Quetiapine for Insomnia User Reviews (Page 2)

• Rip...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 13, 2014

"Now I realize my experience is somewhat limited, but if my doctor had not prescribed it for me about four days ago, I might be typing from a rubber room. Because of certain very stressful life events, I began to experience insomnia about two months ago. For those two months, I was getting approximately 3 hours of fragmented sleep a night. I started taking 50 mgs of this medicine four nights ago, and I'm getting 7-8 hours of sleep per night. This medicine broke the anxiety > insomnia > anxiety > insomnia cycle. Once you're in the circle of that cyclical hell, it's very difficult to break out of it."

• bobcat
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 15, 2020

"Seroquel at 25 mg is a miracle sleep inducer. I took it for 10 years every night. One night I was away and without the pill. Guess what, horrible sleep! Lately I'm taking 50 mg as 25 mg seems to give now 6.5 vs 8 hours of sleep. Just like Tramadol fixed my depression, Seroquel fixed my sleep. These two meds don't send your psychiatrist to conferences in Maui and Tahiti, hence the lack of interest."

• Ugghh
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 31, 2020

"Haven't had my med quetiapine for 3 days now and I have NOT been able to sleep. I have been prescribed it for over a year now and I recently moved and haven't managed to get a new prescription. This is causing hallucinating at this point. I have tried sleep aids, NyQuil, nothing helps me sleep. If you're on this med and looking to get off, good luck sleeping again."

• tiz4t...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 3, 2020

"Up until my gastric sleeve surgery in 2012, sleep was never an issue for me. If anything, I slept too much. Fast forward to 2020 and for the last 8 years I have suffered horrible to mild insomnia and even on a good night, I may get 5 hours of sleep. I have tried all the common sleeping scripts out there along with some pretty serious anti-anxiety drugs, which ended with pretty bad results (a week in the hospital). In February of this year, I went in for my normal physical, except my normal doctor had left the practice and the new doc filling in for her was the one I got to see. I explained all that I wrote above, and she reviewed my chart. She asked if anyone had ever suggested Quetiapine, which they hadn't. I'm currently on day 61 of taking 50mg a night with 7-9 hours a night being the new norm. I'm so thankful this wonderful doctor came into my life. I'm not sure if any other doctor would have even considered this drug. So far no adverse side effects or weight gain. :)"

• gasmd
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• February 13, 2014

"I have been taking quetiapine for 3 years to help me sleep. For me, it is wonderful. I take 50-100 mg before bed every night, unless I am on call as I am a physician. If I go to bed within 30 minutes of taking it, I usually sleep well. One cup of coffee in the morning and I am good to go. Prior to quetiapine, sleep was nearly impossible, and sleeping pills would make me more useless the next day than if I just stayed up all night. I'm glad to have access to quetiapine."

• alvey
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 21, 2020

"So I was prescribed seroquel for insomnia and I was so scared to try it. I had the best night sleep I have had in probably 5 years. Downside is the side effects the next day were hard on me. My anxiety and depression is worse. So do I keep taking it and the side effects will subside or is this drug just not for me. Ugh its the only thing that has helped with sleep. Help"

• Squeaky
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 25, 2019

"My insomnia is genetic as everyone in my family seems to have it, but I have no other diagnosis as to why. We sleep very heavily 2 hours at a time with periods of being awake 1-3 hours in between, which makes working hard as we often only get 2-4 hours of sleep a night. After being tried on many different over-the-counter and prescription drugs which either did not work or had to have the dose increased every few weeks, my doctor suggested this. I have been taking this for insomnia for 3 years. Unlike other medicines, I have never had to increase my dose, and the only adverse side effect I noticed was some weight gain. I take less than the clinical dose for many depressed patients as I take only 25 mg a night an hour before bed. This was my miracle! After 2-3 years of 2-4 hours of sleep a night, I was beginning to literally lose my mind due to lack of sleep. I now sleep 6-8 hours straight every night, with occasional bathroom trips."

• nardis
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 19, 2019

"I've been using a dose of 25 mg quetiapine for sleep for 4 years. Combined with a low-carb diet, I haven't gained any weight. The medication does cause a bit of drowsiness if taken late. Taken before 10:30 pm, I can be sleeping by 11:30 and up by 8 am with limited grogginess. It's been a cheap, reliable, and non-addictive medication for me, but I'm hoping there are no long-term complications!"

• JMH
• October 20, 2016

"I was put on Seroquel (and now take Quetiapine) for insomnia when I was in a drug rehab about 10 years ago. It has been a lifesaver. They put me on this drug specifically because it is not addictive. It works fantastic for me. There are few drugs that assist with sleep that are not addictive and this is supposed to be one of them. I have fought insomnia all my life and searching for sleep landed me in rehab. Xanax, Valium, Ambien, Lunesta, and other Benzos, got me nowhere fast because of tolerance. The other non-addictive drugs I tried (melatonin, other herbs) were useless. For me, Seroquel works perfectly and with no side effects for sleep - but most importantly, I DIDN'T BUILD UP A TOLERANCE AND I DIDN'T GET HIGH. God Bless."

