I’ve been taking Seroquel for 3 years now. I started at 100 mgs a day. Not enough to stop the terrifying voices. I was severely abused when I was 3. The voices I heard were of children being abused in another apartment or threatening to kill me in my own. My Dr. increased the dose to 200 mgs a year ago. It has given me a whole new life. Seroquel has been a miracle worker for me. It is very expensive but I get it free from Astra Zeneca.

I have been taking Seroquel 100 mg for sleep only. I do suffer from depression and anxiety, not bipolar. It definatly has helped my insomnia. Take it abt 1 hr before bed and can actually SLEEP!

I take Seroquel (150 @ pm). It helps me sleep, but I’ll sleep 12 hours w/o an alarm. With 8 or 9 hours of sleep, I’m really struggling to keep going throughout the day. I also gained about 7 pounds in the first 2 weeks; none since then, thankfully. I want off this med – the sedation and weight gain is a big problem – and I still feel depressed.

Oh, Seroquel. What a mistake that was… I was taking it for manic-depression, after trying both Depakote and Abilify. I already had a bit of tremor in my arms and legs, but after a few days on Seroquel the tremor got dramatically worse. So, there was another med to decrease the tremor, which only marginally worked. Now, I’m off Seroquel but, unfortunately, “persistent tremor” means that the problem permanently got worse, and is still a significant problem even with medication for the tremor. Considering how many other drugs are avaliable, how ridiculously expensive Seroquel is, and the risk of permanent side effects, proscribers should seriously consider exhausting every other option before using it.

I had Seroquel nearly 3 yrs now and it helps me a lot but I had to work harder on weight issues and diet too. I won’t be here if I hadn’t taken Seroquel.

I was on up to 200mg of seroquel and being in trades oriented work noticed some lethargy, confusion, sometimes weakness. Also at one point in my medical history there was a pre-diabetic reading of blood glucose reading. I’m therefore afraid of this medicine due to its side effects. Having been diagnosed with pre-diabetes doesn’t make sense to try to gradually eliminate this medicine as also a potential source of improving my mechanical or trades oriented activity that requires a lot alertness, dexterity, speed and focus. Are you able to support this decision in your professional opinion?

I’ve been taking Seroquel (100mg) for a year combined with Valproic acid and Lamictal. It has helped a lot with my sleeping issues but I’ve noticed that even though Im able to sleep all night long, I also have terrible nightmares. My brother, also on Seroquel had similar reactions and switched meds. I also gained 9 lbs. on 3 months…
Seroquel has really really helped me. I wish I had discovered it some years ago, when my sleeping issues were worse.
A very powerful med, really sedative and no very helpful on mania episodes

I’ve been taking Seroquel 200mgs at bedtime and 50 mgs twice a day. I’ve been in treatment for 3 months but still feel very depressed (bipolar 1) Also take 50 mgs Lamictal. Lost my last 2 sibs within two weeks which brought on episode. HAd been taling Prozac for 20 years (all they had at the time) and now find out it makes bipolar worse. How long do you think it will take to reach therapeutic dose of Seroquel to clear the racing thoughts and my depressio?

Hi loretta,

I’m so sorry about your siblings.

I’m not a doctor (yet) and I’m only 16, but I have some insight that you might use. I’ve become fascinated and deeply involved in my own treatment. I started researching everything I got curious about on the internet. That led to me getting my own copy of the DSM, followed by the PDR, followed my copies of medical literature from my neighbors. I’m now sure that I’ll become a psychiatrist after med school. Primarily because I’m so interested and frankly, obsessed. But also because I want to help people like you and people like me.

I’ve been in treatment for about 6 years now. It wasn’t until a couple years ago that we figured out what’s wrong with me. Eventually I found the right doctor, found the right drugs, and found the right diagnosis (not in that order). I suffer from Bipolar disorder as well as ADHD. These discoveries were expedited by my own personal involvement, I should mention, so I highly recommend staying involved in your own treatment. What you’ve done here is a great start.

Onto your questions.

