To stop taking my antipsychotic medication because of side effects?

[BrownTrowsers]

A few months ago I was put on 50mg quetiapine for BPD.

Ever since I've been a complete and utter zombie. I have zero energy, my sex drive has gone, I eat like a pig but rarely move so I'm putting on weight. I can't wake up in a morning and sit there for hours trying to muster the energy to get ready for work. I even stopped taking the dog for walks because I just don't have the energy. I've stopped going to gym.

The other day I forgot to take a tablet and the next day I went to gym, took the dog out, barely ate anything and felt so much better.

I'm only on 50mg so it's not like they could reduce the dose so WIBU to just sack them off and see how I go? I'm going on holiday in 7 weeks and I don't want to be a lethargic fat mess for it

You need to go back to your doctor to discuss it.

YBU. Go back to the GP and see if there is anything they can do to help. You are on these drugs for a reason and just stopping them can be dangerous and your symptoms will return. Please go and speak to your GP. There may be something else they can give you.

Agree with PP. Obviously YANBU to be bothered by those side effects but you need to discuss it with your mental health team.

YABVVVVVU to do this by yourself and not under the guidance of a medical professional. Drugs have a half life, especially psychiatric ones. Therefore you were probably still having the benefits but not the side effects. A few days/weeks later if you went off of them your reaction could be horrible (ie worse than you pre-medication symptoms whilst it works it way out of your system). This is why many doctors do phased approach to weaning off medication.

Get an appointment ASAP with your doctor and adjust your dosage as necessary .

Please, please, please do not do this by yourself! It is incredibly dangerous.

You should go back to your gp as everyone else has said.

I’ve seen first hand what happens when someone decides to take themselves off this medication (pharmacy work) and it is not worth it! Go and see your pharmacist or GP if you can get in and see what they can do.

Quetiapine does come in 25mg - so there is room for a gradual taping down. Please see your doctor.

BTW - I have slowly come off quetiapine after being on 600mg

I had the same experience with quetiapine. My psychiatrist has told me to take it “when needed” as the effect is “immediate” rather than “cumulative”.

I would suggest that it would be worth a phone call to your GP with a view to stopping ASAP. You could book an appointment to discuss your mediation but I assume that wouldn’t be for a few days? They can advise you if stopping immediately is going to be harmful, just whilst you wait for a consultation.

And btw, I have to cut my 25mg tablets in half - I’d be totally fucked on a full dose

Create a day log of how you feel and what you were able/unable to do. It easy to show the differences in how you felt.
GPS don't have in depth knowledge of anti psychotic, there are many and the side effects are varied. Do make a appointment but try and do some research yourself.
A bit like the pill GPS often start meds with the cheapest or the one they are most familiar with. I know it may be hard but try and get solid information.

I took quetiapine for about a year. Although it got me through a terrible time I also hated the way it completely suppressed my whole being. I was desperate to get off it. But please do not just stop. That's dangerous. I reduced mine very slowly and would cut the pills gradually so that at the end I was taking a less than a quarter for the last couple of weeks. This was advised by my doctor. So I would definitely speak to your doctor first.
Good luck

I understand how you feel. I was on 100mg a day for years from my teens, the first couple of months I literally slept 20 hours a day and was a zombie the rest. It was hard, I did nothing. But I wasn’t working or doing much else either. But your body does adjust and it gets easier. For me it was essential to balance me, but I reduced the dose over time as well.
They come in 25mg tablets so it could be reduced, they’re not the easiest to cut but you can. Don’t mess with the dose yourself but do talk to the psych (no sure why everyone’s saying GP, it’d be unusual for them to prescribe these kind of drugs) and see about bringing it down a bit, as it’s important to be able to get on with life as well, but you probably do need something if they went this route so think about why that was as well.

I would just stop them and make an appointment with the doctor. I know you shouldn't, but I would.

I stopped taking my sertraline once , by accident though. literally all it took was 2 days and I was suffering discontinuation symptoms - nausea, dizziness, irritability, trouble focusing, tingling body parts, electric shock sensations in the brain...

OP please dont just stop.

