Weaning off seroquel?

Question

ok i have been taking seroquel for 2 months now i was taking 200 mg at first then i lowered to 100mg now 2 days ago i lowered to 50mg now i'm having headaches and upset stomach is that a withsrwal symptom?? a little bit of anxiety too i'm bipolar and this thing is making me gain weght i have tried different medication and everything is making me sick i will tried to deal with this by my own.

Answer 1

I haven't seen bipolar person deal with this themselves sucessfully yet.  Your doctor can add anti-nausea meds to you regime. At this moment you may feel good enuf to go it alone but that is part of your condition. This runs in families so chec to see if some one you know has sucess with a different combination of meds.

Answer 2

I would not call your symptoms withdrawal signs. When there is a dosage change with Seroquel, some of the effects can be dry mouth, runny nose, sore throat; nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, constipation; blurred vision, headache, anxiety, and/or agitation. (from http://www.drugs.com/seroquel.html)

You might want to decrease slower, take about 14 days between each decrease. You might want to take smaller steps of decreasing, maybe go to 75mg (50 plus 25) and then 50mg, then 25mg, then off of it.

I would like to point out that if you have been on Seroquel for 2 months and are at 200mg, you quickly increased to that level which could be part of your problem.

You sound like you are doing this on your own, if you are be careful. Seroquel is a mood stabilizer which is the biggest need for people with bipolar. Essentially bipolar is having mood swings from depressed to mania or any where in between. A mood stabilizer helps control the swings so that people are able to function in life. There are many different mood stabilizers, they are not all anti-psychotics. Some are anticonvulsant (Tegretol, Lamictal, Neurontin, etc). These are usually used to treat seizures but they work well for bipolar also.

I do not know how long you have been trying different medications, but if you are patient and willing to work with a psychiatrist, you will find a medication or a combonation of medications that will work. You will need to be patient and honest with they psychiatrist though.

Often there is a thyroid problem co-existing with bipolar. Having this treated with medications can help tremendously.

Other than these things, I hope that you are in some type of therapy. Group therapy helps just as much as individual therapy for most bipolar people.

Best Wishes!!!

Answer 3

DO NOT stop this on your own.#1.withdrawel method is WRONG and I wont tell you how.#2 Give the serequel a few more months and your weight WILL go back down.#3 If you continue to "self " withdraw you WILL wake up in the ER and then to a mental facility.I am bi-poler and would never never ever THINK about stopping any of my MEDs without my DOC helping me.PLEASE do NOT do this start back on 100mg TONITE please.You can have seizures,hallucinations and your bi poler/manic depression will get worse.Dont do this to yourself PLEASE.Go see your DOC asap and see if they can help.There are some great bi-poler meds out there,but we can NOT stop taking them.

Whoever reads this please encourage to stay on meds until seen by a DOC.THIS IS REAL DANGEROUS,J