Getting off of Seroquel

I have been on 300 mg of Seroquel for 8 or more years, I slept great and felt so good. It really made me feel good and sleep well all the time, After 6 years health issues like blood pressure over 190/100 up and down, They put me on several Meds for this but had no effect, I lost my insurance and no longer had access to the meds or doctors again for a while. I tried to ween down a few times over the years as I ran out of pills I was awake for days until I could get more Seroquel. Last year the doctor I was paying cash for a few years decided I need all kinds of test now and must pay in advance. Oh well here we go again. Over the past six months I was able to cut 300mg into 8-12 small pieces taking less and less over all the months. Worried I am near out of pills 6 days ago I stopped taking them completely. First night was tough and mad at the world all day so I stay home, No TV unless it is commercial free Netflix etc, Sleeping some finally but using over the counter Melatonin from Walmart each night 6 days now. I was diagnosed Bi-polar 14 years ago but not even sure it was only to sell me drugs while I had good insurance and a job. Gone.... I promise god I will never complain or take prescription drugs again for anything, Never give up trying to get off these dangerous and deadly prescription drugs. My blood pressure now after all these years 1209/68 average on no medication. GO figure.

More than one doctor told me I could never stop taking Seroquel. Regular sleep could be long way down the road for me. Seroquel will even make your eye, sugar blood pressure go out of control. The doctors will tell you the good out weighs the bad. Not True at all after 8 years. Just google Seroquel and see how bad it really is. Dont ever take this stuff as the after effects dont let go...

Day 8 no Seroquel, 2 degrees this morning a frozen water pipe, roads snowed in and the power is on and off. I was up at 4 am working on plumbing, fixed that and started cleaning up, shoveling snow that we never have. I think I did well all day being so calm about being stuck at home with all kinds of stuff going wrong and things I have to get done, How did I keep my anxiety under control? Its working by keeping busy and not stopping to think about problems or anything. My mind needs to be used more even though it is hard sometimes. I have not given up on being a human once again

Day 8/9. Sorry for the missed update. I was siliconing the kids tub on Monday as it was a holiday here. So, day 8 was OK. I didn't sleep great but I also didn't expect to. It was a long weekend so I had been sleeping in later. This is what I would consider "normal sleeping patterns" for me on long weekends. Only thing is that I never put much thought into it before I stopped sleeping and started taking meds. I think I went to bed around 12:30am. I wasn't extremely tired but I thought I would give it a try. I rolled around for a little while before falling asleep but also had a broken sleep. Nothing bad enough for me to want to get up but it was noticeable.

Day 9 - Yesterday. I was tired around 11:15pm and went to bed around 11:30pm. I don't think I stayed awake very long but next thing I knew I jolted myself awake. I checked my watch and it was 12:02am. That was weird. I'm not sure what caused that to happen but I fell back asleep shortly after.

Another thing to mention. I still feel... I'm not sure the word. Unsure maybe about going to sleep. Kinda like I'm expecting to not sleep at some point. Like waiting for something bad to happen. Maybe its like a trauma thing from having such a bad experience about not sleeping. Its like the feeling of knowing your about to cause yourself some discomfort by jumping into freezing water or something. Hopefully this is just a phase and we just get more comfortable or confident as time goes on. I can say I never put a seconds thought into if I was going to sleep or not before this all happened. Why would I. People sleep at night. Thats just what you do.

@rew4946 Keeping busy is something that helps me as well. I spent the weekend cleaning and puttering around the house. I spent 6 hours just putting new silicone around a tub. I do try to have wind down time in the evening. Usually when the kids go to bed around 9:30 - 10:00 I stop working on projects and just relax and let myself get tired. Hobbies are good for this as well. Over the last couple months I've been going through all the stuff I don't use or want anymore and selling it on ebay. It keeps me busy and its profitable too!

