seroquel 50mg XR and sleep

Is anyone on Seroquel XR 50mg? Last week my p-doc switched me from quetiapine 25mg to this, since my sleep was a bit off. But I feel like it's worse now! The first three days I slept ok. Not well, but ok. The past few days have been bad, though, and getting increasingly worse. Yesterday I went to bed just before midnight and only fell asleep after 5am! Then I woke up a little after 6am due to a stupid vivid nightmare. Managed to go back to sleep, but I had to get up at 7h30 to come to work.

Has anyone had any problems switching to the XR version? I was supposed to call my p-doc yesterday to let her know how the switch was going, but her mobile was off. I'll try again today, but in the meantime I thought I'd ask here. I'm not sure if this lack of sleep is due to switching the meds or just a natural mood cycle (natural? Lol!).

Since my manic episode at the beginning of 2013, I have been on lithium and on seroquel XR 600mg. While on the 600mg, I found myself getting very sleepy in the morning. My pdoc advised me to take my evening dose at around 5pm, rather than at 9pm, because it takes a while for the XR to kick in, but it keeps working for longer.

So in your case it might be worthwhile asking your doctor if you can take the dose earlier in the evening, so it has time to work.

I had therapy for PTSD late last year, after which my adrenalin just crashed. Along with that, the sedating effects of the seroquel XR 600mg meant that I was sleeping in until 4pm, with little functional time in the day. I have now come off the 600mg, over a period of 6 weeks.

I did find, that when I came off it, that my thoughts were racing and I had difficulty sleeping. And so, I am back on 100mg of the seroquel XR at night. It might take a while to come off it completely, since it is a big shock to the body to have a medication change so suddenly.

Thanks for replying bipolarbirdie!

I was taking the 25mg just before I went to bed. With the XR my doc told me to take it at dinner time. Yesterday I took it at around 8pm. It should've had time to work!

Maybe I'll have to up the dosage... I sure hope my p-doc has her phone on today! I'll update as soon as I have news.

I shouldn't be going through withdrawal, though, right? I didn't stop taking it, just switched to XR. I'm going at 1000mph, but I think that's from lack of sleep. Aaaaargghhh!

Hey hon, it doesn't sound like you're going through withdrawal to me. Sometimes it is good to keep in mind that meds do sometimes have paradoxical reactions.. So best to ask your Dr. if it is doing the opposite of what it is supposed to do. Good luck, and do keep us updated.

Jake

Thanks PFF! That's so true, especially with quetiapine. I remember Oliveira mentioning how weird this drug can be on different dosages.

I still haven't managed to contact my p-doc. I'll try again tomorrow. Friday was really bad, I was getting desperate. I did sleep well on friday, but only after smoking a joint. I hadn't smoked in a while, but I really needed the sleep. The whole day was pretty horrible, first with agitation and then extreme irritability, I didn't know what else to do!

Hopefully, I'll get to speak to my p-doc tomorrow and she'll tell me what to do. I'll be sure to update here.

Sounds a little strange. I would take Seroquel XR 150 and It would knock me out, and I would feel the effects when I woke up. To me, it would be like a more moderate form of Zyprexa, when compared to the effects of drowsiness upon waking the next morning. Definitely can stop or slow down a manic episode. Seroquel was one of the drugs that I actually could tolerate, but Risperdal worked better for me, and actually gave me some of the effects you are having on Seroquel, which Is going to bed late. Maybe not as late as you are going to bed, but late, nonetheless.

Sounds to me, that if you are having this much trouble going to bed, you might want to up your dosage, so it will make you drowsy for bed, or switch entirely to another drug.

Thanks!

*mod edit*

Thanks for the advice, dhanpal! I finally managed to get through to my doctor today. She said to stick with it for a few more days and see how it goes. My sleep has been better for the past couple of days, so fingers crossed! I'm wondering if maybe I was going on an episode and that was the reason I wasn't sleeping. Perhaps the dosage wasn't enough to stop it. I dunno. I'll see how it goes for another week or so and then decide what to do. If my sleep is still off, I'll consider upping the dosage or switching to something else entirely.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Seroquel, IR and XR up to 300mg nevber helped "put me to sleep", it only helps me stay asleep once I fall asleep. I still need ambien or benzos to help me actually fall asleep. Been like this for the past 20 years, nothing really works perfect for me. Now my doc wants to take me off seroquel all together and put me on ablify.

That's interesting! I'm still having a bit of trouble falling asleep, but now I can't wake up in the morning. My alarm goes off, I know I turn it off, but I don't remember. I usually wake up naturally around lunch time. This is really messing up my days...

I'll stick with it for a while longer, see if anything changes. Thanks for your reply!

I take my 300mg at 5pm because i cant sleep if i take it later. today i forgot and took it at 9pm-thats why im still up at 1am. Moving to extended release means you need to take it early to send you to sleep. I remember when I was on 50mg i had insomnia for a while.