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Getting off of Seroquel

Depression & Anxiety | Last Active: Nov 16 4:15pm | Replies (724)

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@meinmississippi

Hi! I'm new here and hope that this post is still relevant. I have been on various doses of Seroquel for over ten years. I have bipolar disorder. This drug has caused me to gain 100 pounds over that time. In October of last year I started feeling not so great and was having abdominal pains. My glucose was 225 (I was not diabetic that I knew of, although I was told about a year prior to my health decline that my glucose was "a little elevated.") and my liver enzymes were twice the normal range as well. I was referred to gastroenterology. In December I had an EGD done which showed food still in my stomach after 13 hours of fasting. I then had a gastric emptying test which confirmed gastroparesis. This is a non-curable disease usually brought on by diabetes--which I got diagnosed with in October after my labwork. My glucose levels kept rising even with oral medications, and I was in the ER several times for glucose levels of 450-500. I was put on two types of insulin in March and by then my glucose levels would not come out of the high 200-300 range even with the insulin. My liver enzymes went up to triple the normal range as well. I knew Seroquel could cause both these symptoms. I told my psychiatrist I needed off of this drug. He put me on a taper that I think is too fast. I was on 400mg. He decreased me to 200mg for two weeks and then 100mg for two weeks and then discontinue. One time he took me off cold turkey, and I was awake for 48 hours straight so I got back on it. I also tried stopping it once myself and was up for 72 hours straight. But the funny thing here is that with that 200mg decrease my glucose levels are back in the 100's with one reading at 133. I know that is still high, but I imagine it will normalize once I'm Seroquel free. I haven't had numbers below 200 since I started checking it at home in October. But to think I was put on two insulins and now have an incurable disease all because of Seroquel. I'm also going through some withdrawal with terrible anxiety, feeling like I cant breathe, and having trouble sleeping. I am going to do my taper slower than my doctor has prescribed, as I have some refills of 25mg tabs he prescribed for me to take during the day as needed for anxiety before I asked to be taken off of it. I think he is taking me off way too fast seeing as I've been on it over 10 years. He has no clue about the withdrawal from Seroquel--it is no joke. If I knew then what I know now I'd of never taken this demon drug. I was inching closer and closer each day to going into a diabetic coma. After ten years this drug suddenly turned on me. The weight gain was enough, but the glucose and liver distress is ridiculous and dangerous.

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Replies to "Hi! I'm new here and hope that this post is still relevant. I have been on..."

I got off it last October and have been off it since. I too have bipolar disorder and doctors don’t need to screw up our medicine. I was able to get off the Seroquel successfully with no problems.

Sorry to hear about your awful experience with this drug. Sounds terrifying.

I've been on it more than 20 yrs, I think.
I am experiencing metabolic syndrome at it's worst, finally, too.

I am not anti medication, but I am serious this time about getting off. I do not have medical or psychiatric support. I can't get calls returned from my psychiatrist's office. I haven't been able to find a counselor in nearly two years. I became permanently disabled three years ago due to lithium toxicity.
Good luck to you.