Hi guys. Need help. Have successfully tapered off Seroquel completely after taking it for 4 years. Went from 150mg XR, 100mg XR, 50mg XR, 50mg, 25mg, zero. Each reduction was in place for 2 weeks. No side effects other than extreme itching which began a few days after stopping last dose. I thought it had something to do with Seroquel being an antihistamine, however my GP (who told me he has treated other patients with the itching aftet stopping Seroquel) said it's actually hypersensitive nerves affected by Seroquel. The itching is bearable when I'm still and drinking water helps to alleviate it immediately. 2 to 3 litres per day helps. When I do any activity like walking or start to get sweaty, the itching takes over my whole body and I want to rip my clothes off and scratch until I bleed. Doctor said it has something to do with the sweat glands and nerves so have to now take antihistamines 1 per day to combat the itching. GP says this is short term only for 3 to 4 weeks and to give the nerves time to balance out again. He said the itching can last for up to a couple of months. Waiting to see if after 3 or 4 weeks the itching stops. If not I need to go back and he will investigate further and possibly with alternative treatment. Has anyone else experienced this itching and hiw long did it last until it went away completely? I gained a lot of weight while taking Seroquel and can't even walk let alone exercise properly to lose the weight because of the itching. Thank you in advance.
How long does severe itching last after withdrawing from Seroquel?
Question posted by Lilo81 on 7 July 2014
Last updated on 20 September 2023 by Tru23
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
23 Answers
Hi everyone. Hope it's okay I'm posting, I saw the thread and wanted to share where I'm at. I went on quetiapine/Seroquel in April for PTSD induced insomnia. I was on 25mg, but sometimes 50mg for very bad nights. After about 4 weeks in Seroquel, I started getting hives on my legs mostly in the early hours of the morning and they would resolve within a couple of hours. I was worried about it, but after about 5 weeks they went away. In late July I started tapering off Seroquel and took the last dose on the 23rd of August. The hives came back after I took the last dose again on my legs and in early hours of the morning and haven't gone away since. I also get severe itching on my skin even where there is no hive. This week the hives and itching have gotten very bad and have moved beyond my legs to my whole body and is happening throughout the day, not just early morning.
I'm really worried about it and scared it wont resolve. I had chronic hives years ago from Lyme disease (since cured). So this has obviously scared me and I'm just worried about it lasting.
I've seen a few people have posted here with similar experiences and was wondering if anyone could give an update on how they are and if it resolved?
Thanks in advance for any help!
I live in London, England and I'm now two weeks off of Quetiapine/Seroquel... and the itching has started..Of course I thought my sanity had left me... again... or the start of permanent dementia ( runs in the family) Well I'm going to through everything i've got at the itching... epsom salt baths, antihistamine cream... some witch hazel and tea tree spray i've got lying around. seems worse at night..when I'm lying down and not moving around... At least I have experience with itching due to being murdered by mosquitos all through my childhood and anytime I go anywhere tropical. Sat in the pub garden for an hour tonight and the gnats were at me. I also gained a lot of weight. I slowly tapered... for months at a time... from September 2022 at 150mg. Kept dropping 25 every 3 months until the summer of 2023. I had a bit of a wobble in March 2023 and ended up off sick fr 12 weeks from work... I'm still on my return to work.
I do get irritated and frustrated but I keep telling myself to trust the process like I did with therapy. I'm monitored quite closely by my GP and my job... but I insist on this because I do not want to be sectioned and involuntarily admitted to a secure psych ward unit again. A lot of radical acceptance from DBT. Despite the insomnia and itching, I'm unusually happy and calm..even though I have some life stresses. There is no way I could have come off these meds without intensive MBT DBT, my three support groups, my Betterhelp therapist, my trainer and the pharmacist helping me. I do a manual job 2 days a week and that had mitigated things like diabetes, heart problems and other obesity-related illnesses. I do get checked ( bloods, blood pressure, etc) a lot by the GP and I make them give me an ECG every year. Sorry to hear that you struggle to walk... This happened to me during the first lockdown... because I never left the house apart form my two days at the manual job. I couldn't walk very far at all. The second lockdown I got a trainer to see twice a week outside. Now I've added in cycling and swimming. I want to go back to women's soccer football but the fatigue and cost of living finances are currently a barrier. I increased my protein and magnesium and stick to close to 10k steps a day. I weigh 210 lbs and I'm 5 feet 6 inches. I'm technically an obese BMI but I'm fairly active so that helps mitigate a lot of things. I caved today and took some caffeine so that I could do my bike ride and laundry and self care. I know it's not good to rely on caffeine too much but until I get the quetiapine out of my system, it might be a coping mechanism... I just have to make sure I don't overdose on caffeine and stay away from the additives like sugar and artificial flavouring. Take it easy everyone.
