what is seroquel side effects

[ozzyu842]

i've been taking seroquel for nearly two yrs, it has changed me so much physically. not just the weight gain (6stones), lethargy, confusion, bad memory to mention but a few...
Anyone got any advice?
thanks

[miki]

I would speak to your doctor about this and see if they can either adjust the dose or change you to another anti-psychotic. Seroquel can cause these side effects - weight gain and sedation are very common side effects. With all medication if the side effects are bothering you then you should speak to the doctor who prescribed the medication and see what your options are. There is bound to be something else that they can try you on which might be more suited to you.

[Kevin C]

I was on seroquel until I made an attempt on my life...6 stones...that's 84 pounds...I suggest seeing your psychiatrist soon

[liar^^!]

oh man if you have managed to stay on it that long you are doing better than me thats for sure, I took it one time right before going to bed....I woke up the next morning in totally different clothes than I wore to bed and had a great big bruise across my forehead! needless to say my Doc took me off, now I just take ativan

[rel]

Yeah, all of those are fairly common side effects of this medication. That's why I avoid all psychotropic drugs. The risks are far worse than the supposed diseases they are intended to treat.

It also increases the risk of suicidal ideation.

My advice? Stop the drug. Use something else if you must, but if your sie effects are bothersome, stop the drug.

Try researching natural ways to cure depression. They won't have any side effects.

[Twitter]

there could be links to the stomach aches from the seroquel.....i advise you to go to the doctor and let him know whats going on cause the stomach pains could actually be from liver damage or kidney damage....it can also cause stomach ulcers. i was on seroquel for a year and kept feeling sick to my stomach all the time as well and i was told by the doctor that the medicine was eating the lining of my stomach. so please do go to the doctor!

[Trabolgan]

i was put on seroquel (Quetiapine in UK)last year 200mg/day and slowly increased to 600mg a day, I feel permanently zombied, i was told by the psychiatrist i'd get used to it, that was over a year ago and still permanently tranced out.... haven't put any weight on though, (proberly because i'm to tired to eat!)

[Trabolgan]

Consultan psychiatrist called after i had seen the doc today.. they increased my (quetiapine) SEROQUEL from 600mg up to the max 800mg and stopped a few of the other meds.... whey hey!! i'm assured i proberly wont become any groggy'er hmmm.. at that dose i prob wont be aware much if i did, shame but it is what it is.. and at least a few of the other meds have been removed!
and its getting simpler

blimey if there is one thing i've become an expert on over time is seroquel (quetiampine fumate) if anyone needs help!

*This post was auto-merged. The following text was added 11 minutes after the last post:*

This stuff does have serious side effects (in answer to the thread) it scares me too, but over time i have seen the theraputic results over using it
there are some of us out there who's symptoms are so disabilitating the risk of taking this medicine is well worth while, even you had to go through the worsed stated side effects and long term effects.. for some it is less horrifying than the quality of life you're left with without it...

specially when olanzepine and respiridone failed badly, whats a guy supposed to do if its the best they got!(it isn't exactly where i imagined i'd be 20 years ago but it is what is

[QVC1212]

@Twitter Seroquel does not eat your stomach lining. That's absolutely ridiculous. And your post was rated most helpful? WTF? That's misinformation you're putting out and it may scare someone away who could benefit from the drug.

I just wanted to add that this post was in no way intended to discourage posting, offend the author or breed hostility; just encourage debate. If there is any research that can back up the idea that seroquel eats your stomach lining, I am open-minded. But I've done my homework on this drug by reading at least 20 scientific monographs on it which is probably 20 more than most people have read, I take this drug daily, I'm prescribed this drug and have been by multiple doctors over the past 6 years off and on and if there was any real danger of it eating your stomach lining, I'm sure it would have been brought to my attention. There just isn't any literature that supports this idea. I am stunned to find it proposed and then rated as helpful, when nothing could be further from the truth. I could just as easily propose that 20 aspirin will make you spontaneously combust, but there is nothing to support that idea either. It has to be the result of misinterpretation or misunderstanding, or gross misinformation put out by an incompetent physician, probably not licensed in the U.S. At least I hope not. If it is, it would certainly shake the foundation of my faith in modern medicine.

[agram]

To the OP: /@ozzyu842

Have you heard of Google or Wikipedia?

Usually an easy first step.

Don't mean to sound belittling here, but it's always a good idea.

[wendles]

@Twitter Seroquel does not eat your stomach lining. That's absolutely ridiculous. And your post was rated most helpful? WTF? That's misinformation you're putting out and it may scare someone away who could benefit from the drug.

I just wanted to add that this post was in no way intended to discourage posting, offend the author or breed hostility; just encourage debate. If there is any research that can back up the idea that seroquel eats your stomach lining, I am open-minded. But I've done my homework on this drug by reading at least 20 scientific monographs on it which is probably 20 more than most people have read, I take this drug daily, I'm prescribed this drug and have been by multiple doctors over the past 6 years off and on and if there was any real danger of it eating your stomach lining, I'm sure it would have been brought to my attention. There just isn't any literature that supports this idea. I am stunned to find it proposed and then rated as helpful, when nothing could be further from the truth. I could just as easily propose that 20 aspirin will make you spontaneously combust, but there is nothing to support that idea either. It has to be the result of misinterpretation or misunderstanding, or gross misinformation put out by an incompetent physician, probably not licensed in the U.S. At least I hope not. If it is, it would certainly shake the foundation of my faith in modern medicine.

just curious to know whether you take a low dose or a high dose? i have heard - from a couple of psychiatrists - that seroquel is excellent as a sleep aid in low doses. Do you/have you found this? If so, is it taken a couple of hours before sleep? I might be off track... i'm not sure what time of the day you take it or what your prescribed dose is... I'd just prefer to perhaps look into it for sleep problems than pop a benzo. thanks if u can help

[jgrn87]

just curious to know whether you take a low dose or a high dose? i have heard - from a couple of psychiatrists - that seroquel is excellent as a sleep aid in low doses. Do you/have you found this? If so, is it taken a couple of hours before sleep? I might be off track... i'm not sure what time of the day you take it or what your prescribed dose is... I'd just prefer to perhaps look into it for sleep problems than pop a benzo. thanks if u can help

This is true, at very low doses it helps with sleep. Higher doses are generally used for depression, whereas very high doses are used either for complicated depression, psychosis, or mania.

