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beneficii
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23 Dec 2015, 12:48 pm

If I take Seroquel or Seroquel XR and don't immediately go to bed, then within an hour or so I will develop this strange dysphoria. Now this I know is not akathisia (a tormenting sense of inner restlessness), as the quality is quite different. With Seroquel or Seroquel XR, I do not have any sort of restlessness or agitation. I'm going to try to explain it as best as I can, because it is very difficult to do so:

1.) I get these fears, perhaps the best word to describe these thoughts, about negative things occurring in the future. What they are is not so important, but it's the fact that something is always the grist for the mill of this dysphoria. They are accompanied by a sense that all the pleasure, all the peacefulness that I will ever experience in my whole life, my whole existence has passed and there is only torment in my future.

2.) There is a constant and unpleasant feeling that I cannot describe beyond this. The feeling does not map to fear, or to anxiety, to panic or to sadness, or grief. It simply torments me.

This effect was much worse with the immediate release version of Seroquel, where it would hit me very hard; I got switched to Seroquel XR because of this, and though the effect is less, it is still there. My doctor has tried prescribing antidepressants but they do not prevent this dysphoria. The only thing I have found effective for it is Benadryl, believe it or not, just the same as when I was grappling with akathisia.

Also, this problem took much longer than one expected to resolve, because for some reason I would often not bring it up to my doctor, like I would plumb forget about it. I went months with this torment before finally speaking up and then when I was switched to Seroquel XR it got a bit better but was not resolved; even so, it still took me a few doctor's visits before I finally brought it up again. I was then put on an antidepressant with the Seroquel XR dose lowered. The torment continued at night, but I failed to bring it up again before I relocated at the end of last month. For some reason, I would keep forgetting to do this, which is not typical for me.

This state tends to be accompanied by a rapid, pounding heartbeat, but I am not agitated. I will simply continue what I've been doing, which will usually be reading.

Has anyone else dealt with this, and is there a name for it?


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Noca
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23 Dec 2015, 2:52 pm

If you don't want to tolerate this side effect then you have every right to stop it or ask for another drug instead regardless of any excuses that your doctor makes. Doctors don't really care what side effects you experience if they aren't going to kill you. You have to stand up for yourself and lay it out exactly what you are willing to tolerate and what you are not willing to tolerate. What condition are you taking Seroquel for?

I've had what I would describe as dsyphoria before, where it feels like a black hole is in my chest, sucking my soul and all the happiness out of me, where I just felt awful. I never pinned it to any specific drug though, I just assumed it was part of my depression. These episodes wouldn't last that long, maybe an hour or two, and they wouldn't follow any pattern with regards to how often I would experience them, or why.



beneficii
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23 Dec 2015, 4:53 pm

Noca,

My doctor made no excuses. The problem was my lack of reporting. We actually discussed once where we wanted to go. I was concerned that stopping the Seroquel XR would make it difficult to sleep and so went with adding the antidepressant instead of stopping the Seroquel XR entirely.

It's just since then I've failed to report still having this side effect.


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Noca
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23 Dec 2015, 8:15 pm

beneficii wrote:
Noca,

My doctor made no excuses. The problem was my lack of reporting. We actually discussed once where we wanted to go. I was concerned that stopping the Seroquel XR would make it difficult to sleep and so went with adding the antidepressant instead of stopping the Seroquel XR entirely.

It's just since then I've failed to report still having this side effect.

If you are using it for sleep you can always try another sedating antipsychotic like Saphris or Geodon instead, maybe you won't get that side effect from those, who knows?



beneficii
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23 Dec 2015, 8:55 pm

Noca wrote:
beneficii wrote:
Noca,

My doctor made no excuses. The problem was my lack of reporting. We actually discussed once where we wanted to go. I was concerned that stopping the Seroquel XR would make it difficult to sleep and so went with adding the antidepressant instead of stopping the Seroquel XR entirely.

It's just since then I've failed to report still having this side effect.

If you are using it for sleep you can always try another sedating antipsychotic like Saphris or Geodon instead, maybe you won't get that side effect from those, who knows?


Because I react poorly to a lot of them: With Zyprexa, I get too sleepy during the day and have excessive hunger, causing me to gain weight; with Saphris (that you mentioned), I get bad akathisia (tormenting sense of inner restlessness) in addition to involuntary movements of my mouth and tongue; with Risperdal, I also get bad akathisia, but not the involuntary movements; with Abilify, I get a subtler akathisia which causes insomnia; and with Latuda, I get akathisia.

I haven't tried Geodon, but it's not like I want to push it either.


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Noca
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23 Dec 2015, 11:20 pm

These are all for primary purpose to treat insomnia? You can always look outside antipsychotics if that is what you are taking them for. Amitriptylne, Trazodone, Remeron, Hydroxyzine, Lunesta, are all options you can consider for sleep that shouldn't have the problems of akathisia that you have with antipsychotics.



AliB2409
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21 Aug 2018, 3:35 pm

Hi, I just want to say that I feel the exact same dysphoric feelings as you after taking the Seroquel. It seems to occur at the time the medication is reaching its peak, and I try so hard to get to sleep before that awful feeling comes over me. It is beyond words, just the most terrible feeling of impending doom and unhappiness. I feel like my life is just terrible, and I will never feel happy again. I have had suicidal depression, anxiety, and panic attacks all my life, but this feeling is worse than all of those put together. I’m sorry you experience this too, but I am so glad I have finally found someone who has this experience as well as me!! I have searched the net for YEARS, but have never found anybody. You’re right about the immediate release being worse than the slow release, but yes, it still is there. No doctor or psychiatrist has ever understood what I have tried for years to describe, but now I know it isn’t just me!