User Reviews for Seroquel XR oral

I have been on Seroquel XR for 7 years. I have taken as much as 600 mg., for depression and manic episodes. It saved my life as I was suicidally depressed. It went away really quick. I went from weighing 160 to almost 300 lbs. I could barely walk one house. After having cataract surgery in both eyes, developing sugar diabetes, and so sleepy day and night, I changed my diet am walking 1 mile a day, and after two years have lost 150 lbs. I can only eat around 1000 calories a day and was only eating 800 calories a day to begin weight loss. If I eat bread I can gain 3-4 lbs in a day. I am glad I'm not been depressed for a very long time, but can't stand the day time sleepiness. My doctor has gradually gotten down to 150 mg. and am still as sleepy as can be. The trade offs have been worth it up until now, but I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. Don't know how low I can go and still get the good affects of keeping my moods stable.Read More Read Less

My main uses for SQ are for nervous agitation, depression and anxiety, combined with Wellbutrin and Lamictal. I switched from regular, immediate release Seroquel (I'll abbreviate it SQ) after several years to Seroquel XR (SQXR) because I'd been decreasing the dose gradually over the course of about a year from 600 to 200 mg a day, and the doctor suggested I take regular SQ once a day. At that point, I was taking 200 mg at night, 50 mg in the morning and 50 mg in the afternoon. I was leery of suddenly switching to 300 mg regular SQ once a day at bedtime because I was afraid the effects wouldn't last throughout the day, so I switched to XR instead of regular SQ. The first night I took SQXR I thought I felt nauseous the next day, but that was the only time. I quickly & easily adjusted to a single dose of SQXR at bedtime, with no problems. It continued to work all day, but I no longer had the sleepiness or slightly "loopy" feeling I used to get from taking the immediate release drug during the day. This is a significant benefit. In general, side effects from SQXR are less than from regular SQ, and I hear this is the case for many patients. (Be warned: your insurance company may charge you a lot more to get the XR version. Currently XR is not available in generic. If you don't have insurance, you'll pay more than an arm and a leg for SQXR. Even worse, my insurance company had to get special approval from my doctor and put me through a lot of rigamarole to get XR because it was a "special" or non-formulary medication.) After several months on XR and working down to 200 mg/day, I've now switched back to regular SQ (to save money, mainly), 150 mg once at day at bedtime. I used to take XR at 10:30 and sometimes wouldn't get to sleep until 2 am. Now I take regular SQ and fall asleep by 12 am. I haven't had any trouble switching to regular generic SQ 1/day. XR has fewer side effects, takes longer to work, costs more. If you want to take XR, you'll probly adjust easily to it.Read More Read Less

after 8 years of feeling absolutely no control over myself, I stopped taking and finally able to sleep again. the cons outweighed the pros on this treatment

It is so calm and quiet in my head, my moods are not as severe. I am always tired and cant stand sunlight though.

I've been on Seroquel XR for almost a year. I cannot say whether i have improved or not because i still have lengthy bouts of depression and then it lifts for a month or so and then its back down again.

im 18, and ive been taking seroquel XR to help me fall asleep for 3 years now. I started off at 100mg and after time it would take longer and longer for me to fall asleep so i had to keep raising my MG. Currently i am taking 300MG a night. My body has grown so dependent on this drug that if i don't take the pill at night I will not be able to fall asleep and the withdrawals the next day are horrible that I cant even get out of bed. The drug has also gave me pre-diabetes. I HATE this drug.

I've been on mental disability for 6 yrs. I had to self medicate with alcohol before this and my alcohol dependence went away. My severe alcoholism caused 2 hip replacements. The earlier in the evening you take it, the better your tomorrow will be because this drug at 300mg will be noticably on you the next day. Sleep all night guaranteed. The best relief for my extreme nervousness and anxiety. Keep the dose around 150mg 2hrs before bedtime so you can still function the next day. Higher doses cause high grogginess the next day. This drug at low doses is better than other popular drugs at high doses. I didn't experience any weight gain. Highly recommend this for manic depression anxiety PTSD bi-polar ect. Astra Zenca, the manufacturer, will give it to you free with perscrip. and if you are under $30,000 or ther abouts. Otherwise its about $500/month without insurance Read More Read Less

Finally! Extended release (and relief) comes out, and I switched from regular seroquel to XR.I no longer get knocked out like I did on regular. This XR still helps me sleep but it is more manageable. I do gain a bit of weight on this, but it works so well I'll take it.