[miffytherabbit]

I'm taking Seroquel currently following a mental breakdown in October. I was initially fast ramped to 400mg along with benzodiazepines. The fast ramp was to prevent an earlier situation occurring in 2000 when I had my last "serious" breakdown (I've had two smaller breakdowns in between). Basically, my first breakdown was treated with with high dose Lorazepam, as I was suffering permanent panic attacks and anxiety, with obsessive thoughts. Unfortunately I then progressed to psychotic anxiety - which is basically extremely severe, permanent anxiety that is comorbid with symptoms of psychosis. I was experiencing visual hallucinations of people standing behind doors and between half opened curtains amongnst other things. I still can't be in a room unless the door is fully pinned opened and can't be in a room with a half closed door. I was then prescribed Quetiapine, at 500mg a day in divided doses. I was found to be very sensitive/reactive to it's effects and they brought my dose down within a month to either 350 or 400mg (can't quite remember now).

This time, because the doctor caught it early and the Crisis Resolution Team had to be called out, I was seen pretty quickly compared to 2000. My breakdown began in October, and Services were notified in the second week of November (I had tried to control the symptoms myself again like last time). Within three days of Crisis Resolution being notified I was allocated my psychiatrist (I had moved house in 2009 and my mental health needs were being met by my doctor prior to my breakdown - this was because the relevant psychiatric notes hadn't been pushed up from my old city to where I live now, which I've since discovered is extremely common). I was fast ramped up to 400mg of Quetiapine, and also my benzodiazepine dose was increased. I've brought the dose of my Quetiapine down myself to 350mg and have found this dose is keeping steady without some of the side effects which were revealing themselves at 400mg - in particular I was experiencing slight Akasthisia, which isn't very nice, and lowering the dose by just 50mg seems to have been enough to eliminate this.

I sort of felt that I should be back to normal, then I got my rather fractured diaries out from 2000 to 2003 and it took around two to three years to fully get back to normal after the breakdown, and the continual use of Quetiapine for over two years. That breakdown was a 10/10 because it resulted in hospitalisation. This one I guess was an 8/10 as I avoided hospital, and they got to me just as I was beginning to experience the first glimmer of psychotic thinking.

I've read a lot of posts on the forum by people who have taken this medication as a sleep aid and pronounced it to be the makings of the devil and an evil drug. It's isn't a nice drug I can assure you of that. But if someone put Quetiapine in front of me and Mental Breakdown (For me: rolling panic attacks I can't abate, continuous anguish, deeply obsessive frightening thinking, a dissolving of logic and a gradual increase in manufactured ugly, terrifying, demonic imagery that crowds every thought, and the ultimate attack on reason - psychosis) in front of me, I would go for the Quetiapine every time.

For some people there are no choices left when you reach antipsychotic drug therapy - its the only place to go. Personally, I can't wait to get of the bloody stuff, but really, that's another way of saying I can't wait until I'm completely over this breakdown.

Miffyrabbit.

[BaseballMommy]

I took Seroquil following a PTSD diagnosis. I gain more than 60 pounds in 6 months. Went from a size 4 to 14. I didn't realize how much it was affecting me, other than the weight gain until my 10 year old said "mommy every time I look at you, you are looking right through me". Finally tapered over three months and have been free for about four. Problem is, no weight loss. I guess it comes on quick but goes off verrrrry slowly.
Lori

[chris100]

I have been on it for about a year i guess. I was on 200mg, but now only100mg at night to help me sleep. It does not help me in any other way, only sleep. So i have my appt. with my psyshiatrist next week. First vist with this guy. Im sure he is going to take me off Seroquil, cuase it doesnt help me with my moods at all. I guess its time for them to try something else for me.I have know idea what they will put me on. Will update you guys next week. Thanks

[Coheed]

I see this is a very old thread and the OP probably has their answer but seroquel will make you fat! I was taking 100-300mg at night for about two months to help me sleep and I got hungry as all hell whenever I took it and gained about 15 pounds. That was all not due to the seroquel but it is very common for people to gain weight while on it. Peace!

[miffytherabbit]

I must have an android's metabolism, because since starting Quetiaping I've lost around a stone in weight. I asked my psychiatrist about this, and she said it most like due to my stress and anxiety levels. When stressed, not only do people feel less hungry, their bodies "shut down" the capacity to metabolise food to a degree, in response to the flight or fight reaction. This is so blood can be diverted to organs such as the heart, lungs and brain.

Miffyrabbit ^_^

[dragonxp]

[lang=de]I have taken Seroquel several months and my weight changed from 70kg to 90kg! Another side effect was constant tiredness.[/lang]

[gazbg]

the big side effecti got was dyskinesia, where u get muscle ticks and stuff, i got alot of facial ticks so i stopped taking it.

[betsky]

My Dr. put me on serequil origionally because it was known to increase weight and yhat is a constant goal for me. However i found myselr increasingly suicidal ovver the next few weeks and then went through the "well lets try this one" mode of medication.Turns out I'm very suseptable to the bad side effects or SSRI's