Were you put immediately onto 50? Im on a drug for epilepsy which is also used for bpd and my neurologist moved me from 25mg a day to 200mg over a course of about 8 weeks. It may be that it was imtroduced into your body too fast and you need to move up a lot slower. Equally pulling it out pf your system suddenly could prove horrible

Also they may consider weaning you off thos drug and giving you another. My first epilepsy drug had awful side affects so they took me off it and now Im feeling much better and epilepsy is very nearly under control.

So go back and ask to be tried with spmething else but wjatever you do dont just stop

You will probably have to cross taper onto a different drug. Is this the first one you have tried? If so you ABU to just ditch them, also this is most probably part of your BPD talking (yes I have it too, diagnosed 8 years ago and with Bipolar as well).
I have been through 14 different drugs frim fluoxetine (made me pass out all the time) to quetiepine and you have to deal with the side effects or change drugs to find the side effects you can tolerate. None of the drugs make life easier, they just allow you to cope better with the bloody stupid thoughts and feelings (you can tell I'm angry at my head atm!).
Go to GP or psych and discuss with them, try a sideways approach and use a drug that treats a different symptom, my current successful pills are used mainly to treat anxiety and are not commonly used in BPD.
Good luck x

Good God do not do that!!!!! My brother is on Olanzopine (sorry probs spelt totally wrong) and although it has made him fantastically well mentally he has struggled with similar side effects. He doesn’t work and I don’t see how he could have personally, he copes with the zombiness by having 12-14 hr sleeps and takes the whole dose before he goes to bed. Anyway once years ago he just stopped taking it and my parents didn’t know and he ended up in hospital - it was awful, total relapse. He’s been on quite a high dose for a number of years and with his doctors permission (who I am now furious with) just halved his dose overnight, he was ok for about 6 wks and obviously was in a high from the lack of side effects but is relapsing again now.

As someone else has said most of these medications come in 25mg doses so you might with your doctor try reducing it and see if that keeps you well whilst mitigating side effects, if not then as someone else has said it might be worth trying something else.

I've been on QUETIAPINE for a couple of years. And on reading why the drug is prescribed I'm shocked that a psych who'd met me once only, prescribed it! For two years I've become reclusive and unhappy. Not even wanting to go shopping or take my dog for a walk. What an awful way to 'live?' I'm prepared for withdrawal but I feel sure I need to eventually come off the 100mg daily diet of sloth. To top this off my thyroxine levels are below normal (caused by this drug). I'd love to hear from others who have experience of this drug and/or coming off it.
I know there'll be naysayers saying I was prescribed it for a reason. In my case I believe they got it wrong and I'm not prepared to go through the rigmarole to see another psych. Every day on this drug is a day stolen.

Just as an update I halved my dose and feel amazing. For the first time in a year or more, I woke up this morning and told my hubby I wanted to go to the local market. WELL, HE'D HAVE FALLEN off the bed had it not been impossible with my announcement. I went and then also took our dog for a beach walk.
I'm onwards and upwards as far as interest in life again. I'll continue to S- L -O -W -L- Y reduce the Quetiapine. If I have a relapse I'll return to my GP for advice as his special interest is in the field of mental health.😁

You need to inform your GP now, as that way he can monitor you and make sure you don't stop taking it/taper it down too quickly.

You don't want to be incredibly ill whilst on holiday. If it's abroad, you wouldn't be covered by insurance and if it's here, well, it would ruin your holiday.

That is, if you are the same poster as originally, or are also going on holiday this summer...

Quetiapine is pretty evil tbh, but you need to taper off if you want to stop.

It's your choice. Some people put up with the side effects you describe because for them it's still preferable to what they were facing before, but if you don't feel that way about it then it's entirely your call to discontinue a drug if you so wish as long as you make sure you do so safely.

From 50mg after only a few months tapering shouldn't be too tough but do speak to somebody first. One skipped dose might not be enough for you to feel the need to taper, but you might feel it after two, three or four etc consecutive days of nothing.

YANBU but get advice on the best way to manage it.

Definitely go back to the gp. Don't just stop your medicine.