At age 31, I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and ADD. I've been on Seroquel 300 XR for 8 months. I'm 50 pounds over weight, I have anxiety, I'm drowsy all the time, My blood pressure has been so high that my nose is bleeding constantly, my doctor refuses to let me stop, she won't listen to me. I even asked for a lower dose and she said no. So I've decided to stop on my own, because I don't want this medicine to eventually kill me. I just stopped cold turkey.
Below is my journal which I will update everyday to share with you my encounters as I go (Cold Turkey) after taking Seroquel for just 8 months. Maybe you've just been prescribe Seroquel, or considering it. Please follow up on my encounters before you start Seroquel or before you're already addicted.
Day 1 March 14th
I didn't take any Seroquel last night, I tossed and turned a little, but I feel great today. I woke right up, no grogginess, no dosing off during the day. I feel great.
Night 1
It's 2 am, I've tossed and turned all night, I'm in a puddle of sweat, I can't stop drinking water, and I can't stop peeing. I can't stay in the bed without running to pee or get water. I'm feeling flutters in my heart, man I don't feel right at all.
Day 2 March 15th
I'm wide awake, I'm achy, I'm moody, and I feel like I'm coming down with a cold. I’m very jittery. I'm not hungry, I haven't eaten all day. I'm misplacing things, and I'm extremly clumsy because my head is dizzy.
Night 2
I feel like I'm coming down from Heroin, I've kicked my sheets off the bed, I'm sweaty; my body is burning up, I can't stop drinking water, I can't stop peeing, I’m pacing, I am jittery, I'm twitching and jerking, I have not slept at all, I'm tempted to take some Seroquel I can't take this anymore. I'm getting scared.
Day 2 March 16th
It's Monday and I look like Crap, I'm nauseated, jittery, I'm over excited and rushed, and I can't think straight. My body keeps sweating for no reason, I've never had sweat spots under the arm pits of my shirts. I need to go home and take another bath, I feel I’m sweaty from the gym. I don’t feel clean at all today. I keep feeling like I have to throw up, my head hurts like hell and I am so dizzy. I keep drinking water because I am cotton mouth.
Night 2
I can't eat dinner, I'm jittery, my body keeps twitching, I'm sweaty, I'm having crazy dreams in and out of my sleep, I'm hot I'm cold, I need to throw up. I'm clammy and cotton mouth. I fell into this quick coma like deep sleep, and it was so realistic as if I was suddenly drowning in this black thick tar like fluid, and it was clogging my nose and throat. I couldn't breath, and my chest started caving in, my chest was in excruciating pain. I tried my damnest to open my eyes and wake up, because I honestly felt like I was going to die in my sleep, no I was dying, I was coherently saying in my head "I should not have gone cold turkey this way, I am about to die When I opened my eyes, it took a few seconds to breath and I started crying. I was afraid to go back to sleep so I sat up until morning.
Day 3 March 17th
I’m late for work, I can't hold anything down I'm throwing up and I have diarrhea there's nothing left in my body. I have a migraine from hell, and I just want to go home. I feel really bad and I’m afraid, I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. I'm jittery and feel really really bad. I think I need to go to the hosptital.
Night 3
I stayed up till 2am, I was meditating to Zen music with a slide show of peaceful pictures on youtube. I did a lot of slow breathing and I took two 25mg Sominex Tablets. The Pharmacist at CVS told me that would be fine to do. I drank a lot of water, and kept peeing till I got well relaxed and did some slow in and out breaths until I drifted off.
Day 4 March 18
I woke up at 7:30am, got to work on time. I thought my withdrawal symptoms have subsided. I thought to myself "is it finally over? Oh hell, my head feels like it's filled with water. I'm getting some spasm from the back of my neck to the top of my head down to the middle of my forehead. It's this feeling like I need my neck snapped by a Chiropractor. I took some Ibuprofen, it did nothing. I'm nauseated again, and my digestive muscles keep contracting like I need to use the bathroom, but nothings there. I'm disorganized, I'm working really slow today. I've been day dreaming on and off. My co-worker was telling me about her late night randevú and I just totally zoned out. I brought myself back and just played it off by laughing when she was done, as if I understood was she was saying, but honestly I didn't hear a damn thing, I just saw her mouth moving. I feel so crappy, I wish I can just go home and get in the bed. My kid has a concert tonight at School, I pray that my stomach doesn't make those crazy noises, my headache will go away, and the twitching can just hold off until it's over.
Night 4
I made it through the show, though I was dozing in and out, I am exhausted. All I want to do is hide from the world and just sleep for a few days. My head hurts so bad, I took 2 Tylenol PM's, I fell asleep at 12am, slept like a baby until 4am, I woke up and had to run as fast as I could to the bathroom, I felt like I was about to explode from both ends. I slept in my bathroom floor. God, I can't wait till this is over.
