While on Seroquel (for several month), I began experiencing severe insomnia, sometimes getting 1 or 2 hours of sleep a night... and many,many nights, ZERO hours of sleep. This, of course, took me off of work. Dr. decided @ that point to take me off the Seroquel ('clean out my system and start over'). The whole process took about 2 months until I started to feel halfway normal again. After speaking to the Dr. and telling him I still wasn't getting enough sleep after returning to work (2 or so hours a night), his response was he did not know what to tell me. I assume he did not want to put me on any sleep medication. I started Melatonin on my own and finally began to get some relief. Now that I am not on Seroquel, I find that I do not require the amount of sleep that I did while taking it. However, due to that, being nocturnal by nature, I have a tendency to short myself sleep wise even though I know it is not in my best interest and that I am an adult and should be able to go to bed when I should! (lol). Anyway, has anyone else experienced insomnia while on Seroquel?? (I was on 600 mg at the time). Thanks
Has anyone experienced insomnia while taking Seroquel?
Question posted by will it ever stop? on 11 July 2011
Last updated on 13 August 2023
23 Answers
Your story is mirror to mine!
I found that not taking them every night and only taking them like every 3rd day or every other day helped a lot.
One problem in my case! I have begun sleep talking!
And it scared me to death.
While I'm having the dream everyone in the house can hear my entire dream because I'm talking out loud and only at the end of the dream I can hear myself saying the last part of the dream!!
Talk about freaky! Sorry, I tend to ramble. DOC put me on them for sleep as well. I'm up to 600mgs, and my family is going out of there minds with worry what is coming next... be very careful with this drug, it has a very high tendency to cause tardive dyskinesia.. yes, just like the commercial on TV. Except, they don't tell you that there are hundreds of other things it can do to you.. ok. Good luck, I'd move on to a safer med, I'm not a doctor so I can't give advice to you or anyone else for legal purposes. GODBLESS YOU ALWAYS JERE.
It's called an idiosyncratic reaction which affects a few users:
"Common (1% to 10% of users): Abnormal dreams, insomnia"
This is from the literature on Drugs.com and on the Patient Information sheet that usually comes with a prescription
WC
I’m getting the best sleep of my life on Seroquel
If you don't mind me asking, what strength are you taking?
54 yr old male and soon as i went up from 50mg to 100mg straight away horrible dreams and terrible sleep i stopped straight away without my DR permission
Yes I have . I was recently prescribed a low dose of seroquel 25mg , to take with my current medication for chronic insomnia . I was wide awake most of the night pacing the floors . I was hoping this would work :(
Yes, very similar scenario for me. I've been on approx 450mg of Seroquel for almost 8 years and earlier this year I noticed I was up all night(My diagnosis is bipolar 2 with a long family history of mental health). Well, 3 weeks later my wife and I are figuring out that Seroquel is no longer putting me to sleep. Long story short, I have grown tolerant to this med. My doc explained that the med's antihistamine effect no longer works as my receptors are 'maxed out' and that's why it's hard to fall asleep. I will stay on it for now (per my doc) for it's other properties but sometimes wonder if the things it helped with before are the things it's now causing: anxiety, depression, insomnia etc. I am using some ambien at night to help but doesn't always work. My doc and I have discussed and we don't want to increase the dose as that won't help.
Coming off the drug is no picnic either according to reports. I believe there is hope and help... keep talking to your doc or seek a second opinion.
When I had to stop it for an unrelated medical condition my psychiatrist just had me stop it and I had no discontinuation symptoms at all!
That is Seroquel. I spelled incorrectly.
I have not slept for 3 nights. I have been taking serquil first 25 mg and then 50mg for months and it worked great for sleep. Now, suddenly, it has stopped working and in frustration I took 100 mg through the night and only slept 3 hours. I am not going to take any more until it is out of my system and then I plan on resuming it but only taking one. And when the one stops working, I will stop taking it again. That's the plan. I am exhausted but not sleepy at all. This is horrible.
The exact same reaction occurred when I was on Seroquel. 0-2 hrs/night was about all I was getting. I had previously been on Ambien 15 mg for about 10 years-I have had a sleep disorder since I was in my early teens. But the Ambien just stopped working, and I tried several other meds only to find worse effectiveness or horrible nightmares. My doctor and I are still trying to come up with something for sleep relief. Unfortunately, Melatonin had no effect-I am in my 60's and am on several other medications. I'm glad it worked for you! Continued success to you with sleep disruptions-they can be so devastating! Still waiting for an effective and restful relief!
