I am hoping to get some help or reassurance that what I'm experiencing is fairly common and that it will improve with time. I was prescribed Seroquel/quetiapine for insomnia (regular, not XR) to take nightly or as needed (literally says that on the bottle). I took it almost nightly anywhere between 12.5 and 50 mg doses from October 2024 until June 2025. It helped insomnia tremendously with no other side effects (that I could notice). Around June 29, 2025 I stopped cold turkey as I was becoming worried about potential side effects of long term use. About 2 weeks after stopping I suddenly started feeling dizzy. Not a regular dizzy, more like a persistent and consistent "stoned in a bad way" dizzy, feeling drugged, that isn't going away, it is now day 26 of feeling this way. Secondary (not as persistent, consistent, or bothersome) sensations are a weird internal body buzz and a strange bitter taste in my mouth. No other symptoms, blood pressure and temperature are fine, as are nutrition and hydration, no other meds (other than Reactine for allergies, and supplements - nothing new in the last few months however), nothing new ingested. I've had a couple of better days and evenings but it always reverts to the horrible dizzy/stoned/drugged up feeling. I have been under a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for years, plus perimenopause, but I have never experienced anything like this persistent "stoned" feeling. It feels too coincidental to stopping Seroquel, though I never thought that quitting it after only on it 9ish months at low dose would cause something this horrendous. Is there anyone out there who has experienced something similar? Please put my mind at ease and tell me for how long, and what helped you, this is terrifying.
Seroquel/quetiapine withdrawal?
Question posted by BvB9 on 2 days 12 hours ago
Last updated on 5 August 2025
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Answers
Hi, BvB9!
Sounds very much like you are going through severe withdrawal and your symptoms are very common. You need to contact your physician ASAP for professional advice and to make up a game plan to get you through this.
As far as a timeline it can depend on various factors and you need to have them evaluate you. It can last a pretty long time for some people.
Ideally (as you know now) one should never stop psychiatric medications abruptly. A better way is always a long, slow taper of the amount you take gradually.
I'm sorry I can't post an outside link for you but you can Google "seroquel withdrawal" for quite a few different articles.
Warm regards and good thoughts coming your way for a fast recovery.
Wildcat
PS, It most likely is withdrawal since it is so coincidental but just to be safe you'd want to rule out any chance of some underlying medical condition.
Thank you for your kind response! Unfortunately, I used and stopped the medication as originally prescribed, and wish I had done my own research and tapered, without blindly trusting this medical professional. I am seeing my doctor soon but am extremely reluctant to introduce any medication. I'm hopeful that I can recover from this naturally, that time will hopefully help (I've seen some evidence of people recovering without further drug intervention). As far as I know I was physically healthy before all this, and having been on it for only 9 months at low doses I'm hoping that that may lead to recovering naturally?
@Wildcat... you are a star!
You sure know how to make folks feel first class, fantastic!!!
Warm regards, masso
Hi BvB9,
My friend is spot on.
I would like to encourage you to be strong and never lose your faith.
You mentioned it yourself, whenever a doctor introduces you to a new drug, research everything about it... you mentioned it, very wise.
Get well sooner rather than later, masso
@masso
Thanks so much for the compliments! You're not so bad yourself, my friend.
Well, thank you Wildcat.
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seroquel, insomnia, quetiapine, withdrawal, prescription
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