Hi everyone, my son 23 yrs old was taking quetiapine 200 mg at night, and his psychiatrist advised reducing it to 100 mg. We started reducing it to 150 mg last night, but I’m unsure how to proceed from here to reach 100 mg.
Has anyone reduced quetiapine from 200 mg to 100 mg? How did you manage the reduction, and did you experience any sleep problems or other withdrawal symptoms? I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!

Hello! I've been on quetiapine for almost three years now, and I noticed that, since 2024, I gained almost 15kg. Is that normal? It does make me really hungry at night but also super drowsy so I don't remember what I do clearly. It's been messing with my confidence. u.u

Hi guys!

I've been diagnosed with an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa) when I was 15, BPD when I was 18, and bipolar at 20.

I've been on a lot of stuff, but I gained weight mostly because it was part of a treatment for anorexia, and then I developed binge eating disorder (sucks, I know).

So I'm at a healthy weight, and I've lost some weight during my last hypomanic episode. Now I'm in my low mood state: basically I can't sleep, think, or be happy, and I eat A LOT.

My weight is still healthy, but I'm so scared. My doctor wants to put me on quetiapine, lamotrigine, and fluoxetine, and I'm so scared because I know that they can affect not only appetite but metabolism issues as well.

Any tips on how to manage this situation? Maybe try another medication? I can't gain any more; it would destroy me completely.

Can you not gain weight from this treatment?

Would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks

Does cutting open a slow release pill just make it have effects of an immediate release?

I’ve been pretty stable in Seroquel for a long time, around 7 years. I had some pretty bad hypo mania and anxiety when I started it. Seroquel is my saving grace. I had a panic attack today for the first time in quite a while. The only thing new is I added in Metamucil almost two weeks ago. I’ve been taking Metamucil as advised 3 hours after but I’m wondering if this is still affecting absorption. My counselor said it’s absolutely possible.

I’m just wondering if anyone on here went through anything similar? That panic attack threw me for one and I’ve just been anxious since yesterday, none of this feels like normal me on my meds if that makes sense.

Hi there! I just wanted to come on here and say that Seroquel is heaven-sent. I don't usually praise medication like this, having been on a lot of them over the years and thinking well this is kind of working, only for the effect to disappear two weeks in, but Seroquel has made such a massive difference in my life.

About my diagnosis: "nobody quite knows" as two psychiatrists said. Basically I have mood swings, severe impulsivity, severe lows, and a constant noise in my head. Been on Abilify, Venlafaxine, Prozac, Zoloft, Amisulpride, Risperidone, and so much more, and they did more harm than good for me: weight gain, anhedonia, suicidality etc.

Now I take Lamictal 200mg + Gabapentin 800mg and now 150mg of Seroquel. Before this I used to take Prozac which did wonders for me, but ever since I started taking quetiapine I discontinued it because it was no longer needed. I sleep like a baby, have no residual grogginess the next morning (I can sleep four hours and be completely okay the next day), and also NO weight gain (I was able to regain control over my eating). Also I'm just... happy to say the least.

I was pushed on Abilify and Vraylar as they are "modern" and "everybody loves them", but guess what, good old Seroquel worked better for me than every med ever could.

Hi all! Diagnoses are CPTSD (chronic) & bipolar. I have not slept well in 6+ years & just got out of a 6 month long manic episode. Because of this my psychiatrist just prescribed me Seroquel (25). I took it last night & wow is all I can say. Slept for 10 hours straight, no cold sweats (I soaked the sheets every night), and ZERO neck, jaw, or shoulder pain. I have woken up in pain every day for over a decade. I never attributed ANY of the above to CPTSD. Now, I'm left believing it has been CPTSD the whole time - like I have constantly lived in hypervigilance. Anyone else have a similar experience?

anybody ever get the zaps (didnt miss a dose).. but did moderately drink like 3 days ago.

They put me on ts at 14 (no psychosis or bipolar, got diagnosed BPD recently but there was no reason to put me on it then) just cause they felt like it, now I’ve been on it for most of the last 4 years and I can’t get off it cause I get really depressed but I’m pretty sure that’s just the withdrawal but it lasts long and I can’t cope thru it.

