Fantini: Tapering Seroquel and Lyrica

[Fantini]

Hi everyone!

I'm very pleased to find this forum! 

Congratulations for the initiative!  It´s shocking how many people are suffering from withdrawn.  : (

Last year I became absolutely miserable after trying taper Seroquel and start Lyrica.

My anxiety is out of control. I haven't slept in months. I feel numbness in my feet and hands. I lost more than half of my hair. The tinnitus is unbearable. My memory and cognition are very bad. And I'm sensitive to everything...food, supplements, light, sound... Also, I developed some movement disorders like restless legs and akathisia. One of the worst symptoms is crying and screaming that lasts for hours. Could it be psychosis?

All the doctors keep saying I have hypochondria. But I know these symptoms are real. Has anyone else received this diagnosis?

I'm from Portugal and I'll do my best to be able to communicate in English!

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone all the best and say that I´m ready to learn whatever is necessary. I´m Chemical Bachelor so I understand a little about drugs but absolutely nothing about the human body.

My first question is: what is the proper dose of seroquel should i take? I decided to start slowly with 0.5mg. It´s enougth?

 

Take care everyone.

(And please let me know if my English is not understandable.)

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by ChessieCat
Resized font

[Frogie]

@Fantini

 

Welcome to SA. This is a volunteer site helping member such as yourself taper off psychotic medications, or have tapered off and are now healing.

 

This is your introduction page where you will receive information, ask questions and meet other members. We ask that each member only have one introduction page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

Are you feeling any better since reinstating the Seroquel at 0.5 mg? If not, you could try to increase the dose to 1 mg and see if that helps. It takes 7-10 days for medication to reach full capacity in your body. Then a nice long hold for a few months before trying to taper.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Tips for tapering off quetiapine (Seroquel)

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

And you are still taking 50 mg Lyrica? Are you still having akathisia? If you are, you could try tapering it again and see if that helps. Since you have only been on it for a couple of months, you could try to take 40 mg, seeing if that would help. You could also try a micro taper and see if that relieves some of the symptoms.

 

 

Tips for tapering off pregabalin (Lyrica)

Micro-taper instead of 10% or 5% decreases

 

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

 

Health anxiety, hypochondria, and obsession with symptoms

 

 

We don't suggest supplements as they can be stimulating to the nervous system. We do however suggest 2 that some find calming. You could try a small amount of one and wait a few days before introducing the other.

 

Magnesium

Omega-3 Fish Oil

 

I hope I was able to supply you with some links that you will find useful. Please reach out to us with any questions you may have.

 

[Fantini]

Hi @Frogie. How are you?

Thank you so much for answering me and helpful links!

First of all, congratulations for the Xanax tapering. 

Yes, I am feeling a little better since reinstating the Seroquel at 0.5 mg. 

Yes, I am taking Lyrica 50 mg and still having akathisia.

 

I have quite a few dumb questions:

1. Is there an optimal reinstatement dose? 
2. Pregabalin has a short half-life. Is it better to split the dose before tapering?
3. I did not feel well after taking omega 3. Should I take it anyway?

All the best, Fantini.

 

[Frogie]

@Fantini

 

1.  We suggest a low dosage when reinstating so if you need to go up a little it's much easier on your system. It is very hard to go down. I would hold on the 0.50 mg of Seroquel for a little while and see if that helps.

 

2.  You could split the dose in 1/2 by moving 1/2 of your dose up an hour each day until you reach the time you need. So an example would be: if you took the whole dose at 9:00 pm, you would take 1/2 at 9:00 pm and 1/2 at 8:00 pm, the the next day 7:00 and 9:00 until you reach 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. Then hold, hold, hold before thinking of tapering.

 

3.  If you did not feel well taking the omega, I would stop taking it. It does not need to be tapered.

 

Does this make sense? Please let me know if I can help any further.

[Fantini]

13 hours ago, Frogie said:

@Fantini

 

1.  We suggest a low dosage when reinstating so if you need to go up a little it's much easier on your system. It is very hard to go down. I would hold on the 0.50 mg of Seroquel for a little while and see if that helps.

 

2.  You could split the dose in 1/2 by moving 1/2 of your dose up an hour each day until you reach the time you need. So an example would be: if you took the whole dose at 9:00 pm, you would take 1/2 at 9:00 pm and 1/2 at 8:00 pm, the the next day 7:00 and 9:00 until you reach 9:00 am and 9:00 pm. Then hold, hold, hold before thinking of tapering.

 

3.  If you did not feel well taking the omega, I would stop taking it. It does not need to be tapered.

 

Does this make sense? Please let me know if I can help any further.

Hi @Frogie. How are you?

Thank you for your support!

1. I'm thinking of keeping 0.5 mg quetiapine for at least two more weeks. 

2. That makes complete sense. I'm going to split today. I really hope this is going to work. 

3. I will stop taking. At least for a while.

 

Have a nice day!

