what is seroquel side effects

[BrainPharmer]

I refused to recommend Seroquel after extensively evaluating a women at the request of a family. I had a good reputation as a clinician and they thought if they paid me enough money I would recommend Seroquel. Their motive was to keep her as sedate as possible. Unfortunately for them, this young woman had no trace of psychosis and no trouble sleeping and was a tad over weight and trying to diet. They asked if I wouldn't recommend even 50mg and I said absolutely not, unless their is a dramatic change in this young ladies condition.
In the end, I was fired and they found some *&#@!@#$$!!! doctor to drug the poor women.
Antipsychotics can be life savers however I see them used more and more as chemical restraints.

[Board]

I had a similar experience with Seroquel (weight gain, lethargy, etc). The most messed up part about it was the 'sleep eating' it triggered....meaning that I'd wake up in the morning and find food in/around my bed, on the floor of my kitchen, etc. and have basically no memory of it the next day. Sometimes it involved sleep smoking too and I burned a couple of burn holes in my bed before I finally just stopped taking it.

I say give it up!!

[Enzob]

Seroquel will get you gaining weight for sure. If you dont go over 100mg a day it is not that bad

[cashman1]

I have been using this medication for a few years - cannot say for sure that this med causes you to gain weight - take over 100 mg per day as prescribed by my doc and have not gained any weight as a result. Medication is too effective to not use it.

[lilylola]

I used 50mg for 5 months for sleep. It worked amazingly well, and I felt great. It helped me to kick benzos for sleep. Unfortunately, it stopped working for sleep. Then i had to withdraw. 7 months later, I'm back on benzos, because nothing else would help with sleep. Perhaps I'm a unique case, but it really did more damage than good in the end.

[chris100]

Im on 600mg at night and ionly sleep 2hrs on it. Its not a good drug unless you want to gain weight. Im seeing a doctor today and its time to put an end to this mess. Sleeping pill at night, and something that makes me feel great all day. Come on, there has to be something out there that does that.

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Im on 600mg at night and ionly sleep 2hrs on it. Its not a good drug unless you want to gain weight. Im seeing a doctor today and its time to put an end to this mess. Sleeping pill at night, and something that makes me feel great all day. Come on, there has to be something out there that does that.

Lets put it this way, i need my life back. No MORE of these mood pills that dont do jack shit for me. Its time the doctor starts making me feel better, not worse.

[cherrybomb]

Yikes, 600mgs a night is a lot! I'm currently scripted 50mgs for insomnia and it does help but because of the doziness and hangover feeling the next day i only take it a few times a week.

I've never had trouble with weight gain on this but it doesn't help at all with my anxiety attacks/panic. Then again i've tried Paxil, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, on and on and all those would do is increase my panicky feelings so i have trouble with SSRI's obviously.

[SeeYou8]

I was put on Seroquel and started off at 25 mg once nightly. I have NEVER had any medicine have that effect on me. Once I got up to 50 mg, I literally could not keep my eyes open the next day. I could have slept for days on end. But then i have a friend at work who takes 300mg and it doesn't affect her like that at all. My doc said it just affects people differently.

[lilylola]

I really, really don't recommend taking Seroquel for sleep. Worse rebound insomnia than Xanax withdrawal, and if you're taking it for insomnia in the first place, rebound insomnia that lasts months is probably the very worst thing that can happen to you...

[chris100]

Im weaning myself off seroquil everynight. I was at 600mg and now i will be at 150mg.iM taking 100mg trazodone also. I need something to put me out, but at least im not taking 600mg anymore. Im winning the battle so far. I wont know what my doctor will be putting me on till Aug3rd.

[lilylola]

@chris100 ...congrats! I took Klonopin intermittently to deal with the Seroquel w/d, and then on nights that I didn't take Klonopin, I took Somatomax, a remedy with Phenibut in it that I got on Amazon. Those two things really helped for sleep.

[GoingBananas]

Actually they are coming out with a new add that just lists the things they KNOW can't happen because it is much shorter. (sort-of kidding

[Quirk]

Seroquel ruined me for quite a while. I gained 110 pounds on it. Most people who take it for sleep take 25 or 50 mgs. It is very sedating at the low doses but when you go higher, you are less sedated and it is at those doses that it is used as an antipsychotic. When they gave me 900 mgs a day of it, I gained 50 pounds in six months.

My self-esteem is highly tied in with my weight because I have an eating disorder. There I was, very doped up, fat, and wimpy and I felt terrible about myself. I had to drop out of grad school as a result and could only return when I got off the drug and lost weight.

I have been in eating disorders treatment since. The patients had no access to the Internet and were not informed about med side effects. I truly believe that many, many patients were given Seroquel and told that it was for "anxiety" when really, the unit wanted them to have uncontrolled appetites and gain weight. I do not believe a doctor should lie to a patient like that. I tried to talk to the patients without telling them what to do, since it was none of my business, but hinted that they "should find out ALL the side effects of your meds." What I imagine happened was that as soon as these patients left, they found that they were gaining unexplained weight, and now that the food was no longer under lock and key, their eating was out of control. Using deception and bad chemicals is no way to treat an eating disorder.