I will add my experience since this thread still appears to keep going.
Like others, I am so happy to see I am not going crazy with my itching post coming of Seroquel. I had been on Seroquel for around 12 years or so, initially 50mg then I stepped down to 25mg. During the past 5 years I have been working hard on my weight by consistently working out and adjusting my diet. Nothing radical and I would never expect results quick, but after years of being stuck I thought Seroquel may be contributing to my weight struggle which others had expressed too. For this reason I deduced to go off it, and since I was on a pretty low dose of 25mg I just stopping taking it and informed my Doctor who I will with twice a year.
Seroquel was amazing at helping me calm my mind and let me fall asleep. Since I stoped taking it three weeks ago my sleep has been terrible, waking after just a few hours and unable to go back to sleep. I tried CBD oils and gummies, and then the itching stopped. I thought it was these products, but after reading all these comments I think it was the Seroquel. Several weeks in the itching is terrible but manageable. But when it flares I am scratching like crazy. I really hope it fades away in the next month or so. For those who were using Seroquel for sleep, even crazy high dozes of melatonin haven’t worked for me so I am trying magnesium and valerian root. Fingers crossed. Thank you my itchy friends for assuming me I am not crazy, at least about this.
I was taking about 150 mg of Seroquel, and have issues with my insurance company about every two months. I typically feel sick, but this time around, I want to scratch my skin off. I can't believe it would have this affect. Nerves for gods sake. Ugh. Happy I found this answer, because I was going crazy wondering what was going on.
I'm 4 days into completing stopping Seroquel 100mg. I was really nauseous for the first couple of days but now I'm so itchy it's been driving me wild & keeping me awake all night arghhh! I've discovered some drug-free coping mechanisms - the first is using a boar bristle hair brush to scratch with, especially my legs and feet. Relieves the itch without damaging the skin & also removes dry skin which helps. The next is Dermacool Plus menthol aqueous cream and this is a LIFE SAVER! The cooling sensation is a bit weird, especially when you're in bed, but it totally soothes the itching and you can reapply as often as you want. It's for eczema & rashes so seems to be okay for sensitive, damaged or broken skin too if you've clawed yourself like me it will help heal the skin as well as preventing itch. Don't rub your eyes with it on your hands though, I learned this the hard way!
I am a month off 20 years of Seroquel. I am on pregabalin for the extreme itch, and it makes it manageable. I hope you don't have to go this route, but just wanted you to know it is out there.
This is a terrible drug, we really need to be careful when doctors or therapists give us pills. There parts easy, they hand them to us and we take them. Their job is done, ours is far worse. I was only on a small dose 25mg for a bout six months, its only been three days now but the itching is horrid. My doctor laughed at me and said the itching is in your head. I was gutted. I know whats in my head and whats not this is so not in my head. I will try something to help with it, be careful folks. My doctor gave this to me regardless of the fact that it can cause diabettes. Scary as he knew from the beginning it runs on my family. I am lucky as I only took 25mg for six months. I can only imagine how bad it is on a higher does. I have always had a low blood pressure as well, suddenly since taking this drug I have a high blood pressure. I am going to try something natural to help wiht anxiety and depression. Sometimes we are just experimental subjects to doctors. Trust your body and yourself folks. Don't be afraid to say no.
Good luck everyone!
Sorry it didn't work for you. Diabetes and heart problems run in my family. It did make me put on weight but I do a manual job 2 days a week and other exercise activities. In November 2020, i got a personal trainer because they closed the gyms in lockdown. I was on Quetiapine for over 8 years at a high dose of 150m. It worked for my diagnosis, Borderline/ Emotionally Unstable Personality disorder, Complex childhood trauma, autistic traits, anxiety and depression. It made my brain calm and shut down to help me sleep. Although the quetiapine made me obese ( by BMI weight 210lbs at height 5 foot 6), I have no other obesity-related physical problems like diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol or abnormal heart performance. I live in the UK and I'm closely monitored by my GP doctor, mental health hospital, support groups, pharmacist, private trainer and private online Psychotherapist.
The main reason I decided to come off it was to lose weight and the weight was affecting my mobility according to my sports rehab therapist. I have also had 18 months of intensive psychotherapy twice a week individual and group for over 2 hours. I would have never dared to come off the medication if I never had that intensive therapy. Quetiapine is an anti-psychotic and if you don't have severe inpatient-level mental illness I can't see how it could help someone without those symptoms and diagnoses. I would not recommend an antipsychotic for anxiety and depression alone based on my peer knowledge of seeing many peers in groups over 10 years.
