yikes: Hello - Seroquel withdrawal

[yikes]

Hello.  

This past Fall, I was placed on seroquel 100mg at night and 25 twice each day for trauma.

I was also placed on 300 mg/Neurontin 3X day and 30 mg remeron at night.

To start my tapering, my doctor switched my seroquel dosage to 50 mg in morning, 25 mg mid- day, and 50 mg at night.

I also made the mistake last week of stopping on my own neurontin cold turkey.

I also made the mistake last week of tapering my seroquel way too fast -- got to 75 mg a day.

SO.

I put myself back on the neurontin three days ago and am concentrating on the seroquel.

For the last four days, I went back up to 50 mg in the morning, 25 mg mid day, and 50 mg at night.

This is 25 mg less than what I was taking.

I am having much morning anxiety and heart palpitations.  I am wondering if it is due to her changing my dosages during the day.  I used to take 100 mg at night and 25 twice each day for the past five months.  Now, I am shifting and taking 50 mg in the morning, 25 mid-day and 50 mg at night.

I have done this for four days now.  I have no appetite. 

Should I stay this way or go back to the large dosage at night and taper from there?

[ang]

Welcome Yikes!  I am sure a moderator will be along shortly to help you along.           

 

Tapering takes time, a long time.        The advice here is to ONLY taper a maximum of 10% of previous dose, every 6 or 8 weeks I think, and stop the taper, if withdrawal gets unbearable.

 

I personally dont think it is a good idea, switching the dosages around, if there wasnt a definite reason for it.                        Your body is now used to that dose at that time.   Anyhow, someone way more knowledgeable than me will be along soon. 

 

So really I am just saying welcome, this group has been a lifesaver for me.

[ang]

Oh, and it would be great if you can fill in your ""signature""   that comes up at the bottom of all your posts.    Go to your profile page, and on the right there is a black box, says  ""edit my profile"" click on that, then a drop down box will appear on the left with   ""signature"".

[Petunia]

Welcome yikes,

You have come to the right place for help, I'm glad you found us.

 

Thank you Ang for suggesting filling in the signature, yes that would be helpful. Please would you put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

It sounds to me like your nervous system has become destabilized from your recent CT off neurontin and seroquel dose changes.

 

It was good you recognized your mistake and reinstated quickly. It may take some time for you to re-stabilize. Our reinstatement topic has more information about what to expect:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to stop withdrawal symptoms

 

I suggest that you hold where you are for now and wait until you are stable again, before any more tapering. This may take several weeks. But slowly, your symptoms should settle down.

 

When you have been symptom free for at least 2 weeks, you might be ready to begin tapering properly. We suggest reducing by no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, this reduces the risk of withdrawal symptoms arising. Please read through this which will explain why:

  

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

And here are some more topics you may find useful:

 

Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

 

Preparing to taper

 

Tips for tapering off Seroquel (quetiapine)

 

Tips for tapering off Neurontin (gabapentin)

 

Tips for tapering off Remeron (mirtazapine)

 

You can use this thread as your ongoing journal to track progress, write about symptoms, ask questions and communicate with the community, add to it whenever you want. Its a good idea to bookmark it or follow it, so its easy to find again.

 

Here is the link to our symptoms and self care section, you may find some useful ideas to help manage symptoms as you wait to stabilize.  Especially read the topics pinned at the top.

 

 

Petunia.