I was put on this drug before Thanksgiving of 2013. I was on Lexapro and Abilify before hand and did not like those at all. I was put on this for being "bi polar" and to help me sleep. The first two weeks I felt so much better and could sleep better. However, I soon found that I was sleeping all of the time and my mood just got worse. I was a straight A student who always paid attention in class and I turned into a student who rarely went to school and was always sleeping. I began to have horrible nightmares that I would sometimes wake up panting and terrified. I'm normally a hard worker but on this medicine I was disinterested in everything that came up. My health greatly declined while on this medicine both physically and mentally. When I couldn't take my medicine for a week after leaving it at an aunts, with in a few days I was a wake and alert and much happier. The only thing that happened was I was extremely itchy. I was on a high dose from the beginning but I don't think being on a small one would do anything to help. I am now three weeks off this medicine and I feel amazing and able to handle everything going on.Read More Read Less

Good

Seroquel XR as a PRN medication for me together with the combination of 2 other medications (Depakote ER and a once-a-month intramuscular injection: Invega Sustenna) have done wonders for the control of the Bipolar I Disorder mental issue that I have. For years I've struggled with not getting enough sleep at one time period. My extremes of mood swings are ever so much lighter and the manic and depressive phases likewise more controlled. As in all cases one medication may not work as well for one person as another and maybe not the same dosage either or combination of meds. There are differing dosages of Seroquel XR that may be needed to adjust the amount. I have found out throughout the years that if I could get the proper amount of sleep, most of the time, I wouldn't have a situation whereby I needed to be hospitalized. I've lost count as to the nummber of times hospitalized. As with all medications it takes time(usually 2 t0 3wks.) to realize if a medication will be successful and most the time there will also be side effects and some are only temporary. I highly recommend that a person not self-medicate with illicit drugs. Watch out for triggers that will sabotage your well-being. As always if possible have a mental health professional guide you through your journey dealing mental hygiene. Do not give up! May God Bless! Read More Read Less

i suffer from all side effects

Prescribed for insomnia-related depression. Boosted from 50mg.regular, to 100mg. regular, for a minute. Just when the sleep started gettin' back to normal, Dr. upped to 150mg.XR. Since beginning it, I've had less-than sleeps, am cranky and irritable, especially in the morning. I have weight gain and am not happy about that. This is not helping the insomnia and is instead just making me angry. I will be demanding a return to the 100mg. when I next see the Dr.

Started at 300mg day& night helped too sleep nothing for the voices or visions dosed up to 450 doesn't even help to sleep. Dr. is reluctant to change. Been taking it 5yrs. Why wont she change ????

this medication has caused back ,shoulder pain. total agony. weakness cant standup

it helps me sleep.

After being a lifelong insomniac I was prescribed 100mg seroquel at night and became a completely different person. Because I had been living my life staying up too long and then crashing too long and I didn't realize how much that was taking its toll on my body. With seroquel, I would take the pill and within a half an hour drift away for exactly 8 hours of sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Unfortunately, I had to give it up because I was sleepwalking. It started out small, with me waking up to find pretzel crumbs in my bed and the like. Then one night about 5 months in I woke up in the middle of walking down the stairs and got scared and spazzed out and tumbled down the stairs. I wasn't seriously hurt, just scrapes and bruises, but I thought I should tell my pdoc and he took me off it it before anything worse happened :(.Read More Read Less

I felt great taking Seroquel xr! My drawback is gaining 34lbs so Im in the process of going off of it. I have a question for those of you who have also decided not to take it: what are your symptoms and side effects since discontinuing this medication?

mad me suisidal