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Side Effects of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate)
Seroquel Basics How Seroquel Works & Compares with Other Meds How To Take Seroquel Comments Where to Buy Seroquel / Ratings
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Even though it's class action lawsuit city with Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and other atypical antipsychotics these days because of their side effects, the side effects really aren't that bad! But if you're into that sort of thing, we have a page to help you find a lawyer. For tips on how to cope with these side effects, please see our side effects page. The only proven med-based solution I've found to date for Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) and weight gain is Axid (nizatidine). Everything I have to help lose weight on Seroquel is on the side effects pages. In addition to the usual short-term side effects for atypical antipsychotics
Seroquel's Typical Side Effects: Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) is notorious for two things - making you sleep until next Tuesday, and giving you a hangover when you eventually wake up. For 90% or so of the people who take it, the hangover goes away in two or three days, a week at the outside. And if you're taking Seroquel as required for sleep, the hangover often goes away eventually. It all depends on how often you take it. Otherwise expect the usual short-term side effects for atypical antipsychotics - headache, nausea, dry mouth, sleepiness or insomnia, diarrhea or constipation, not giving a damn about anything (a.k.a. the zombification effect). Most, if not all of these will go away in a couple of weeks. Except for the excessive sleepiness, which could hang around for as long as you take this med. The other big issue with a lot of people is weight gain. While not as bad as Zyprexa (olanzapine), like that med Seroquel is a potential triple threat when it comes to weight gain, as it could slow your metabolism, may make you want to sleep 10 or more hours a day, and often make you want to eat more. And since it hits the H1 histamine receptor, and hard, (see How Seroquel Works for details) it's going to make you crave carbohydrates like there's no tomorrow, so good luck sticking to that Atkins diet. But, hey, at least it's the goddamn med's fault and not any lack of willpower on your part. For tips on how to cope with these side effects, please see our
side effects page. Like Zyprexa
(olanzapine) the only med-based solution for the weight issue is Axid (nizatidine).
Everything I have on that is on the side effects pages. Seroquel's Not So Common Side Effects: Diabetes. Manic reaction (Hey, the evidence is mounting that it's a fairly decent antidepressant amongst the bipolar and schizoaffective, so you've got to expect this sort of thing.) Muscle aches and pains. Getting all sweaty for no good reason. Tremor. Irregular heart beat and prolonged QT interval (whatever the hell that means, ask your doctor). While the sexual dysfunctions aren't as bad as Risperdal (risperidone) or Zyprexa (olanzapine), they can still happen. Like any antipsychotic there is a slight, but real risk for extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), tardive dyskenesia, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). Please see the page on these risks. Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) tests as having one of the lowest risks for EPS and TD and has been used to treat people with TD. These may or may not happen to you don't, so don't be surprised one way or the other.
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Seroquel's Freaky Rare Side Effects:
Infanticide (Tragic case of a mother having a psychotic episode and using
her Seroquel in a really nasty way.)
Completely eating someone's blood. Priapism (i.e. the
never-ending hard-on)
from an overdose. Kids, don't try this at home as a Cialis
substitute The PI sheet also lists "bone pain" and "abnormal ejaculation"
so I'd be especially careful about taking too much to stay hard. For all side effects, read the PI sheet.
Seroquel's Suicide Risk: The use of Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) has had a few documented suicide attempts, notably with adolescents. This is spelled out in the PI sheet. But all psychiatric and neurological meds have a potential suicide risk. It's prevented far more suicides than encouraged such attempts, and in that respect its use far outweighs any suicide risk.
Interesting Stuff Your Doctor Probably Won't Tell You: Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) is marginally better absorbed with food. So if you feel you need just a little boost in the dosage, try taking it with dinner or a late night snack. Like most drugs older people don't clear it out of their systems as well, too the point that they may need a lower dosage (or would do better with the generic version when such comes on the market). That's not particularly interesting. What is interesting is that Seroquel (quetiapine fumarate) seems to work better for people under 40 than over 40. Really, it's in the PI sheet.
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Take care, and keep taking your crazy meds!
Jerod
If you still have unanswered questions about this or other medications,
including which one is, or combination of meds are the best for you, your best
bet is to ask on Crazy
Meds Talk. Better yet, if you want to let the world know how they
worked out for you and want to help out others in their quest for the correct
meds, join the party.
If you want to discuss your issues, I suggest checking out one of
the various
support groups online.
