Hello everyone,

 

Apologies for the essay, but I'm really pouring my heart out here looking for support.

 

Where it all began / OTC antihistamines

 

My name is Tim. I am a father, I work in IT, and I enjoy endurance sports (primarily running). I am seeking support for getting off seroquel as a sleep aid. My journey with pharmaceuticals begins in 2022 with some intermittent benadryl and nyquil use during the early years as a parent of my 2 beautiful children. Sometime in early-mid 2023, frustration with sleep deprivation and anxiety ultimately led me to using Benadryl as a sleep aid nightly for about a year and half. Tolerance built, and insomnia got much worse as I refused to raise the dose. I experienced hypnic jerks at sleep onset that I believe are a result of sleep deprivation, but this ultimately prevented me from ever falling asleep. I landed in the ER in August 2024 after 3 days of no sleep and edible cannibas gummies threw me into an acute psychotic episode for a few hours. From the ER trip and a few follow-up Dr visits, I was given a few Ativan for immediate relief, Klonopin as needed for anxiety, and Seroquel as a sleep aid and the "psychosis". Keep in mind I have never had any psychotic symptoms in my life prior to this experience. I have had some elevated anxiety during times of stress (which as any working parents juggling a busy life know can be often), but never anxiety and panic attacks to the level that I have experienced from drug withdrawal. More on that later..

 

 

Beginning low dose Seroquel through building a tolerance:

I started seroquel in August of 2024 after the above ER visit, and am currently battling how to ever get off of it for good. My dosage of it has varied from 50mg down to 6.25mg during my first taper attempt, but I have ultimately used 12.5mg nightly for the longest duration. Fast forward to the summer/fall months of 2025 and I began experiencing sleep trouble which I believe was due to tolerance to the 12.5mg seroquel dosage, plus some anxiety regarding an upcoming half marathon race. I was intermittently using Klonopin as a secondary sleep aid/anxiolytic, but deathly afraid of getting hooked on it, so I never used it more than a few days before I would just endure the insomnia. In the nights before my race I was anxious and concerned I would not sleep, have a bad race as a result, yada yada racing thoughts. I took .25mg of klonopin after the seroquel was ineffective the night before the race, slept about 4 hours, then went on to achieve a personal record performance in the race the following day. This brings us to October of 2025, so I have been using low dose seroquel plus some occasional klonopin for about 14 months at this point. Over the next few weeks I only achieved very broken sleep, the hypnic jerks returned, and insomnia got aggressively worse. After a few days of no sleep I would cave and take .25 - .5mg of klonopin and get a few hours of sleep. Little did I know, I believe I was experiencing withdrawal symptoms from building a tolerance to the 12.5mg of seroquel. 

 

These next several weeks were a very dark time. The hypnic jerks were back with a vengeance, I experienced crippling panic attacks overnight and became suicidal. I projected a lot of my sleep issues on troubles in my marriage, spent some time at my parents house away from family, got sent through Kaisers IOP program which was not very helpful while very sleep deprived..I also very nearly got divorced. I had convinced myself I was doomed to be hooked on seroquel forever, and a Klonopin addiction would follow soon after and this fed the suicidal ideation. Big family feud between my parents and wife ensued, as my parents blamed all my sleep trouble on my wife and her attitude problems. She and my autistic son do have some issues controlling their tempers at times that can be unsettling, but I truly believe the smoking gun of my sleep trouble at this point is a tolerance to the seroquel has built up after using it almost nightly for about 18 months. To reinforce this belief, I have found that I was able to achieve quality sleep when spiking the seroquel dose for a few nights and eliminating any intermittent klonopin use. More on that below..this brings us to my first taper attempt..

