Quetiapine users, how does it make you feel?

[OneAvidAmberLion]

Two psychiatrists have suggested that I take this medication for emotional dysregulation. Antidepressants don't help, actually, they make everything worse.

However, I'm reluctant. I'm nervous about side effects. I need to be able to function and work. Will I feel rotten initially? I really don't want to gain weight either.

On the other hand, I'd like to have a stable mood where I don't keep dropping into severe depression.

I feel great right now which makes this an even harder decision as I forget how bad I feel sometimes.

I’ve been in it for 15 years. It is great for sleep. My only advice would be that I have always been on once daily dosing at night. I know that I would not be able to drive safely etc if I took it in the morning as I find it very sedating x

Also yes I have put a few stones on but part of that is lack of willpower!

I took it as an inpatient when I was very unwell with anorexia. I did find it very sedating. Unfortunately I had a serious, but rare side effect that meant I had to stop it immediately.
I agree with the pp who suggested a night time dose. I was taking morning and evening and the morning dose would see me completely knocked out. Not too bad whilst in hospital, but not great if you need to function normally.

I take 2 on an evening for sleep and my ptsd medication in the morning. Never had any obvious side effects like weight gain etc. You can only try, but def take it at night.

I don’t want to leave a negative response but my husband was on it, absolutely wasted him even taking it at night. He had no energy for anything. He was a bit of dickhead on it (probably because he was tired)

probably best to be aware I suppose

I’ve taken it for quite a few years. Yes, take it at night it is very sedating. I have bipolar disorder and I feel well on it.

My cousin is on a high dose for his paranoid schizophrenia. It is very sedating so night time dose would probably be better. I can always tell when he's unwell as it makes him completely zombified. Perhaps start with a small dose and see if it works before taking a higher one. And yes, anti psychotic meds are notorious for weight gain

I take 200mg at night 1 hr before I want to fall asleep, it really has helped me sleep a lot better, I wouldn't take it in the am though, I haven't gained weight, I lost 10lbs since I started it in the new year, but metabolic issues are common.

Do you mind me asking which medication you're tagging for PTSD?

That's what I'm struggling with.

Thank you.

Thanks for all the replies.

If I go ahead I'll definitely take it at night only.

I'm still uncertain, my lows are deep and fairly frequent but inbetween them, I'm pretty stable.

I sometimes become suicidal, that's what I need to prevent. If I was low right now, I'd probably accept the medication. Because I'm OK, I don't feel like I need it.

I've 10 days until I go back so I'm going to monitor how I am and go from there.

So im on 375mg venlaflaxine to manage my day to day symptoms which I find life changing compared to what I was like. I had tried many other SSRI/SNRIs before that.

Night is 2 x quatiapeine and 12mg dioxisosin (not right spelling) which is prescribed off license but is/was clinically trialled for ptsd sufferers, its usually for blood pressure i think. Combination of both will allow me to sleep and not have night trauma sweats (majority of the time)

Edited as noticed your update post. I find the venlafaxine compliments my moods, I can still fall into the hole but my self harm/suicidal thoughts are nowhere near as bad as they were.

I took my first dose yesterday actually! It made me fall asleep In about 2 hours, i rook it at 8 and fell asleep at 10pm I woke up at 1am and was quite awake I had a drink and then fell asleep again and woke up at 10. IM on annual leave. I was quite tired for about an hour this morning but I feel better already. I have bipolar type 1 and it’s supposed to stop mania. I don’t ever feel sleepy and yesterday felt like quite a natural sleep. Not like Zopiclone for me at all.

I wouldn’t take it in the morning because it’s meant to be sedating so take it at night

BusElla. What dosage do you take?

100mg at the moment :)

I was really hesitant too, but when I started Quetiapine it mainly just made me super sleepy at first, after a couple of weeks that settled and my mood felt a lot more stable. I didn’t love the grogginess or slight appetite increase, but for me the trade-off was worth it to not keep crashing into those lows.

I started Quetiapine. I've been on it 3 weeks now. I'm on 25mg. It's too sedating for me. I'm struggling to function all day, my head feels like it's stuffed with cotton wool. I'm not due back to see the psychiatrist for a few weeks, I may bring that appointment forward, if I can.

I'm so frustrated as it's amazing in some respects, I can sleep, finally and I really feel a lot calmer, but I can't function and with a full time job and young family, it's not working for me. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it. I believe 25mg is the lowest dose. I wonder if there's an option to go lower 🤔

I think it is more sedating at the lower doses. I’m on 300mg at night and I don’t have any daytime drowsiness - Infact I have bloody insomnia at the minute but that’s another matter 😖
I think I started on 50mg initially so it may be that slightly higher is actually less sedating for you?

It's much more sedating at 25mg than around 100mg. I take 400mg at night now and it stopped knocking me a long time ago. I have to take melatonin now to fall asleep. If I do accidentally skip my dose I end up waking constantly through the night.

Also the first month on it was awful it made me feel high as a kite but it does go away after 6 weeks or so.

Quetiapine acts on many different receptors in the body and the dose will vary depend on the purpose of being on quetiapine

At low doses it acts most as an antihistamine and it is this activity that causes the sedation. At ~25-150mg it works best as a sleep aid

At low-medium doses it works as an antidepressants and can be used for bipolar and unipolar depression. Usually doses of 150-450 mg

At higher doses it acts on dopamine as well and can be used for mood stabiliser for bipolar 450-600mg and some times higher than 600mg for psychosis.

Obviously these are very rough approximation and there will be people who find doses outside of these ranges helpful.

I have been on quetiapine since 2012 and I have been on doses between 300 and 800 mg depending on how my mood is. Usually I need 400-600 mg for maintenance for my bipolar, around 600mg for depression and over 600 mg for short periods if I go manic or experience psychosis as part of my depression.

It might be worth asking for a review and see if you can get the dose adjusted

My husbands on it it makes him incredibly drowsy and he’s put on a lot of weight. However it does the job it’s supposed to do