I was on seroquel for 12 years. I weaned off 100mg of Seroquel for 5 months and finally quit taking it on Oct. 4th of this year. The bad itching started then! It looks like a skin rash almost, sometimes if I keep scratching a small welt will pop up. I itch on the sides of my face, my hands, and around my knees and elbows. Usually a couple of Benadryl helps but I hate to keep taking it everyday as it makes me tired. A cool shower also helps sometimes. As others have stated an ice pack will help as well. I have also broken out with acne really badly since stopping the meds. Seroquel also made me gain weight so I have lost about 5 pounds already. I'm in the same boat as you with the working out problem, I start to sweat and the itchiness gets very intense, I would take a benadryl before hand but that zaps my energy and I feel like i cant lift much weight. It has been a exactly a month since I've stopped and the itchiness is worse than ever. Hopefully this doesnt continue for much longer
My son is experiencing severe itch as well. He has been off of seroquel for 2 weeks. He was on Seroquel for 10 years up to 1300mg nightly. What can he do for relief?
I had been taking 300mg of seroquel for over 6 years and recently had to get off it because it was causing me bladder issues (it makes it difficult to urinate which has expanded my bladder over the years). I tapered off by 50mg every 3 weeks. Everything was going well until I was completely off. After about 2 days without it, I noticed I was getting nauseous more easily, lost my appetite, was having diarrhea, and was very itchy. I thought I could handle it, but by day 5 the itchiness was just too much. It was primarily on my palms and between my fingers. I ended up going back up to 25mg for another 4 weeks then off again. The itchiness came back worse than ever. As someone posted above, ice packs help a ton! At night it seems to be much worse (it also fluctuates) so sometimes I'll take a vistaril (25mg of hydroxyzine pamoate) so I can fall asleep. To help with the nausea, eating many small meals and drinking lots of water helped the most for me. I'm currently on day 8 without seroquel and still itching, but not as bad. Hope this helps!
I am, currently, on zero quetiapine 25 mg, for a week: I have only experienced physical symptoms like late restless sleep, digestive problems and less muscular strengh; Total lack of appetite and weight loss. However, is the inching that is the most uncomfortable!
hey I was going though the same thing I was scratching for a week straight ended up going to hospital it’s such a horrible feeling I’m taking 800mg and I can’t sleep without it
Just wanted to say that reading through this forum has been a huge help. I'm currently in Seroquel withdrawal and have been Googling ways to fight this intense itchiness. I'm even getting itchy like inside my joints! It's so tempting to just go back on the meds. I read through this forum about those who abstained from taking antihistamines and just letting the itchiness run its course until all the Seroquel is out. I decided to go that route but needed SOME kind of relief. I've found that ice packs actually help. When I need to scratch, applying ice to the areas is a relief. There's also a body oil I've been using that surprisingly helps tremendously. It's olive oil based and the molecules in the oil are a similar size to the ones in our skin, so this oil actually gets into my blood stream through my skin and has anti-inflammatory properties or something.
It seriously helps the itch! I just wanted to reach out and mention this to anyone suffering and in need of some options for relief. Try olive oil, or more specifically the oil I've been using is called Body Oil by Olive + M. It has some other ingredients that I think help a lot. Seriously saving my sanity through this itchy withdrawal period. Good luck and keep pushing through.
UPDATE (I still get email notifications regarding activity on this thread): Another topical product that helped a lot was the Shungite Balm from Ruby Organics, which I still use. Highly recommend.
Yes!;!! I am going CRAZY AS HELL WITH THIS ITCHING!!! IVE ONLY BEEN OFF SEROQUEL FOR 4 DAYS. BENADRYL IS NOT EVEN HELPING!!!
Hi. I know this is an old thread. This helped me when I was searching. I wanted to give my feedback for people searching for answers like I was. I was taking 200mg of Seroquel for about 5 years. I went down to 100 mg on 1/20/18 and then my doc said to stop it all together on 2/18/18. The first drop was ok. No itchiness at all. Then when I stopped completely, that's when it began! Yikes. It was awful at first. I had severe rashes and itchiness on my lower abdomen, upper thighs, tops of my feet, my upper arms and sides of my breasts. They looked like huge welts. They then got less severe looking... more like a regular rash. I was really concerned. After doing a Google search and finding other people's advice, I learned that Seroquel is an anti-histamine. I began taking 20 mg of equate non-drowsy allergy relief (loratadine) once per day. I also used calamine lotion liberally everywhere needed as much as I needed. I suggest asking your doc how much anti-histamine to take.
I have to tell you that as of today, 2/27/18, I feel like a new woman! I still have some mild looking red marks from the rash and am a little bit itchy but I feel soooo much better. I just want people to know that the horrible part is dying down for me. If anything changes, I'll come back and update. Best wishes to you and God bless.
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