Cassielynae: Seroquel taper/withdrawal symptoms help

[Cassielynae]

I started tapering from seroquel 3 months ago. I was on 100mg once a day. I was dropped from 100mg to 50mg. I knew the first week or two was going to initially be pretty rough. The first two weeks I experienced insomnia, nausea, some fatigue, anxiety and some hot and cold sweats. I didn’t feel like it was too horrible because I still had enough energy to make it to work and rest in between. Also, I’m currently 3.5 years sober from opiates and compared to that I was ok with the initial physical withdrawals. After the two weeks the nausea was better, I could sleep just not more than 6 hours and would wake up at 4am and it took me an hour or two to go back to sleep. The first two months were up and down but it was manageable. This last month and for sure the last two weeks have been extremely hard. It started with very bad hot flashes at 4am to where my body felt like it was burning and was super hot to the touch and I would be soaked in sweat, it started happening throughout the day but not as bad, I started having bad headaches that last a long time (this current one has been there for over 24hrs), extreme fatigue to the point where I can wash maybe two dishes and have to sit down, if I got anywhere longer than an hour it takes a long nap and at least a day to recover. The one thing I’m worried about is my job. I’m a server at a sports bar and these last two weeks I’m completely gone after a 5 hours shift. I took two days off, worked a 5 hour shift and couldn’t function. I’ve had three days off after that and I’m in my second day and feel absolutely exhausted. A part of me thinks I shouldn’t be going through this 3 months into it and not dropping another dose yet. After I read some of the posts it sounds like it takes your body awhile to stabilize. I’m worried because of how exhausted I feel from my job and after I get off I feel so drained and don’t even know if I can push myself to go back. I used to be able to convince myself to keep going and I can’t even do that now. I have been doing a lot to help myself. Before tapering I went to a natropath a year ago and started on the auto immune protocol diet, progesterone because my labs were out of whack, curcumin phytosene for inflammation, vitamin D and C. I also am taking a vitamin b-12 injection every week due to my blood work and anemia. I also use the Thorne medi-clear shake everyday. I’ve been going to a massage therapist once a week, I’m doing light yoga everyday, I go on 5 min walks to get my body moving, I’m also going to trauma therapy right. My natropath recently re-checked my blood work two weeks ago and my magnesium was low and my adrenal glands weren’t functioning properly. She put me on magnesium G, 

omega 3’s, a-drenal and bSRT. I also do yoga nidra everyday and journal. I’m wondering if these symptoms are normal this far out after dropping a dose and what others have done for support or something that would help especially with the fatigue and just not being able to barely function especially at my job. Because I’m a server it’s fast paced and I usually walk 5-6 miles while I’m at work at a fast pace. I know going forward I need to taper slower and find a physician that’s willing to taper slower. Im currently on lamaictal 200mg and hopefully taper off of those after the seroquel. Any advice, websites, similar experiences and a taper plan that helped someone else would be appreciated. 

Edited March 15, 2023 by Gridley

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Cassielynae.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  No symptoms, just drug information about the Seroquel and the Lamictal  A list format is best.

 

A question, please.  Why did you reduce the Seroquel rather than the Lamictal?

 

Your drop from 100mg to 50mg was much faster than we recommend, and the withdrawal symptoms you're experiencing, including the fatigue, are typical.  It's also common to get whacked with withdrawal at the 3-month mark.  So what's going on is normal and to be expected.

 

Here's some information on withdrawal so you have a better idea of what you're experiencing:

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Brain Remodelling 

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Regarding the naturopath, most alternative practitioners, just like most mainstream doctors, don't know anything about psychiatric drugs and withdrawal. Tapering and withdrawal are a "whole 'nother thing."   If what your naturopath is working for you, great, but I wanted you to be aware that there's a big difference between what's prescribed for the "undrugged" and for those of us in withdrawal from psychiatric drugs.  

 

Some members have found trauma therapy too much for them during withdrawal.  Again, whatever works for you.

