Seroquel is an atypical antipsychotic used in the management of schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder, and off-label for a variety of other purposes, including insomnia and anxiety disorders. The most common side effect of quetiapine is sedation, and it is believed to have a low potential for abuse.

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(Copied over from old review system)

Posted by Keith

Treatment Experience
Seroquel works better than anything else I've tried for insomnia. Its pretty sedating. It works OK for anxiety, I think a benzo is more effective and makes you less drowsy. Id give it 5 stars for insomnia, 3 for anxiety.

(Copied over from old review system)

Posted by cecilygc

Treatment Experience
Seroquel has been a God-send for me. It has not only assisted a great deal with my social anxiety but also greatly assisted in the area of categorization of thoughts and organizational skills.

Due to my anxiety, I was always quite overwhelmed with thoughts and was unable to set goals or plans or actions for anything in my life. This extended from daily cleaning or planning out my day, to making my educational goals and aspirations a route that looked tangible.

Since being on Seroquel, I have received my diploma in Social Services and have organized the next five years of my ed8ucation to get my Doctorate in Psychology.

My boyfriend has also seen a big difference in his thought processes as he just started Seroquel five weeks ago.

(Copied over from old review system)

Posted by Foh_Teej

Treatment Experience
Wont rate it as I didnt take it long enough to give it proper consideration. However, it did nothing but make me stupid from when I did take it. Its a coma in pill form... I still have some left of which i use for extreme cases of insomnia (where I know I wont be doing much the next day as well).

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Posted by Noca

Treatment Experience
I used Seroquel at 400mgs as a sleep aid back when I had insomnia. It worked good for 2 months then stopped, then I switched back to Zyprexa.

(Copied over from old review system)

Posted by klizaw

Social Anxiety Background
I have had extreme social anxiety since I can remember. I didn't even want to go out and play when I was younger and until recently had terrible social avoidance and severe anxiety. I'm 32.

Other Treatments
Every anti-depressant out there; Xanax; Lyrica

Treatment Experience
This drug did nothing good for me. It still took me 3 - 4 hrs to get to sleep and then the next day I would be so tired and sluggish. It made my head "cloudy". On the other hand, it does put my fiance to sleep. It doesn't help any of his manic symptoms(He's Bipolar)and his manicness doesn't help my anxiety. Only Xanax and Lyrica have helped me!

Like so many other meds you will build up a resistance to it. I started taking it about six years ago starting at 100mg. It would put me out. I was given seroquel for insomnia.I ended up taking 900mg and it would not put me to sleep. I've weaned myself down to 300mg and will start taking only 150mg in a few weeks.

OMG I just use 25 mg and puts me to sleep the only problem is I feel like I cant move when I just get to sleep Im like half sleep half awake trying to move my legs and hands and I struggle and then I suddenly wake up being afraid.

I don't have much confidence in shrinks to begin with. Everyone of them wants to tell you that you are bipolar just as disciples of Freud wanted to claassify evryone as paranoid schziphrenia.


Go to Google, type in Overprescribing Seroquel, and view the results. The U.S. Goverment just won a 520 million dollar lawsuit against its manufacturer. After being on it for almost a decade 900 milligrams got to where it had no desirable effect on me. Doctors will often prescribe anti depressants for insomnia. It worked like a charm for me - for a short time.
Not no more and I have quit taking it cold turkey with no withdrawal symptoms. And Serquel sells for about 800 dollars per sixty.

Ding dong the witch is dead.

I use to take the 200 mg tablets and It gave me nightmares. Seroquel does work like a charm for anxiety and depression though, since I become too sedated to even stress over SA and feel sad. It also makes me feel like a walking zombie.

Seroquel is the only thing that allows me to sleep at night. Even ambien won't put me to sleep. Without seroquel, I wouldn't sleep at all. I know, because I have had to be hospitalized for sleep-deprivation psychosis more than once in my life. Went for an entire year without any sleep! Not fun!

I will say this about seroquel though. Too many doctors are overdosing their patients. A little seroquel goes a long way. I only need to take 25 mg to 50 mg to get a good night's sleep. Anymore than that and I have serious side-effects.

Also, at higher dosages seroquel has been shown to damage the pancreas, but not at the lower dosages which I'm now taking it. Ironically, it works better for me now than it was when I was taking much higher dosages.