I am going through this! I Take zoloft 100 mg 2x day , lamictal 100mg at night seroquel 300 mg at bedtime . Gabapentin 300 mg 2x daily, and newly propanlol 10mg as needed. My doc still trying to get my meds right. been on seroquel longest. About 2 years always worked wonders Just recently stopped working up all night ! Wondering if the new meds are interacting or if I am getting immune ? Ugh ! Up all night!
yes i take 300 IR in morning and 600 IRat night along with 10 ambien. the thing is i get to sleep great and i am not interuppted the whole time im asleep. But heres the kicker. i wake up at 4 to 5 am WIDE THE F AWAKE. My brain acts like i just had two of my adderall. Its very frusterating Before it was no big deal when i was early 20s but with the seroquel i need atleast 7 to 8 hours. Going to get ahold of my psyc and see what he thinks.
I was placed on Seroquel as one of two drugs for managing my bipolar. The first time I took it (200 mg, I believe), I slept for 24 hours. That scared me off of it, but eventually I started again because of my poor sleep and to manage mania. I eventually was up to 300 mg, but it left me too drowsy in the morning. I cut back to 200 mg, but started developing panic attacks like claustrophobia. I dropped to 100mg and immediately the panic/anxiety attacks ceased, and my sleep was still good and I was alert in the morning. Whenever I would forget to take it, I would be so miserable in bed and unable to sleep well until I realized I must have missed it and so would take it and go to sleep. I hate being dependent on it, and so I've been trying to stop, but cannot sleep well at all. I have ringing in my ears, racing thoughts, wake up frequently and can't sleep more than 4 hours. I'll try melatonin, but suspect I will have to return to using Seroquel.
I do not seem to be able to sleep, even as well as before starting it... so I'm probably hooked. Have insomnia as a side affect is a real surprise to me, I thought it knocked everyone out.
I am on Seroquel 50 mg at bedtime and since I started have averaged 3-4 hrs of sleep. I made the decision to slowly go off it! This is the second or third "sedating" drug that has had the opposite effect on me! It is so frustrating to be up most of every night! I hear you!!
I have been on Seroquel for 2 weeks after several episodes of restless leg syndrome and anxiety/insomnia. I also have moderate to severe Fibromyalgia. Upon taking the Seroquel, I was alert, out of bed by 8:00 a.m., and had a significant decrease in the fibro pain the next day! The insomnia is bad-awaking 4-5 times a night, but the energy improvement is marked... I guess until the sleep deprivation catches up! The pain relief itself is leading me to just deal with the sleeplessness... so far anyway. Will be talking to the Dr. This week about how to proceed!
Hi, i know this question is old, but as it's been reopened, i thought i'd add my response... Insomnia when taking Seroquel is very uncommon. As already listed, it is renowned for it's sleep inducing properties. Of course not all medications work as they are expected to, so there will be people that don't benefit in the way they expect/are expected to. I have been taking Seroquel since 2010, and although i rate this medication, the effects of getting a good night sleep have reduced during this time. I find it difficult to get to sleep & maintain a good night sleep, but find it difficult getting up early in the morning at times. This, i know, is common when you are taking the extended release version, as i am.
I think if someone is taking this medication as a sleep aid, and not for it's mental health benefits, & it isn't working, then ask your doctor if you can try something else? Some of the older antidepressant's work as a sleep aid, such as Amitriptyline. These can be used long term. Or you could try a short course of a sleeping aid, such as Zopiclone, to kick start your natural sleeping pattern again. I will continue taking Seroquel for BPD, & although not as effective as they first were, they still help my sleep to a certain degree.
I've been on seroquel for 8 years and up until Feb 2018 it was my knock out pill at night. However, over time we all grow tolerant to meds and my time has come. Now it feels that this med is contributing to insomnia which in-turn causes more anxiety.
Related topics
seroquel, depression, bipolar disorder, insomnia, sleep disorders, sleep
Further information
- Seroquel uses and safety info
- Seroquel prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Seroquel (detailed)
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