First of all, you’re right for the most part about Prozac being a risky choice for bipolar disorder. This is because many SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), AKA anti-depressants, have been shown to increase mania in bipolar patients. What that means is that while your depressive episodes (these are sometimes referred to as the “downward” end of the bipolar curve, or colloquially as “depression”) may be less frequent and/or less intense, there’s a significant risk that manic episodes or feelings (the “upward” end, in your case racing thoughts and restlessness) will occur more frequently and those symptoms agitated in general.

However, one option that works for some patients includes an anti-depressant. It is not used alone though. A mood-stabilizer like Lamictal and/or an anti-psychotic like Seroquel is used in conjunction. Using these medications helps counteract the effects I described earlier. Adding an SSRI to your treatment may help with your depression. You would stay on the Seroquel and Lamictal at the same time though, most likely.

Every patient is different. You shouldn’t assume right away that Prozac will never work for you. You should ask your doctor if he or she thinks that adding an anti-depressant will help you. There are also many other SSRIs that are similar in some ways but different in others than Prozac. This, too, is different for each patient. Some respond better to one SSRI than others, but some patients will tell you they see no difference.

The medication regiment that I’m currently on works beautifully. Like I said, every patient is different. You may not suffer from ADHD on top of bipolar like I do, but I know exactly what you’re describing, and I’ve dealt with it for years. First of all, I’m on 15 mg Adderall XR. This treats my ADHD and is most likely something you wouldn’t worry about. Onto bipolar though…

I currently take 350 mg of Seroquel, 200 mg of Lamictal, and 10 mg Lexapro. As you can see, while we both take Seroquel and Lamictal, the dosages that I’m on are much higher than those you are on. This illustrates my previous point that I want to reinforce- every patient is different. Seroquel “knocks me out,” or sedates me and puts me to sleep. This is a common side effect and I use Seroquel INTENTIONALLY for that side effect. Seroquel makes me fall asleep, but it also helps keep me stable throughout the school day, until I take it the following night to rinse and repeat the cycle. In the morning, I take the Lamictal and the Lexapro. Until about 3 months ago, I took the Lexapro at night. We changed that because I noticed that Lexapro’s activating effects sometimes disturbed my sleep pattern. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. It’s probably not relevant for you. Anyway, Lexapro is an anti-depressant, as I said earlier. Put simply, it does what you think it does. If you’re curious, ask your doctor what neurotransmitters are. Ask about synapses, reuptake, neurons, and dendrites, too.

In the morning, I take Lamictal. Lamictal is technically an anticonvulsant. That means it’s used to treat epilepsy and seizures. However, it’s also been long proven effective as a mood stabilizer. Again, mood stabilizer is what you think it is. Well, not necessarily. It’s a bit more complex. Mood stabilizers (are thought to) treat bipolar disorders by regulating what’s known as “mood-cycling.” People like you and me, who suffer from bipolar disorder, tend to “cycle” much more often, colloquially known as “mood swings.” Lamictal can treat bipolar depression/depressive episodes without triggering mania or a manic episode. Because of that, some patients who suffer from both ends of bipolar disorder (mania as well as depression) can use Lamictal (and sometimes an anti-psychotic) to treat their bipolar withOUT sinking into depression and also withOUT the mood elevating effects of antidepressants.

But remember that point I keep saying! All patients are different! Some are successful without an antidepressant, like I said earlier. Others are not.

Personally, I prefer remaining on a low dosage of Lexapro. My psychiatrist and I tried taking me off of Lexapro and I didn’t like the way I felt. THAT, is another VERY important point. Regardless of what the literature says, what matters is how YOU feel. The best way for you and your doctor to treat you is by YOU telling your doctor how YOU feel. There is no blood test. It’s subjective, and your input and personal involvement can help tremendously. I know that first hand.

Oh dear, I just realized that I haven’t even answered your original question! XD. Sorry! The answer is… it depends.