I started taking 25 mg at bedtime last month. I do not want to take this long term because I am scared of the side effects my doctor has told me about. I know that 25 mg is a very low dose, but I am still worried. Eventually, won't 25 mg stop working? Then I will need 50 mg. There has to be something safer.

No, incaangelique it won't stop working. Unlike the benzodiazepine sedatives such as ambien, seroquel being an atypical neuroleptic is not habit-forming or addictive. I've been taking it for over two years now, and it's just as effective as it was when I first started taking it.

As for the side-effects, there really isn't any danger of those at the lower dosages that we take it. So, don't worry! Believe me when I say that I'm just as concerned about long-term side-effects as you!

Thank you for your replies! They put my mind at ease. It is nice to hear from people who have take this. I have all kinds of anxiety, not just social anxiety. I worry about everything, even my medication. Hah. The seroquel does really help me sleep. I have taken all sorts of prescription sleeping pills in the past, and nothing worked.

Treatment Experience
I have been put on it four times to try and combat sleep and zopiclone addiction.
The side effects were so bad that it did not matter that the pill helped destroy most of the irrational anxiety and it did make me sleep. The sleeping was so strong, i had hallucinations and sleep paralysis which i already struggled with, but Seroquel made it ten times worse. The hunger pains were so severe i thought i would die if i did not eat everything in sight. I had red eyes, pale skin and felt like there was a black shadow over my head. I only suggest taking this at night as i took it through the day when i felt depressed but found it aided my depression and turned me into a blobby overeating zombie who could not wake up. I forgot things and since i was working it was really bad and people thought i was taking illegal drugs because of the effect it had on me.
Awful stuff, the weight gain along with the constant sleep and bad dreams I was unable to get out of made it all too clear for me to STOP

Not everyone has bad experiences with it, but i have not heard too many good reviews from people i know on it. I had a psychiatric nurse who was prescribed it before she went into medicine and she was suicidal, hungry, overweight and paranoid, she also wanted to commit suicide on these lethal pills. 25MG or 100MG they are all bad, no matter what the dose. Sorry but that is my experience and the fact that most doctors are paid big bucks to promote and prescribe antipsychotic meds for people who do not have Psychosis is pathetic and ridiculous.

Example
You take one too many zopiclone, you do not die, you go a little crazy and end up in the psychiatric emergency ward and are put on an anti drug saline drip.
You take a packet full of Seroquel, you end up in ICU with possible heart failure

Overall rating -10/10
You may aswell take Mirtazapine (remeron) for sleep, it has the same side effects.

The only positive
If you are not plagued with sleep disorders, it may work for you
Its also not as bad as Haldol (halperidol).
Wihtin one week of using that vicious pill, I had developed Akathisia

My Psychiatrist put me on Seroquel in February, in place of Clonazepam. I was able to switch right over with no withdrawals, and was told i'd need to increase the dosage, but 25 MG in the AM and 50 MG at night has been perfect since day 1.

I must add that if I didn't have my 60 MG of Adderall/day, I too think i'd feel like a Zombie.

I take Seroquel as needed throughout the day, usually 25mg in the morning and again every 3 or 4 hours, then 50mg b4 bed. It does very little for my SA, but does stop a painful, supercharged feeling I get in my muscles. My sister-in-law commented I was more outgoing after I started taking them, but I think thats more due to it stopping my muscle pain.
The only side effect I get is severe drowsiness. For instance this week I slept 12 hours, woke up for 6 hours, asleep again for 10 hours, awake for 5 hours, asleep for 5 hours...
I don't think the side effects are worth it for SA alone, but for me it's been a god send. I've lived with a pain for 6 years that nothing was able to get rid of until I took seroquel. If it gives me diabetes it will still be worth it, the pain was too much for too long.

Seroquel will definitely cure SA, if you don't mind being cured by sleeping your entire life away. Can't very well worry when you can't even stay awake.

You never fail to make me laugh my *** off

Personally I would give this a major swerve, unless you happen to enjoy walking around in circles hours and hours upon end and being unable to sit down. It's a D2 inhibitor. D2 inhibitors are never good for that "feel good" factor anxious people need.