Seroquel. Please help

[DaveO]

Help needed.Hi all.. I have just been prescribed Seroquel 25mg for my depression, anxiety, bipolar and insomnia. From what I hear it's very sedating which made me quite excited cause I haven't had a good night sleep in soooo long. I was told to take 2 at nighttime an hour before bed. However it has not made me the slightest bit tired which is very frustrating. Has anyone else had this problem. Any advice is very much appreciated.

Edited May 2, 2014 by DaveO

[Queerky]

When I was first prescribed seroquel I was instructed to take it only when I felt tired or sleepy. I too wasn't sleeping well (broken sleep, nightmares, waking up constantly and finding it hard to sleep) but I did take it when I started yawning and I was asleep before I could ever put my pajamas on. I slept for 16 or so hours but then my sleeping patterns started to correct themselves. 

 

Maybe try taking them when you are tired rather than at a set hour before 'bed' if you can. If not I'd talk to the doctor who prescribed it about the insomnia. 

[crtclms]

Hi, I'm moving this to the anti-psychotic forum, so more people read it.

[mcjimjam]

I was prescribed it at that dosage initially and it worked maybe the first night but after that I needed at least 200mg to be able to sleep. Just call your doc and say tell him it's not working.

[MiaB]

Hi, and welcome to CB!

 

I have just been prescribed Seroquel 25mg for my depression, anxiety, bipolar and insomnia. 

 

 

Honestly, that's a lot to expect from a very low dose of Seroquel.  Are you on any other medication, and are there plans to increase your Seroquel dosage? Essentially, the med is supposed to be highly sedating at low doses, and is only meant to kick in for bipolar mood states at levels of 300mg and above.  (There's a useful chart here for you to see recommended dosing schedules.) I personally have been on Seroquel for years now, and never once found that the tinier doses did anything as far as sedation goes. 

 

I agree with mcjimjam that your best course of action is to contact your psychiatrist and ask for assistance and for more information on what his/her plans are.  

[DaveO]

Cool. I'm going to wait till I'm a lil tired and take it then to see how I go. I really appreciate the reply. And so fast too!! (: Thankyou

After a few weeks my pdoc said that he will up in to 300mg.

[DaveO]

Oh and I'm on 700mg Epilim and 50mg Zoloft in the morning and 700mg Epilim at night with the 50mg seroquel. The Seroquel has replaced Mirtazapine (avanza) 45mg

[ImNotDP]

Is it extended release?  

 

I took both extended release and regular Seroquel and it would take me forever to fall asleep but once I was down, I was down for at least 12 hours. This is on both 25mg regular at night and 50/100/150mg extended release at night. My doctor suggested that I take it earlier and earlier until I found the right "timing" on it so I could fall asleep at a normal time.  I was taking it at 6pm for a bit to fall asleep around 11pm eventually. 

[mjs190]

The 300 mg that you mentioned can be a very beneficial dose. I found relief at 200, although partial relief was noticeable at 150. I take the XR.

[dtac]

I started on 25mg of seroquel and eventually had to titrate up to 200mg to keep the sedation on the IR version. I see you're coming off mirtazapine, which is a strong histamine drug as well. I did that same transition a few years ago and had to rapid titrate the seroquel to keep the sedative effect going. On the XR version, the sedation subsided totally, and I had to use Lunesta or seroquel IR to help fall asleep.

[bpladybug]

I am taking 350 ER at 7:30 pm for my Bipolar 1

If I take it at that time I am able to get up at 8 am for work

 

I think you will need to adjust that dosage to get some good sleep