As the author of this article said, your doctor will often start you on a certain dose and increase it from there. You said you’ve been in treatment for 3 months, but I don’t know if that means you’ve been on Seroquel for three months. I also don’t know what dosage you started on, how often you’ve increased it, what increasing it has/seems to have done to you, or whether you have any of the risk factors that Dr. Fink described. That, combined with the fact that I’m only 16, means that I don’t really have an answer to your question and that like I said, it depends.

What I CAN tell you, is that if you talk to your doctor, he or she will most likely be able to answer all of your questions. I’m going back to that point I made, one last time. Every patient is different. Neither Dr. Fink nor I can give you a 100% sure answer, because neither of us have evaluated you, seen your medical history, or even talked to you. However, there’s a good chance that your doctor will be willing to raise the dosage of your Seroquel or perhaps your Lamictal if you aren’t well. You have to TELL him or her this. Remember that second point, patient involvement is SUPER IMPORTANT! I know I sound like a commercial when I say this, but, only your doctor can tell you what’s right.

I can also tell you that you’re doing the right thing. People like you and me aren’t alone in this, and there IS help out there. Therapy and medication are the best way to treat a mental illness. So in seeking those things, you’ve taken the right path toward recovery. There is no cure for bipolar disorder, but cure and recovery aren’t the same thing for me. Recovery means that you can get up in the morning, spend time with friends, and do the things you’re interested in. It means not feeling constantly depressed, and not feeling so angry that you want to hurt yourself or others. And I can tell you that I HAVE recovered. Psycotherapy is the best thing that EVER happened to me, other than being born in a world where parents like mine exist. So here’s my number one piece of advice: never give up. Never forget that you WILL feel better. As one of my old doctors would say “This will pass.” Whenever you feel depressed, remember, “this will pass.” When you don’t feel depressed, relish every moment that you have. Never stop seeing your doctor, and never make any adjustment to your medication unless your doctor says so.

I hope that this super long comment has helped you, taught you something, made you feel better, or any combination of the above. Most of all, I hope that you find the “recovery” that I’ve found. Don’t forget that there are people who love you and there are people who are here for you.

Best of luck,

Ben C.

I assume people will have questions about my last post. Here’s an FAQ that I just came up with:

Yes, I wrote that whole thing.
No, I didn’t plagiarize any of it.
Yes, I’m really only 16, 17 in April.
No, I didn’t lie about anything that I said about myself.
Yes, I have a life.
No, it didn’t take me 5 hours to write that. I type quickly.
Yes, I’ve “Seriously considered being a doctor man? You’re like obsessed, dude! Wait, can you help ME?”
No, I didn’t make up the above quote. Someone actually said that.
Yes, I’d love to talk to you about psychiatry, your own history, or a family member’s.
No, I won’t give out personal information on for everyone to see.

i take 200 mg at night and 50 in the morning im scared of the fact that it only was tested for up to 6 months , they are now finding people after a year can start to suffer homicidal and suicidal thoughts . also they have done tests on dogs and have shown to grow cataracts , plus diabetes low blood pressure and thyroid problems, yet i find now even though i added 10 pounds in three months i feel level

I have been diagnosed with bipolar and have been in a depressive state for the past 12 months. I was on cipramil but have been changed to aurorix for the depression – 1200mg per day and it finally seems to be helping. However, I was still very anxious, suffering from insomnia and had elusive and disorganised thoughts and had trouble putting a sentence together, trouble finding my way to places I visit regularly etc – it felt like I had become a dummed down version of my previous self. At the end of 2008 I was hospitalised for my depression for 3 weeks and was under the care of another doctor (ie not my usual doc) and he prescribed Serequel in a very low dose (25mg in the morning, 50mg in the evening) with a view to helping with the elusive thoughts and to help me get to sleep at night. The result has been amazing – I noticed a change within 1 day. My anxiety has largely abated, and I find it much easier to get to sleep at night, but the best result was that my thinking is clearer and faster and I feel like I’ve got my intelligence back.

