1. < Depression & Anxiety

Getting off of Seroquel

Posted by anniegk @anniegk, Jun 8, 2018

I have been on 300 mgs. Seroquel ER for over a year for augmenting my antidepressant which is 45 mgs. Of Mirtazapine. I decided to try and get off of the Seroquel. I was on 300mgs ER (extended release). I titrated down to 250 mg ER for 2 months without too many problems.than i titrated down to 200mgs ER just 5 days ago. My plan is to try to titrate off using ER tablets. My thinking is that perhaps the drug will remove its self from my system more gradually. I have had some nausea and a couple of episodes of diarrhea. I also have a very irregular heart beat and was started on 60 mgs of Propranolol ER (extended release) 4 weeks ago. It seems to be helping my heartbeat. I have wondered if the nausea and light headness is from the Propranolol, a Beta Blocker, or the dose reduction of the Seroquel. I also wonder if the way iam titrating the Seroquel is safe. My doctor says it will only take a couple of weeks...I think that is too fast of a taper after being on a drug for over a year. What do you think?

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lla2019 | @lla2019 | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @tness360 "Hello everyone I am new around here! I am a 20 y/o male and when I..." + (show)
@tness360

Hello everyone I am new around here!
I am a 20 y/o male and when I was 7 years old I was put on Quetiapine. I believe it was for anxiety or something but I do not remember much of my childhood. Anyways fast forward to now and I have been taking Quetiapine for 13 years and I don't even know why I am taking it. I am currently taking Quetiapine 50mg ER once a day at 5:30-7pm each day. My doctor tried to ween me off last year around this time by cutting my down to 25mg daily for 2 weeks followed by 25mg every other day for 4 days, after that I went cold turkey. The withdrawal was okay at first but eventually I think I had a panic attack or something and was put back on it. Anyways, my question is how can I got off this drug I've been on for 13 years? Im worried about the effects on my liver and other cognitive effects such as it being incredibly difficult to wake up

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When I go to the dr. it amazes me how many children have appointments. This drug was so over bearing completely zombied me up. I have been able to get a perspective as I am a substitute teacher in elementary school. I have witnessed children, age 7-8 who are loud, disruptive and hard to focus. This year when I went back to sub I had those same children......... (at differnt school districts) they were so subdued............ I thought woah! The kids during their talks with me menton they have XYZ and ABC diseases and they are taking medication. I never asked them they just brought it up because it was part of their daily lives. I thought to myself.......I am not a doctor but these kids did not seem to be ADD, Depressed......... Anxious........ they were disruptive as muh as I saw them........ I would of seen some of the symptoms.......... I keep thinking these kids were given this powerful drugs................ the same one I am struggling to get off of................ Like I said I am not a dr........ but from my experience the drs I am dealing with was so anxious to put a label on me of Biopolar yet I did not show any of the symptoms......... After I got off this drug. I started thinking clearly and did some research and I believe I have Post Traumatic Disorder Syndrome.

REPLY
2 replies
lla2019 | @lla2019 | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @lla2019 "When I go to the dr. it amazes me how many children have appointments. This drug..." + (show)
@lla2019

When I go to the dr. it amazes me how many children have appointments. This drug was so over bearing completely zombied me up. I have been able to get a perspective as I am a substitute teacher in elementary school. I have witnessed children, age 7-8 who are loud, disruptive and hard to focus. This year when I went back to sub I had those same children......... (at differnt school districts) they were so subdued............ I thought woah! The kids during their talks with me menton they have XYZ and ABC diseases and they are taking medication. I never asked them they just brought it up because it was part of their daily lives. I thought to myself.......I am not a doctor but these kids did not seem to be ADD, Depressed......... Anxious........ they were disruptive as muh as I saw them........ I would of seen some of the symptoms.......... I keep thinking these kids were given this powerful drugs................ the same one I am struggling to get off of................ Like I said I am not a dr........ but from my experience the drs I am dealing with was so anxious to put a label on me of Biopolar yet I did not show any of the symptoms......... After I got off this drug. I started thinking clearly and did some research and I believe I have Post Traumatic Disorder Syndrome.

