Bipolar Disorder Support Group

Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.

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ivybelle 07/28/2009

My pdoc put me on 25mg of Seroquel today (and up to 50mg if I need it) as a way to help calm me down and get me to sleep. Since the "hospital" word came up today, I'm really hoping this works for me. Anyone have any experiences with this? Does it work? How long does it take? If you take it to sleep how long before you go to bed?

Sorry to have so many questions, I just figure this is the best place to ask.

Thanks!

deleted_user 07/28/2009

I take 200mg of it at night.. I love it.. but when I first started it, I was really hung over in the am, very hard to get up.. After awhile that went away..

deleted_user 07/28/2009

At first I was taking 50 mgs 3x/day and 200 at night. It knocked me on my butt. I think I slept for two solid days. Eventually I ended up on 800 mgs of extended release at bedtime. It typically made me tired in 2.5 - 3 hours. Now I'm on 600 mgs of regular and it takes about 1 - 1.5 hours to make me tired. It seems to work okay as an anti-psychotic but without the depakote my moods were still switching back and forth quite rapidly.

deleted_user 07/28/2009

seroquel is used for both anti-psychotic and sleep aids.....I take 200mgs of it and I find it works very well to put me to sleep... I don't like taking it during the day because I can't do anything if I do. The side effects I have is being hungry, and some kind of wicked dry mouth...But I just keep some water close by me at all times. I use it for both uses. I like it, but it may slow your thought processes down when you first start taking it.

deleted_user 07/28/2009

Oh and it also makes my eyes red ALL day long....makes my eyes sore for some reason........I have asked my doctor about it, but he didn't seem to concerned...so I let that part go. Hope it helps....it's pretty strong stuff though

deleted_user 07/28/2009

I think everyone has covered everything that I would say. I've taken as much as 1400mg/night- currently I take only 350mg. The one thing I would add is that, even though I've been taking it, at different dosages for years, is that it makes me tired instantly- especially at doses higher than 200 or so, I slur my words within 20 minutes.

HOWEVER- I do take daytime seroquel when I need to, and I am able to stay upright. it's not pleasant though.

Good luck with this! It can be a very good sleep aid for many people.

deleted_user 07/28/2009

it really varies. sometimes its like you could sleep for days. i dont find that it always helps me to get off to sleep, but it certainly always helps me to stay asleep when I am asleep. good luck

deleted_user 07/29/2009

I've been on Seroquel for 9 months then stopped for a while and just started Seroquel XR a month ago.The regular seroquel works pretty quick so I'd take it about 30 min before bed, then get in bed and do nonthing no TV, maybe read a book. I was on 450mg of Seroquel and I'm now on 400mg of Seroquel XR. So, Good Luck.

olenka1 07/29/2009

I'm on Seroquel 100mg x 3 daily. I take it an hour before I go to sleep & most of the time it works.

deleted_user 07/29/2009

At first it will make you tired, but you tend to get used to it. I take 600mg of Seroquel XR normally. I do go up to 1000mg (600mg of the XR +400mg of the regular) on occasion when I am paranoid. Works well... You do tend to get hungry on it, I take Topamax with it to prevent this (well I do still get a little hungry on it, but not like it was without Topamax) I do not really get tired on it normally. I am still up and I took mine hours ago. :-D

deleted_user 07/29/2009

I take 300 mg XR twice a day and have good results. Stick with it maybe you will have good results for too.

Good luck to you.

T

deleted_user 08/01/2009

im on my 3rd/4th day of taking serquel xl. it makes me feel jumpy and dry mouth. im zombied, but still freaked out quite a lot but its like the phsycall emotion is dragged out. im not crying anymore haha i guess thats a good thing tho? oh and im eating so much more. il be rolling into my GPs office in 2 weeks time haha!
hope it works for you hun x

deleted_user 08/20/2009

I first started taking Seroquel 25mg to help me sleep back in 2004. By May of 2007 when I was hospitalized they increased it to 450 mg & I gained 70 lbs....I asked my pdoc to take me off of it & he started decreasing it in November 2008, I have been off of it since January 2009 & have lost 43 lbs....still have about 17 more to go, but I will do it. I can tell you that it does help you sleep, after I took it, i was asleep within one hour, but I WILL NEVER GO ON IT AGAIN because of the weight gain, but everyone is different.....good luck & blessings...

deleted_user 08/21/2009

I take 600mg at night and agter about 2 hours it makes me sleepy...it will probably make you sleepy, I'd take teh 25 until you find out how it's going to affect you.

GracieLooWho 08/25/2009

i was taking the xr and it took a couple of hours to make me sleepy but once i was out i was out cold. it made me eat a lot too but the reason i quit taking it was because it was making me very depressed

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