Ben C

idk if you’ll see this but i just wanted to respond because i know EXactly how you feel! haha. I’m 17 and i just finally got involed in my treatment. I’ve been on Tegretol for about 2 or 3 years probably and although it kind of controls my mood, ive still had aLOT of anxiety, depression and also anger problems on it and im finally hoping to fix these. but unfortunaly right when i got interested in my health care my dad lost his job and my family lost insurance.. making things alot harder.. but anyway right before this happened i did talk to my docter and she switched me to risperdol because i quit taking my tegretol since then i thought it was causing my anxiety, and it seemed alot easier to get my thoughts out off it. (these where my manic symptoms at work obviosly, (raised energy, talkitivness, etc.) but i didnt realize that when i was telling her. :/ so after i started risperdol, the same anxiety problems came back. Which made me realize. somthing’s not right here.. this must just be the way i feel when im stabilized.! duhhh. However the problem i had with this med is that i was on one dose, and only at night. and i didnt really have enough time to adjust this, so i just went ahead and asked my docter for an antidepressent! which just made this worse by inducing mania and causing severe dysphoria. :/ but unfortunatly once i realized this i had no docter! and only one bottle of teg. left. so i started on that again. but then i started feeling the anxiety again so i started doing more research and came to the conclusion that my anxiety might just be a symtom of my bipolar. and i found an old bottle of meds id been on when i was younger, one of which was zyprexa. Which i had been on when i was younger and my parents said they say alot of improvment. So i tried taking it again.but i didnt like it so much, especially when i was off the tegretol. although it did calm me down, i just didnt feel right at the same time. but since id already tried a diffent med, i decided to try more.! so i read up on meds some more and when i looked up depakote i read it helps reduce anxiety related to bipolar disorder alot. So i thought, “maybe that’s my problem!” and i started at 1000 mg and kept taking it for a while but although it DID help my anxiety, it made me feel to low and depressed almost. :[ so i tried combining it with lamitrogine. Which was ok but i felt like i was being slightly activated and feeling very Jumpy and too energetic, so i decided to add on tegrotal and see what that would do. (these are alot of meds, i know.) and as soon as i started it i began to feel better. I actually liked the combination alot. But eventually i ran out of both meds Depakote and lamitrogine :/ and just went back on tegrotal, which now i think might be more effective if i just had my dose raised, and also if i wasnt on this shitty generic version from india. But i have a doc app. on wednesday where i can get switched back to the good tegretol. and hopefully talk about getting my dose raised, or combining it with lamitrigine or depakote :]

I know brain disorders are real, but they are really selling this psychiatry thing to the whole frickin’ country. I know some people really do need these meds, but people survived for thousands of years without all that poison. Psychiatry’s goal is total social control.

No, they didn’t survive. They had their skulls opened to let out the “demons”, they were chained and put in mental institutions, they were burned as witches. Others that functioned a little better lead difficult lives with much turmoil. The need for psychiatry for some people in society is real. Mental illness is real. There was no medication for mental illness until the mid 1950’s and the institutions for mental illness started closing in the 1970’s as more medications were developed. Life for people with mental illness has improved with psychiatry and medications.

hi,ive been diagnosed with bipolar after years of suffering terrible racing thoughts,i also hav panic attacks and havent been to bed in months,im on cipralex in the morning and 100ml of quetiapine,ive gained 7lb in 3 weeks and already had weight problems.one thing i can say though i hav never slept so much,im still having trouble with my thoughts and i still think of death alot,and i still feel exhausted all day and cant get up,will this get better over time.

My wife takes 800 mg of Seroquel @ bedtime. She is 44 and was only properly dx’d with bipolar 4 years ago. She has lived a rough life with all the ups and downs. She has been on Seroquel for a year and before that they tried many different meds. Seroquel + Buspar and xanax for anxiety have made all the difference in her life. She feels like a whole person now. Our only problem is the cost as we are self employed and have crappy insurance. A month’s worth of Seroquel costs about $900 and our insurance pays 1/2. We don’t qualify for AZ&Me.

Seroquel can go to hell. That is all.

