Seroquel Withdrawal? It does get better!
88A few months ago I decided that I no longer wanted to be on Seroquel XR. After a couple years of taking this drug, I became fed up with how tired and zombie-like I was feeling. Despite being told that if I take it right before I go to bed I wouldn't feel so tired, I still did - in fact I wouldn't really feel awake until about 5 hours after getting out of bed.
Now before I go further into detail about my successful withdrawal, I'd like to first mention that while a lot of people list Seroquel as an 'evil drug'; it really pulled me out of a dark place and kept my OCD and anxiety to a minimum. However, after getting my symptoms under control with the help of this drug; it was now time to come off of it.
The highest dose I was on was 200mg. I then dropped down to 150mg for 2 months, then 100mg for 2 months, and finally 50mg for 2 months. During this slow decline I noticed no problems sleeping, however I did notice by obsessive thoughts coming back - probably due to the fact that my brain was no longer heavily sedated.
The next step is where I began to run into some problems: I went cold turkey after 50mg.
First week: I could not sleep. And on the occasional night where I managed to fall asleep, I would wake up about 4 hours later with my brain racing with thoughts. I tried taking benadryl to see if that would work, but all it gave me was a terrible benadryl hangover along with a sleepless night. Then I tried lunesta, and had the same result as when I tried benadryl.
Second week: At this point I was feeling quite depressed, but I think most of it stemmed from having no sleep. However, I did find that one of my prescribed medications allowed me to get some sleep - xanax. Xanax for me typically lasts about 6 hours, and that's about how long I stayed asleep for on the nights when I took it. My theory behind not being able to sleep was that I no longer had my thoughts sedated and I would wake up due to too much brain activity. Xanax being a relaxant seemed to counter my sleep issues quite efficiently, but I still could not sleep more than 6 hours with it.
Third week: Grumpy, tired, and depressed! At this point I was feeling pretty hopeless, part of me just wanted to start taking Seroquel again so I could sleep! But while I was experiencing all these negative symptoms, I did notice that my personality had come back along with my wit. I was able to converse with people and actually crack a few jokes off the top of my head - something that Seroquel made extremely difficult.
Fourth week: Exhausted. I just couldn't sleep, and nothing could cheer me up. I had no energy to go out and barely enough motivation to walk to the kitchen and stick something in the microwave. My girlfriend grew very concerned for me and managed to talk me in to going on vacation for a weekend, to hopefully enjoy some sun.
Fifth week: After getting back from vacation, and having barely slept at all, I was incredibly tired and worn out. I had got a lot of sun over the weekend as well as quite a bit of exercise - but somehow I still couldn't sleep those nights. But then something miraculous happened on the first night back at home. I slept 10 hours straight without waking up! The next night I slept around 9 hours. The night after that I slept roughly the same as the night before. The night after that!... I couldn't sleep...
Sixth week: Tired and bummed out. After I had managed to sleep three nights in a row the week before, I was back to barely sleeping at all. I just about gave up on ever sleeping a full night again.
Around the 2 month mark - to present: I can sleep again and I feel fantastic! I wake up with energy and can jump right out of bed. I'm more social than ever and fun to be around. The only thing that I now have to deal with is staying on top of my obsessive thoughts, it is much harder now, but I am able to.
I know there are a lot of people wondering if it will ever get better, and my answer is yes, it absolutely does. There isn't a lot of documentation about people going through Seroquel withdrawal, and it can seem like you are all by yourself at times. But I just wanted to write this because I have been in that dark place without any hope, and I have come out of it.
Feel free to write back and I will try and answer your questions the best that I can! Keep your heads up!
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please help. i am a 50 year old woman who is really suffering write now i took serequel for about 2 years i have a very addictive persnality. i am so sick i don't know what to do developed diabetes from serequel cannot sleep at all don't want to take meds for it but i feel like i am dying with no sleep ranging axiety pain in my legs sometimes i cant walk. i have 2 kids cannot take care of anyone right now what should i do ?
Just try to keep your head up!
The best thing you can do right now is to tell yourself that it absolutely will get better. The worst thing you can do is focus on all the negative side effects.
Trust me, I've been where you are and was so close to just getting back on Seroquel. Try to focus on the positives, does your head feel clearer? Do you find you have more mental energy? Feed yourself positive thoughts!
