Seroquel and Hallucinations: What Users Say

• Lan...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• May 28, 2017

For Schizophrenia "I take 300 mg. It's been 5 years. I was on higher doses, once up to 900 mg. My delusions never went away, but I can control my thoughts better. I think of something delusional, but I don't follow the train of thought. Since I started a serious relationship 2 years ago, I have been working on my anger and paranoia that he would hurt me. It's harder to control my emotions. Right now, I have an outrageous story in my head about him, but after reading the posts on this website, I know these feelings aren't new. I've felt them with my own family. I'm going to a National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) meeting soon to get support about how lonely it can feel to be exhausted. I pray in the morning to help my negative feelings and meditate at night to be present."

• Anonymous
• December 9, 2011

For Bipolar Disorder "I've had bad reactions to every mood stabilizer I've tried, but this was truly the scariest. I had to withdraw from college because I was sleeping constantly, crying for 8 hours at a time, and hallucinating. I eventually became suicidal and landed myself in the hospital for 2 weeks. I know that everyone reacts differently, and finding the bipolar cocktail is a painful trial-and-error process, but if you have this experience, I wanted you to know you are not alone."

• Ano...
• November 11, 2010

For Borderline Personality Disorder "I am 4 weeks into taking 25 mg of Seroquel, and I noticed the difference almost straight away. I can think so much better because my anxiety is reduced enough for me to think in straight lines again. I am nowhere near as paranoid and a bit less dissociative too, which is all really good. I was also prescribed Cymbalta for depression but have just ditched that because I was too fearless and suicidal on it. While Seroquel is not touching my depression, I noticed that after taking it, I felt that I gained a degree of self-control back, which helped me to start to use basic life skills that I have learned, which help me to deal with some of the BPD approaches to life's problems. Seriously, I find Seroquel, even at the low dose, to be excellent."

• Con...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 25, 2016

For Bipolar Disorder "I felt more emotionally stable on this, meaning when I would have usually gotten to a certain point, the medication stopped it before it could escalate. For the first few months, I was thankful for not completely crashing and burning every couple of weeks (I was in a particularly stressful situation in the period of time I was taking this, so my hopelessness was exacerbated), significant reduction in hallucinations and paranoid delusions, not being able to cry, sleeping consistently, and having no memory of my dreams. The reasons as to why I stopped taking it were degenerated eyesight (my eyesight had been perfect prior to meds), severely affected long and short term memory, and zero motivation in all areas of life. I didn't feel like myself."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 1, 2019

"Stay away from this Seroquel if you have any sort of epileptiform activity in your brain! Epileptiform discharges mimic psychosis, and rather than giving someone an antipsychotic, they treat it with an anticonvulsant. Seroquel makes the epileptiform discharges worse, so you may have hallucinations. It happened to me. It’s a bad drug for epileptiform! Horrible! I took it for insomnia because I was so sleep deprived."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• August 27, 2017

For Schizoaffective Disorder "I was prescribed 800 Seroquel for my therapeutic dosage. Many years later, I decided with my pdoc to try 600. I felt more balanced, more centered, and attuned-with the same effectiveness of the med. Later, while in a combination of other meds, I took the courage to play around with 300/400 mg of XR, and, to my surprise, I still got a precise dosage-no racing thoughts, sound sleep, no anxiety, much attenuated paranoia, and an awesome antidepressant effect with half of the original 800."

• K19...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 17, 2018

For Schizoaffective Disorder "I was on a number of medications. For hallucinations (both tactile and visual, as well as auditory), I’m dealing with more of the schizophrenia part. I’ve been diagnosed for a year now. I’ve been on Abilify, Risperdal, Zyprexa. And nothing until Seroquel. I am completely calmed down and feel much better. Really sleepy and very hungry. Restless legs and arms, but all around a good medication."

• Anonymous
• May 3, 2011

For Bipolar Disorder "Seroquel is an amazing medicine if you have received a proper diagnosis. Since about age 6, I have suffered with painfully debilitating depression. Most days, I could barely pretend to engage and talk to people. I would just sit in my room and cry for hours almost every day. I also experienced horrible paranoia involving the belief that someone was watching me. My parents were very opposed to any medical treatment for my condition, so I just suffered through multiple suicide attempts, self-injury, and other serious emotional issues until the age of 21. I finally gathered the courage to seek treatment for my condition. After years of absolute hell on earth, my life is back together, thanks to Seroquel."

• ITr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 24, 2020

For Schizophrenia "The first couple of days I took Seroquel, I was more or less a zombie. I was given the drug for multiple suicide attempts because of a severe depression. At day 8, I had the worst manic episode I have ever had in my life, I had no control over what happened, and I had trouble breathing. My mild schizophrenia has since worsened, and I experience more hallucinations than I ever have before. This drug is NOT recommended, in my opinion."

• Anonymous
• August 23, 2011

For Insomnia "I started this medicine after my 3rd child, and severe post-partum psychosis followed, brought on by my insomnia. My hormones were so whack that I literally didn't sleep for about 2 months. I was hallucinating and everything. My baby was great, but I just didn't sleep. I tried Benadryl, Ambien, and anti-depressants. Long story short, I ended up in a behavior unit, and the doctors saved my life with Seroquel for sleep. They gave me 300 mg of Seroquel, Risperdal, and 1 mg of Klonopin for about 4 days. I felt like a new person! I slept all 4 days and felt normal again. I weaned off everything except Seroquel and take between 100 and 125 mg every night. I hate having to take it, but I feel so good every day from having slept 7-8 hrs the night before."