To Linda,

Obviously, you have never witnessed anyone with a mental illness firsthand. Psychiatry is a very real and very important tool in treating mental illness. It is people like you who give mental illness a bad name. Get a life and stop writing meaningless comments on sites that are there to help people, not for counterproductive comments such as yours that could be harmful to someone who is not currently feeling well.

It strikes me as odd that so many people are so reluctant to admit that the brain can become ill and require medicine for proper function… especially when the brain is more “subtly” ill, as in the case of depression or bipolar versus something like epilepsy, which causes physical seizures.

We don’t balk at people taking medication for high blood pressure or diabetes, but when the brain isn’t functioning properly and the only symptoms we can observe are behavioral in nature, we just assume some sort of character flaw or that the person hasn’t learned effective coping skills.

The fact that people survived for thousands of years without psychiatric medication is no proof that psychiatry is a scam. Thousands of years ago, they used to lock the mentally ill in asylums and throw away the keys. We can’t exactly look back fondly on the “good old days.” What we can do is continue to perform research and hope that the meds and treatments become more effective and that people will work together to fix some of the problems in our society that I believe are contributing to the increase in mental illness.

I am so thankful to all of you on here , for your information. I have a son , with ADHD and he has now been diagnosed with being biopolar. He is now 13 and in the last three months we have tried ever kind of medication out there. I want him to have a normal life, and that is all I have wanted for the past 8 years. So thanks for making me understand all of this a little more.. Best wishes

I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder at the age of 24 and was recently diagnosed with anxiety disorder as well. I am a what they call a mix of type 1 and type 2 bipolar disorder. My parents and psychologists and doctors didn’t think that there was anything clinically wrong with me as a child. After years of using drugs and alcohol to mask the systems a wave of depression hit that cost me my job, my girlfriend and almost my life. The first doctor I saw put me on Effexor which sent me to the moon. The psychiatrist that I followed up with diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. Since then I have switched medications about every 12-18 months as my doctor has to continually increase them to keep them working, usually leading to me getting sick from taking so much. Fast forward several years later and now I have developed a constant dizziness that they don’t think is from the meds. I am on 50mg of Seroquel and 900mg of Lithium. Not many people understand that life for someone with bipolar is really about SURVIVING to fight another day alot of the time. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy my life and love the people in it. But between battling the side effects of medication and the disease itself, it is a full time job not to mention the normal challenges of life. I go on to websites like these and read what people have to say about Seroquel and other medicinces and I get the sense that WE are in a position where we are damned if you do and damned if you don’t. If the disease doesn’t kill you, the medicine will. I have a 6 year old son that I think is headed in this direction as well. There are idosyncrisys that he does that I did as a kid to try and cope with the issues. Please support research into mental illness that we will all have better treatments or even a way to FIX the problems.

Shawn
I can relate alot to your story. I was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder 10 years ago at the age of 30. I too abused self medicated for almost 7 years and refused to take meds during that period. my condition worsen during that time and led me to several run ins with the law. Thankfully a judge decided to have me court ordered into dual diagnoised treatment and court order me to take meds. Life has gotten alot better but I too struggle with finding the balance with taking meds( Seroquel 300mg, trazadone 150 mg and Buspar 15mg 3x aday) that wipe me out to be effective or not taking them and being a madman. I can no longer work and trying to get SSDI is a needless battle. Which I believe is unjust. Let the goverment totally stress out the mentally ill and see what happens. I am proud to say that since I have been on meds my legal troubles have ended. I would love to become a productive member of my community again. Further research is needed to find drugs that work but allow you to still function!

