OMG. I can't believe you're asking this Halo. I was at my Psychiatrist last night, and he JUST put on Seroquel - a tiny dose, but still.

I love that you're asking the question I was wondering!

I have a friend who has been taking Seroquel for a while - a small dose at bedtime for anxiety, and she swears by it. I don't know much about coming off of it, but I'm curious as to what others experienced.

I was on seroquel several years ago for a short time. I don't recall having any problems coming off of it, but I think I was changed to another med in the same drug category so maybe that was why. I do remember it being VERY sedating for me. That was the reason I was taken off it. I almost didn't make it home one day while driving home from lunch I was sooooo sleepy.

My thoughts on how it works is it helps me stay calmer through the day and sleep at night.

I´ve been on Seroquel on and off for the last 4 years. I always stopped taking it because it makes me feel numb.

Now I´ve been taking Seroquel Prolong for the last few weeks. Think it works better for me, I get a better sleep and am not as anxious when I wake up. I don´t take it during the day.

I was on Seroquel for about a month, then had an allergic reaction to something and had to stop it. Turns out the allergic reaction was to the other med I was taking, and I was able to go back on the Seroquel after about 6 weeks, and have been on it ever since.

I do take a tiny, tiny, dose, though, and have found it to be incredibly helpful in eliminating my insomnia. I take 1/4 - 1/3 of a 25mg pill, so I'm taking between 6-8mg nightly and it is exactly what I need. I did have to invest in a pill cutter, and practice chopping the pills down, but it is working well, and if it ain't broke....!

I have been on Seroquel for almost 2 years. I am at 400mg and I take it at night. I have NO idea how anyone can take it at any other time of day.

I take it for sleep and it is supposed to augment the effect of other medications as well.

I have tried to stop taking it (when I was running out of meds and P-doc forgot to call in a refill!) and cut back on the dosage but fell so ill nauseous wise. I had to go to the ER and get a refill.

That said, I'm financially spent and am cutting back again. As with all meds, it should be done with medical supervision because there is the chance for side effects/psychotic breaks, etc.

Though, I'm sure we all fiddle around on our own. I'm sure it can be done but it will depend on how long you've been on it and the dose you're at....and how well you hold up to side effects.

Thank you for all of your replies. I was on 50mg per day and have finally come off it by replacing it with Abilify, which I have had to come off because of breathing difficulties/anxiety.

Hi,

I was put on Seroquel 50mg. at night (evening) to help me to sleep. Was having a lot of problems with insomnia and then waking so many times and then unable to go back to sleep. That dosage only help me slightly, so 6 months later on my visit with my P he upped the dosage to 100mg. before bedtime.

That dosage did much better but then after 6 more months I started having very vivid terrifing violent nightmares. They were so bad I would wake up so many times in a panic attack and then couldn't sleep again for the rest of the night. It was really getting to me so I suspected it was the seroquel since that was the only med that had changed.

I decided to drop back down to 75mg. at bedtime to start weaning back to 50mg. per night. I did this for about a month then dropped back to 50mg finally. This helped slightly but the nightmares persisted and seemed to be getting worse. So I saw my P again and told him about it all and he told me that it could be the seroquel was affecting the seratonin levels. Or that I have been under a lot of strain emotionally due to things we have been working on in T, my son's death anniversary and the time leading up to my mom's death earlier this year and her eventual death in April. Or a combination of both.

So he has taken me off of it now and will see how it all is in 3 months. I have been off of it for 2 1/2 weeks now and the severe nightmares have decreased greatly. I am still dreaming a lot but not the vivid painful nightmares where I was fighting so much.

Other than all of the above, I didn't seem to have any trouble getting off of the seroquel.

I do have to say, that my dreams have been much more vivid since being on the seroquel. They also stay with me a little longer than they used to. I recently upped the dose from 6mg/nightly to 12mg/nightly, and while I still fall asleep beautifully, I am wakened throughout the night because of these dreams... at least I fall back to sleep very quickly, though!

Marsh - keep us posted on how the sleep without seroquel is going? I know I've been through pretty much all of the standard sleep meds with no success, seroquel has been the only thing to put me to sleep that actually works...

I was put on Seroquel when I went in-patient for 12 days last December. It was my "mood stabilizer" and due to it knocking me out cold, was taken at night. Within 30 minutes of taking it, I'd be out cold, literally. My dosage was 300/night. As soon as I started it my sleep was disturbed horribly. Bad nightmares, so vivid, like I was awake in my sleep. It was awful. I also got horrible SI once I was home for a few weeks. My P switched me from Seroquel 300 to Symbyax 6/12. The change was great. I took it at bedtime, an hour or two before, and got very tired and slept soundly, no dreams that I could remember. I would wake well rested. I had no problems going from 300mg to none, but again, I started a new med that night. I don't remember any withdrawal problems, either.