• Markus...
• April 25, 2012

Seroquel (quetiapine) "I also completely agree with the first review. I have tried 9 sleep-aid medicines, including high doses of Ambien and Ambien CR. The medicines for sleep 'insomnia' really do nothing for people with true insomnia. Insomnia is a condition of the brain where your mind essentially does not stop working at night. Whether you are worried about something, excited, or are just thinking about something you saw on T.V or read in a paper during the day, you will not fall asleep until 20 minutes before you have to awaken. Sleep-aid medicines help people who just have poor sleep habits, like eating right before bed, etc. Seroquel actually suppresses your brain wave function and helps you mentally 'shut off.' No weight gain for me."

• Frank
• February 8, 2020

"I am prescribed 50mg dose Seroquel at night about 45min. before bed for sleep. It also stops my restless leg syndrome! Not what it is usually prescribed for but it does the trick. I have been using it for 3 years with no side effects."

• TCano
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 19, 2020

"I feel like taking Seroquel MUST be like getting roofied. I took the 100mg and it literally knocked me out for 12 hours straight. Then after waking up, you're groggy for at least another 6 hours and are grumpy to people around you. I also got restless leg syndrome or some kind of VERY weird involuntary leg movements. I would ALSO always wake up in some kind of pain and it might be due to the fact that you're so knocked out your contorting your body in unusual positions while you sleep. I then got reduced halfway to the 50mg which did the SAME thing but with half of the SAME effects!!! Seroquel seems like a dangerous drug to me and I've been on a few."

• Sharon
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 19, 2019

"I've been taking 12.5 to 25 mg quite frequently for insomnia I've had for decades. It works like a charm. No weight gain, etc. I am groggy when I wake up, but coffee takes care of it. I hope it works this well the rest of my life."

• miche...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• August 5, 2014

"I had severe depression and could not sleep at all. My husband can testify that I could be awake for 4 days in a row. I had anxiety attacks. I was on Cymbalta, Lamotrigine, and Molipaxin. But the depression stayed, and my sleep did not improve at all. I was hospitalized 3 times in less than 3 years. The last time I was gradually put on bigger doses of Seroquel - up to 400mg. The last 2 days I slept through the whole night - deep sleep! I have been on it for more than 5 years. I take it at night - about an hour before I want to sleep. I have slept every night. My mood has been stable all these years - no depression, anxiety attacks, or weight gain. I do have difficulty getting 'fully awake' in the morning. But I would rather have this 'side effect'."

• KKano
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 27, 2019

"This specific medication has a bit of an angel/devil quality to it. In the previous posts, I see the possibility for some confused/misdiagnosed causes of insomnia. In bipolar people, regular prescription sleep aids don't really work because bipolar individuals can't sleep due to their brains having a hard time turning off or turning on very quickly. I took 600mg of Seroquel for years, and it worked well to control the associated symptoms as it is an atypical antipsychotic with a mood stabilizing quality (the ONLY med of its kind), but put me in a 'fog'. After coming off the high dose for 2 or 3 years and suffering from bad insomnia, I asked to go on a low dose of Seroquel to get some sleep. My psychiatrist gave me 50mg, and it's working well. It's gonna work for some people, and it'll be a nightmare for others. Make sure you're being prescribed this medication by a psychiatrist NOT a GP or any other doc that can't validate why they choose to give you an atypical antipsychotic for sleep. Best wishes."

• Pinkt...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 4, 2019

"My doctor put me on a low dose of quetiapine to help with sleep as I also have mood issues. Quetiapine works very well to help you sleep. Before I started taking it, it would take me probably 2 to 3 hours to fall asleep on my own, within a half hour of quetiapine I could sleep. This was great at first, however, now, if I don't take it I can't sleep AT ALL. If I don't take it, for whatever reason, no matter how tired I am, my body will not fall asleep. I have been up for more than 30 hours multiple times. I can lay in bed in complete silence and darkness for 12 hours and not fall asleep for a minute. My body is dependent and I don't like it at all. I just want to be able to even take a nap in the afternoon without taking something. If this is what the lowest dose can do, I can't imagine if I was on a higher dose."

• Teacher
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 6, 2019

"After suffering from insomnia for decades and having tried everything under the sun, including homeopathic remedies, I decided to give an antipsychotic drug a try. It works amazingly well - I have never slept for 8 hours since I was a teen. This allows me to SLEEP. Yes, it does make you feel groggy in the morning, but I split my 25 mg tablet into halves or quarters, and then the grogginess is not an issue!"

