Bipolar Support Group

Has anyone gone off of Seroquel and experienced withdrawal symptoms? I recently started having breathing problems from Seroquel, so my pdoc told me to lower my 300mg dose at night to 200mgs. It really freaked me out that this med is causing this side effect (I thought initially it was panic attacks), plus all the other side effects it has caused me and can potentially cause me. Anyway, I actually went down to 150mgs now and want to go off of it completely. I am feeling really weird and not in a good way...panicky, sweaty, lightheaded, can't sleep. I googled Seroquel and withdrawal symptoms and read a bunch of posts on other websites that SUPER freaked me out(nausea, vomiting, psychosis, insomnia--that last for weeks). Has anyone else gone off of this med?? What kind of withdrawal symptoms did you have??

I'm really pissed that my pdoc didn't warn me before I started this crap that it would be like this if I went off of it!!!

Marisa it seems to me that you are reducing your Seroquel dose too fast.

Try reducing by 25mgs for about four nights and then reduce another 25mgs.

But your pdoc is the one to advise you.

Jennywren

I agree with jennywren, I would def. wean down slowly. I haven't stopped Seroquel yet but I have stopped Lexapro and Aplenzin (like Welbutrin) before and it was horrible. But even if I skip my meds for just a day I will start going into withdrawal. What got me through my Lexapro withdrawals, which were insane b/c I stopped 20mg cold turkey, was knowing that the symptoms will go away. I was even able to get a time frame when I researched other people's experiences. That helped me to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

I take Seroquel XR 300mg in the Am and Seroquel 300mg at bedtime. I wonder if I could cut my am dosage? And go on Lithium. That way I could still sleep and I could be trying out lithium?

too much seroquel can cause akathesia-sweats,,tremors, nausea and freak outs..my doc gave me propanolol to counter the akathesia..I got myself into a vicious cycle of increasing seroquel when all it was was a mood swing compounded by withdrawal effects from suboxone. Now I'm on 300 mg of lamotrigine and 100 mg of seroquel and hopefuly will get back to the combo I was on before I started screwing around with my meds.

Bottom line-side effects from too much seroquel can be treated with propanolol.

This is the last drug I was on, I took the decision myself to come off it! I didnt consult anyone and I did cold turkey from 600mg to nothing overnight, this was the worst decision I ever made, I dont mean to scare you but I became very unwell very fast! I never had any issues with my breathing though! I had the sweats, everything hurt, I could barely move, I couldnt sleep, couldnt keep food or water down. I was given the option of carrying on and causing massive damage to my body or take it again and follow drs advice!

after 6 days of feeling like I wasnt going to get through it, I started to take it again, my only option! I then made an appointment with my doc and convinced them to let me stop taking it. I did it through close observation and reduced it slowly! I reduced at 50mg at a time and it took 4 months, however that way I had no withdrawal symptoms! Coming off it while being supervised and it being controlled was the best decision I ever made! This drug works wonders for some people, It was amazing for controlling my moods, but I couldnt hack the weight gain. I had been on medication for 4 years constantly, starting with this, changing due to the drowsyness, going to arrapiprazole, this worked for a long time with barely any side effects, this however stopped working, had a few hospital visits, and was put on olanzapine - this lasted a month before I changed back to the slow release seroquel XR as the normal seroquel made me too sleepy. I hope this helps, My advice is to work closely with your pdoc! any problems, tell them! follow their advice strictly! If you are reduced by 100mg at a time, ask to be reduced by 50mg instead, less chance of withdrawal, when you get to 50mg ask to reduce by 25mg, I did this by taking a 50mg tablet every other day. If you want to talk to me about it, pm me thats not a problem. Im here to help and I understand what coming off seroquel is like! I really hope this helps! None of it is intended to scare you, when done correctly coming off this drug is safe!

Lots of love

Pixie xxx

I stopped seroquel abruptly from 600mg and i vomited for days. You should talk to your pdoc about a better reduction technique. As soon as I switched to Zyprexa I was fine!

I am slowly coming off Seroquel XR, and will be starting arrapiprazole soon. I'm down to 300mg (going down 50mg at a time every 3 days) and now feel like shit. Nausea, sweats, nervous twitching, tearful. The sooner I can get off Seroquel the sooner I can start Arrapiprazole. My doc has advised that I can start the Arrapiprazole when I get to 200mg Seroquel, but better if I can get off Seroquel altogether before starting the Arrapiprazole. Has anyone any experience of taking Arrapiprazole and Seroquel together even for a short time?

I had horried withdrawl symptoms... I had all the same things you have described and for me it took a long time to even out from it all. Serequel is an awful med trying to come off of

Domino, I took seroquel and arrapiprazole for a few weeks together, but it wasnt the XR it was the standard one, but that was a few years ago. If your not feeling well coming down every 3 days talk to your doc, I would ask to go back up to the last dose you were on for a week, then come down every 7 days not 3. If you reduce every 3 your body may not have time to adjust to the new dosage before reducing again which may increase chances of withdrawal. by what you describe it sounds very much like the withdrawal I went through when I went cold turkey from 600mg and after a few days I felt like i was dying

Hope you work it out soon!

xxx