMeds and check out their Seroquel folder

they will have a lot of information

Edited March 8, 2012 by bpladybug

[Parapluie]

I enjoy that people have been referring to me as Umbrella! I'm 21 years old, if that makes any difference in what you think. I know you aren't here to make diagnoses or anything though. I hope I had a strange reaction to Seroquel too. It was the strangest thing I've ever experienced. I'll update after I see my doc. Oh boy, he's probably sick of me, If it's not one thing, it's another.

[weordmyndum]

You didn't say how bad your sleep was, so this might not apply--but sleep deprivation can cause psychosis. The only times I've had psychotic symptoms were when I wasn't sleeping for days at a time. So perhaps your symptoms could've been a result of sleep deprivation and not Seroquel.

[Parapluie]

I wasn't badly sleep deprived, my problem is mainly the SI stuff, and I was just waking up a lot in the early morning and couldn't get back to sleep. My doc seems kind of obsessed with my sleep, even though I didn't think it was horrible. Thanks for your insight though, I'll mention it.

[Becks]

Good luck with your pdoc appointment!

I second, or third or fourth the notion that it's a very strange reaction, but I imagine not impossible as stated above, our brains are so funky sometimes.

As for your doc thinking you are a pain.....hopefully not! Tonight after my appointment we finally got to a point where my pdoc thinks that if I'm doing okay in the next 30 days that it's safe to cancel my monthly appointments (this is after 10 months of seeing him every 3 to 4 weeks sometimes more often) and go to every 3 months. I patted his arm and made a remark about maybe now I won't be such a pain in his ass. He laughed and reassured me that I am not a pain that he is here to help me. I would hope that your pdoc feels much the same about you.

[terrydrives1979]

I had this strange idea that someone (God? The universe?) was sending me messages via windows

Terrydrives, what qualifications do you have that allow you to diagnose Ms Umbrella's condition?

I DIDN'T diagnose " which " mental illness she has ?

Edited March 9, 2012 by terrydrives1979

[Pamito]

Terrydrives, what qualifications do you have that allow you to diagnose Ms Umbrella's condition?

It may have been seroquel-induced; I don't know, I am not a doctor.... and either are you.

[terrydrives1979]

I had this strange idea that someone (God? The universe?) was sending me messages via windows

Terrydrives, what qualifications do you have that allow you to diagnose Ms Umbrella's condition?

I never diagnosed " which " mental illness she has ?

[Pamito]

Well, Terrydrives, you edited the post in which you said that it was a mental illness causing her paranoia, and that it couldn't be the Seroquel. You edited out what you said; nice stuff....

On topic, Parapluie, I hope after you speak to your Pdoc, that you get some answers. Cheers.

[Eden]

I know someone with bipolar II who was made delusional by the addition of an SSRI, saying that it must be caused by MI is not necessarily true. Drugs do funky things to the brain, it happens.

[Guest Recluse]

Has anyone else experienced this on Seroquel? Even at such a tiny dose? I'm guessing it was related to the Seroquel because it lessened the day after I quit taking it and now the strange idea is gone... ?

Any AAP can cause potentially weird or bizarre side effects, they aren't that horribly uncommon. You seem to have a lot of people going 'OMFG IT CAN'T BE X DRUG BECAUSE I TOOK IT AND WAS JUST FINE' but the truth is that everyone's experience with these medications is going to be different. It is foolish and incredibly misguided to declare that just because some folks took a certain drug and had no issue, that your bad reaction must be caused by something else.

...and the folks who are saying that kind of stupid shit should know better by now.

For my part, I reacted very badly to Seroquel. My intrusive thoughts about physically hurting the people around me and sadistically beating my husband became far more intense, the looping music in my head became much harder to ignore, and every time I got behind the wheel, I felt like I was being compelled by my radio to pick the most heavily populated car out of oncoming traffic to ram my SUV into head-first at full speed.

It was no fun at all.

What I will suggest is that if you had a bad reaction to Seroquel, which obviously we both did, you should try another AAP, but while you trial the next AAP, be very vigilant for the same type of psychosis or delusion. I say this because at least in my case, virtually all of the AAPs I trialed gave varying degrees of the same bad side-effects with the exception of Abilify, which made me feel like my skin was trying to creep off of my muscles, and my muscles were trying to creep off of my bones.