• Clare
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 6, 2019

"I don't know what I would do without Seroquel for sleep. I have bipolar 1 and have not had an episode in about 5 years, which I attribute to taking Seroquel for sleep and having a bit of lithium in my system, along with a low dose of Ritalin in the morning for depression. I take 25 mg of Seroquel to sleep at night, I know most people need more. I only sleep about 2-3 hours at night without it. I have gained and lost about 10 lbs on it. If I take it before going straight to bed, I get a serious case of the munchies. Just take it and try to get right to bed and don't fight the med and eat. It takes about an hour for the Seroquel to digest for me. If I am really restless, I take 50 mg to sleep and it makes me feel drowsy in the morning."

• Thatguy
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 24, 2020

"It only took 3 days for me to stop taking Seroquel. It was prescribed to me as a sleep aid. By day 2 I felt like a zombie wrapped in bubble wrap with a foggy brain wrapped in bubble wrap. By day 3 it was all I could do to function. In 20 years of treatment resistant depression, Seroquel had by far the most acute rapid onset side effects I've ever experienced."

• Tammy
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 1, 2024

"This works amazingly well for sleep! I have had insomnia my whole life; usually, it would take me up to 2 hours to fall asleep every night, no matter what. I also suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. When my anxiety is really bad, it makes it even more difficult to fall asleep, then I develop sleep anxiety. I now take Seroquel and go to bed in an hour; it makes me fall asleep within 15 minutes. It has worked 100% every time. I’ve been taking 50mg for almost a year. It seems to calm the racing thoughts and allow my body to fall asleep naturally. Once I am asleep, I sleep great. I feel rested, alert, and energized the next day. When I had insomnia, it was also hard to manage my weight because I was up all night; I would start to get hungry and need to eat something to fall asleep. Since taking this, I can manage my weight so much easier. It’s also very safe with minimal side effects. Hope this helps anyone dealing with similar issues! It’s also very cheap. Highly recommend!"

• Thadius
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 1, 2013

"It's a wonderful knockout punch if everything else has failed, or if you've taken something like Ambien and it stops working. For me, Ambien was great until it stopped working. I then tried Trazodone but that didn't help much. Seroquel is an antipsychotic but at small doses (25-50mg) it only hits histamine receptors so it's like a large dose of Benadryl - but much better than Benadryl. The only downside is that it is a little hard to get out of bed the next day, but you will sleep like a bear so it's worth it. It takes about an hour to an hour and a half to kick in and 25 mg does the trick for me. Also, there is no weight gain at small doses so that's nice too."

• Louis
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 6, 2021

"Been on Seroquel for over 1 year now, prescribed 50mg but usually is not enough so I take 75mg or 100mg. It does sedate me however I get heart palpitations 100+ per minute so it's hard trying to fall asleep when your heart feels like it will pop out of your chest. Not very ideal for me."

• Yack
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 9, 2020

"I've used Quetiapine for 3 years now, initially at 50mg and now at 25mg, due to daytime drowsiness. It has improved my sleep remarkably but made the transition from sleep to awake more challenging, although I used to use nicotine for this and no longer do. If I ignore the reminder to take it in the evening, I can easily be awake until 3 am or dawn. Running out of medication for 1 night leaves me dizzy and irritable. Unfortunately it seems to be making me more drowsy during the day which is hampering my return to study. In general, I think this is an excellent medication; however, side effects need to be monitored."

• georg...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 5, 2017

"This is the only med that actually helps me sleep. I had tried melatonin, zopiclone, lorazepam, and temazepam, as well as every natural remedy I could get my hands on, and then my doctor suggested quetiapine. I take 25mg about an hour before going to sleep and usually by the time I climb into bed, I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm also taking bupropion (which is technically contraindicated with quetiapine) which may be why I feel so sedated on such a low dose. The only downside is that I don't fully wake up from it until I've been physically awake for at least an hour, and it makes me really thirsty. But that's a small price to pay for getting a good sleep after struggling for years. Also, it makes orgasms less intense for me which sucks!"

• JPano
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 15, 2019

"I’m going to give a short version of my journey the past year. I went into inpatient therapy twice while trying to figure out what was going on with me, during that time I was put on seroquel to help me sleep. I take 50mg every night. It doesn’t always put me right to sleep but it helps me find sleep. I haven’t had any trouble with nightmares and honestly I’ve had better dreams since taking it. All in all I personally have had a decent experience. The only downsides I’ve seen is super sleepy when trying to get out of bed and if I don’t go to bed pretty quick after taking it I get terribly hungry. If you read all of this thanks. I hope if your prescribed it it helps you"