Quetiapine drowsiness, does it wear off eventually?

[Backofthenet]

I'm still currently in the process of being diagnosed with either BPII or cyclothemia. The doc has prescribed me with the lowest dose of quetiapine, 25mg daily. After 4 weeks on it I have felt my moods stabilise however other factors could have influenced this such as changing my diet, moving back in with my parents, cutting out alcohol and getting rid of a stressful girlfriend (she was a proper party girl who loved her drugs!)

I was wondering if eventually become immune to the sedating effects because at the lowest dosage it kicks fuck out of me, even after a long sleep I'm like a zombie the next day!

This is the first time I've ever been on any medication like this so will my body eventually adjust? After speaking with my doc she said it was up to me whether to try without it for a while however I honestly don't know what effect the drug has had on me, if any? I know it's a hot period of time I've been on it but feeling so lethargic is making things quite difficult

[Backofthenet]

Soz for the double post, can't seem to find an edit button (posting on my phone)

Shouldve said not a long period of time instead of "a hot period of time"

[scream_phoenix]

At 25 mg, Seroquel is mainly going to function as an antihistamine like Benadryl, and make you drowsy.  It shouldn't make you overly drowsy the next day though, unless you are taking it late at night.  I find if I take my Seroquel before 10pm, I won't have too many problems the next day.  But if I take it even ten minutes later than that, I feel drowsy the next day.  But I am at 300 mg.  Even when I took 50 mg the same rule seemed to apply.  Really at this dose -25 mg - all its going to function as is a sleep aid.  I really don't know much about Seroquel for bipolar disorder, but the dose is usually a lot higher.  Which  doesn't mean its going to make you that much drowsier, its effect is different at higher doses - but generally the earlier you take it at night the less drowsy you will be the next day. 

[rowan77]

As the previous poster has said, Seroquel 25mg is really only a sleep aid. Lower doses do tend to cause more drowsiness.

 

In my case I was on 400mg for a while and if I didn't take it before 7:30pm I would be so drowsy the next morning. I now take 800mg, twice the previous dose and it doesn't cause any sedation

[Backofthenet]

Thanks for the feedback.

I have been taking it very late, I work backshift so take it as soon as I get in (around midnight)

As I have no proper diagnosis yet I think the oh was just trying me on the low dose just now to see how I react to it, tbh though being able to get to sleep at night has been a god send so if that's that's all its doing for the now I'll be happy with that lol

Cheers

[Wonderful.Cheese]

I take 800mg split up,during the day. It no longer makes me tired and I guess idk if it ever really did. It's been awhile.

I hope you get to feeling better on it soon.

[Guest]

Does the drowsiness go away?

Immediate release. NO

Extended release. YES after a month

[mcjimjam]

I found the drowsiness did go away for me. At first I was needing to take it by 8PM to be functional the next day, eventually it didn't even make me the tiniest bit sleepy or tired, even shortly after taking it.

[Backofthenet]

Hmm I'm not sure if it's immediate release or extended, I'll have to check that out.

How long did that take you to get like that jimjam?

To let everyone know how bad I am, I'm literally just getting up after going to bed at 2 last night, it's now after 12 in the afternoon and my legs still feel tired and I could sleep for another 10 hours I feel like!

[scream_phoenix]

It definitely does seem to extend the sleep cycle.  I feel like my dreams last like three hours, and I wake up and feel like I haven't gotten any resolution.  I really wish it didn't mess with my dreams and deepen my sleep so much. 

 

but it also sounds like you need the rest too

[ChameleonCompass]

I agree, at first after taking Seroquel it would knock me on my ass. I liked being shut down by something else, and not laying awake for hours stuck in my head, ruminating, wishing for sleep.

 

After taking Seroquel for five months, I could stay up on it. My sleep schedule was a wreck though because I was taking the Seroquel at midnight and purposely staying up until 4:00 am. I always slept at least 10-11 hours on that stuff though. The dose was 300mg.

 

I didn't like feeling like a zombie the next day, either. These days I listen to meditation music or guided meditations to fall asleep. Sometimes a clonazepam if I'm worked up.

 

I do think Seroquel was highly beneficial, and I think it helps a lot of people with bipolar disorder. However, if you decide to go off it, it shouldn't be difficult at that dose after four weeks. But what do I know?? - Your pdoc will tell you how to do it.

[Alien Navel Cord]

I am on 150mg to start, and its the regular kind so I am drowsy as hell. Waking up in the morning is HARD. I can't take it early because I work until midnight, and wake up at 4am with my mate to treadmill then take naps later in the day. So.. wow. Treadmiling while half asleep on seroquel was... interesting to say the least. 

[werehorse]

I was on 650mg. I found it didn't make me too drowsy as long as I got plenty of sleep at night. So I used to take it early enough that I could wake up naturally. That's obviously more difficult to arrange around working shifts etc. Having now switched to abilify I realise that the seroquel *was* sedating me to an extent, I just stopped noticing it so much.

[dragonfly79]

I was on Seroquel XR for a long time (6 months) at 600mg, and the drowsiness never went away for me. I could not get up until 1pm! I got up at 1pm consistently every day. I had to switch to something else for this reason.

[mellifluous]

for me drowsiness was directly related to dosage. under 200=asleep, in the 800 range=not drowsy at all. i started on a much higher dosage than 25 mg though so, i wonder, when you say you have no diagnosis, is it prescribed to help you sleep or...? i've taken it largely for psychosis and it crapped out on me quickly, but does do well for sleep still at lower dosages, but not at all at higher ones for me. so what you say is kinda what i would expect and, no, i wouldn't expect it to get less drowsiness inducing until you build up a tolerance to it, which i've not taken it for sleep for long periods of time, so unsure when you'll need to increase to continue to get the drowsiness effect.

 

ah, i read the post wherein you said that you were possibly just being prescribed to see how you'd react. in my experience anything under 200 is just for sleeping, so i would time it accordingly if you weren't given specific instructions on when to take.

[Schizophrenic_Sanity]

I was taking 900mg of seroquel at one point.  The sleepiness did go away for me and I felt normal.  The bad thing was I gained a lot of weight and it was yet another drug that wasn't strong enough for my psychosis.  I've heard it can be a very beneficial drug for people with bipolar though.