Seroquel and Neurontin for Anxiety and Sleep anyone? - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

Phmdyw · 07-13-2011, 04:32 AM

12 years ago when I was first getting sober in a hospital psych ward they gave me a small dose of seroquel. It knocked the heck out of me in 15 minutes and I didn't like they extremely heavy feeling. They suggested I keep taking it so I did. I had already been taking a pretty high dose of neurontin for a few years and have stayed on that too for all these years (800mg throughout the day.)

I quickly got used to the heavy, dopey feeling of seroquel at bedtime and relied upon it to fall asleep. During my 1st year of sobriety I needed more and more seroquel to help me sleep. About 1.5 years into sobriety i started awaking in the middle of the night and would go smoke a cigarette, then fall back to sleep immediately. I believe this was due to worry and anxiety over a lot I had going on at one time, and not having alcohol and drugs anymore to take it away. My mental symptoms were "bubbling up" finally. Some nights I'd awaken 5 times. I began to awaken feeling very unrested to the point I couldn't show up for committments because I was exhausted.

I have played around with the dose of seroquel over the years and have been consistenly at 50mg for a few years which isn't very much. I have stayed on neurontin at 800 mg throughout the day. But I still have these unrestful nights although I usually only awaken now about twice. The problem is, I seem to need 9 - 10 hours of sleep to feel rested and if I don't get that sleep I'm a completely different person - uncapable, unable to think or recall vocabulary, bad moods, huge bags under eyes, whole body is wiped out exhausted.

I can't tell if this is all because of anxiety due to my disease or a medication problem. Am I overly-medicated or under-medicated? Do I just need different meds? Should I try to get off the neurontin and seroquel and try something else? I've tried to cut out the cigarettes, coffee, etc. and that makes no difference. I also take a very small dose of a mood stabilizer (trileptal) which doesn't seem to do much but calm me down during the day more.

Any insight would be helfpul - I've got no sleep apnea etc, and psych docs can't seem to shed light on anything. The medical proffession and the addiction community are still worlds apart and it makes being a consumer very difficult.

WhiteWave · 07-13-2011, 04:54 AM

I've been on a few different doses of seroquel over the past year after addressing my mental health at treatment for alcohol dependance.
Currently, I'm on 100mgs 30 mins before bedtime. I've been at that dosage for the past 6 months and I've found that it reduces the anxiety I'd get as I tried to fall asleep, but recently I too have been waking up in the middle of the night... up for a short spell, and then right back to sleep.
I, honestly, attribute this to stress. I truly believe that stress can have an impact on the effectiveness of any perscription drug. I know that I do not need to adjust the meds - on true average, they've been reliably effective. It takes a bit of will power to look at the average of the past several months as opposed to the past few weeks. But maybe you might need an adjustment?? I don't know what your patterns (or lack thereof) have been, but if it seems like your meds do their job most of the time, just not all of the time, they're probably working at least okay. One thing I recommend to supplement the effectiveness of seroquel is exercise. Not like routine aerobics, or whatever, but just being active. Sweeping my appartment before vacuuming in the summer kinda feels like a work out

Or try walking a mile or two a day! Just getting that activity in, eating a good dinner, and taking the seroquel seems to get me to bed at a decent hour, keep me asleep, and leave me waking pretty darn refreshed.

No matter what, I wish you the best!!!!!!!

Blessed be,

WW

cocobella · 07-13-2011, 07:10 AM

I would talk to your doctor about what they suggest. It's amazing how different people react to the same medications! I have a severe sleep disorder that led to my addiction to benzos and sleeping pills, along with opiates for headaches caused by sleep deprivation. 3 years ago in treatment I was put on Seroquel and it was increased along with other medications (Doxepin, Remeron) to 600mg at bedtime. I've been on 600mgs for 3 years now and I sleep about 7 hours and then I am wide awake...no drowsiness or heavy feeling. So every person is different and dosages have to be carefully adjusted. I do wake up on it several times a night too, but like you guys it's just for a couple of minutes and then back to sleep. Sounds like you are on the right track though! Sleep is so important and it really can affect your quality of life. Hang in there!