Also remember that I am not a doctor nor do I have any medical training, so I highly advise you to stay in close contact with your doctor. As far as medication for helping me get off Seroquel, I can say that Xanax worked wonders for me - I was able to get 6 hours of sleep after taking it, and I was able to relax a bit before going to bed. However, I by no means suggest you take any medications without consulting your doctor - it's just something you may want to inquire more about with a qualified professional.
You'll be fine! :)
this is pauline pg thank you so much for your help. as of toady it has been about 2 weeks off serequel still feel so sick very depressed sometime really bad thoughts come to mind tried different sleep meds but then i build a tolerance to the meds for sleep and then they stop working. i feel so lethargic and so drained what do i do will i ever see the light again would you call me and talk to me i really need to talk. when i cannot sleep i get so so sick thank you hope to be hearing from you soon
Hi all! I'm Finnish and I found a mistake in this debate Seroquel. I'm not very good at writing in English. Sorry for spelling mistakes, I use google translator to help ......
I stopped the Seroquel 4 weeks ago and I'm finished = (I can not sleep at night than 1-2 hours, even though I used the withdrawal symptoms 10mg-15mg Valium medication in the evening. I have four children, the youngest child is only 3 months old and I'm finished.
The doctor prescribed me 6 years ago for insomnia drug Seroquel 300mg. It was too big portion (which came heart problems) and it was calculated 50mg-100mg doses. I ate at that level in six years and now I'm trying to quit. I used the medicine of the youngest child ajankin pregnancy whenI was unable stop = ( The doctor saidthat you can use it but I would have wanted to = ( I had to, even ifI tried to quit but failed , because thepregnancy has not been able to use sleeping pills , etc.
I am now really desperate. I feel terrible. I cry just tired and feeling like I care for the children. Will this ever pass? Why is this especially toxins provides for insomnia?
I started seroquel about 2 1/2 months ago and it has been a miracle drug for me. There are a few things I have learned about the sedating side effects:Be careful about taking antihistamines or anticold medicine with it. I went to ER because I took a 25mg. benadryl for my allergies and darn near stopped breathing. I talked and moved like I'd just drank a bottle of vodka.
Also, I got on the extended release and take it about 7 pm rather than wait until bedtime. This alleviates for me the "till noon stupor" I got when I first took the regular seroquel. This is the only antipsychotic that has really worked for me. I am thrilled to have found it. Thanks for your informative hub.
I just wanted to say thanks to the person who posted about seroquel withdrawal....I have now been five weeks exactly today without taking any....I was on 100mg and slowly cut down to 25 mg with no problems...the problems started when I cut out the last 25mg...nausea, upset stomach, headaches, hot and cold...it was all really bad for just over a week, since then for five weeks have hardly slept, I sleep for about four hours a night, I normally drop off at around 4.30 am until around 8.30am...most days I am just dragging myself around, I am so tired out and would just love to fall asleep...I have tried relaxation, music relaxation, lots of exercise... it feels like I have tried everything...out of the five weeks, I did sleep twice for six hours which was amazing and I was hoping after this that my sleep would return to normal but five weeks in and I am still the same....I got put on seroqual for sleep and after all the research I have done it should not be prescribed for just sleep problems....reading the first original post in this thread it has given me hope that I might sleep again soon, I think he said he slept after two months...so only another three weeks to go for me...i have never been through anything like this ever in my life...it is the total pits...my weight gain in 30 pounds and I look pregnant, even after stopping the medication and joining a diet group i have put on another pound...at the moment I am tired and grumpy and really want to scream at all the doctors out there that put normal people on an antipsychotic...I don't know why the hell I didn't research it first....I just wish someone could have told me it totally stops you producing dopamine which gives you your motivation etc....oh hurry up the next three weeks I can't take to much more of not sleeping...hugs to everyone who is going through this x
When withdrawing from Seroquel I used large doses of BCAA which made me sleepy (even during day) and I was able to handle the insomnia for 4 weeks after which it started to get better.
This link may be also useful:
http://seroquelwithdrawal.blogspot.com/2011/03/sle
Sleep aids such as
glycine 3-5g
kava root
relora/magnolia bark
can be useful.