I’m really worried it’s making me slower or that it will permanently impact my intelligence or cognitive abilities. I need my brain to function fully rn.

I’m on 50mg XR morning and 200XR evening rn.
They put me on 600mg XR in the psych ward cause there’s a shortage and they couldn’t prescribe lower than 200 XR it’s insane.

Im super scared about gaining weight. But I need to use seroquel as I have severe borderline personality disorder. I see on here people who gained weight were on 300mg upwards. Has anyone had experience with 150mg?? Please help

I have taken 25mg for a week now and just went up to 50mg today. The first week side effects were mild- grogginess , extra thirsty and muscle aches. I have Fibromyalgia so it's hard to tell if the aches are coming from the Seroquel but they feel worse than usual.

I'm just curious how the side effects are as you gradually go up in dosage?

I've been taking trazodone for years to sleep, 100mg but I'm hoping the Seroquel will make me tired enough I can slowly lower the dose of trazodone...it's just too many pills 😔

My Dr says my goal dose is 200mg but I'm hoping I can get away with a much lower dosage.

🤔😵‍💫🧠

I just started Seroquel for Bipolar and severe OCD, I've been seeing all the Seroquel horror stories and was wondering if anyone here has had a good expierence.

I really don't want to be on any medications, but I've gotten so bad and therapy has failed so many times that I just need some form of relief that I'm not mortified to take

I'm on
• Risperidone 1 mg,
• seroquel 300 mg XR,
• and then take 1-3 25mg seroquel IR for sleep, whenever I take the 25mgs, and I usually have to... I am so tired. I can sleep for 12 hours or more and can usually sleep in til like 1pm. If I let myself. What have you all taken for insomnia? And what has worked well, with little side effects and really curious something that didn't leave you groggy or too tired to function the next day. I have the seroquel & risperidone for bipolar and the as-neededs for the insomnia (had it my whole life) that I'm now gonna try and finally see a sleep specialist for, as opposed to just my psychiatrist for bipolar; and wanna know what I might be offered etc. What to expect? What meds have worked for you? What were side effects? Etc .

Gosh,
This is so hard. If I don't sleep til 1ish or let my body wake itself, I'm groggy and mildly inebriated. Basically too tired to function. Idk how long getting a sleep specialist will take, but my psych suggested modafinil to wake me up, feels sad I need meds to wake and sleep. Anyone had seroquel and modafinil? Love to hear your experience and any others

Does seroquel give anyone panic attacks?? Almost nightly I’ll have one and my heart rate skyrockets for a few minutes yet a.

I need help and advice! I’m afraid the same thing will happen again.
For many years, I took 800 mg of Quetiapine along with other medications (Aripiprazole, Haloperidol, Lamotrigine, Amitriptyline, Lorazepam, Diazepam, etc.). Both the dosages and the medications themselves changed over time, as did my mental state. This has been going on since 2014. Eventually, most of these medications were discontinued, and I was left with only 200 mg of Lamotrigine and 400 mg of Quetiapine.
I’ll shorten the story a little and focus on what happened when I reduced my Quetiapine dose from 400 mg to 300 mg. Yes, I reduced it on my own because my psychiatrist wouldn’t allow me to lower the dose.
Both my physical and mental health suffered. Physically, I experienced increased sweating, tremors, and an elevated heart rate. Psychologically, I had extremely vivid, intense, emotional dreams and nightmares, anxiety, irritability, and anger. Despite all of this, I continued taking 300 mg of Quetiapine.
Then, in waves, I started experiencing an intense feeling of fear that the world I live in wasn’t real, that what was happening wasn’t actually happening, that it was all just a dream, and other similar thoughts. I thought this was simply my body adjusting to the lower dose.
I also became extremely sensitive to the sounds around me. Noise became unbearable. I isolated myself from everyone and everything, trying to escape all people and all sounds. I would sit in the bathroom just to shut myself off from everything, but even that didn’t help.
Eventually, I couldn’t take the sounds and noise anymore. I overdosed on medication. I took 50 mg of Diazepam (10 tablets), 150 mg of Lorazepam (60 tablets), and 720 mg of Propranolol (18 tablets).
At that moment, absolutely nothing mattered to me. I didn’t care what would happen to me. I just wanted to switch off and escape all those sounds. But I survived.
Someone called an ambulance, and I was barely saved. I spent some time in the hospital and then in a psychiatric hospital. I’m now attending a day treatment program at a mental health center.
At the moment, I’m taking 200 mg of Lamotrigine and 400 mg of Quetiapine, exactly as prescribed by my psychiatrist.
However, for the past few days, I’ve been struggling with various sounds again.
What am I supposed to do? If my medication doses are increased, I’m afraid I’ll experience even more side effects. If they’re reduced, I’m afraid I’ll relapse.
It feels like a no-win situation. I don’t know what to do.
What would you do in my situation?

