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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Hi @bustrbrwn22, If you don't mind sharing, what were your physicians using the Seroquel for and did you taper off yourself or was it physician assisted?
I would be interested to know if they substituted anything in its place and how you have been feeling since you came off of it.
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@amandaburnett Seroquel was prescribed for major depressive disorder and out of this world anxiety/panic attacks. It didn’t help at all but after a year I realized I had gone from a size 0 to 8. I can’t remember clearly but I think we just substituted with Vraylar which was a whole other trip that I can share privately if your interested. Both of these meds were identified as scientifically effective for me through a saliva (I think could have been urine or blood) called Oneome or something like that. I didn’t have any side effects from dropping one and swapping with another. I hope I gave any tiny bit of help.
@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
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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@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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@chrisjc
Hi all, it's been about two months since I posted and wanted to follow up and not leave anyone in the dark. I was able to get off the seroquel but the withdrawals were a living hell. It took about 2 months before the storm passed and another month until I was stable. I'm still having residual side effects but nothing major. The problem is that my anxiety disorder really kicked up since then. I've had to increase my paxil from 10mg to 25mg (in 5mg increments) and take klonopin 0.5mg at night and 0.25mg in the morning (I played with the numbers a few times and that was the best one), and I've recently added a low dose of wellbutrin to hopefully treat the paxil side effects. Seroquel was, by far, the worst drug I've ever had to come off of. Quitting smoking is like a walk in the park, even tapering off klonopin was a joke. Just stick with it and stay in touch with your psychiatrist, and from now on: Dont take an antipsychotic if you dont have schizophrenia/bi-polar disorder! Nothing off-label!
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