Quietapine
 

My psych started me back on quietapine. I was on it not very long ago on 200mg.

She has started me on it agein today and she wants me to work up to 300-600mg.
I'm a bit scared because 200mg knocked me out, what on earth is 300-600mg gonna do to me?

Any experienced?

I am bipolar and it is to prevent furthur manias if that helps.

I've been up to 600mg and though initially it knocked me out, I did get used to it. How long were you on the 200mg for? It may just be that you need time. xx

I'm on 600mg, but it doesn't knock me out at all.
I agree with Tig, maybe you just need time to adapt to the meds.

I read a blog a little while ago, it was called something like 'The Last Psychiatrist', I can't remember. Anyway, it explained how Quetiapine works. Basically, due to the way it works and the 'receptors' it works on, the drowsiness effect doesn't seem to increase after you hit 300mg. Around/after 300mg (up to 600) its antipsychotic effects work better.

P.S. Not sure how accurate or correct the blog was.

I wish they would explain things properly. 200mg used to knock me out, and after that it sorta scared me off medication. Anything that he tells me is even a slight sedative I'm worried about taking.

yer... i used to take 100mg in the day and 300mg at night.. but after 300mg it does seem to get better... due to being pregnant i am on upto 100mg a day (not that it's doing anything) but 75mg seems to hit me hard...it's a weird medication quetiapine.

Thanks guys this has helped loads :-)

I've been on it for months, the one thing that pisses me off about it is that I've gained weight on it, despite my lack of appetite and lack of eating, plus the fact it's not really helping much anymore, so I'm intending to come off this and try something else.

It helped at the beginning, it did make me incredibly drowsy and sleepy, but eventually that side effect won't be as bad as it would be when you first start it. It's meant to be sedating, but you'll get used to that.

Gradually work up to the dose that will be helpful to you, give it a few weeks and see how it goes.

x

What kind of effect did it have on everyone's mood?

It has made my moods less intense. For me I don't get manic, so it's more to stop the swinging from low to very low and it does seem to help that. x

Quetiapine made my moods less intense. I felt completely zoned out and like nothing really mattered. Which was both good and bad. It helped somewhat with my psychotic symptoms, but the more noticeable affect was they way it flattened out my mood. It was helpful but I stopped taking it because it made me too tired. I was on 800mg and it really wore me out.

Im on 600 mg and thats what I started on and I've never felt tired with it. I find it has a positive effect on the highs but I don't notice an impact on the lows.

it stopped me getting highs... i haven't had a bad high since i was first put on it in 2007... hasn't helped my lows... but now i'm on a low dose as i'm pregnant my moods are all over the place again.

What do you guys take for the lows/ with the quietapine?

I need my highs to stop/be reduced. I'm in too much trouble now so I'm glad that high dose quietapine has helped others reduce the highs.

I have it on top of my valproate for lows because they can't increase my valproate due to side effects - so I'm only on a very low dose (50mg). I haven't yet decided whether it helps or not - although it defs helps my sleep be more productive (if that makes any sense)

Saw my psych today and she said she wants to take me upto 600mg slowly. But she wants me to take a split dose of 300mg in morning and 300mg in evening but the pharmasist at the psych hospital advised me to take 150mg in the morning and 450mg in the evening.
It will be a week or two till I get to 600mg though.

How do you guys take yours?
Also how long did it take you to go from 100 to the dose your on now?

There are several medications that do this (have one side-effect stronger at lower doses). For example, 7.5mg or 15mg of mirtazapine is more sedating than 30mg or 45mg, according to my studies (I have never taken mirtazapine). I cannot find references for this happening with quetiapine but I haven't looked at all my textbooks yet.

~ 50% of people experience somnolence with quetiapine at doses > 400mg/day (I remember this from my Clinical Psychopharmacology textbook), however, as others have said, this does wear off with time.

I have been taking 20mg of olanzapine for 3 years now. When I first took olanzapine (at 10mg), I was knackered. But now I sleep quite normally.

It takes time for the tiredness to wear off though.

As for the quoted post, quetiapine has a better efficacy at 300-800mg, but it depends on tolerability to side-effects.

OP, I hope it goes well for you. Taking the 150mg in the morning and 450mg at night is a good idea as the half life is 7 hours, and taking less at night means less sedation the next morning. Are you on XL?

Steel maiden - What is XL? Is that the same as extended release? If so I have to apply for use of extended release tabs and "make a case". I think because it is so expensive.
Also thanks for the info on quietapine. I found it really interesting.

XL is extended release. IR (immediate release) has a half life of 3 hours whereas XL can be taken once or twice a day and still be effective.

Unfortunately second-generation antipsychotics are rather expensive.

You're welcome.

As I said before I went straight on to 600 mg as a starting dose.

I was put straight on XL tablets and didn't have to make a case for it. I did at one point have a split dose when I went manic and i was on the split dose for about a month before I came of it.

If you are on the immediate release then I can see the point of taking 300 and 300 as it's spreads the dose evenly. I'm on pregablin which has a short half life and was meant to take it 3 times a day but that didn't work for me so my dose got put at 50 in the morning and 100 at night because night times are worse for me. If that's the case for you then it would be worth speaking to your dr about it.