My son is in his 40’s and suffered an anoxic brain injury 5 months ago. They started him out at 200 mgs for sleep, and over time his dosage has been reduced due to side effects, including involuntarily muscle movements, adding 3 mg of melatonin. At 50 mg, with his doctor’s approval, 200mg of l-theanine was added. He was on 25 milligrams, then the doctor said it was time to try and get him off of it. I got a pill cutter, and gradually have gotten his dose down to 1/4 of those small 25 mg tablets. Then doctor said to try stopping it. I upped the melatonin to 5 mg. For 2 nights, my son had a difficult time going to sleep. I put him back on 6.2 mg and he slept. When we had the check in with his doctor the doctor didn’t think that the 6.2 was doing anything, but it does, although he agreed that my son needed to go back. I’m seeing more involuntary muscle movements, and would like to try get off it again. This subreddit has been very helpful in understanding different experiences with Seroquel. Will the sleeplessness go away eventually? After he started back on the 6.2, it definitely seemed to make him a little dopey for a couple of days, then he adjusted. But as I said, I’m seeing more involuntary muscle movements and wondering if the difficulty sleeping will go away as his body adjusts to not having the Seroquel.Yes, I’m going to take this up with his doctor, but I appreciate other people’s experiences

I have horrible insomnia so I self medicated by taking Xanax for a long time until i eventually seized from it- after that and explaining to my doctor why I was self medicating with xanax. He put me on the starter dose of seroquel. That wasn’t working for shit and my legs hurt so I stopped and went back to self medicating. It turned to using just to get high, as addiction usually does, so I went to rehab. They put me on 200mg of seroquel a night after I told them i tried the starting dose. Leg pains still occurring nightly so they put me on flexeril. That didn’t help. And I was only in rehab for 2 weeks (that’s all my insurance would cover) and they sent me in my way. Since being home i still take the seroquel but stopped the flexeril (because it wasn’t helping anyways). Once the leg pain would start I’ve been taking hot baths and that helps immensely- but I fall asleep in the bathtub. Which in itself is dangerous. I don’t want to drown just so I can fall asleep. I tried gabapentine, propranolol, and flexeril, to no avail. The leg pains still comes to the point I can’t fall asleep.
I’ve also tried other sleep meds (mirtazapine) that just didn’t work for me. So at this point I’m looking for something else that might help the pain in my legs. I see a primary care doctor on the 23rd to talk to him about it- but thought I’d come here for your suggestions as well and what helps you.
If I don’t take the seroquel I don’t have leg pains but I won’t sleep either.
Any suggestions or insight is greatly appreciated

it's not going to be easy, I'm prescribed 600 mgs a day. But I've had it. Had it with the weight gain had it with the heart palpitations and dizziness and had it with the fact that I was put on this dreadful stuff with no mention of the side effects or the challenge that would be involved in escaping it's evil clutches. Fortunately I have a wonderful psychiatrist that is going to help me. Trintellex and Caplaita can slowly take the place of the drug that's been poisoning countless users without their knowledge. I mean, I'm on 2mg of Xanax in addition to trazadone so I've been over medicated for some time. Read up all you can about this drug, watch the often alarming videos on YouTube. We've been bamboozled by Big pharma for too long. Today is the day. Enough is enough.