Good luck.

[Parapluie]

It's somewhat comforting to know that someone else experienced this, though it sucks that you did. Thanks for your reply.

[terrydrives1979]

Has anyone else experienced this on Seroquel? Even at such a tiny dose? I'm guessing it was related to the Seroquel because it lessened the day after I quit taking it and now the strange idea is gone... ?

Any AAP can cause potentially weird or bizarre side effects, they aren't that horribly uncommon. You seem to have a lot of people going 'OMFG IT CAN'T BE X DRUG BECAUSE I TOOK IT AND WAS JUST FINE' but the truth is that everyone's experience with these medications is going to be different. It is foolish and incredibly misguided to declare that just because some folks took a certain drug and had no issue, that your bad reaction must be caused by something else.

...and the folks who are saying that kind of stupid shit should know better by now.

For my part, I reacted very badly to Seroquel. My intrusive thoughts about physically hurting the people around me and sadistically beating my husband became far more intense, the looping music in my head became much harder to ignore, and every time I got behind the wheel, I felt like I was being compelled by my radio to pick the most heavily populated car out of oncoming traffic to ram my SUV into head-first at full speed.

It was no fun at all.

What I will suggest is that if you had a bad reaction to Seroquel, which obviously we both did, you should try another AAP, but while you trial the next AAP, be very vigilant for the same type of psychosis or delusion. I say this because at least in my case, virtually all of the AAPs I trialed gave varying degrees of the same bad side-effects with the exception of Abilify, which made me feel like my skin was trying to creep off of my muscles, and my muscles were trying to creep off of my bones.

Good luck.

Whatever you say, doc

[Eden]

Recluse may be a bit blunt, and sure he lets his shit hang out, but he is right. You don't need to be a doctor to have an objective opinion based on real experience.

Also Terry, check out Recluses blog (in his sig), I think you would really appreciate it.

Edit: Evidently Recluse is female! Apologies Recluse, however I stand by my metaphor.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Eden

[Eden]

Edit: Thank you oh great mod in the sky

Edited March 12, 2012 by Eden

[Guest Recluse]

Whatever you say, doc

She asked for opinions. I gave her one. She thanked me. Looks like it was useful.

Judging from the replies your now edited post got, you were the one playing doctor, not me.

[Eden]

------------------------------

----------------------------------------

------------ QUOTE ----------

I started taking 12.5mg of Seroquel

-----------------------------

Seriously 12.5mg doesn't even touch dopamine. At that dose it is merely a sleeping med at best.

------------ QUOTE ----------

I took it for 4 days, and on the fourth day I had this strange idea that someone (God? The universe?) was sending me messages via windows.

-----------------------------

It is just a coincidence and these strange ideas are symptoms of your mental illness.

---End quote---

That was the edited post, I think it was more like he was playing "a scientist to help the pdocs with better treatments so people don't have to be in an emergency room with kind, caring, smiling medical staff, oh and ofcourse the security guard who works damn hard at keeping an eye out so the nurses don't get spat on."

End quote again.

[Guest Recluse]

That was the edited post, I think it was more like he was playing "a scientist to help the pdocs with better treatments so people don't have to be in an emergency room with kind, caring, smiling medical staff, oh and ofcourse the security guard who works damn hard at keeping an eye out so the nurses don't get spat on."

End quote again.

Aaaaahhh, I get it now. There's actually a clinical term for this that I found in my Big Book Of Internet Doctoring: "Butthurt"

[Eden]

Edit, false alarm

Edited March 12, 2012 by Eden

[Parapluie]

So, I saw my pdoc the other day. I felt like a giant ass while describing my delusional time, cause he was giving me a confused/ highly concerned look. Probably 'cause I kept saying "So, I know what the messages were trying to tell me, I've since figured it out... I mean, that's crazy, there were no messages! But there were! You know what I mean??" It's hard to describe such a subjective experience. I can safely say that I am no longer delusional though.

Anyway, he said it was a very unusual reaction at such a low dose, but it's possible. So, I'm trying Effexor XR out now, and we're waiting to see how I respond before we add anymore antipsychotics. Hopefully there will be no more strange ideas.

