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Old 15-04-2017, 11:10 AM   #1
Arienette
 
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Sleep on quetiapine

I've balanced out well on my quetiapine now. Which is great. I'm so happy and relieved to be feeling steady, and being able to trust my emotional responses more as being in line/appropriate.

There's all sorts of brilliant things however I sleep 9-10 hours every night. I can't not. I'm not low, but it takes up a lot of time.

I wondered if anyone had ideas or methods of adjusting sleep patterns whilst on sedating meds. - it's not so bad I'm going to come off, but I want to manage it better with my workload and general life stuff.

I ideally want to sleep max 8 hours but I just can't seem to wake up after that much sleep at the moment.

Now I feel better I want to be doing stuff, not sleeping in and missing the morning. (My favourite time of day , 5-7am)

Ideas?

X



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Old 15-04-2017, 03:00 PM   #2
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When I was on quetiapine I found that I needed more sleep, too. I couldn't wake up after less than ten hours either. Sorry I don't have advice, just wanted to share that what you are experiencing is what I experienced too. I found that to get up for work meant going to bed at eight.

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Old 15-04-2017, 05:13 PM   #3
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I slept a lot when on quetiapine also. I can definitely relate as I got down about being so sedated. Would you consider trying a different medication that might give you the same benefits but also be less sedating? If not, you might be able to split your dose differently which could make a difference.

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Old 15-04-2017, 06:35 PM   #4
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I'm 100% not willing to try another medication because I've fought so hard for my team to listen to my gp about me needing it- and it's working wonders.

I'm not willing to give up the difference I feel.

I was hoping to sleep 6-8 hours, because now I feel better I want to be awake for more of the day and DO stuff. I find that sleeping up to 10 hours doesn't give me enough of the day to do everything I want to properly- like There just isn't enough time to do everything I want to.

But if I restrict sleep by not going to sleep all night and having caffeine o go too high, I've realised that is a definite trigger for hypomania. So I was hoping to find answers for a happy medium, of less sleep than now, but enough to stay even.

--- I will continue this quest lol. I just am enjoying feeling better and o want all the hours of the day to enjoy it and be productive and get stuff done. I don't like that sleep is taking that away from me right now. :(

Like where does time go? I want to study and run and cycle and see friends and my gf and all that and not sleep - sigh. *1st world problems eh?!*



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Old 15-04-2017, 07:04 PM   #5
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How long have you been taking the dose you are on? It may just take a while for your body to get used to it.

Also look at planning a structure to your days. I find I get more done when I do this.

Another thing I find useful as I'm so not a morning person, is instead of telling myself I need to get up at a certain time, I rephrase it into getting up by a certain time. I know this seems like such a tiny thing but for me it takes the pressure off having to do something at a certain time.



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Old 15-04-2017, 08:10 PM   #6
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I need about 10 hours sleep a night to feel fine. I find if I take my quetiapine early enough then I can get up earlier and not have that hungover 'groggy' sedated feeling. I guess it depends what type your on as I remember my sis had the regular version and she would be asleep within 30 mins of taking it where as I have the XL version so it doesn't put me straight to sleep and I take it early evening.



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Old 15-04-2017, 08:26 PM   #7
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I'm on XL - so i've started taking it 2 hours after i've eaten my lunch (say between 3-6pm) in the hope of reducing the sleepy effect in the morning the next day. it takes a good 6 hours or so to set in the sleepiness, and it comes very quickly. But that works better than taking it at 8-10 pm for me.

- i realise it sounds a bit hypo, but i'm just REALLY productive at the moment. I am in control though. It is a healthy sort of productivity, and healthy things i'm doing.

i'm not goign out getting really drunk and coming into temptation to take drugs etc like i have done before.

i'm going to running club, exercising, cycling, studying, socialising, talking to people, going out and about, and getting things done. So i think my mood at the moment is very healthy. I think this is the best i can be whilst being well - and i'm loving it.

i just wish i could sleep for less time so i can do more and get more done. I want to be doing so much more on top of that - like writing, and playing playstation and all this other stuff.

i want to stay up 24 hours a day or sleep for 2 hours only - but i know i can't do that so i'm not doing it.

x



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Old 15-04-2017, 09:07 PM   #8
_wendy_
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I came off quetipine in January after being on if for a year, for the second time. I found that initially and for a few weeks after a dose change i slept a lot, which was a bonus as im a terrible sleeper, but after a few weeks it settled. I took my evening dose at around 9pm, was usually asleep by 10, but able to get up for work at 7am. I never slept through and got around 6 hours a night for me which was luxury. Give your body time to adjust and just try taking it a little earlier, or going to bed a little earlier.
Now im off it again im back to just 1-2 hours sleep. enjoy the sleep while you can get it.