Otherwise, if you're letting me know about how much you like or hate the site,
or need to let me know about medication effects in private, then just drop
a note to jerod23 at gmail dot com Honestly, I usually don't have a
lot of time to answer e-mail these days. The snide autoresponse
message that may or may not hit your mailbox is going to tell you the same
thing.
Another problem is that you may not get a response even if I wanted to send you
one. You see, so many dickweeds with malicious intents and too much time
on their hands have appropriated the crazymeds.org domain name to use for their
spam, viruses and the like. Subsequently some lazy-ass e-mail protection
software authors just go by the domain name, and not the IP address. So
I've been blacklisted because of the actions of others. Or the software
just doesn't like the domain name because of the "crazy" and/or "meds." Or
your question about a particular medication will set off spam flags. So
the e-mail just wouldn't go through regardless. Sorry.
Dead tree references:
Instant Psychopharmacology 2nd Edition Ronald J. Diamond M.D. © 2002. Published by W.W. Norton
Essential Psychopharmacology Stephen M. Stahl, M.D., Ph. D. © 2000. Published by Cambridge University Press
Essential Psychopharmacology of Antipsychotics and Mood Stabilizers Stephen M. Stahl, M.D., Ph. D. © 2002. Published by Cambridge University Press
Essential Psychopharmacology of Depression and Bipolar Disorder Stephen M. Stahl, M.D., Ph. D. © 2001. Published by Cambridge University Press
A Primer of Drug Action Robert M. Julien, M.D., Ph. D. © 2004. I now use the Tenth Edition. Sometimes that comes up on an Amazon search, usually it doesn't. Published by Worth Publishers
Physicians' Desk Reference Editions 53 & 56 Maria Deutsch & Anu Gupta, Drug Information Specialists, et al. © 1999, 2002. Published by Medical Economics Company.
The Complete Guide to Psychiatric Drugs Edward Drummond, M.D. © 2000. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mosby's 2004 Drug Guide David Nissen PharmD, Editor.© 2004. An imprint of Elsevier. The edition we're using isn't listed on Amazon.
End of books used for this article.
Created Saturday, November 13, 2003
Last updated Saturday, May 15, 2010
Copyright © 2003 - 2006 Jerod Poore. All rights reserved.
Almost all of the material on this site is copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Jerod Poore. Except, of course, the PI sheets, those are the property of the drug companies who developed the drugs the sheets are about. And any documents that are written by other people which may be posted to this site will remain the property of the original authors. You cannot reproduce this page or any other material on this site outside of the boundaries of fair use copying without the express permission of the copyright holder. That's usually me, so just ask first. That means if want to print out a few pages to take to your doctor, therapist, counselor, support group, non-understanding family members or something like that - then that's OK to just do. Go for it! Please. As long as you include this copyright notice and the following disclaimer, I'm cool with it.
All rights reserved. No warranty is expressed or implied in this information. Consult one or more doctors and pharmacists before taking, or changing how you take any neurological and/or psychiatric medication. Your mileage may vary. What happened to us won't necessarily happen to you. Nobody on this site is a doctor, therapist, or a pharmacist. We don't portray them either here or on TV. Only doctors can diagnose and treat an illness. Some doctors tend to get pissed off by patients who know too much about medications, so tread lightly when and where appropriate. Diagnosing yourself from a website is like defending yourself in court, you suddenly have a fool for a doctor. Don't be a cyberchondriac, thinking you have every disease you see a website about, or that you'll get every side effect from every medication. Self-prescribing is just as dangerous. All information on this site has been obtained through personal experience, the experiences of my friends, the experiences of people reported on online support groups, and from sources that are referenced throughout the site. Know your sources! As such the information presented here is not a substitute for real medical advice from your real doctor, just a compliment to it. No neurologists, psychiatrists, therapists or pharmacists were harmed in the production of this website. All brand names of the drugs listed in this site are the trademarks of the companies listed after them in the pages about the drugs, even though those companies may or may not have been acquired by other companies who may or may not be listed in this site by the time you read this. Always read the PI sheet that comes with your medications and never ever throw them away. If you didn't get a PI sheet, demand one. Loudly. Crazy Meds is not responsible for the content of sites we provide links to. We like them, or they're paid advertisements, or they're something you should read to make an informed decision about a particular med. Sometimes they're more than one of those things. But what's on those sites is their business, not ours. Very little information about visitors to this site is collected or saved. And from time to time I do look at search terms used to find it in an effort to make the information I present more relevant. Use only as directed. Void where prohibited.
"Everything is true, nothing is permitted." - Jerod Poore
