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Extreme tiredness on 25 mg of Quetiapine

Posted , 17 users are following.

kate75039
kate75039

Hi, I really don't want to take Quetiapine as it makes me very very sleepy, but if I don't take it I can't sleep. Last night I tossed and turned for 2 hours and finally succumbed to taking it. This morning I feel rotten and sleepy. If I don't take it, I can't sleep. But if I take it, I am extremely tired in the day. Any suggestions, anyone, on what to do?

0 likes, 16 replies

16 Replies

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  • HH195
    HH195 kate75039

    Posted

    Hi Kate

    How long have you been taking the quetiapine?

    I've been on Q for 6 years and started on a low dose of 200 and increased to 900, but currently on 600mg... So 25 mg is a tiny amount on the grand scheme of things... All I can advise is to stick with it as you do get used to it ... As an example... I used to take 300 in the morning ( and still be able to function normally) and 300 at night.

    Wen I got up2 800 and 900mg a night I would actually be awake... Eyes open.... But body completely paralysed... Couldn't go to the toilet or anything .,.  Just had to lie there til it wore off...

    Hope things work out for you x

  • deborah91099
    deborah91099 kate75039

    Posted

    I take 50 mg. at night, I started with 25mg. and it really helps me sleep although I often get up in the night and eat and see in the morning the damage done. However I do know people who take much more and their advice was to try to resist the extra eating as much as possible in particular the night eating. I am also a diabetic so am doing my best with that but have not overcome yet! I would also like to know how people manage on it. Thanks!
  • tersia03817
    tersia03817 kate75039

    Posted

    Hi Kate, I'm on 175mg and for the first year I slept 10 hours straight every night, without waking up. Now I can wake up after 8 hours if I have to, but then I'm sleepy during the day. I go to college, so I take it at 8am and go to sleep at 9am and sleep till 7am, then I can get up for college and be awake and funtioning. It is a fantastic drug. It really keeps me calm and chilled like a monk, LOL

    I suggest taking it 12 hours before you need to be functioning properly. Then you'll be fine.

    • Anxiety_king
      Anxiety_king tersia03817

      Posted

      HEY DARLING I THINK YOU HAVE HAD WAY TOO MUCH SEROQUEL ..

      YOU COULDNT HAVE SLEPT 22 HOURS HAHA ...

      YOU"RE TAKING IT AT 8AM AND THEN SLEEP AT 9AM AND THEN WAKING UP AT 7AM DOES NOT ADD UP

      I THINK YOU MEAN YOU SLEEP FROM 9 (PM) TO 7AM!

      BRAINS FRIED AND I THOUGHT MINE WAS HAHA CHEERS YOU MADE ME FEEL BETTER smile

  • HH195
    HH195 kate75039

    Posted

    Kate, 

    Hope your doing well...

    I know what you mean about the eating... I was ravenous every night... I could never remember the eating either...but I would cook 3 course meals in my night time state and also not remember. 

    I was referred to a sleep clinic in the end, as I started to only keep healthy food in the house incase I ate in my sedated/sleep state... This situation worsened as I then started leaving the house ... Walking and even driving to fast food places to enjoy the not so healthy food...

    I hope you don't end up in the position... As my GP used to unresponsibly giggle at my night time antics.... But while amusing to my GP, sleep specialists recognised this was a dangerous situation to be in for both myself and general members of the public!!

    Good Luck x

  • tersia03817
    tersia03817 kate75039

    Posted

    OMG Ijust realised typed 8am instead of 8pm, and 9am instead of 9pm LOL. Obviously I take it at night,not in the morning, chcukle.

    "Hi Kate, I'm on 175mg and for the first year I slept 10 hours straight every night, without waking up. Now I can wake up after 8 hours if I have to, but then I'm sleepy during the day. I go to college, so I take it at 8am and go to sleep at 9am and sleep till 7am, then I can get up for college and be awake and funtioning. It is a fantastic drug. It really keeps me calm and chilled like a monk, LOLI sugges"

  • cheryl32277
    cheryl32277 kate75039

    Posted

    Can't suggest on personal issues but simply offer my experience with Q, only on 50 in morning, 150 night, i am guaranteed sleep which makes a massive difference to my well being as I well didn't at all really, hyper , mind racing, busy, manic, now I'm forced to slow down which gives me that break and id rather take being drowsy big style in morning knowing my well-being much better overall. I couldn't maintain early starts every day of the week as it were . Working on the worry I have that this is what I need to do to keep well

  • elise68096
    elise68096 kate75039

    Edited

    I have been taking 300mg of Quetiapine for 7 months now. I take it every night at about 10pm and I wake up at 7:15am the next morning (during the week). 

    I’ve been in hell since I started taking this. I’m extremely EXTREMELY tired all day long. When I wake up in the morning it’s feels as if I’ve died. All day, I try not to fall asleep. However, by 11pm, I’m wide awake. I take my meds, and yet I struggle to get to sleep. It’s horrible. 

    On the weekends, I’ll sleep for 10-12 hours and I’ll STILL be tired all day long. I have no energy to do anything. 