I was diagnosed about 3 months ago with bipolar 2 and am on 300mg of seroquel and and lithium 300mg twice daily. About a month ago i started feeling weird, and became less and less happy and less and less motivated about things i use to love , and this unhappiness and motivation has become worse and worse day by day.I have become unable to feel any true feelings. I feel like a robot; and i feel maybe these drugs are working too well stabilizing my mood that im more unhappy than without the drugs .Any comments?

i want to end my life but not got the courage yet i lostmy son 2 years back and i just want to be with him life hols nothing for me and meds not helping

plase contact someone that you trust – right away – to tell them how you are feeling. most importantly you need to talk to your doctor to let them n=know the meds are not working yet – you will be able to feel better -but it takes some time and that can be very frustrating when you feel terrible. You have lived through a horrible loss – please talk to someone and ask for more help. Please write back and let us know how you are doing –

Dr. Fink

Seroquel saved my life. I have suffered from bipolar disorder –coupled with personality disorders– all my life. Got to a point where the usual meds (lithium, imipramine, prozac, busspar) weren’t working anymore. After disastrous pardoxical reactions to abilify and risperdal, we tried seroquel. I take 400 mg before bedtime and another 100 mg throughout the day, as it helps me cool off my hypomania. Again the problem is the outrageous cost. Unfortunately, I think Astrazeneca has quite a few years left on their patent, until generics are available.

Of course I meant a “paradoxical” reaction. That means the symptoms the medication is supposed to aleviate actually get worse after taking it. In my case it was especially bad when I was on risperdal. I became more depressed, paranoiac, desoriented, and started limping and twitching. It was horrible. But, for some reason seroquel worked. The depression and paranoia were clearly reduced in a matter of days. The craving for food is indeed an issue. I had to reorganize my life completely to include regular exercise and ways to limit my calorie intake. It was not easy, but after two years of efforts, my weight has not been as low as it is now in 25 years. and I am in great shape.

I was prescribed Seroquel with very little discussion of its side effect profile during a hospitalization, and after researching it immediately stopped taking it, talking to a mental health professional be damned.

I’m very tired of doctors giving me medications that (surprise) cause entirely different debilitating conditions which I will have to manage concurrently for the rest of my life, which may or may not be a long time depending on the ridiculous side effects of these medicines.

My husband is bipolar and has been exhibiting extreme mania for 4 months. In and out of jail, finally 3 weeks in the psych unit. He came out on 900mg Seroquel at night. Isn’t that an extremely high dose for him to still be manic`? Of course, he could not be taking it. Here is my question. How long can this mania go on? His symptoms of depression usually occur in the fall, as he is seasonally affective. Help! I have filed for a divorce after 20 years. Of course, I have been banned from his appointments with no information on his condition, even though I am highly versed in his disease process and am an R.N.

This might sound weird, but I take 400mg Seroquel when I start to cycle up into a manic state. One dose at bedtime for one or two nights can actually stop a “mixed” episode for me.

I’ve stopped taking Seroquel regularly and now rely on Lithium, Lamictal and Prozac to keep me steady.

When I was on Seroquel regularly it kept my mood stable, but kept me from losing any weight (no matter how hard I tried), dulled my responses to others (especially in interactions with my toddler and husband) and made me constantly tired. My memory was like Swiss cheese. I couldn’t even read the notes I would take to try to remember what my collegues were telling me at work. I absolutely refuse to go back on it.

I didnt realise people were using serequal to sleep, i have been on it for the past year now and it doesnt effect me that way .. im on it for behaviour, doing things with out thinking,through the consequences, or getting excited, sometimes over analazing situations or people, i have been treated for ptsd in the past and depression since i was 14, but my depression doesnt show in my mood, it shows in my behaviour, not everyone who gets depressed, crys or isolates, i didnt feel any side effects from serequal, only that i increased 10 kilos in 3 months, and i feel hungry alot, i do notice trends in my behaviour when i miss a dose or i go through days when i think i dont need it, my bipolar makes me sleep in, makes me pile papers up on my desk, start jobs with good intentions and effort and not be able to see them through, – im highly educated and experienced and own my own company – i have never told anyone i work with that im bipolar – they just think im crazy at times or i get hyper or over excited which i do, sometimes i get a bright idea or something i have to have or do and i drop everything to do that,
i feel im in remission at the moment – regarding some of my behaviours, but i do feel that serequal – lets my chain of thought take a little more time to work things out than before, i dont act so impulsivly now, and i can think before i open my mouth or make an action… im not really sure if its true.. or if i just belive it myself,
i am on a does of 100mg nightly and 50mgs 3 times a day .