 

 

First taper attempt through present:

 

After being deathly afraid of getting hooked on klonopin, but desperate to sleep, I tried spiking the seroquel dose to 50mg and the hypnic jerks were less severe, not enough to prevent me from falling asleep. Over a 2 month period, I gradually tapered from 50mg down to 6-9mg and my sleep continued to improve throughout. I consistently achieved 4 to 6 hours of deep sleep through most of December on 25mg while gradually reducing down to 12.5mg by shaving the pill. January 2026 was better yet--sleep continued to improve up to 7-8hrs as I shaved away at the pill down to about 6-9mg. (It is hard to be precise as the 25mg pill shrinks, which brings me to a problem I need to solve--MORE ACCURATE DOSING during the taper!) I was very hopeful and happy throughout January thinking I was close to getting off this evil drug. On January 29th, I had my sleep interrupted in the middle of the night at about 4 hours, and this seemed to kickoff a bout of insomnia. I held at the dose I had tapered to (estimated 6-9mg), but sleep continued to be rough and the hypnic jerks had returned.. After this I got scared and began adding .25 to .5mg Klonopin for about a week straight and it stopped the hypnic jerks, but I was still only getting 3-5 hours of sleep. It was at this point I was scared of a Klonopin addiction forming so I cut it out for a night and bumped the seroquel to 18.75mg. Hypnic jerks were still there, couldnt sleep at all. Then I took from my previous experience and did a much bigger dose of seroquel, as this had worked well at the beginning of this taper attempt. 43.75mg and I got 6 hours of deep sleep. The hypnic jerks were present but not enough to be a bother and prevent me falling asleep. This brings us to the present moment where I need advice on how to proceed.

 

 

Learnings and advice needed:

I am thinking I have simply tapered too fast and my body was not happy with the low levels of seroquel in my system. Even without klonopin the higher dose of seroquel was enough to knock me out when i was stuck in the cycle of hypnic jerks. I am thinking of doing 43.75mg again tonight, in hopes of breaking the cycle of hypnic jerks that follow a period of poor sleep. I am a bit confused where to go from here, and seeking advice. Should I fairly quickly taper down a bit if sleep improves, and then slow the taper way down as the dose approaches my old baseline 12.5mg? Seeking advice on how to proceed.

 

Does anyone have experience doing a water taper with seroquel IR or weighing out the powder with a scale to achieve accurate dosing? I'm not really sure what is the best approach with this particular pill. It is the 25mg generic quetiapine from Lupin pharmaceuticals. (picture attached) I dont know where to begin to have a compounding pharmacy make something custom. If I can handle it myself I'm willing to try.

 

This nightmareish journey has caused me to realize that medications are simply a band-aid, and if used long term actually make the symptoms they intend to treat worse and may cause other ailments along the way. Perhaps there are folks out there who feel medications ultimately help them, but my experience has been that they help for a period of time while ultimately make things aggressively worse over the long term. 

 

Thank you to all who took the time to read this and provide feedback.

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Please make sure your signature is kept up to date with your drug history. This will allow members to see some basic information about your drug history and situation so that they may help you best. Information on how to do this is located in the FAQs section above, but here is a direct link: Update Signature

Once this is done, future posts made by you will have this signature turned on by default. For this reason please keep it clear but condensed as possible.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

18 hours ago, ciscotim said:

but I truly believe the smoking gun of my sleep trouble at this point is a tolerance to the seroquel has built up after using it almost nightly for about 18 months. To reinforce this belief, I have found that I was able to achieve quality sleep when spiking the seroquel dose for a few nights and eliminating any intermittent klonopin use.

 

Yes I agree you are showing signs of tolerance 'poop out' here.

 

Tolerance or "poop-out" or Tachyphylaxis

 

18 hours ago, ciscotim said:

I tried spiking the seroquel dose to 50mg and the hypnic jerks were less severe, not enough to prevent me from falling asleep.

This isnt a good idea. Sudden changes in doses can cause harm to our nervous systems. 

 

Hypersensitivity and kindling

 

18 hours ago, ciscotim said:

(It is hard to be precise as the 25mg pill shrinks, which brings me to a problem I need to solve--MORE ACCURATE DOSING during the taper!) I was very hopeful and happy throughout January thinking I was close to getting off this evil drug.

Yes accurate doses are so important have a read How to calculate dosages and dilutions. Spreadsheets and calculators.

 

18 hours ago, ciscotim said:

After this I got scared and began adding .25 to .5mg Klonopin for about a week straight and it stopped the hypnic jerks, but I was still only getting 3-5 hours of sleep. It was at this point I was scared of a Klonopin addiction forming so I cut it out for a night and bumped the seroquel to 18.75mg. Hypnic jerks were still there, couldnt sleep at all. Then I took from my previous experience and did a much bigger dose of seroquel, as this had worked well at the beginning of this taper attempt. 43.75mg and I got 6 hours of deep sleep. The hypnic jerks were present but not enough to be a bother and prevent me falling asleep. This brings us to the present moment where I need advice on how to proceed.