    I’ve tried so many other things that I’m running out of options. Not sure what to do, but I can’t keep doing this. 

    • cheryl32277
      cheryl32277 elise68096

      Posted

       I'm sorry to read of your distress. I can understand some of how you feel.

      I am on my 4th year of taking this, and yes, I have some major disadvantages these days, I know my 'racing thoughts' stop of an evening because I sleep, and consequently as a result of this, I am seeing where my difficulty was and am  able to pause and try to work  out things in a heatlhier manner to how I was. 

      I can give you an example, slept a good 10  hours or  so Friday/Saturday, had my morning dose and slept or another 4/5 hours.

      I was so angry and confused at first, beating myself up in an overwhelming sense, I shouldn't be acting in the ways that made me take this medication in the first place, being one of the most common.

      I think  I am getting to the stage where I know the medication helps me with the difficulties I had as a part of a jigsaw puzzle-I do not  drive now because of it, my pace is much healthier overall, and I can see what is wrong rather than living in chaos without this.

      Do you see any improvements in the difficulties you had as to why you went on this medication? Are the  sleepy spells annoying or preventing you from your responsibilities etc? 

      Can yougetan appointment to discuss this with a Psychaitrist again? Is your anxiety high expecting not to sleep on your meds now at that 11pm? I know the other week I had a situation where I was heightened anxiety and I did not sleep because of this, eg the anxiety and expectation patterns will just be the same could be impacting?

      Just some thoughts, I hope they might offer some avenues into working out things . 

    • somebody10036
      somebody10036 elise68096

      Posted

      Dude... I'd been taking like 150 mg for 5 weeks. Was supposed to take 300mg but didnt want to. I have been secretly not taking it for like 2 weeks. I still sleep 10-13 hours a day, (so annoying,) and feel ridiculously tired all the time and completely unmotivated to do anything. I also feel sick to my stomach sometimes. Despite not taking the medication I don't have any voices in my head or anything like that but I can't get back to feeling not tired all the time despite not taking the medication for 2 weeks. All of these anti-psychotic medications are such bullsht. I'd rather be manic and sleep 3 hours a night or not at all. Well maybe not pure insomnia. Pure insomnia is kind of terrible also, but I can't believe that despite asking specifically I've been denied the option of just taking sleeping medication. I can function completely normally despite the voices/mania and have never really had suicidal thoughts anyway. All I needed was sleeping medication to counteract the insomnia. Now I can't even get away from the side effects of this quetiapine when I stop taking it completely. Ontop of this the fact that I have to keep lying to my doctor about taking the medication is ridiculous. I can't just tell him what I need and get it I have to play this "playing along," game where I act like everything is normal so he won't increase my dosages.... If I told him what was really going on in my head in the past all he would have done is increase the dosage.. This acomplishes nothing because it induces side effects that are more unpleasant than the actual sickness they're meant to treat. Psychiatry is a f*****g joke. All these people do is listen to us talk to them and then perscribe medication and they make like 90 dollars an hour. Complete bullsht.

  • Curvesarein
    Curvesarein kate75039

    Posted

    I started Lithium 2 months ago and was sleeping great and suddenly it stopped. I’m on 300 mg. My doctor put me on Seriquel at 50 mg. I slept right away. Too much. I havecut it down to 1/4 of a pill and still want to sleep all the time. My limbs feel like lead and I don’t even want to get in the shower 
  • gymmynzl
    gymmynzl kate75039

    Posted

    Hi, I suffer from Anxiety and I use Quetiapine to help with the rough times getting onto or off SSRI's . I find if i have half a tablet at 6pm, i start getting tired about 7:30 and ready for bed by 8:30pm and asleep by 9, and wake up about 6am, The sleeping feeling goes away for me by about 7:30am and im ready for the day. smile

  • Bfordk
    Bfordk kate75039

    Posted

    Hi Kate, I'v been on 450mg of Seroquel for 8 years and until this year it really helped sleep...knocked me out.  However, I have grown a tolerance and it seems like it now keeps me awake.  It has an antihistamine effect but as my doctor said, my 'receptors' are maxed out.  He doesn't think raising the dose will help.  I just want to warn people who are taking it - it really helps for sleep but that can change and it's not nice.  I would also warn people who take this med just for sleep to look at their options.  Also, coming off this stuff is no treat either.  For now I will keep taking it but praying and researching for an option, preferably natural.  I am also open to hearing from others who have had a similar experience to mine.  

  • tim77372
    tim77372 kate75039

    Posted

    doxepin is an old antidepresdant that is used off label for sleep. 5-10mg works wonders

  • Spargo6
    Spargo6 kate75039

    Posted

    dear Kate,

    I will try to not put a downer on things,but i will give you a view,as best i can.

    what you are experiencing is the very same as me,as i have come down from 75mgs

    to 25.,then to zero.

    I have heard that you can split tablet,but you will still struggle.

    When i stopped completely i did not sleep for 3 nights,and was exhausted.! Had to start again.

    As a female you may be different?

    Prozac might help(females tend to respond better to this) Obviously see specialist.

    Really hope this helps.

    Regards,Richard

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