Today is a better day once again, Sleep was still off and on and I had nothing to sleep last night. The melatonin helped a few nights but now needed. I spent most of the day staying busy with all the snow east of Dallas. I think I can handle life right now as long as I am doing something other than TV or day dreaming that still occurs to often. Maybe when the temp. gets above freezing I can spend more time outside around the house fixing, trimming , cutting some old trees down. Staying active is working pretty good but sometimes requires jumper cables? A push to get started... without prescription's.

I have melatonin and made a point of using it the 2nd and 3rd day coming off Seroquel and forgot every other day after that. Do you think you need it or do you think maybe its a placebo? Another question but when is your bed time and how do you wake up? Naturally or by alarm clock? How many hours a night do you sleep?

I picked up the melatonin a while back and it did not help me, This time it seemed to help the first 4 nights and now nothing, Sleep if I can calm down around 10-11pm, I guess I am sleeping some but wake off and on, by 5 am up an ready till night. This is good compared to what I was getting on 1/16 of a 300mg Seroquel. Total time cutting my dose was around 6 months? I cant believe I am not on that stuff anymore and living ok. Cant wait to see how I am doing in one month. How could it get worse than being on Seroquel for almost a decade..

Day 10: All in all a good night. I stayed up and watched a hockey game until 11:30pm. I felt I could have gone to bed much earlier but I wanted to watch the end of the game. I went to bed and before I knew it I was asleep. Forgot to take melatonin again but I also didn't have any issues. I did however wake up at 5:15am (30 min before my alarm). Without looking at the clock I thought my alarm had gone off and I hit snooze already. Thats a common thing. I was laying there waiting for it to go off again until I finally looked at the clock and it was only 5:30am. I decided to get up anyway.

A couple of things. I've had a nagging headache for a couple days now. I'm not sure if this is a withdrawal symptom or not. Its not a crippling headache but its not a tingle either. I actually don't remember the last time I had a headache, and I don't know if due to Seroquel or not. I took some Tylenol this morning and it seems to be getting better.

Ear ringing: Still seems to be there. Its hard to tell if its going away slowly or not. I'd hate to take a hearing test right now!

@rew4946 The silver lining here about your meds getting cut off is finding out you can do this without medication! Coming off this after only 4 months is weird enough. I couldn't imagine 10 years but you're doing it!

I have also had some head aches here and there. Stomach sometimes feels bad to but does not last long, Slept some after finally going to sleep at 12.30 am, up around 4.30 am, I made the mistake of watching some local and national news on winter storm, Texas good ole boy politics, Anger is so bad sometimes and mad at the world this morning, Sad is not worth be angry over but control is really hard. I guess I knew this would come and have to find the best way to deal with it. I am watching the Andy Griffith shows that I have seen 1000 times but I can still laugh and smile while it is on. The snow is still to deep to go anywhere so Pete my dog and I will go walk in the street on the ice for a few minutes until it gets to cold. NO traffic on the ice. I need to do something to get my mind back on track today. I did take a aspirin to help my head ache and it does help. I think we are on the same day 10? Lets keep going and thank you so much for telling me how you dealing with this. It helps me also and hope some of the things I am trying work for you also. Take Care all

I've been keeping somewhat up to date with the Texas weather. Crazy stuff. Up here in Canada we'd welcome the mild winter temperatures you guys are experiencing but I also get most Texan homes are not equipped with furnaces and things to keep you warm in the winter. I also highly doubt you guys own winter boots or winter jackets. We are just coming out of our cold snap thats been lingering here for the past 10 days. Today is 10f and considered "warm" over here.

I agree that sharing our experiences with Seroquel is a positive thing, not only for the 2 of us but anyone else looking for help or guidance trying to better understand what to expect when dealing with it. If it wasn't for this thread and reading about how its normal not to sleep well or at all coming off Seroquel I would probably still be on it thinking I still need to take it because I can't sleep without it.

Yes, we are both on day 10. Soon to be 11.