Quetiapine - initial reactiona

Treatment and medication
1

Hi,

I was recently diagnosed as being Bipolar 2, after being depressed for about 6 years. 

I have been on 150mg of Venlafaxine (which I take in the morning) for about 4 years but this seemed to stop working about 8 months ago and I subsequently had a period of very bad depression, interspersed with periods of hypo mania. Hence the diagnosis by my psychiatrist of bipolar 2.

i have been prescribed Quetiapine, in addition to Venlafaxine, which I have started to take at low doses but steadily increasing to 200mg.

i started off taking 25mg each night and for the first few days I felt fantastic. I could finally sleep at night and could wake up In the morning feeling positive and then have a good day. But this only lasted for about 5 days and then I started to slide downhill again and sleep became more difficult.

my dosage was then upped to 50mg. I now take 25mg when I wake up and 25mg before bed. That was only 2 days ago. 

Since then I have had awfully vivid but very realistic nightmares, night sweats, and anxiety in the mornings.

the nightmares are so vivid, not scary, but things associated with my life that when I wake up it takes me a while to understand that it was only a dream and hasn't really happened. I have also woken up during the night shouting, swearing crying due to the content of the dream. But as soon as fall back to sleep, the dream repeats itself exactly as before.

I've found that the dreams upset me so much I feel like crying the next day and feel down.

i am worried that if this is happening on only 50mg, what will happen when I get to 200mg? 

I am not due to see my psychiatrist again until September and although I see my GP on a regular basis I think he will advise me to follow the instructions given by the psych.

has any one else had these side effects? And if so, does it ease eventually, get worse or what?

i would be grateful for any advice or experiences.

thank you in advance,

 

2

Hey liz,

I have been on Qutiapin for about 4 weeks now. I am up to 2x 25mg every night.  I strongly suggest you take your Quetiapine at night time because it MAKES me fall asleep and I use it for insomnia plus severe anxiety attacks.

In addition to tiredness in the mornings more people have experienced symptoms of feeling drug 'ed and do not find clarity until about ten am.

I have in the first weeks experienced terrible ringing in the ears even so much as I went to my general practitioner to see if i had an ear infection. Nope. 

I have experienced huge weight gain. Like my metabolism has shut down.  I have thence increased my exercise. So far with no changes agh!

I have also experienced extreme bloating all day long.

Please report back here to tell me if you have or do get these side effects thanks so much!

3

I forgot to write ....(no edit feature on this forum extremely unpractical) that I also on occasion have vivid dreams and many others have also experienced this on Quetiapin on this forum.  Last night I dreamed I felt an earthquake. And can still feel as though I remember we had an earthquake! The dream was so vivid.  It could have been triggered by me talking to my kids about the California earthquakes in '89 and that I was looking forward to the new earthquake movie coming out.  Either way felt like I was in one and my partner said whats wrong! I said were having an earthquake!

4

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me so promptly. I appreciate it.

i was told by my psychiatrist to split the dose once it increased, so I assumed that meant 25mg in the morning and then 25mg at night. Eventually getting to 100mg in the morning and 100mg at night.

i have rung his office and am awaiting a call back so hopefully I can explain my symptoms and ask his advice.

Apart from the vivid dreams and night sweats, I have experienced a very dry mouth, ringing in my ears (I also experienced this from Venlafaxine but it seems to have got worse), grogginess until at least lunchtime (made worse since taking a dose in the morning), but so far no weight gain.

i read up about all the side effects before starting this medication and had got myself so worried that when I woke up in day 1, after a brilliant nights sleep, and found that I felt good and hadn't got fat overnight, I was euphoric! Ha ha. So it makes me wonder if those first few days of feeling brilliant were purely relief mixed with better sleep.

Have you put on a lot of weight in the 2 weeks you've been on it? And if so, is that due to an increased appetite or purely related to the drugs?

ill write again once I've spoken to my psych to update you on his thoughts.

Liz

xxx

5

Oh and I have also started to experience the jitters in the mornings: my heart feels like it's racing and I feel very anxious. I have never experienced this before so it's quite scary, but it seems to settle down by lunchtime and then I gradually start to relax.

Liz

xxx

6

Hi again,

Sorry to be asking so many questions but this is all new to me and I don't know what to expect.

i have been on sick leave from work for the last 3 months, initially due to the bad bout of depression and now due to the changing medication.

How long can I expect to be off work for? There is no way I could manage it at the moment, mainly due to feeling groggy until at least lunchtime, but also because although I have days where I feel I could function, these are very few and far between. I can be up one day and down the next. My moods are very unpredictable and I don't want to commit myself to returning to work until I am stable. But I have no idea how long that is likely to take.

of course I am also worried about being sacked. I work in the public sector and we do have policies in place to protect the disabled but I am not sure how these work in practice and if I actually do have any rights or protection against dismissal.

Can anyone share their experiences with me?

Thanks

Liz

 

7

Right so taking 2x 25 mg at 11pm, MY OWN side effects have been:

*frequent urination

*sleepiness (so much that it was prescribed for insomnia to me) (still)

*bloated feeling all day long (still)

*dry mouth all day long (still)

*feeling like a zombie until 10am (still)

*loud ringing in the ears (persisted for two weeks)

*very bad migraines (ended after about a week and a half)

*huge weight gain (ten pounds) current

*metabolism slowes to a snails pace (even though exercising) (still)

*moderate constipation (still)

*sugar cravings (ignore these! Once your on the sugar train its hard to get off) (still)

*change in palett/smell - foods I once liked smell and taste differently (still)

*vivid dreams

*increased anxiety at weird times of the day where there is no stress (still)

*anxiety over having anxiety (still)

*because I am prescribed anti depressant, I get positive thoughts but the Quetiapin makes me so relaxed i dont have the "energy" to do them which results in a negative experience.

Pro:

*my anxiety is squelched and almost non existant except sometimes i can get anxiety over having anxiety.

*anything can trigger anxiety for example:

*something on TV

*something someone I heard saying

*fearful thoughts that randomly occur to me

8

Blimey, it sounds like you are having a really tough time with it.

My psychiatrist hasn't rung me back yet, so I haven't got any answers yet as to whether this is all normal and if it will eventually settle down.

Will you be staying at 2 x 25mg at night or will you increase as well?

has your psychiatrist / doctor given you any indication as to when you will start to feel better? Do you work at the moment?

Really sorry to ask so many questions, but I don't know anyone who has been through this and could do with as much advice and help as possible.

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Liz

9

Blimey, it sounds like you are having a really tough time with it.

--the payoff is worth it

My psychiatrist hasn't rung me back yet, so I haven't got any answers yet as to whether this is all normal and if it will eventually settle down.

-you can expect most of the things I say will happen to you

Will you be staying at 2 x 25mg at night or will you increase as well?

-Holding at 2x25mgs at night.

has your psychiatrist / doctor given you any indication as to when you will start to feel better? Do you work at the moment?

-I already wrote the pros and cons. The side effects stay with you as long as you are on the med. But it is YOUR choice your human right to tell your Dr. if you do not want this medicine.

Really sorry to ask so many questions, but I don't know anyone who has been through this and could do with as much advice and help as possible.

-happy to help

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

Liz

-anytime.