Does anyone here take quetiapine (seroquel)?

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I've just been prescribed this (75mg daily) for debilitating anxiety which won't abate with other meds.

I was wondering if anyone else here takes it, or has taken it in the past. If so, what has your experience been? What do you take it for? Has it helped you at all?

Thank you for reading & in advance for any replies.

I know someone who I believe took it to help him sleep. It ended up with him doing all sorts of things in his sleep that he didn't intend or remember. Ultimately, he ended up getting in his car, in the middle of the night, and driving until he hit something that physically stopped the car. Luckily, no one was seriously injured, though his car was totaled.

Suffice it to say, when my psychiatrist offered me this medication I declined.

My boyfriend takes it as a sleep aid too. He takes 50 mg right now. It seems like you easily develop a dependence on it. He's been on it for more than 2 years now.
When he stops taking it he can't sleep however tired he is.
When he just started using it he was doing strange things in his sleep like jumping, shaking, shouting etc. But he seems to be ok now.
When he takes the pill within an hour he starts to crave for food and the specific kind of hunger sometimes makes him eat all the fridge. He doesn't mind it though because he had appetite problems and used to be underweight.

Thank you both for your replies.

That's a scary story, Trekkie83. I'm glad to hear that nobody was injured. I've heard of other people also doing strange things in their sleep on quetiapine. I hope that it doesn't cause this in me (I don't drive, at least, but I imagine there are lots of other ways to hurt yourself or others while sleepwalking.) I've never really sleepwalked but my parents have told me that I scream in my sleep fairly frequently at times.

I had very vivid, intense, bizarre dreams after taking it last night, and I dreamed that I was waking up over and over again, but as far as I'm aware, I didn't sleepwalk or anything similar.

komamanga, I'm glad your boyfriend seems okay on it now. I'm the same as he was in that I'm underweight and have had appetite problems for a long time, so I wouldn't mind that side effect either.

I wouldn't worry about taking seroquel. Many many people take it or another drug like it for various problems. I also take a low dose AP, and have no problems, and it has helped me tremendously. Be sure and take it at night before bed though.

I take 100mg for sleep and as a mood stabilizer, but I am not sure it does anything anymore. I have become completely tolerant to the sedating effects and it wont even make me yawn now. I am looking to wean off it. No side effects for me except it makes me hungry which isn't a problem for me as I am chronically underweight and have had poor appetite issues most of my life anyway.

I've been on up to 450mg of Seroquel XR before for sleep. I become tolerant to the sedating effects of all substances eventually and have to switch things up.

I was put on it in hospital. They started me on 25mg. A few days later they put it up to 50mg. I complained of side effects. I was developing hand tremors and had trouble standing still. They put it up to 75mg. Within days I had full blown akathesia. They had to take me off it pronto because it looked like I was getting serotonin syndrome too. But having said that, I have a long history of severe, rare and or unusual reactions to meds. I have been on Fluoxetine twice. First time I ended up in ICU after five days. Psychiatrist refused to believe it was the Fluoxetine because I wasn't under 25 so when I got out of Hospital she put me back on it. Just like the first time, day five I was ready to leave early. Fortunately my Husband realised something was wrong and threw the wretched stuff out. It took two days to become rational again. I've also had a reaction that was a 1 in 100,000 chance so meds and I just do not get along. It may not effect you in the same way.

I took it for a while to make the psychiatrist happy. It did squat, so I stopped.

I'm currently taking 50mg of Seroquel XR. I'm not the biggest fan of it, it kinda messes with my sleep and makes me feel not as sharp as I am without it, but it sorta helps with my depression and anxiety.

Really, are there any drugs for depression/anxiety that DON'T make you feel less sharp? Phenibut sort of counts, but it's not recognized by western doctors. It also has bad effects with you don't use it carefully.

At the end of my psych ward hospital stay in 2013, I was prescribed Seroquel XR to help me sleep and to calm me during the day. I did sleepwalking on it - I emptied the linen cupboard and put everything on the computer chair and desk. Another time I was about to do the same thing to the fridge when my flatmate led me back to bed. After that I switched to regular release Seroquel and and no more sleepwalking.

I was 55kgs when I started taking Seroquel. Within 6 months I was 85kgs. So I stopped taking Seroquel and can sleep just fine without it. I'm still way overweight. I am taking lithium and I think that prevents me from losing weight. I went to the gym for a year (can't afford it anymore) and didn't lose anything.

I'm never taking Seroquel again.

Saphris is a sedating antipsychotic that doesnt have weight gain for those looking for an antipsychotic to sleep without the weight gain.