March 28th
2008
10:32 AM
I have Bipolar Type II, since I was 12. I'm 52 now. Undedicated I'm a Rapid Cycler with psychotic depression. I was diagnosed at age 40, after worse and worse symptoms. So I have been on meds since - many different "cocktails" some effective and some not so effective.
My doc put me on Seroquel a couple of years ago and it has worked very well to "quell" the mood swings. But... I started to gain weight immediately! Lots of weight. I had been 118 my entire adult life, and within months weighed 148! My family accused me of not exercising, but no, it was the Seroquel alone. Also, it knocks you out, so I could only use it at night. The 500 mgs would first make my heart race and thump in my chest then put me to sleep. At times it was scary. Then in the morning I'd wake up feeling hungover and fuzzy brain for several hours. It also made my appetite crazy, craving carbs, which made the weight gain harder to control. So even though the drug worked for the bipolar, it made me absolutely miserable because of the weight.
Now after a few years I have had it!. A month ago I began weaning myself from it. A word to those who cold turkey the drug: you'll experience bad symptoms. I'd go down 25 to 5o mgs per week, monitoring my moods VERY carefully, and am now at 200 mgs per day. The weight loss was immediate and in that one month I've lost 15 lbs an still losing but now much slower - but still losing. Wow.
I meet with my doc in two weeks - hope she's not mad at me, but I'm doing OK. I'm on enough meds so they seem to be doing the job. (The least amount to do the job is the goal anyway.) Hopefully I can go off of Seroquel completely and get near my old adult weight.
BTW, my doc mentioned last appointment that Geocodone could be a non-weight gain substitute for Seroquel.
December 3th
2007
7:10 PM
It has been hell on earth. In order for the Seroquel to tame down my anxiety and mood swings I needed to be on 400 mg. However, anything more than 25mg and I could not stay awake during the day for more than an hour or two. When it did work for the anxiety at 400mg, I felt like I had had a lobotomy. Quitting Seroquel is just as bad if not worse. I am so nauseated I cannot function. I sit around all day trying all sorts of stomach remedies and trying not to vomit. I have also been experiencing violent diarrhea. I can hardly sleep and yet I am horrifically tired. The withdrawals for this are worse than Effexor. I would fervently try to discourage anyone from using this drug. Unless you like feel like the walking dead.
-- By beetie | Reply | Private Message me
July 20th
2007
12:46 AM
I have been "self-medicating" with Seroquel for more than 4 years. I often take just 50 mg to get me to at least fall asleep for a couple of hours. When I tale the 100 mg tablet I sleep better for almost a whole 6 hours! I am a victim of my own distruction though; I drink coffee in massive quantities and smoke heavily. I do not have the weight gain but do have the surreal dreams and often a lower back ache which I normally atribute to the crummy mattress I sleep on. My main problem i; I start my regimine of meds and stop when I think I am better. I end up losing any job(s) I have and have to restart the drugs all over again. My doctor's have found a mix of epival (divol-proex) 1500 mg, for mood swings and the Seroquel should help my depression and bi-polar. I assume if I ever manage to stay on them both long enough to actually have a full affect I could be more helpful in suggesting this regimine to others. But a viscious circle starts with the drugs, when you are covered by any disability plan the drugs are accessible; but when you start working and exceed a certain income, the drug plan stops and becomes too costly to buy.
-- By obsurv | Reply | Private Message me
September 16th
2006
2:16 PM
I was on Seroquel for a while because the other Pills I was taking really messed my symptoms up..I had very little problems with Seroquel I had a good night sleep and it made my mood swings very stable..Yea I was happy with that but during the day I would feel like I was zoning out,felt like I was in a dream,and I would always get hungry..I dont need no weight gain..What is Up wit that? I tell my doctor and he jus raises the dosage like its nothing.Its like they really DO NOT care about ppl they just wanna send out meds like candy so they can get their job done.. I dont think they are realising what they are puttin ppl thru.
-- By xsunshinex87 | Reply | Private Message me
April 8th
2005
8:54 AM
Negative effects-Extreme dry mouth, dry eyes, vaginal dryness.
Positive-good night sleep, bipolar mood swings stable.
-- By beealuvsroses | Reply | Private Message me
August 25th
2004
5:04 PM
transition to seroquel for my 11 yr old son was just completed, over the period of coming off one medication and being switched to this, there has been a marked increase in mood swings and agression culminating in a full blown rage this evening.
These symptons have increased in frequency and level with each increase of seroquel and leveling off of the other medication.
Tonight was his last dosage, as one hour later he was literally out of control, agressive, destructive, and physically abusive.
-- By mistofmourn | Reply | Private Message me
October 23th
2008
9:22 PM
I have been on Seroquel for three days now...tonight will be my third night taking it and so far I've had severe persistent sore throat, stuffy nose ] and my eyes have been so itchy. I'm pretty sure it's just a cold going around but those are also very important side effects and I've already called my doctor about it and he also said it was just something going around. I have noticed I've been hungry, hungry, hungry and I eat A TON already as it is. I'm 110 lbs and I eat like a horse, I always have, even before I started the medication. I'm 5'1" and now I'm worried I'm going to blow up to the size of a house! I can't monitor how much I eat because I eat so much as it is. I do, somewhat, somewhat remember eating a block of cheese last night before bed time. I know why they say to take it before bedtime!! It knocks me out. Which is bad because I have a 17 month old who still wakes up around 4-5ish in the morning. His bedroom is right across the hall from ours and we have his door cracked open an inch and we leave ours halfway open so we can hear him. I am usually a light sleeper but last night I noticed that it sounded like he was across the street, I could hardly hear him. I'm surprised I even made it out of bed, got him and brought him back to our bed without running into something or dropping him. It's scary. It really is. My doctor is giving it to me to treat my mood swings. I'm hoping they don't do diagnose me with bipolar disorder like they've talked about when I was a teen. I have had some tachycardia but I also have a heart problem I was born with that has been pretty messed up for over a week--I started having premature ventricular contractions, but this was before I started the medication. I am actually wearing an EKG-like monitor during the day to record this...this has nothing to do with the medicine but I thought I'd through it in there in case they decided it is. I talked to my cardiologist today and told her I was on this medication. Well, it's about 8:17 here and I need to go take the medicine and hit the sack...goodnight.
-- By tricial | Reply | (1) replies | Private Message me