 

How are you feeling  now?  Do you feel it's time to resume tapering Seroquel or that you need to stabillize further?

Are your symptoms more or less the same from day to day or do they swing wildly?  

 

Once you're ready to resume reducing your Seroquel, we recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose every four weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

This link is specifically about tapering Seroquel, including how to get the nonstandard doses needed for a 10% taper.

 

Tips for tapering off quetiapine (Seroquel)

 

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems.  Here we differ from naturopaths.  But two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community.  I hope you’ll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation.  I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but I am glad that you found us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cassielynae]

I started tapering the seroquel  first because I told my psychiatrist I was numb to emotions and couldn’t feel anything. She said the seroquel would be a good place to start. Here’s a little bit of what happened. When I was detox  I was put on seroquel for sleep and never came off of it. I also was put on lamictal but never saw a psychiatrist while I was there and was never diagnosed with anything. My moods were up and down during this time period because I was detoxing off of opiates. Since then I haven’t seen a real psychiatrist they would send re-fills to the pharmacy. Up until January I didn’t have a psychiatrist and I met with one to start tapering. They just said dropping down to 50 shouldn’t be an issue and when I talked to them about my symptoms they said I shouldn’t be experiencing withdrawals after a week which I knew was kind of off. 
 

I did stop the progesterone and the a-drenal supplement yesterday because I noticed headaches since I started them. I think the magnesium and omega 3’s are helping I was just put on them a week ago. My natropath said she was going to reach out to another physician she knew that was more knowledgeable on the subject. 
 

I still feel pretty horrible with the hot flashes, sleeping is in and out, the fatigue is really bad and I’m getting some muscle and body aches. I’m not sure if I should stabilize on this dose or keep going. Part of me says if I already feel this way keep going and the other part of me says I don’t want to feel worse so I need to stabilize. My symptoms were manageable for awhile but the last two weeks hit me hard. My days off are rough but not as bad when I go to work. I’m not sure if all the physical fast pace walking 5-6 miles while I’m work is contributing to making my symptoms worse. I think I did my signature right as far as the drugs, timeline and dose. 

[Gridley]

1 hour ago, Cassielynae said:

They just said dropping down to 50 shouldn’t be an issue and when I talked to them about my symptoms they said I shouldn’t be experiencing withdrawals after a week which I knew was kind of off. 

Yes, that is definitely very far off.  

 

1 hour ago, Cassielynae said:

I’m not sure if I should stabilize on this dose or keep going. Part of me says if I already feel this way keep going and the other part of me says I don’t want to feel worse so I need to stabilize. My symptoms were manageable for awhile but the last two weeks hit me hard.

It sounds like you would likely be better off holding.  Your symptoms seem pretty rough to be heading into a taper.  Tapering isn't a time to "keep pushing."

 

1 hour ago, Cassielynae said:

I think I did my signature right as far as the drugs, timeline and dose. 

I'm afraid your signature didn't appear.  Click on this link:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Then write your signature.

 

Then click on "save" at the lower left.  You may not have clicked "save" last time.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cassielynae]

Ok I think I saved it right. I’ll hold off on the taper for now. Is there anything you can suggest that I haven’t been doing to get through the physical withdrawals? 
 

The first Two weeks I had pretty bad anxiety. Since then my anxiety has been gone. I find it weird because even though I’m going through rough physical withdrawals I don’t have anxiety and I’m really calm. I thought the physical and mental would go hand in hand. 

[Gridley]

10 hours ago, Cassielynae said:

Is there anything you can suggest that I haven’t been doing to get through the physical withdrawals? 

The magnesium and omegas I mentioned in my first post.  Also take a look at these non-drug techniques to cope with withdrawal and see which might be of help to you.

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

10 hours ago, Cassielynae said:

I thought the physical and mental would go hand in hand. 

 

There's no telling with withdrawal.  Physical can be paired with mental or not, and symptoms can come and go with no apparent reason.  Still, it's great the anxiety has gone.