[Pollyjay]

1 hour ago, Fantini said:

I'm thinking of keeping 0.5 mg quetiapine for at least two more weeks. 

 

Fantini, can you tell me how you are measuring your 0.5mg quetiapine? My pills are so small I'm using a scale to weigh the little bit I'm taking. I'm holding right now until I've finished tapering the Lunesta.  I'm just interested in how you are measuring it.

 

I hope you begin to feel better soon!

 

Pollyjay

[Fantini]

28 minutes ago, Pollyjay said:

 

Fantini, can you tell me how you are measuring your 0.5mg quetiapine? My pills are so small I'm using a scale to weigh the little bit I'm taking. I'm holding right now until I've finished tapering the Lunesta.  I'm just interested in how you are measuring it.

 

I hope you begin to feel better soon!

 

Pollyjay

Hi @Pollyjay! How are you?

 

First, I mix one pill (25 mg) in water (25 mL).

It is important to mix them very well.

Then, I take 0.5 mL every day at the same time. 

I'm using a micropipette. But you can measure the volume with a disposable syringe.

The eszopiclone (Lunesta) is practically insoluble in water. I think it is not OK prepare a suspension in water. What do you think @Frogie?

 

All the best, Fantini.

 

 

 

[Frogie]

@Fantini

 

You are correct that Lunesta is not water soluble and needs to be done in alcohol. But you are doing it correctly.

[Fantini]

Hi @Frogie! How are you? I hope you're well!

I stopped writing because I was very sick. I had a viral infection and was hospitalized. But now I'm Ok.

Today it's been exactly a month since I stopped taking the medication for the viral infection. Now I'm just taking Seroquel and Lyrica. 

Before I got sick I had split Lyrica (12.5mg 10:30 AM and 37,5 mg at 10:30 PM). I tried to move 25 mg but it made the akathisia worse. By moving just 12.5 mg... the akathisia improved.

After the infection the insomnia got worse and I became extremely sensitive to Lyrica and insomniac.

My goal is to improve the quality of my sleep and I would like to know if you can help me?! What can I do? 

Also, I have a few questions:
1. Do I continue to take Lyrica (37.5 mg) even though I feel very bad after taking it? Or do I split the dose? 
2. If it's a good idea to split the dose, how should I do it? 
3. How long after the infection should I wait to tapering Lyrica?

I thought about writing down my daily symptom notes to better explain how I'm feeling. What do you think? 
Thank you!
 All the best, fantini

 

31/07 -  01/07

8 PM Seroquel 0,5 mg
9 PM Ok
10 PM Ok
10:30 PM Lyrica 37,5 mg
11 PM Ok
00 PM Ok
00:30 - 3:30 Shortness of breath, heart attack, mental confusion, restlessness, akathisia
4 AM restlessness
5 - 9 AM restless sleep
10 AM fatigue
10:30 Lyrica 12,5 mg
11 AM - 2 PM fatigue
2 PM - 6 PM Ok
6 - 7 PM panic attack
7 PM Ok
8 PM Seroquel 0,5 mg
01/07 - 02/07
8 - 10 PM Ok
10:30 PM Lyrica 37,5 mg
11 PM - 1 AM Ok
1 AM - 3:30 Shortness of breath, heart attack, mental confusion, restlessness, akathisia
4 AM restlessness
5 - 7 AM restless sleep
7 AM Adrenaline rush, panic attack

[Fantini]

Infections x tapering

 

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well as far as possible! 😺

I created this topic to better understand how to proceed after having an infection. After a viruses, how long do we have to wait before start tapering? Has anyone gone through this? How did you proceed? I really want to start taper from Lyrica, but as I had a viral infection a month ago, I don't want to rush it.

Thank you very much! 

 

Edited July 3, 2022 by ChessieCat
added topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

It is generally better to hold for longer than to risk tapering too soon.  And it will depend on what type of virus you had and how badly you were affected by it.  For example, I have had a virus (some sort of flu) for the last 4.5 weeks.  I feel a lot better then I did but I am still not completely over it.  If I was still tapering I would definitely not be tapering again until at least 4 weeks after I feel like I am over it.  And then I would be only making a small reduction (perhaps as small as 1% reduction) as a test to see how it goes.

 

It's important to understand that when we are sick our body is stressed because it is trying to fight the virus, so it may take some time before the body has recovered; we cannot always feel/know when our body is still recovering.

[Fantini]

16 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

It is generally better to hold for longer than to risk tapering too soon.  And it will depend on what type of virus you had and how badly you were affected by it.  For example, I have had a virus (some sort of flu) for the last 4.5 weeks.  I feel a lot better then I did but I am still not completely over it.  If I was still tapering I would definitely not be tapering again until at least 4 weeks after I feel like I am over it.  And then I would be only making a small reduction (perhaps as small as 1% reduction) as a test to see how it goes.

 

It's important to understand that when we are sick our body is stressed because it is trying to fight the virus, so it may take some time before the body has recovered; we cannot always feel/know when our body is still recovering.