BCAA worked for my insomnia for few weeks and then it stopped working (it reduces serotonin and improves glutamate/GABA balance).
Thank you for sharing your story. I have been taking anywhere from 50-100mg of Seroquel to help me sleep for over 2 years now. I never dreamed there was a withdrawal problem. What I am experiencing is clenching my teeth while I sleep and I know the older anti-psychotics could cause this, but am wondering if the atypicals, like Seroquel, can do the same. I believe I have even cracked a crown and I have a lot of pain in my left upper jaw and my face is swollen. Can't get into my dentist b/4 Monday (5 days from now). Am checking www.askapatient.com to see if anyone else has had this problem. Your post and some of these answers are very, very helpful. Thank you so much.
I have been on 200mg of seroquel for about 9 months, just in the evening to help my anxiety and to help me sleep. I decided to cut down to 100mg due to the fact my life is relatively stress free and I want to have childen in the new year or so. I have been having violent, vivid nightmares, sleeping only 3-4 hours in the evening. Im clenching and grinding my teeth during the day and during my sleep, my face is swollen and my jaw very saw. I have had the shakes and temperatures. I honestly didnt think on such a low dose you could get such bad withdrawal symptoms?
Yes, the withdrawal is really, really bad. I can remember lying in bed morbidly depressed and completely unable to sleep, it was absolutely horrible. But seriously, it's been about 2 years since, and I sleep great now. I remember being in the same position as you guys are right now, and I browsed online during my sleepless nights looking for a sign of hope, only to see people saying it would never get better. I wrote this because I really went through everything, and it did get better, and you all need to think positively. What helped me was trying to think about it in different ways. Instead of thinking "Oh god, it's 3 a.m! Why am I not asleep, this is horrible", I began to think that it would be really nice if I were to get some sleep, or hopefully I can sleep 5 hours tonight. You can't always control the situation you're in, but you can change your perspective on it.
To the comment saying not to take Xanax or benzos, I agree they won't solve the actual problem and I also would never suggest that anybody take them as I'm not qualified at all to say so. However, what they did for me was to allow me to maybe get 5 or 6 hours of sleep. Similarly taking ibuprofen will not cure an injury, but it will make it more bearable. Anyway, it's just something you can discuss with the doctor, if you want.
Anyways, feel free to ask me questions and hopefully I can be of help.
Hi there, i was on Zoloft 50mg and Seroquel 150mg for about 8 months. I have never been good on medication so i got into a stage when i got FED UP and decided to come off it with my private psychiatrist advice. i was told to start with Seroquel to cut down to 75mg. Next morning i thought I was gonna get a heart attack how highly anxious a felt!!! i ended up that day at hospital and was told that when cutting down on Ser. I should cut down on Zoloft as well as it can make you feel more anxious. i came off Zoloft over next couple of weeks and at the same time was cutting down on Ser. The last dose was 25mg.Once Ser. was ceased that's when the FUN dtarted. besides itching and having strange eye movements, i could not sleep. First week i felt very high then low. this is my 10th day since Ser. was ceased and last 3 days have been a hell! I have been feeling extremely depressed and sometimes anxious. i was so desperate at one stage that i asked my doctor to put me back on any antipsychotic again; luckily he said no. i just started losing hope, the depression really gets me. i also started taking a lot of vitamins so i will see how i go. Have to say that i'm still at hospital and wish i would recover quick as i have a beautiful husband and almost 3 year old boy waiting for me:-(:-( my little family is the only thing that keeps me going. i wish i had a crystal ball that would tell me if it is just a withdrawal and it will pass.
hi nmh062,
i was just told that feeling depressed when you come of Seroquel is NOT A WITHDRAWAL symptom. instead I should feel anxious only. i have to say i feel both but it is on the same level. plus i started to feel a little bit better in last couple of days until just then when he told me that IT IS REALLY ME not a withdrawal! it has been only 14 days since I came of Seroquel anf 3 weeks since i came of Zoloft. should i ask for a bit more time or start new meds... i'M SO CONFUSED:-(:-(
Marilyn 20 months ago
Thank you for the information and for giving me hope! I am so tired, only two weeks off the med. I don't know why I am so exhausted but I am glad to know it will eventually go away. Thank you!