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I am still not off the Seroquel but everyday that goes by with less drug in me............. my thinking has become so much clearer.

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brucerwilson | @brucerwilson | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @jakedduck1 "@lla2019 Your reducing your dose by 50%. Personally I wouldn’t reduce it by so much, however..." + (show)
@jakedduck1

@lla2019
Your reducing your dose by 50%. Personally I wouldn’t reduce it by so much, however some people can do so and have still have an unremarkable taper. It is unusual with such a powerful drug and one with such a short half-life (6 hours.) To some people I know personally and others I’ve read about with schizophrenia this drug has been a Godsend but in some that help came with a high price.
I’m hoping you have an uneventful taper. I have little doubt you’ll feel much better once off this powerful drug.
Good luck to you,
Jake

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She is not reducing by 50%. She wants to drop 50 mg from from 250 mg to 200 mg. And stop calling this a vile drug. As I said, it means the difference between life and death or sanity and insanity for millioins. This is not an antipsychiatry forum; it is the Mayo Clinic. I hope the moderator restricts messages such as this.

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1 reply
brucerwilson | @brucerwilson | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @jakedduck1 "@anniegk Hi there, Is the Mirtazapine controlling your depression? Studies have shown Seroquil does not help..." + (show)
@jakedduck1

@anniegk
Hi there,
Is the Mirtazapine controlling your depression? Studies have shown Seroquil does not help depression or anxiety nor does it help sleep disorders although I’ve heard that it has helped numerous people with sleep issues, probably because of it’s side effect of drowsiness. Do you believe you can stop the Seroquel without going into a regressive depressive state?
Going off medication can be tricky. Some can decrease it faster than others. When I discontinued the Anticonvulsant Neurontin I stopped relatively quickly but with the Benzodiazepine Anticonvulsant
Klonopin I didn’t think I’d ever get off it.
If you continue to your titration make sure you do it slooooooooooooowly, at least slower than you have been since you had symptoms. My own unprofessional opinion is Antipsychotic medication shouldn’t be used for Anxiety or depression. Unfortunately doctors can write prescriptions for off label uses thereby abusing this class of medication. Also the manufacturer of this medication was promoting it for numerous ailments not approved by the FDA which led the government to sue the manufacturer for over a half billion dollars. No wonder our medicine is so expensive we have to pay for their greed. Seroquil can increase a pamphlet tients chance of getting Seroquil induced Diabetes. It can also increase the heart rate which can lead to other problems usually more so if you are on higher dose. I hope you can come off this medication safely by doing it slowly. Remember going slow comes with great benefits. Too quickly can come with bad side effects.
Both of these drugs can cause nausea and headache. Which one is most likely to I don’t know.
I agree with you regarding the taper. It indeed seems very fast to me. The two week time frame is more reasonable if you were switching to another medication.
I wish you hope and great success coming off Seroquel.
Jake

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Sir, you are providing more disinformation. Seroquel does help depression and anxiety, especially when given with an antidepressant. It is given in low doses to augment antidressants and it has an indication for that. It is commonly given in hospitals to reduce anxiety, usually in low doses. Also, there are clinical trials showing its efficacy for depression and anxiety, but the drug is used off-label for those conditions.

Your unprofessional opinions are just that, unprofessional, but also misinformed. The efficacy of the drug has nothing to do with the illegal activities of its manufacturer. Your mention of side effects is noted in the drug label, so it's well known and it's dependent on dose.

So rather than scaring people with overly negative reports of Seroquel, some of which are not based in fact, please stick to the facts or don't post.

And to the moderator, please screen messages so disinformation does not get through. This the a Mayo Clinic forum, not a Mad in America forum.

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1 reply
Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Apr 11, 2019

In this Mar. 25 post from earlier in the discussion provides helpful information. We asked a Mayo Clinic pharmacist for some information on uses of quetiapine (Seroquel) as well as side effects and tapering https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/getting-off-of-seroquel/?pg=4#comment-284696.

In particular, please note this part of the pharmacist's statement: Seroquel is approved for use in other mood disorders including bipolar disorder. It is also used for anxiety and depressive disorders. It is not a first choice for insomnia.