[Chancer]

I was put on this along with many other mood stabilizers to try...after thorough research, I would not touch any of this group off medications in my life and I am currently having what's called an ADvance Directive in the UK to try and prevent them giving me any of this stuff again. I believe this group of medications should only be used in extreme circumstances. In the UK they tried everything with me and the side effects where horrific, I had bipolar hypomania and was in hospital and not a threat to anyone, was never violent or aggressive (just talked alot and was probably irritating). I had an episode in Thialand and went to a thia clinic, they prescribed me valium 3x daily and after 10 days I was back to normal which has been my quickest recovery time I have ever had. Trying to get the psychs in the UK to work with me using this method is like pulling teeth. The irony is a Psychiatrist is the only professional doctor who can override a patients advance directive but, I will try anyway because it gives me more ammunition for when they try to give me these meds again. I have usually 3 episodes of mania a year...why is taking valium for 2weeks 3 times a year a bad thing when it has proven to work? A good informative author to read is Richard P Bentall who has wrote two books on the subject and backs up his claims with scientific proof unlike Psychiatry itself. I could go on forever but, I don't want to Ram my opinions down peoples throat just, put my view across...the best advise I can give is research research research and look at it from all angles. Don't just read pro-psychiatry or anti-psychiatry, get a good all round understanding and make up your own mind. :-(

[Quirk]

Chancer, I agree. I've been on as many as three antipsychotics at a time. I developed Tardive Dyskinesia eventually. For most people, TD is permanent even if you get off the drug. I mean for the rest of your miserable life. I was extremely lucky because I was one of the rare cases where the TD went away when I stopped the med. A year ago, I was on Abilify and Risperdal and I stopped both cold turkey. My weight was so low that I doubt they were doing anything anyway. I had no withdrawal that I know of, just went on with things. I have a very unhappy life because of my eating disorder anyway.

[chris100]

The weight gain from this drug was crazy. I was on 600mg and now i take 300, sometimes only 100mg. Im weaning off them cause they dont do shit for me. They also make you feel groggy in the morning like you have a screwed up speech. These are very powerful drugs so just be careful. Good LUCK my friends.

[Chancer]

Chancer, I agree. I've been on as many as three antipsychotics at a time. I developed Tardive Dyskinesia eventually. For most people, TD is permanent even if you get off the drug. I mean for the rest of your miserable life. I was extremely lucky because I was one of the rare cases where the TD went away when I stopped the med. A year ago, I was on Abilify and Risperdal and I stopped both cold turkey. My weight was so low that I doubt they were doing anything anyway. I had no withdrawal that I know of, just went on with things. I have a very unhappy life because of my eating disorder anyway.

I done some research into TD. What happens is the mood stabilizers block your D2 recepter up to about 65% for a therapeutic dose. However, Parkinsons disease is caused by a blockage of the d2 recepter of around 80%...so the meds are basically giving you a mild form of parkinsons disease...really look into it...I have read stuff on the subject which has scared the life out of me

[Quirk]

Chancer, that is so interesting! I have seen some awful cases of TD. People who are in grotesque postures and can't even sit in a chair, for instance, or folks that are permanently doomed to making awful-looking facial grimaces or sticking out their tongues and appearing rude.

This is extremely important: If you are coming off of an antipsychotic due to the beginnings of TD, the TD symptoms can actually increase while you're decreasing the dose. I wouldn't let that scare you. If you're doing okay with the decrease mentally, then I'd keep going with it and chances are you'll be better off.

Also, if you have to stop an antipsychotic (to be distinguished from a mood stabilizer--these are often confused) due to TD, then please don't go back on it. Your chances of getting TD are real bad if you've got the beginnings of it, and then if you stop and then restart the med.

Chancer, I'm so glad you've read up on TD. For me, I was the first one to notice the tongue vibrations. Others could see it, too. People asked me if I was cold and pointed out that my teeth appeared to be chattering. My shrink never saw it because once I got into her office, my tongue didn't do that thing. However, she believed me because my description fit the bill. I also had TD in my right hand but not my left. This is quite typical. It is also frequent that if you think about it, you can stop the movements...sometimes. Then when you're not thinking about it, it starts up again. I was glad to have a good shrink who believed me. Another shrink denied that I had TD, said she hadn't "seen it." I wanted to tell her, "Sorry, lady, my regular shrink is a lot more informed than you are."

If you live in a city and ride the bus, you will definitely see TD. You will also see cases of what appears to be a beer-belly on a mental patient. For sure, they have taken an antipsychotic such as Zyprexa or Seroquel and have experienced uncontrolled, rapid weight gain.

[chris100]

Im still taking 300mg of seroquil and was taking 600mg. I dont notice to much of a difference. I still have a funny speech in the morning though. I hope my new doctor will take me off this drug and give me a sleeping pill at night. Not a mood stabilizer. It does not help me at all. Im not sure why doctors think this is the answer, cause its not. It does help for sleep but there are other medications out there other then Seroquil. Just give me a old fashion sleeping pill that lets me sleep. Never mind these antipsychotic drugs that are not for me or other people. Doctors need to listen to what your telling them and not worry about getting to there next person to see in line in the waiting room.

[Chancer]

@Quirk

I only just saw your post today. If you want to get someone attention just put a @Quirk in front of their name with a space at each end. I am glad to hear you didn't have too much long lasting damage from side effects and hope you are still doing well.
@chris100
I don't understand why you are being prescribed this medication for Insomnia (do you have underlying mental health issues?)
It is such an aggressive and toxic medication to prescribe for Insomnia and isn't reccomended in the UK for anything other than a Psychiatric drug and in very rarely (none that I know off) cases for insomnia. if I was you I would do some research on line and take this information to your doctor and point this out. pharmaceutical companies are attempting to market it as also beneficial as a sleep medication (it's really not) If you read the posts I have already put on the thread it will give you a good place to start in terms of research. It is also mentioned in the "Ashton Guide" as a medication which should only be prescribed for psychiatric purposes. I would advice more research chris and another conversation with your doctor to discuss exactly why he chose such an aggressive medication for you. :-) :-) :-) :-)