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current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd

current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)

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Old 17-04-2017, 01:29 AM   #9
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I have been on quietapine 3 times over the years at doses ranging from 50mg- >850mg (both XL and IR).

When it's needed it can be a very good medication. There were a few things that helped me with the over sleeping problems while on it:

- immediate release causes more peaks and troughs in energy/sedation, but I did definitely find I didn't sleep as long on it. I slept the longest on the XL version. Also that taking the whole does or IR at night was better than a split dose.
- a lower dose always helped. But this depends on what dose you find most useful. Some doctor and text books will say it is only benificial/therapeutic at certain doses. I rarely found this with quietapine. Adjusting the dose may help you sleep less while still helping with your symptoms.
- finding a balance is important, what is best for other may not be best for you. You may need that amount of sleep to regulate your mood, you may not. So even though it feels inconvenient, it might actually be because it's what it best for you.
- routine, routine, routine. This is what worked best for me. Go to bed the same time, wake up the same time, have the same work time slot, the same meal times, the same social hours, ect... EVERY DAY! it can be hard to establish routine if there isn't currentlya regular time table in your life but it is worth the effort.
- a few things a therapist suggested that I still fond helpful now: when your alarm goes off use a flannel that has been in cold water over night to refresh your face (cold shower help to but you have to be out of bed for that - the technique means you can keep what you need by your bed), keep your room cool (although it's not always easy towards summer), get fresh air and natural light as soon as possible (I do this quite easily because I smoke but if you don't you could do it by just taking a drink outside first thing and just letter yourself wake up naturally for 5-10 mins).



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Old 18-04-2017, 10:27 AM   #10
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Thanks. I have been taking it 2 hours after I eat lunch, so it's quite early in the day. Usually afternoon.

I've set a daily alarm for 8:30 for now, and have been trying to get out of bed within half an hour of that. It's not ideal but it's progress.

I could maybe ask about IR when I see my cc next. And see what she says.

I am only on 200 so I am still on a relatively small dose. At 100 I still had a fair few symptoms interfering with my days. I don't know if 150 would work as well, and everything else has settled so much I'm not too eager to reduce it as I haven't felt so calm and collected in so long I can't even remember.

I do probably need that much sleep almost to stay regular. I'm not too happy about it but I suppose I don't work full time so it's not like I don't get any down time.

I just wanted to try an compromise between my needs and wants- because spending so much time asleep means I get less time awake enjoying stuff. I suppose the trade off seems worth it in some way, it's just since I was so depressed for so long, I don't want to waste a minute of time that I could be living and enjoying.

I think the ideas your realist suggested are also very good. I'll try some. Thanks.

I am starting to establish some form of weekly routine, with running crew (which is also my social time) at the same time each week. I'm slowly trying to build in some regularity between my days and weeks, although I do struggle with it a bit still. I also have the routine of mood charting etc, which gives me some form of feeling in control because I write down stuff for every day etc. after my exams, I'm going to try and build in more weekly routines like volunteering at the growing project and more run club stuff etc. routine is quite hard because not much in my life is routine, and my gf works very non-routine hours that change every week and I like to try and fit in time to see her when she's not working, which means I have to be quite flexible to some extent.

- I think it's totally workable though. I just need to figure out a way that works for me.

-- I went on for ages. Sorry. I'm done now lol.



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Old 18-04-2017, 10:45 PM   #11
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One of the reasons quetiapine works so well for me is it forces me to sleep a sensible amount of time. I can usually manage 8-9 hours for a few days but I really need a 10+ hour sleep every few days to catch up.

Maybe it would be worth thinking about your reasons for wanting less sleep and whether they would threaten stability. When I force my body to go against the quetiapine and sleep less I invariably end up ill again. Regular sleep is as good for mental health as medication.



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Old 20-04-2017, 12:01 PM   #12
_wendy_
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my psych has just agreed to me using quetiapine prn as once came off it, my sleep went back to 2 hours a night, then this week down to 1 hour a night. Psych said to try 25-50mg as the lower doses are more sedating. thought would take 50mg as when on it before it didnt even knock me out. managed to get nearly 8 hours last night. Over time when you start, or come off meds it takes a while for your body to adjust, so while you may get what you call too much sleep now, once your body gets used to that, it may drop back a bit. So, I would stick with what you are doing for now, give it some time for your body to adjust



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current mental health diagnoses: depression, PTSD, GAD, self harm, bpd

current meds (as at Feb 2017): , thyroxine, metformin, iron, b12, vit d, atenolol, Butec, Naproxen, Nefopam, Lanzoprazole, Bupropion, quetiapine (prn)

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