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Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @lla2019 "When I go to the dr. it amazes me how many children have appointments. This drug..." + (show)
@lla2019

When I go to the dr. it amazes me how many children have appointments. This drug was so over bearing completely zombied me up. I have been able to get a perspective as I am a substitute teacher in elementary school. I have witnessed children, age 7-8 who are loud, disruptive and hard to focus. This year when I went back to sub I had those same children......... (at differnt school districts) they were so subdued............ I thought woah! The kids during their talks with me menton they have XYZ and ABC diseases and they are taking medication. I never asked them they just brought it up because it was part of their daily lives. I thought to myself.......I am not a doctor but these kids did not seem to be ADD, Depressed......... Anxious........ they were disruptive as muh as I saw them........ I would of seen some of the symptoms.......... I keep thinking these kids were given this powerful drugs................ the same one I am struggling to get off of................ Like I said I am not a dr........ but from my experience the drs I am dealing with was so anxious to put a label on me of Biopolar yet I did not show any of the symptoms......... After I got off this drug. I started thinking clearly and did some research and I believe I have Post Traumatic Disorder Syndrome.

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Hi, @lla2019 - as you mentioned you are researching and wondering whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I thought you might be interested in:

- reading this Mayo Clinic information on that disorder https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

- looking through this Connect discussion on PTSD and posting about any questions you may have https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-else-with-ptsd

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1 reply
Mentor
Merry, Volunteer Mentor | @merpreb | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @brucerwilson "There are only two numbers on blood pressure. Systolic and diastolic. What is the third number?" + (show)
@brucerwilson

There are only two numbers on blood pressure. Systolic and diastolic. What is the third number?

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pulse

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Mentor
Merry, Volunteer Mentor | @merpreb | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @lla2019 - as you mentioned you are researching and wondering whether you have post-traumatic stress..." + (show)
@lisalucier

Hi, @lla2019 - as you mentioned you are researching and wondering whether you have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), I thought you might be interested in:

- reading this Mayo Clinic information on that disorder https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20355967

- looking through this Connect discussion on PTSD and posting about any questions you may have https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/anyone-else-with-ptsd

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@lla2019 - Hello. I have PTSD. I'm wondering what makes you suspect that you might have it? Can you tell me a bit of your history? I know that you are on Seroquel and trying to taper off of it. I think that many of the same symptoms of PTSD can be mimicked in the taper. How are you feeling?

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2 replies
Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @brucerwilson "Sir, you are providing more disinformation. Seroquel does help depression and anxiety, especially when given with..." + (show)
@brucerwilson

Sir, you are providing more disinformation. Seroquel does help depression and anxiety, especially when given with an antidepressant. It is given in low doses to augment antidressants and it has an indication for that. It is commonly given in hospitals to reduce anxiety, usually in low doses. Also, there are clinical trials showing its efficacy for depression and anxiety, but the drug is used off-label for those conditions.

Your unprofessional opinions are just that, unprofessional, but also misinformed. The efficacy of the drug has nothing to do with the illegal activities of its manufacturer. Your mention of side effects is noted in the drug label, so it's well known and it's dependent on dose.

So rather than scaring people with overly negative reports of Seroquel, some of which are not based in fact, please stick to the facts or don't post.

And to the moderator, please screen messages so disinformation does not get through. This the a Mayo Clinic forum, not a Mad in America forum.

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1 reply
lla2019 | @lla2019 | Apr 11, 2019
In reply to @brucerwilson "You should not call Seroquel a dangerous drug. It is only dangerous in overdose or for..." + (show)
@brucerwilson

You should not call Seroquel a dangerous drug. It is only dangerous in overdose or for patients who have severe adverse effects. For millions, Seroquel has meant the differece between life or death and sanity vs psychosis. So I only ask you to check your facts before you make grave statements against any drug. No drug is perfectly safe. It's always a balance between therapeutic effect and side effects.

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After reading your post I am thinking I am basing my exposure to this drug by a dr I don't trust. I talked to my husband and we decided before I make any further changes to my medication I am going to seek out a second opinon

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