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Increasing Quetiapine Dose Brings On Palpitations/Chest Pain/Panic Attacks?

Posted , 3 users are following.

mike17373
mike17373

Hi,

I was started on quetiapine last autumn at 50mg IR at night. This was increased first to 100mg then to 150mg but a few weeks back my psychiatrist increased my prescription to 200-300mg. I was started at 200mg but shortly after starting this dose I had a day where I experienced palpitations. This happened to be the day I had my next regular ECG and the ECG recorded Sinus Tachycardia >109 (I think) 'but otherwise normal ECG' I was told this was ok and no further action requited.

A week or so later and to date I started to get the palpitations on and off mostly everyday along with chest pain. I felt so bad last weekend I took myself to A&E as it felt like my heart was beating out of my chest and I felt dizzy. I thought I was going to have a heart attack or something. The hospital did an ECG, bloods, listened to chest/back, poked around my abdomon and came to the conclusion nothing was wrong and that is was a panic attack and that I seriously needed to sort my anxietyssues out.

I was due to see my pshychiatrist earlier in the week and mentioned this and he said to try and not worry as I know now after tests there's nothing wrong with my heart. I asked if quetiapine could cause palpitations and he said only rarely in some people. He suggested adding a low dose of 10mg propanalol where required for the panic attacks/palpitations and increasing my venlafaxine from 300-375mg a day (I assume to try and deal with the anxiety) but my GP doesn't seem happy at that proposition (maybe he thinks it would be dangerous?) and he wants to review my A&E test results before doing anything which apparently he has to request and so that's kind of parked at the moment.

Anyhow whilst it's being explored whether to action my psychiatrists latest prescription I'm just trying to make sense of what's going on and wonder whether it would be a good bet to come to the conclusion that increasing my quetiapine from 150-200mg has brought on this panic/palpitation/chest pain attacks and how safe withdrawal symptom wise it would be to reduce the quetiapine back to 150mg?

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • lisa37268
    lisa37268 mike17373

    Posted

    Hi Mike!  Hopefully by now you have figured things out with your doctor and you don't need any advice.  If not, however, hopefully I can help.  biggrin

    The first thing to question is were you having anxiety or panic attacks before you went on this medication or before you upped your dose?  Also, have there been any changes in your life that could increase anxiety?  

    If no, it is definately possible that this drug is causing your anxiety and heart palpitations. I am one of those unfortunate "some people" for which this drug has that effect.

    However, these effects occurred for me very shortly after I started it in the first place and increased when my dosage was upped. It could be that you are experiencing side effects because you are sensitive to the drug but not quite as much. in this case, try talking to your pharmacist about dropping your dose down.  It is very likely that you will experience withdrawal but the effects are different for everyone.  Tapering back down may be a good idea for you.  Good luck and hope everything goes well!!

  • tichy78
    tichy78 mike17373

    Posted

    Hi mike

    I had the exact same symptoms at 300mg quetiapine. It turns out that it is the fumerate coating the brings about the attacks, i tried a different brand the had different coating and was fine.

    Moving on i'm now on Seroquel XL for about a month now. Much better for me and its also addressed the anxiety/panic attacks and the depression I suffer from. plus no hangover in the mornings

  • tichy78
    tichy78 mike17373

    Posted

    Hi mike

    I had the exact same symptoms at 300mg quetiapine. It turns out that it is the fumerate coating the brings about the attacks, i tried a different brand the had different coating and was fine.

    Moving on i'm now on Seroquel XL for about a month now. Much better for me and its also addressed the anxiety/panic attacks and the depression I suffer from. plus no hangover in the mornings

  • mike17373
    mike17373

    Posted

    I'm a bit lost with my quetiapine to be honest.

    Palpitations seem to come with each dose increase and then slowly near-taper off over 1-2 weeks but unfortunately it's effectiveness against what I want it to do for me tapers at the same time (mood stabliser, anti-anxiety and hypnotic). I'm at the top end of what my psych wrote me up for now, 300mg, so I'm stuck.

    • tichy78
      tichy78 mike17373

      Posted

      I was in the boat as you and also at 300mg an hour after taking it I had palpitations and anxiety attacks. Have you asked to be switched to the XL version? I have to say it's a 100% better in terms of addressing the anxiety/panic attack, mood stabaliser with no brain fog!

      I'm actually back at work.

      Good luck

    • mike17373
      mike17373 tichy78

      Posted

      Thanks. I'll run it by my psych when I speak with him next.
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