I think you are right IMO here to taper off the drug as you did.

The advice has always been when faced with tolerance, to taper off and not hold. The idea being that you force you brain to come with you on the lower doses and stop seeking a higher dose. This seems to have worked for you until now.

 

I wouldn't add any more drugs to your situation now. I think you realise this isnt a good idea.

 

18 hours ago, ciscotim said:

I am thinking I have simply tapered too fast and my body was not happy with the low levels of seroquel in my system. Even without klonopin the higher dose of seroquel was enough to knock me out when i was stuck in the cycle of hypnic jerks. I am thinking of doing 43.75mg again tonight, in hopes of breaking the cycle of hypnic jerks that follow a period of poor sleep. I am a bit confused where to go from here, and seeking advice. Should I fairly quickly taper down a bit if sleep improves, and then slow the taper way down as the dose approaches my old baseline 12.5mg? Seeking advice on how to proceed.

The general rule of thumb is to taper at no more than 10% of your previous dose and hold that dose for 28 days. Tapering Information

 

If you get into trouble and experience WD symptoms the idea is to the hold and let your brain catch up. Then look to taper a little slower when this settles down. This involves being in tune with your 'baseline' symptom state.

 

Im not quite sure what dose you are actually on now? The brain really needs some consistency.

 

As I said I wouldn't 'spike' your dose.

 

If you think this is WD symptoms from your drop and not just the tolerance catching up with you then a small up dose and hold for a week and see how you are might be appropriate. If you saw improvements in symptoms you could increase the dose some more and see if you get a little relief. You would hold at that point to allow your system to settle further.

Then you could continue your taper in a more cautious fashion. Huge swings in doses are not advisable.

 

If you are suffering tolerance again and a loss of effect from the drug then this is more difficult to deal with. Increasing your dose is simply propping up your sleep and 'kicking the can down the road' so to speak. As I said above if this is the case continuing your taper at the recommended pace could be the way to go.

 

Tapering during Tolerance isn't easy have a read:

 

 https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/23081-are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take/#findComment-492496

 

One thing which can help is to use the 'Brass Monkey Slide' tapering method:

 

 https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/27883-the-brassmonkey-slide-method-of-micro-tapering/

 

Here you break say the normal 10% per month into 4 x 25% weekly drops then follow that up with a 2 week hold. The hold helps stabilise your nervous system and helps you catch up with any WD symptoms you may get.

 

You might want to look into some non-drug techniques to help with your sleep as you get off the drug.

 

Sleep in WD

 

Im so sorry you are going through all of this. I agree these drugs are at best a sticky plaster and not the answer to life's problems and I hope you can find your way off your drug and back to a happy drug free life. 🙂 

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

 

Chippy

Thank you for your insightful reply Chippy. I really do appreciate it. Regarding my current dosage I can see why you aren't sure because I am realizing I have made too many dosage changes. I am not even sure what dose I should go on after this too fast of a taper attempt. I did 43.75mg again last night and it did not have the same effect as the prior night. I was anxious and had trouble sleeping, hypnic jerks were aggressive vs the prior nights 6 hours of deep sleep at this dose. I was also hungry at bedtime and went down and ate some peanut butter and pecans which probably didnt help.

 

On the bright side I did manage to nod off once on the couch and got about 2 hours, then woke and returned to my bed and got another hour. About 3 hours total sleep last night. Felt pretty anxious in the morning and some intrusive negative thoughts, but as the day goes on that feeling is subsiding. I'm thinking I will decrease the dosage tonight to 31.25mg. At this point I feel I need to find a dose that allows some amount of sleep and hold there for a bit to let the cns regulate, then retry tapering slower. I also need help not getting anxious about not sleeping. This feeds the insomnia and I need to come to terms that my sleep will be unpredictable. I have attached my daily med/sleep log from 11/25/2025 to the present if you care to see. Appreciate the support.

log-02132026.txt

@ciscotim, how are you doing? See my taper thread on Seroquel. I have been on it for over 3 years.

 

My advice, slow, listen to your body. You'll know. My main issue is insomnia each time I drop. I had others in the beginning. Hang in there.