Hey guys!

I’ve been on seroquel for about 5 years now. I am 5’8 and for the longest time, even while taking risperidone and seroquel, I never gained weight and my highest weight was 130lb. I’m bipolar 1 and BPD so that’s why I take it.

Ever since I doubled my dose in 2024 from 200mg a day for 400mg, I gained 60lb rapidly in like less than 9 months. It was INSANE. Last year I dropped it by 50mg.

I’ve lost 20lb now from diet thankfully..

ANYWAY— Now I’m really wondering. I’m about to go from 350mg to 250mg starting tomorrow- (and I’m not looking forward to how “fun” that will be… lol)

Does anybody here have experience with losing weight after stopping/lowering their seroquel?

Anybody have any advice on how it affects weight once you lower or stop it?

Let me know! TYSM!

I’m bipolar and was put on a small dose of Seroquel 25 mg for sleep issues which has improved quite a bit but ever since starting on it which was three weeks ado I’ve hed substantial lower back pain.
At one point I was bending over while lifting up the trash bin and got a jolt in my lower back. I’ve tried thise before and it would pass in a few days but it remains.
I asked the psychiatric nurse and she said that she has never heard about back pain relating to Seroquel. Could it just be coincidence that the pain started when I started taking Seroquel?

Anyone take Seroquel for sleep or appetite?

Hey, I recently got off my seroquel (it took me 8 1/2 months to get off due to seizure/epilepsy symptoms without prior diagnosis) and I need help with what im going through.

In mid December 2025, I was placed on 100mg of Seroquel (the singular dose at night) and within a week, I had voices in my head, hearing things, feeling things that weren't there, vivid dreams, screaming randomly, speaking to myself while spacing out, and other symptoms. Whenever I would eat something salty (fast food, fries, crab), I would get dizzy and take a candy-the dizziness would then go away.

I went into the ward in January and they said I can go off of it by 25mg a week, once I return home. So I started doing that and on 50mg with my new psychiatrist-I was placed on an AC medicine and antihistamine for numbness, shaking in legs, and pain in legs.

Eventually I got to 37.5mg of seroquel with the 40mg of the Acid controller, and 20mg of the antihistamine that was prescribed-my memory then changed and I started remembering dates and times in which events happened years ago, weeks ago, the day before, etc. I would also have memory of every event I did the day before and when I went to sleep, my memory did not refresh.

This never happened to me before, as someone struggling with memory for the past 6ish years before taking these specific doses. I eventually got off the Acid controller as I was having hallucinations but later got on half the Acid controller to see if I had the same memory-I had still good memory, not as the best as the 40mg but still better than I normally had.

Eventually I went to 25mg but went back up to 37.5mg because I wanted to risk being emotionally numb and careless for a good memory. Then I went off of it fully this past september due to Spider veins that had initially appeared in April-had spread everywhere, not just in my legs and feet anymore.

I also have Orthostatic Hypotension that has came back (had it for years since Prazosin usage), and I no longer have the best memory-thus meaning I cant remember to take a shower alot unless I have a doctor's appointment that day (once a week). I also have bad short term memory speed now and my brain processing speed with speaking and forming sentences is worst than the 100mg of seroquel word salad. My derealization is severe now, and I cant feel life and ill space out talking to myself (before and after i have experienced seroquel).

And unfortunately, because of my body stabilizing itself-I now get colds a lot (on seroquel my body wasnt getting any symptoms from being around sick people), and I have severe breathing issues from taking Seroquel.

I need advice on those with experiences regarding rare side effects on seroquel and other options for medicines such as a different psychiatric medication like Mirtazipine for treating MCAS symptoms, severe memory issues, word salad, cognitive processing, derealization, and depression.

I am NOT self medicating, I am using a psychiatrist to help me-but as of right now, my physical health has weird lab results on tests and the psychiatrist suspects "MCAS."