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Seroquel withdrawal or rebound anxiety?

Posted by EK326 @emkaf, Apr 26, 2023

I am 28 year old female with generalized anxiety and moderate depression. After some mixed issues with SSRI treatment, my doctor put me on Seroquel as an off-label usage for anxiety. We had gotten up to 150mg, but I still wasn't feeling that great and have never been very comfortable with the idea of being on seroquel for my specific issues. Over the past few months, I've tapered down from 150 to 0 (I've also been going up on Viibryd which is a newer SSRI).

Since I fully dropped off the seroquel 4 weeks ago, I've been struggling a lot with very physical symptoms. My body feels like it is buzzing, vibrating, electric. My heart is pounding very strong throughout my body (though my heart rate is normal). This week, I started having really really bad physical anxiety and sheer panic attacks in a way that I have never had before.

I feel like these symptoms are withdrawal from the seroquel, though I am surprised they have lasted this long and that there isn't a specific pattern of improvement (some days are okay, some days are worse, etc). My psych things I'm having rebound anxiety, but what's weird is this is NOT how anxiety used to feel to me before I started seroquel. This is a new set of symptoms and issues, so it's hard for me to believe that.

Has anyone had experience coming off seroquel for anxiety? How long did your withdrawal last?

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Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | 9 hours ago
In reply to @christiner97 "@chrislever I feel the same way. I have been taking 25 mg at night for sleeping..." + (show)
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@chrislever I feel the same way. I have been taking 25 mg at night for sleeping for a very long time and the last three nights I've only taken half tablets and last night fell asleep without it. This morning I woke up with severe anxiety and feeling almost psychotic. It's a terrible feeling and I should not have lowered my dose. I didn't consult my doctor I just wanted to see if I feel better and not as tired throughout the day. Having panic disorder and having it for such a long time, it's so debilitating even with all the medications it's hard to deal with.

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@christiner97 - welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. That is tough that you had severe anxiety and felt almost psychotic this morning after changing your dose.

Even though you did not connect with your doctor before doing this, I think he or she will understand your reasoning for wanting to be less tired and feel better during the day. They are likely to help you where you find yourself today.

Would you feel comfortable with touching base with your doctor today and "fessing up" about the dose change so that you can get some medication help for over the weekend? How are you feeling now?

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ashleyharris728 | @ashleyharris728 | 5 hours ago

I tapered off Seroquel after being on it for a few years. However I may need to go back on it because my sleep is again not great.

I did an extremely slow taper. My highest dose was 150mg. For me, cutting down to 75 slowly wasn’t horrible, but after that it got really tough.

For example when I was at 25mg tabs and I would do half a tab one day per week and a whole tab 6 days per week.
Then a half tab two days per week and a whole tab 5 days per week.
Then a half tab three days per week and a whole tab 4 days per week, and so on.

I repeated this after I felt comfortable at just half a tab (12.5mg) for awhile. And then I cut the half in half, and started the very slow process over again …

Eventually I was taking just the tiniest pieces which I think was mostly psychologically comforting.

I’m not saying this is the best or only way, but one super slow way to cut back (as long as it’s okay with your psychiatrist).

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