There was an association between rapid cessation of quetiapine and onset of somatic symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, agitation, restlessness, diaphoresis, irritability, anxiety, dysphoria, sleep disturbance, insomnia, tachycardia, hypertension and dizziness.
Withdrawal symptoms associated with quetiapine, such as agitation, dysphoria, insomnia, and hypertension, have been previously reported.
The half-life of Seroquel is six hours. Theoretically, it takes approximately six hours to clear 50 percent of the active drug from your system after you stop taking it and 24 to 48 hours to completely clear it after cessation. However, the body adapts to the presence of medications.
Do Seroquel side effects go away? Some may experience withdrawal symptoms for a week or two.
If you stop taking SEROQUEL abruptly you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia (not being able to sleep), nausea, and vomiting. Keep your doctor well informed of how you are feeling, both good and bad.
Abruptly discontinuing Seroquel can result in withdrawal symptoms including dizziness, increased heart rate, insomnia, nausea, and vomiting. Never stop taking your medication without talking to your doctor first; your doctor may advise gradually tapering your dose over a period of a few months.
People who stop taking antipsychotics usually see gradual weight loss. Stopping a medication, however, is not always possible, and it can sometimes have serious repercussions. A person should never stop taking a prescribed medication without speaking to a doctor about it first.
The phenomenon known as withdrawal psychosis refers to the appearance of psychosis when Seroquel or other antipsychotic medication is reduced, especially where the reduction is too fast, or without the necessary preparations.
Quetiapine works by affecting chemicals in the brain such as dopamine and serotonin. If you have too much dopamine it can make you see things that are not there (hallucinations) or think things that are not true (delusions). Dopamine is also involved in muscle movements so too much of it can affect your muscles.
To mitigate the symptoms of antipsychotic withdrawal, the dose is gradually reduced or tapered to the minimum effective dose. Gradual tapering involves a slow tapering in dose to allow drug-induced neuroadaptations to return to baseline.
Give yourself time
While it is sometimes possible to withdraw over a few weeks, it can be safer to do so over several months so that your body has a good amount of time to adjust. For some people who have been on medication for many years, withdrawing very slowly over a few years can also be helpful.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)
EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) is found in omega-3 fish oils and is thought to have beneficial effects in mitigating psychiatric symptoms such as those found in patients with schizophrenia, a safe alternative to Seroquel.
You'll usually start on a low dose of 50mg a day when taking standard tablets. This will be increased over a few days to start with. Your doctor may advise you to slowly increase your dose even more, depending on how well quetiapine works for you. Most people feel better with a daily dose of 300mg to 600mg.
Weight gain is possible while taking atypical antipsychotics, including quetiapine. In clinical studies, up to 23% of people taking quetiapine for schizophrenia gained 7% or more of their body weight. A similar number of people taking it for bipolar mania experienced the same amount of weight gain.
As your body gets used to quetiapine this side effect should wear off. If it still makes you feel sleepy after a few weeks, speak to your doctor. Speak to your doctor if you have any problems with your movement. This can include difficulty moving or stiff muscles that make your movements jerky.
Your doctor should monitor for progression of potential long-term side effect of Seroquel, which can include cataracts, weight gain, high blood sugar, high cholesterol, and tardive dyskinesia, a rare condition characterized by involuntary and abnormal movements of the jaw, lips, and tongue.
Medications like Seroquel can increase risk of suicide and suicidal thoughts, especially at the start of treatment. Report any sudden changes in mood to your healthcare provider, including depression, anxiety, restlessness, panic, irritability, impulsivity, or aggression.
The studies in our review (8, 23–26) reported that most withdrawal symptoms started within 4 weeks after abrupt antipsychotic discontinuation and subsided after up to 4 weeks even though certain symptoms such as hyperkinesia may last for months (23).
Seroquel and weight gain connection is sometimes thought to be the result of the body changing the way it stores fat. The user may notice packing on fat in areas of the body that were previously slim. This may be caused by Quetiapine as well.
Mixing quetiapine and alcohol is not advised because alcohol can impair the medication's ability to treat the individual's symptoms. Otherwise, mental health symptoms like extreme sadness, mood swings, anxiety, irritability, and hallucinations may re-occur and resurface more intensely.
Patients who are on these antipsychotic medications and gaining weight were also found to have elevated leptin levels [16]. Because quetiapine blocks 5HT-2C, it may cause leptin resistance at the level of the hypothalamus, contributing to increased food intake and obesity (Figure 1).
However, the downside is the possible symptoms that the patient might experience when stopping the drug. Quetiapine Withdrawal Side Effects Include: Itchy red skin. Shortness of breath.
SEROQUEL XR Tablets should be swallowed whole and not split, chewed or crushed. SEROQUEL XR should be taken without food or with a light meal (2).
They can cause movement disorders such as twitching and restlessness, sedation and weight gain, and lead to diabetes. Because of these side effects, antipsychotic drugs are usually only used to treat severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.