March 19 Day 5
Oh, this is cold turkey is about to be at my worst. I got my period. I am so exhausted, I feel faint, I am dragging, I don't want to do anything but sleep. I need sleep. My head hurts so bad, my body feels like I have the flu. I feel like I should go to the hospital, I feel like I am about to drop dead at any time. Everything today is going on in slow motion.
Day 5 Night I was so exhausted from my disturbing nights these last few days, my eyes felt like they had weights on them at 11:30 pm my face hit the pillow and I went into a deep sleep and suddenly felt a hard flutter in my chest near my heart, my body immediately jolted, I sat up in a panic holding on to my chest. I thought not another night Please God let me be OK tonight. I got up and drank a cup of cold water and sat up for about an hour just trying to read, waiting for what's next. I got sleep again and I drifted off at about 1:30 am, slept till 7:30 am. It wasn't much sleep, but my body needed that so bad. I can't wait to go home and get back into the bed, I'm still dragging, I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
March 20th Day 6I had the chills this morning, my body was achy like I had the flu. Food smells drove me nuts, it kind of reminds me of pregnant morning sickness. I had an on and off massive headache and I was exhausted, my body feels so drained. I found something today in CVS that has helped me through the rest of the day with my Nausea, it's called Emitrol it's a syrup that is made especially for the problems I was having with different smells making me sick, that watery mouth sensation like I'm going to throw up, it really subsided those symptoms today.
Night 6
I felt much better the Emitrol really helped me, I was able to eat something without getting sick from the smell. I took 2 Sominex at 9pm, watched a meditation slide show of peaceful places with relaxing sounds of Zen. I was off to sleep at 10:30pm and slept straight through the night.
March 21 Day 7
I woke up at 7am with a headache, I eat a slice of bread and took 2 motrins and passed out till 10am. I felt fine but felt sick from the smell of breakfast, I took some Emitrol, felt much better. My pressure went up around 4pm, my Doctor prescribed Lisinopril for my pressure, so I took that and felt good. Today was not a bad day, I can tell I'm getting close to beating this cold turkey. My skin looks better, no zoning out, no more slurring, I'm starting to remember things again. I'm feeling much better.
March 27 Day
Hi everyone, I guess you are wondering where I've been. I've been in the Hospital, yes Hospital. Just when I thought the sun was finally coming out and my battle with Seroquel was over I went from Bad, to OK, to Worst. On the 22nd and 23rd, I was terribly ill, I couldn't hold anything down, I hadn't eaten in days, I began to get spasms in the back of my head, neck, and back, and the twitching started to become noticeable, so noticeable that a co-worker took me to the side and said to me "what the hell is going on, you look like shit and what's with the jerking during the meeting? I had to call out from work, because I could not leave the bed. I was so scared, I didn't know how to tell my Doctor what I've done, I was for sure after all this time, my nervous system was destroyed. Well a few days ago I went to work and noticed sharp pains in the middle of my chest, I kept taking pepcid, drinking cold water, and ginger ale because I thought it was indigestion. That night around 1am I was watching TV and son was asleep. I began wheezing from the shortness of breath and the intense pain in my chest, I went on line and I read that when this happens in women it could be a heart attack. I couldn't leave my young son alone, I didn't want to wake him up to go to the hospital, so I sat up all night crying and afraid to sleep because I thought I was going to die. I was sweating, shaking, nauseated, and my chest felt like someone was trying to rip out my ribs. By that morning, I played it cool, I kissed my son, told him I love him and I sent him off to school, I sat down to catch my breath and started seeing pix elated dots, I immediately got dressed, and high tailed to the Hospital. The moment I walked in the door I told the registration nurse that I think I'm having a heart attack, she then said fill out this form quickly and I'll take you in the back. All I remember is writing my first name and everything just went black, the next thing I knew, I woke up with an oxygen tube in my nose, I was hooked up to a heart monitor, and had an IV in my arm. The Doctor said if I hadn't come in any sooner, I would have had a stroke and died. My blood pressure was so high I almost had a stroke, the Doctors caught it in time, I was delirious and light headed from dehydration. They were trying to find out, what put my body in such distress, when I told them I went cold turkey on Seroquel, the 2 nurses and Doctor all looked at one another and one nurse said "You actually stopped Seroquel 300 XR? you could of killed yourself " They treated the nauseau, dehydration, and blood pressure with IV, then the gave me something that relaxed me. I was so exhausted, I slept through the night like a baby. Day 3 (today) they let me go home. This incident was the result of addictive withdrawal from stopping Seroquel 300 XR cold turkey. I've been thanking God over and over for not taking me from my son. I will continue the Wellbutrin in the morning and resort to a natural sleep aid for the night like Sleep MD. If there's anyone out there reading this blog, everything here is true and it's my life. I can't stress to you more that getting off anti-psychotic drugs cold turkey is life threatening, it is dangerous as hell. If your doctors won't listen to you, like mine didn't, don't get pissed and just stop like I did. See another Doctor and ask him to help you through the weaning process. Seroquel withdrawal is an orientation of Heroine withdrawal. It will make you extremely sick and you can die.
