SEROQUEL (Quetiapine fumarate)

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hi guys,
I just saw psychiatrist and got this new prescription...would like to hear about your experiences.
Why were you prescirbed this drug? was it helpful or not? in what ways?

just googled a bit and realised that it's an antipsychotic, used for bipolar and schizophrenia...which scares me a bit...

I don't have Dx of either of them at the moment...is my doctor suspecting that I have one of them? I don't want to have any of them

I'm on this medication for Bipolar disorder. I used to be on it as needed for sleep and it really helped out there, but last december I had an allergic reaction to one of my main meds and Seroquel has taken its place so I'm taking it regularly now. The only effect I've noticed has been weight gain, but that could have been caused by one of my other medications as well. And one generic form made me lose my singing voice because it dried me out so much. That was weird.

edit: Did your doctor say why he was prescribing it? Do you have sleeping problems? It's often prescribed off-label for sleep difficulties. If your doctor thought you had bipolar or schizophrenia he would probably mention that to you.

Oh no, I don't want weight gain!! !



This is the first time I see this doctor, and I'm going back to see him again next week.
I do have sleeping problems but I already have a sleeping pill prescription.
The doctor say he would like to adjust the anti-depressant I have at the moment, but it's not a good timing as I'm in exam period.
He didn't mention anything, he said he needs to know me more.

The weight gain I experienced could very well have been caused by another medication. I'm thinking it was probably one of the others. Everyone has different reactions and side effects from medications.

I've read studies about Seroquel being used for depression. It's a mood stabilizer as well as an antipsychotic so it has mood stabilizing properties. Maybe when you see him next you could ask him why he started you on it?

I think it's my high level of anxiety and also my "HYPERness"...
hope it won't slow my brain down, I really need my brain now to get thru exams!! !

crazymeds.us has info.

I have no personal experience, but this is my special interest. So your faith in my response should depend on your faith in an Aspie's ability to become as well-read as a professional (I'm not; my knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are both very spotty at best).

Most probably, it will slow down your mind and make you tired, and I question why your shrink would start you on something like that when you have finals.

Antipsychotics are the sit-down-shut-up drugs as well as the stop-hallucinating drugs, and they have a lot of uses as the former that are really pleasant for the people around you (whereas you yourself will be depressed in the few minutes each day that you're awake). They're used for anxiety (I know someone who's benefited greatly from Abilify for GAD), mania, increasing the power of antidepressants, psychosis, insomnia and Annoying Patient Who Needs To Shut Up Now And Realize That We Doctors Are Gods.

They work by blocking dopamine. They have some nasty side-effects. Your shrink knows you can be permanently disfigured by a tourette's-like condition, suddenly start producing breastmilk (even if you're male), sleep an ungodly amount and such things. Your shrink doesn't want to hear that you know and doesn't care that these could ruin your life.

Do you mind being hyper and anxious? Because the answer to that is really the answer to whether it's worth it or not. If it's bugging you enough that you can't function, then yeah, take the pills, they'll help. If not, run, do not walk, RUN to another shrink.

It didn't do anything positive or negative to me.

I'm on it.

It makes me less overwhelmed and less anxious, plus it allows me to actually go to sleep at night.

It affects Serotonin, which is anti-anxiety and the happy happy neurotransmitter
it's an anti-histamine, which means it makes you sedated and fixes your allergies
it's anti-epinephrine, which means it lowers anxiety and its physical symptoms
it's anti-dopamine, which..., I don't know what that does, but it's the source of most of the bad side-effects people talk about; it doesn't effect dopamine much in doses under 200 mg. a day

If you start out on 25 mg., you'll just feel really sedated, as it is a potent anti-histamine, and one of the best sedatives on the market. If you're always running "high" from anxiety, you might like it.

Avoid antipsychotics if at all possible!

You might experience something known as akathisia - the inability to sit still for longer than two minutes - as well as muscle cramps, sweating, dizziness, jerky movements of your lips ... YUCK ... avoid these meds unless you are schizophrenic, please.

ANTIPSYCHOTIC MEDICATIONS SHOULD NOT BE PRESCRIBED FOR AUTISTIC DISORDERS

hi all,
thanks for all the replies! Guess I'll give it a try...
or else my anxiety is really killing me.
will let you know how it goes!

and i got the info sheet from the pharmacy. one of the side effect is weight gain.
NOOOOOOOOO......................

They say the weight gain is because you feel like eating more.

Abraham,

Funnily enough, I experience an improvement in the shared negative symptoms of Schizophrenia that overlap with autism when taking Seroquel, and Seroquel is known to improve the negative symptoms of Schizophrenia, and the similar ones in autism.

It's a marked improvement (doctors have noted it), as nothing else has changed, and I've actually been more stressed externally.

Ah, that shows the see-saw relationship between prolactin levels and dopamine

My son took it for a while and it helped a lot. He took it for psychotic disorder-pdd and bi polar disorder. He has AS and ADHD and takes no meds for those. Talk to your doctor about why he prescribed it and any side effects. Its really good that he want to see you again in a week. That means he wants to keep close tabs on side effects.

edited because I typed it from my phone and it had some weird typos, weirder than usual.

Last edited by Kiley on 15 Jun 2010, 12:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

What is the drug for?

ruveyn

Quetiapine made me very ill so I had to stop taking it.
The older antipsychotics help with anxiety which is my main problem, I don't hear voices much.