Hi @ChessieCat 😸 How are you? I hope you're well. Thanks for the reply.

I had a serious case of influenza and had to be hospitalized.I don't have the virus anymore, but I'm still recovering.

 

I understood! Better give my body a break.

 

So should I also wait before split the Lyrica dose? I ask because I'm feeling very sick after taking this poison.

 

All the best,

Fantini

[ChessieCat]

6 minutes ago, Fantini said:

So should I also wait before split the Lyrica dose?

 

Q:  How often do you take it now?

[ChessieCat]

I've just seen your post above with the times.

 

Why are you asking about dose splitting the Lyrica, you are already taking it 3 times a day.

[ChessieCat]

I've just realised that you take it twice a day.  The evening dose is shown twice in your notes.

 

Are you wanting to take it 3 times a day?

[Fantini]

11 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

I've just realised that you take it twice a day.  The evening dose is shown twice in your notes.

 

Are you wanting to take it 3 times a day?

Exactly!
I would like to take it 3 times a day because I read that it helps with tapering.
Also, after taking the night dose I feel really bad.

[ChessieCat]

I don't think there would be any/much of a problem with splitting your dose now so long as you do it gradually.  SA generally suggests moving part of the dose by 1 hour each day, but you could always do it by 1/2 hour each day.

 

Are you planning on taking 3 equal doses?

 

Your current dose schedule is:

 

10:30 am  Lyrica 12,5 mg

8.00 pm   Seroquel 0,5 mg
10:30 pm Lyrica 37,5 mg

 

These are just some musings on my part.  The final decision will be up to you how you get it to a schedule which suits you.

 

You could start by moving 1/2 fo your Lyrica earlier by 1 hour each day until you get to 10.30 am, 4.30pm and 10.30pm.

 

You could then move both (ie move both doses on the same day) the 10.30am and the 4.30pm earlier by 1/2 hour / 30 minutes each day until you get to taking your first dose when you wake up (I'm assuming you get up before 10.30am and arise at about the same time each day - this will need to be adjusted accordingly).

 

The aim is to spread out the dosing times for the 3 doses so they are fairly evenly spread, but you need to take into consideration your lifestyle and whether you will be able to continue taking your doses at the set times on a regular basis.

 

I don't think it will be necessary to get all 3 doses to be the same amount (ie 16.66mg) because when you start tapering you could reduce the two higher doses.  And then once all 3 are the same or similar doses, you could then reduce all 3 doses.

 

To double check that you are not reducing by more than 10% (or whatever taper rate you choose) of the total dose you would multiple 50mg (total daily dose) by 0.9 (for 10%) = 45mg (or 0.95 for 5%, 0.975 for 2.5%, 0.99 for 1%; you can see that each of these add up to 1.00).  Then work out what doses you are going to take throughout the day.

 

If you have difficulty working this out I suggest that you write down what you want the end result to be, ie the times and doses and then work backwards.

[Fantini]

22 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

I don't think there would be any/much of a problem with splitting your dose now so long as you do it gradually.  SA generally suggests moving part of the dose by 1 hour each day, but you could always do it by 1/2 hour each day.

 

Are you planning on taking 3 equal doses?

 

Your current dose schedule is:

 

10:30 am  Lyrica 12,5 mg

8.00 pm   Seroquel 0,5 mg
10:30 pm Lyrica 37,5 mg

 

These are just some musings on my part.  The final decision will be up to you how you get it to a schedule which suits you.

 

You could start by moving 1/2 fo your Lyrica earlier by 1 hour each day until you get to 10.30 am, 4.30pm and 10.30pm.

 

You could then move both (ie move both doses on the same day) the 10.30am and the 4.30pm earlier by 1/2 hour / 30 minutes each day until you get to taking your first dose when you wake up (I'm assuming you get up before 10.30am and arise at about the same time each day - this will need to be adjusted accordingly).

 

The aim is to spread out the dosing times for the 3 doses so they are fairly evenly spread, but you need to take into consideration your lifestyle and whether you will be able to continue taking your doses at the set times on a regular basis.

 

I don't think it will be necessary to get all 3 doses to be the same amount (ie 16.66mg) because when you start tapering you could reduce the two higher doses.  And then once all 3 are the same or similar doses, you could then reduce all 3 doses.

 

To double check that you are not reducing by more than 10% (or whatever taper rate you choose) of the total dose you would multiple 50mg (total daily dose) by 0.9 (for 10%) = 45mg (or 0.95 for 5%, 0.975 for 2.5%, 0.99 for 1%; you can see that each of these add up to 1.00).  Then work out what doses you are going to take throughout the day.

 

If you have difficulty working this out I suggest that you write down what you want the end result to be, ie the times and doses and then work backwards.

Thanks for the instructions! I'm going to walk very slowly because I'm afraid the akathisia will get worse again. This path is very difficult and I am very grateful that you (and @Frogie) are so helpful. 😻