Quetiapin for sleeping?

[Susannah]

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone have some experience with this medication?

It's originally an antipsychotic drug, but my doctor prescribed it for better sleep, low dose. Side effects?

 

[eve2004]

I have a bottle of it but never took it. My psych said it is VERY sedating, he recommended cutting up the pill as small as possible (quarters, I had the pharmacist do it)... Take it early and expect to need coffee in the morning or don't plan anything too early...

 

[TiredBipolar]

I take it for bipolarity, mostly it gives dry mouth and an almost uncontrollable hunger

 

[Quitter]

I got quetiapin for anxiety. Knocks me out within an hour, and I'm a zombie long into the next day, so I only take them when I'm basically panicking.

Besides tiredness, I haven't noticed any other side effects, but like I said, I only use it very occasionally. Also if you take it daily you build tolerance. Or at least I did.

 

[Susannah]

I take it for bipolarity, mostly it gives dry mouth and an almost uncontrollable hunger

Does it help you at all?

I got quetiapin for anxiety. Knocks me out within an hour, and I'm a zombie long into the next day, so I only take them when I'm basically panicking.

Besides tiredness, I haven't noticed any other side effects, but like I said, I only use it very occasionally. Also if you take it daily you build tolerance. Or at least I did.

I've experienced wierd nightmares when taking them. Felt like betwee

Does it help you at all?

I've experienced wierd nightmares when taking them. Felt like between sleep and awake.

 

[TiredBipolar]

Does it help you at all?

I guess it does, I take it with venlafaxine and lamotrigine, it numbs my feelings, I don't feel much depressed nor maniac and sometimes I actually feel good, but most of the time it makes me feel nothing at all

 

[mathieu]

Dry mouth, stuffy nose and weight gain. I'm not sure if the low dose used for sleep causes weight gain though. I was on a high dose.

 

[Brainpain]

I take it at night, I have bipolar but was also prescribed it for sleep back in the day when it was very widely used for that. It gets me to sleep but not how it used to. For years it was the best sleep imaginable. Vivid dreams . Insatiable hunger

 

[Shamana]

Helps with sleep but kinda turns you into a zombie

 

[eve2004]

My psych really recommended it also for sleep. I did fill the prescription so I have a full bottle of it bit the weight gain scared me off. He was honest about it, but said that at low doses, there less chance and of there is any, it would be minimal. But he respects the fact that I'm reluctant to try it.

I don't know what your dose is, but you can always ask the pharmacist to cut them in half or even quarters for part of the bottle so you can decide how little you think you need to take. Like if you take the smallest possible dose and it doesn't work, you can still add another very small dose instead of going with a full pill. Some days I'm tired and I know I'll sleep on my own so I need less « help ». I wouldn't stop cold turkey though, thats why if you feel you don't need it, you can still take a quarter pill so your body doesn't freak out.

 

[Bagger]

Hi. I was just wondering if anyone have some experience with this medication?

It's originally an antipsychotic drug, but my doctor prescribed it for better sleep, low dose. Side effects?

I have it, i take 50mg of it every night for sleep. Im also stupid moron because i like to abuse it with alcohol, one beer + 25mg of it and wohoo im drunk. Sleep it off and everything is back to normal, no zombie. But maybe it's because I'm zombie like normally.

 

[eve2004]

Interesting. Taking notes for when I need it!

 

[Futility]

So this isn't a very positive post, but I want you to be safe and know all the possible outcomes, not everyone's the same and each person's body chemistry differs.
It might be the best thing you've ever had, it might be your worst nightmare, and then again, it might just be the same as eating a sandwich with no effects at all.

Spoiler: I don't want to scare you, but this is a bad experience that I think is equally important to share

I was on seroquel/quetiapine.
It caused me to go into a psychosis, I became increasingly hostile and very aggressive with constant brain fog. I had a hard time doing normal things, like there was something blocking everything I did, like going outside, picking things up, cooking dinner, everything felt heavy and the headaches didn't help.
I was on a very small dose, recommended to break the pills up into quarters.
When going to sleep, I experienced extreme panic attacks during constant sleep paralysis which prompted further suicidal thoughts because it strained my psychological well being.

I never took them long enough for these side effects to subside as they were far too dangerous to my health, so I never got to experience weight gain or the reduction in intelligence that most people complain about.

 

[BPD_LE]

I'm prescribed it. Been on it for years. Knocks me out at night for a good 4 hours, add alcohol and it's even longer. Like others have said, it's definitely a zombie drug.

 

[JoeFailure]

I was prescribed it. I had never been on medication before and had just started taking Adderall XR which was making my restless leg syndrome worse. I took it once at night, I woke up in a super cold sweat and was really woozy. On my way to the bathroom I literally just fell. I thought I was going to die, but unfortunately it can't be that easy right?

I didn't take it after that, but I have heard from other people that it can take some time to get used to as it is a heavy hitter of a drug.

 

[Tegan_sky]

I too had a very bad experience with Quetiapine. Quetiapine is a second generation antipsychotic my shrink prescribed for me because the first generation antipsychotic that worked for 26 years, was not available for a while in the US. Didn't occur to me to look online for that first gen. med through Canadian Pharma websites. I got good, sound sleep while on Quetiapine, however, from the first day I was on it, I had acute urinary retention to such I could not urinate at all, (googling it now I see urinary retention is a possible side effect to Quetiapine) plus I was in a state of panic from the time I got up until the time I went to bed. Lost 15 pounds in only two weeks due to not being able to do more than choke down yogurt and toast. This drug is not FDA approved for either anxiety or sleep. Like the poster Futility wrote, don't want to scare anyone but the negatives need to be shared too. I didn't have a good reaction to another second generation med, Risperidone, either. Thankfully I got a good supply of the first generation med out of Canada, and also now it is available again in the US.

 

[BPD_LE]

Oh shit, forgot to say for side effects. It rapidly depletes my b12 levels causing anemia. Took them years to figure out it was the Quetiapine! I have to take b12 along side it.

 

[justanotherday]

Watch out for weight gain. I had a doc give it yo me for sleep at a low dose. I gained 5 pounds in less than 2 weeks, and I usually always have stayed at a nice steady weight. Well, I got the hell off that crap and sure enough, those 5 pounds went away.

 

[Bagger]

This stuff increase appetite, i eat more with Q.

 

[Tabbyql]

I took it for a year, it was to help me to sleep and other stuff. I put on massive amount of weight and was hungry 24/7. I stupidly quit cold turkey.

 

[eve2004]

I am terrified of taking any anti-d now because of these horor stories. I only take benzos, I know they are awful too but at least I know how I react to them. I cycle them with regular benadryl or something else occasionally or my tolerance would skyrocket and I'd end up scouring the net for some extra. So i take benzos to calm the anxiety that I have about potentially having anxiety preventing me from sleeping.