Getting off of Seroquel

Hi everybody. I'm glad I've found this thread on the internet, have been reading the first half of it so far, will continue to catch up another time. I figured I'd provide my own experience and feedback on the med.

I've been on seroquel for 3 and a half years by now, mostly because of restlessness (supposedly triggered and fueled by anxiety and stress).
My initial dose was 100mg, to take after dinner. The doctor also prescribed me duloxetine to take once waking up, in order for me to feel less of a zombie.
For more than a year now I've only been on seroquel 25mg, although I still resort to 50mg when I'm particularly anxious and can't fall asleep with 25mg.
I haven't really consulted my psych in the last 2 years, can't afford it, so I've been doing this all on my own.
Every once in a while I try to sleep without taking any seroquel and it never works, like last night. It's completely shattering for me.
I really want to get off of it completely as it makes me feel sluggish and unproductive and I don't even like my body as my weight is 10-14 kilos more than what it used to be.
I'm currently cutting 100mg pills into four to get a 25mg dose. I've read in this thread's earliest pages that 25mg pills are also commercialized and it looks like it in my country too, so I guess I should buy those and start cutting them into two pieces to lower the dosage further.

When I switch from 25mg to 50mg, I suffer constipation (and hemorrhoids too sometimes) the first days after that.
When trying to get back to 25mg, I may also be unable to put myself asleep at first attempt, but it's never particularly complicated. This is probably due to the fact that I've been avoiding taking 50mg unless I'm being under particularly high levels of stress.
Conversely, when I lower the dosage, I may get fewer hours of sleep the first nights, than the average 9-10 hours I get on a steady prolongued regime of 25mg.

I still think 9-10 hours is too much, especially considering that once awoken I feel sluggish, hence why I wanna further lower the dosage.
My libido is obviously below average but on 25mg I can still manage.

Also, I don't quite understand this but it seems that I feel very cold during my sleep when I'm on seroquel. I used to think it was just me becoming unusually sensitive to cold in these last years but it's most probably not the case as last night (while skipping on the med) I tried sleeping with the same pajamas and blankets as regularly and I was just melting, like normal people would (for example my brother who sleeps in the same room). But the thing is that it's not just my impression, as if I don't cover myself that much, I get headache, throatache and earrache the day after. I also usually know this in advance as I get nightmares when I'm feeling cold during my sleep. Unfortunately, I'm generally unable to wake up in the midst of the night due to the effect of the med, even if I'm having vivid nightmares.
I'd need to spend more nights off of the med to really conclude that it's the med's fault with certainty but I can't deprive myself of sleep that often.

I will be following the thread from now on and post updates whenever there will be any

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@mayo337xxx
Whoa 2 whole weeks & cold turkey, what did you expect to happen?
How long have you been taking Seroquil and what was your dosage and what were your taper dosages? It’s very obvious that you tapered much much much too quickly I think you know that
Jake

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I know but if you sleep walk while weaning and drink shampoo and hydrogen peroxide wile on these walls you’d try cold turkey too
Cold turkey doesn’t work ( duh ) 😂I know
I’m desperate to get this poison out of me
Thanks for sharing

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@mayo337xxx Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It must be a challenge to not be able to sleep after successfully tapering off Seroquel. Sleep is so important for healthy living. You'll notice that I've moved your question to an existing discussion. I did this so that you could connect with members like, @chrisjc @vickimurray @helenfrances and @mcshibe, who may have some thoughts on sleep after stopping Seroquel.

@mayo337xxx How long were you on Seroquel? What things have you done since weaning off Seroquel to help improve sleep?

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@mayo337xxx
The best way off your medication is to do it slowly, extremely slowly infinitesimally slowly if necessary.
The major factors how to taper off Seroquel are how high your dose was and how long you have been taking the medication.
Jake

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Married

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