• Liz...
• April 8, 2016

For Schizophrenia "I complained to a friend of insomnia, mainly stress-related. She offered a Seroquel on the promise that it would relax me and put me in la-la land. I will never again take medicine that is not prescribed for me! For the first time ever... I heard voices starting at 2 a.m. I heard two men arguing on the other side of my closed bedroom door, loud enough to wake me, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was too afraid to look because I knew no one was there. Then around 4:30 a.m., I heard a baby crying nonstop, this lasted until 7:00 a.m. I sat up for hours listening to what it feels like to be going insane! Never again!"

• BPD...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 5, 2013

For Bipolar Disorder "I was prescribed this for sleep, and my doctor told me it has multiple uses and can be used for bipolar as well. Unfortunately, this medication causes auditory hallucinations. I am a 24-year-old male, and I will have to have a talk with my doctor about this."

• Anonymous
• August 14, 2012

For Bipolar Disorder "I was on Seroquel for only a few weeks, but that was more than enough. I had hallucinations and gained a significant amount of weight in that time. It did help me sleep at night and helped with my racing thoughts, but that's about it."

• Fiz...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• April 21, 2023

For Bipolar Disorder "Seroquel was the best and the worst medication I was on so far for bipolar disorder. It helped me stay a bit more stable, helped me sleep really well, and was the only mood stabilizer that didn't cause a negative reaction. Though I was going to be proved wrong. One random day, months and months after taking it, I went to bed and woke up in a hospital bed. No idea which hospital I was at, I guessed. Had no idea what day it was. Turned out it was 2 days after I arrived at the hospital! I apparently walked around the house looking for something, went to bed, and lay on the bed weirdly. I then fell off and hit my head and had a nasty hit on my leg. After that, I have been having spells of severe anxiety like I've never felt or heard of before. I also had hallucinations to the point I was trying to jump out of a moving vehicle. Seroquel is a really good medicine, but it definitely was NOT for me. I do miss the sleep :("

• IDK...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 24, 2025

For Schizoaffective Disorder "I started taking quetiapine a couple of months ago, initially to help with my chronic insomnia, although I suspect my psychiatrist also did it in hopes it might help with what looked to be psychosis. I started at 25 mg, and it would knock me out at night. It was amazing, finally getting enough sleep. Later, I would begin having more issues with schizoaffective disorder and had a psychotic break in November. My psychiatrist then increased my dosage and I have not noticed any bad side effects, mainly just not as paranoid constantly and less auditory hallucinations."

• Anonymous
• January 21, 2012

For Insomnia "I was hospitalized and couldn't sleep due to intense anxiety in the hospital. I was given 50 mg Seroquel. I felt the effects within 20 minutes, but then they kept getting stronger for well over an hour until my perceptions of time and space were very distorted. I couldn't even sit in a chair without feeling I was going to fall out of it. Next, I started getting paranoid until 16 hours later I took Klonopin, and everything went back to normal. If I was at home or work and took Seroquel for the first time, it would have been a disaster. I did sleep for a few hours while I was on it, though."

• Bex...
• October 15, 2015

For Bipolar Disorder "I've been taking 100 mg for over a month and had quite the reverse of increased appetite or weight gain, although this could be due to the low dose. But also I feel my manic behavior is not necessarily under full control, whilst the tablet also makes it near impossible for me to get up before 7 a.m. on consecutive days. All in all, though, I do feel more balanced, productive, and have a better sense of self-purpose and an ability to plan realistically on this drug. Although at this stage, I am keeping a close eye on feelings of paranoia creeping in. It can be hard to tolerate the side effects of this drug, though."

• Anonymous
• November 2, 2011

For Depression "In October 2010, I had a psychotic attack. It appears that my old medicine, escitalopram (taken since 2004), has failed to treat my ongoing depression. Since I transferred onto this medicine about six months ago by a psychiatrist. Taken with escitalopram, I gained 1.5 stones in weight. No longer taking escitalopram, the weight has dropped off of me. Now taking a dosage of 200 mg daily, this medicine is not working on either the hallucinations or the depression. May need a stronger dosage and/or take in combination with an antidepressant."

• Anonymous
• May 17, 2010

"Our mom has been on Seroquel for just over a year. She was diagnosed with Sundowner Syndrome and hallucinates, becomes very fearful and afraid. This has helped a great deal. We have had to increase the dosage a few times. It has never made her sleepy, however, when she does go to sleep, she gets good rest."

• Sch...
• December 16, 2008

For Schizophrenia "It worked really well for a little while, but I've started having delusions again. It still helps, though. It also puts you to sleep."

• Anonymous
• December 11, 2010

For Bipolar Disorder "I was given 25 mg once a day in conjunction with Lamictal. I started hallucinating about a day in. Stopped taking it 4 days later after severe hallucinations."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 13, 2012

For Bipolar Disorder "I had a bad reaction to an anti-inflammatory misdiagnosed as bipolar. This medicine causes psychosis in an individual wrongly prescribed it."