To ask for your experiences with Quetiapine

[wishes1111]

Hello

I've recently had quetiapine added to my venlafaxine anti depressant and wondered if anyone had any experiences they could share.

I'm due to start it next week due to BPD which has recently been diagnosed.

I've read that it decreases fertility in some women and after multiple miscarriages (although I now have coil fitted to control endo), I don't like the sound of this x

Make sure you're having your blood sugar tested; it can make you diabetic.

I've been on that + venlafaxine before. It really helped a lot. I've never heard about it affecting fertility but generally any side effects like that go away after stopping taking it anyway. I wouldn't worry about it having any permanent effects.

It can’t make you diabetic but if you are predisposed to type two it can speed it along. I have taken this for 10 years and find it the best drug at controlling my bipolar. It can lead to huge weight gain and depending you may have to play around with type and dosage. The slow release made me feel like a zombie as does splitting the dose morning and night, I take it at night and the normal release, I sleep like the dead but feel “normal” during the day. I have had fertility issues but the drs felt this wasn’t due to the drug and have had a baby. I took it throughout my pregnancy and my lo seems not to be affected at all. I hope that helps x

Actually these antipsychotics can make you diabetic, not just hurry along incipient cases. But if you do get a rise in blood sugar, then if you catch it early, then it's reversible. Get the blood tests. Please.

I also have bpd and was on quetiapine for years. It made me sleep about 14 hours a night as it's a very strong sedative. Usually about 30mins - 1 hour after taking it, I'd start slurring my words and stumbling so I'd have to get to bed quickly. I'd only ever take it at night.

I stopped taking it to start ttc and conceived within a month. Xx

It was great though and helped my mental state so much. If I didn't have children, I'd take it again but I can't risk sleeping like that again.

I started this whilst 4 months pregnant for borderline personality disorder, only diagnosed in pregnancy. Its worked really well in stabilising my mood swings. Im starving most of the time though, but my mental health needs to come first right now.

I am on it for BPD.. I take a dose at night and two throughout the day. it made me gain weight but it is not impossible to lose weight or maintain a healthy one on it.

I take it for BPD. Gained two stone in 5 months, appetite is out of control but I'm sleeping better (insomniac for 20 years) but feeling tired much quicker during the day. Energy levels that are normally through the roof are next to none. But I do feel calmer and not stressed anymore

After developing type 2 diabetes in my twenties from taking these drugs (olanzapine, in my case, though quetiapine also carries this risk), I've become an evangelist for blood-testing. Please, please make sure your doctors are aware of the risk and keeping an eye out for signs of metabolic syndrome.

Echoing others - for me it's a wonder-drug. Almost immediately after I took it, it was like a veil had been lifted: I now can't believe I lived with bipolar without it, and it's like I have a window onto life without mental health issues.

The only drawback is how much it knocks you out. Now I've adjusted I can get up with my son again, but for a good year his dad had to do mornings because I was just incapable.

I put weight on and my metabolism seems to have bottomed out, but I'd not swap the positives to be 2 stone lighter!

It was great for my mental health when I took it but the side effects are BAD - hugely sedating and massive weight gain (which I never got rid of despite being off quetiapine for years now).

I took it for a while when I was 15. It made me like a zombie the fatigue was awful. I knew other people who took it and had no side effects though.

Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences.

I will definitely bring up the diabetes risk with my GP as type 2 runs in my family.

I will give them a go, the new antidepressants have already done so much for me and I've surprisingly had no side effects, they worked within 2 weeks of starting them.

Due to a history of trauma and some traits I carry I agree with the psychiatrists diagnosis and from what I understand I will be on quite a low dose.

Thanks again.

Good luck!

I took between 50mg - 150mg quetiapine due to depression alongside mirtazapine. I was on it for 9 years, stopped gradually when I fell pregnant. For me it did help, particularly with anxiety. I think the only way it can affect fertility is that it can elevate prolactin which can affect ovulation, but my periods remained regular on it so I assumed it was okay in my case x