YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I started taking a low dose of seroquel (25-50 mg) to help with sleep and augment the effects of cymbalta. At first, the thought of being on an antipsychotic scared me a bit. I suppose that speaks to my fear of literally losing my mind and going crazy. And did taking seroquel mean I was or might? Yet, my intellectual mind told me otherwise. I'm a psychology person and familiar with the studies of antipsychotics being used as an adjunct therapy to antidepressants. Promising stuff. But my emotional self did it's usual negative and fearful thing. When I told my doctor my concerns, she reassured me that my myriad of symptoms was not suggestive of a psychotic break. Depression with psychosis is relatively rare and if I were to develop psychosis, it probably would have happened by now. I trust my doctor in a way I have not trusted a doctor before, as many as there have been. So I filled the prescription and felt okay about it all.

The first night, I couldn't bring myself to take one of the tiny pink pills. I always get a bit nervous the first time taking a new med- I've had some nasty side effects/allergies that have brought me to the hospital. On the second night, I convinced myself to swallow one. Nothing bad happened and I'm learning (slowly) that this will usually be the case. I did feel a bit strange- my body was heavy and I got very sleepy. I guess that was the point. For a couple weeks, I slept better than I had in months.

Now that I've been on it for a month, I'm finding the sedating effects have diminished and this worries me a bit. I wonder if I am already developing a tolerance, which would require me to increase the dose more and more. I can't seem to sleep for too many hours at night- from about 2-6 am. Mind you, I shouldn't complain...this is an improvement in the insomnia department.

I check in with my doc in about a week. I will post an update afterward. Curious to know anyone else's experience with this med?

~serenity88

I took seraquil for a good 8 years, but I am hesitant to detail my experience because it was rather negative. I don't want to scare you or turn you off to a med that is helpful to you. The only thing I can really suggest is that you take it slow if you do increase it. When I had a similar problem with it not working consistently My doctor informed me that what you eat before you take it can have an effect on how well it absorbs (I.e type of sleep you get or how fast you fall asleep). If you've just ingested a fatty meal( hamburger, steak, stuff with a lot of butter, a lot of sour cream or a lot of cheese) or stuff with a lot of sugar (ice cream, and the like) it won't absorb as well and takes longer to work or may not be as strong. I suggest looking back at what you ate for dinner in those nights, and see if anything pops out at you. I don't remember if you are supposed to take it with food or not (I've been off it a while) but if you are I'd stick to crackers, yogurt, or something with a low fat/sugar content. Let me know if that helps. If not, maybe increasing the dose a small amount would help. I don't think going up a bit would be harmful, especially if you are careful and aware, which it sounds like you are. Just don't let them out you on 900 milligrams at once (hahahaha). It good to know you and your doctor are taking it slow and starting with a low dose. Let me know if this helps.

I've been on a very high dose--600mg--of Seroquel for a number of years. Because straight-up antidepressants have always resulted in psychotic breakdowns (not kidding), I use it partly for its anti-depressant effect (in conjunction with lamotrigine), and partly to help me sleep...I have chronic insomnia in which I physically can't sleep without drugs. Its effectiveness as a sleep aid has worn off, probably more due to my brain just getting worse and worse when it comes to sleep than to tolerance.

As for side effects, like I said, my dose is much higher than yours...but I get restless leg and extreme dry mouth, so I take it with clonazepam and I sleep like a baby.

I hope it's been working well for you. People's experiences with this med seem incredibly mixed.

I'm on a low dose of Seroqurel XR (50 mg) which I take at night because of its sedating effect. I don't really like it, though it seems to help with the bipolar. What I don't like is my decreased sex drive, the sedating effects (I usually take it at 8:30 pm because that effect usually kicks in 2 hours later; however, I won't take it anymore unless I am home because when it hits, I have absolutely no control over it and feel extremely drugged which is terrifying in certain situations), and because it has caused tremendous weight gain which is difficult to counteract with exercise and diet. I also take a fast acting dose of 25 mg, usually half actually because of that same sedating effect which I loathe, for anxiety. Not my favorite anti-anxiety but docs won't prescribe benzos - at my request - because I am an addict.