[harleyhuny]

I also had a reaction on seroquel. However not as bad as yours. I took 50mg. prescribed for me since I have insomnia. Not only did it do nothing for the sleep problem. I felt like was gonna jump out of my skin, then the next day I felt like I had been drinking for 3 days, I was so drained and hung over feeling. dazed and confused. I called the Dr. and he seemed shocked someone would have such a reaction. I told him that I would keep taking ambein and hoped it kicked in before I try that stuff again. Hopefully Effexor works for you..

[sam10976]

I don't know if this thread is still being followed, but I came across your post on the Internet and signed up for crazyboards right away.

 

Seroquel made me incredibly delusional and hypomanic at the same time.

It should be noted that I am very mildly psychotic and slightly delusional without medication. I am also bipolar 2, although the symptoms are barely noticeable unless I take a drug that triggers hypomania (and a lot of them do).

In any case, on Seroquel (50 mg) I developed the belief that I was about to receive a multi-billion dollar settlement from a lawsuit that I had going (I actually got $9,000 much later). Since I was going to be rich, I threw out the majority of my stuff, including food, clothing, household items and furniture. I also spent all of my money and overdrew my bank account by withdrawing $600 a day until the ATM chewed up my debit card. Luckily, I didn't have any credit cards.

There is much more to the delusion. It was very complex. I thought I was going to learn to dunk a basketball at age 44, start a record company, become the first trillionnaire, get elected President for two terms, win 3 Nobel prizes and start my own country.

I also thought I was being watched, my text messages intercepted and that I was being trailed when driving. As a result of the latter, I was driving very recklessly in order to shake the private investigator who was following me. I should note that I thought these people were trying to help me, so I wasn't paranoid.

As a result of the financial calamity, I would now be homeless if a friend hadn't come to stay with me and share the rent and utilities for 10 months.

I recently saw a new psychiatrist and he suggested giving me Seroquel to help me sleep (I went on it originally for sleep and to relieve stress). I told him what happened and his initial response was that the delusions could have been a coincidence. I told him that nothing like that had ever happened before or since. Then he suggested that the tiny dose of Zyprexa that I'm on would block the delusions.

There is absolutely no way 2.5 mg of Zyprexa could block delusions that powerful.

Doctors are stupid.

I'm now doing well on lithium and Zyprexa and I intend to never take another psychotropic as long a I live. I can't let anything like my Seroquel experience happen again.

[Dazart]

I was put on serouel, 300mgs the sleepy like state it put me in made life a "bad dream" i was in criogenic freeze on the moon and the goverment wanted to kill me because i could control the tides and pose a threat, along with several other delusions. They stopped when i quite taking it

 

Serouel is a heavy seditive. the same reason people take sleep aids for recreational purposes is why you were delusional. being a sedative if your still sleepy your mind can easily be fooled thus becoming delusional

[Dazart]

Seems like some pateints other than myself notice the doctors refusal to see the "delusional" side effects of serouel. Theyll act like its your mentality and not the pills. in the mean time evedence piles up all over the net that the side effect of delusions exist. .-. They did it to me too. it made my illness worse. they did the same with geodon. i would fall asleep and wake up elsewere, same time frame i had a freind tell me i kicked him down the steps and i dont remember doing it. Thats the thing about mental health. they will jump on the chance to label u crazy. sometimes u got to get stern with them and tell them exactly ur the client u dictate what help u receive. Otherwise you will end up with possible side effects becomming the reason your now schitzophrenic.

[Tripp]

I was on Seroquel briefly a few years ago, I forget the mg I was on but my Dr. gave it to me as an "add on" to my antidepressant and to help me sleep. It was horrible! I could not sleep a wink, I was so delusional that I was talking to people that weren't there, doing weird things like puttinf dried beans all over the coffee table, my camera was in the microwave, running around my house with no clothes on, the list goes on and on. I had no idea I was doing any of this stuff, could not remember doing any of it. There is no telling what I did! I don't think I ever got in my car and drove anywhere, thank God, because I probably would have killed myseld or someone else. I was also having severe muscle pain and stiffness to where I could barely move my legs, it was excruciating! Needless to say, my Dr. took me off and everything went back to normal. It is a very scary drug. It can do any of what I just mentioned and more to anyone at any dose. If you are just starting on it, make sure someone is with you for the first few days to make sure you have no side effects. These thibgs happened to me from the very 1st dose, the muscle pain and stiffness took a couple of days to get severe.