Phmdyw · 07-13-2011, 11:47 AM

Thanks both,

I have had a feeling for a while that my problem is mostly due to stress (and fear) - perhaps the fear driving the stress. I know the emotional things that cause the fear (and then there's the plain old alcoholic thinking that exacerbates the fear too). There might be a medication issue, not sure. I have written down on a piece of paper: "Increase my tolerance to for stress" and am going to meditate on that for a few weeks. Thank you.

MycoolFitz · 07-13-2011, 12:05 PM

I take 150 mg of time release Seroquel prior to bed, primarely for sleep. In truth it seems to do little for me. I tend to take an hour or more to fall asleep and wake up numerous times during the night. This has been my pattern for many many years. Constant heavy drinking would break this pattern but in truth I wasn't really falling asleep I was passing out and therefore coming to rather than waking up. I've recently added 200mg of 5HTP before bed but I still don't sleep. This seems to run in the family so who knows.

SoberJennie · 07-13-2011, 12:05 PM

Isn't Seroquel an anti-psychotic? Isn't it primarily used to treat schizophrenia? If so... why are doctors prescribing it to help people sleep?

My Mom died of an overdose of Seroquel a little over a year ago. She had only been taking it two weeks when she OD'ed on it. A GP gave it to her. It seems very wrong to me.

MycoolFitz · 07-13-2011, 12:55 PM

So sorry about your mom. Seroquel like many prescribed drugs can have multiple uses including those you mentioned as well as a sleep aid. It was originally prescribed by my psychiatrist based on my history and later by my family doctor also based on a number of personal factors.

Phmdyw · 07-13-2011, 05:36 PM

MyCoolFitz: It's true, my father also awakens a lot during the night - every night. he finishes sleeping on the couch.
SoberJennie: I'm so sorry for your loss. Seroquel has long been given to patients in hospitals because they "calm down". Even just a decade ago when i got sober, they knew less about alcoholism/addiction so i was kept in a hospital instead of being sent down the hall to rehab. Basically everyone on the wing was given seroquel. it makes staff's jobs easier, and sometimes people really do need it (at least for the short-term.) Seroquel, like many drugs, has a primary use and then is found to have a good 2ndary use in smaller doses. It helps with anxiety, moods, and sleep. Recently nursing homes in my state (MA) were instructed not to give it to the elderly because it does something bad to them (they knew they shouldn't have been doing this and it was found there were thousands of geriatric patients on it!) I think it just has a different mental affect on the elderly.

totfit · 07-14-2011, 04:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phmdyw

About 1.5 years into sobriety i started awaking in the middle of the night and would go smoke a cigarette, then fall back to sleep immediately. I believe this was due to worry and anxiety over a lot I had going on at one time, and not having alcohol and drugs anymore to take it away.

Might be the worry. Could also very well be that it is nicotine withdrawal that is awakening you and you are satisfying the withdrawal. Be aware that smoking can be contradictory to anything you do for anxiety or sleeplessness.

kiki5711 · 07-14-2011, 04:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cocobella

I would talk to your doctor about what they suggest. It's amazing how different people react to the same medications! I have a severe sleep disorder that led to my addiction to benzos and sleeping pills, along with opiates for headaches caused by sleep deprivation. 3 years ago in treatment I was put on Seroquel and it was increased along with other medications (Doxepin, Remeron) to 600mg at bedtime. I've been on 600mgs for 3 years now and I sleep about 7 hours and then I am wide awake...no drowsiness or heavy feeling. So every person is different and dosages have to be carefully adjusted. I do wake up on it several times a night too, but like you guys it's just for a couple of minutes and then back to sleep. Sounds like you are on the right track though! Sleep is so important and it really can affect your quality of life. Hang in there!

I am on Seroquel for sleeping also. It is literally maddening when you can't get any sleep for days at a time.

I also agree you should explore with your doctor for the right dosage and mixture. I don't know what that other med is but it may not be mixing well with Seroquil.

AND even with Seroquel, if I"m stressed about something, I'll wake up many times during the night or my dreams are so thin I actually feel like I'm awake.

Phmdyw · 07-15-2011, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by totfit

Might be the worry. Could also very well be that it is nicotine withdrawal that is awakening you and you are satisfying the withdrawal. Be aware that smoking can be contradictory to anything you do for anxiety or sleeplessness.

Yes, the thing I don't want to look at - cigarettes! Although I've quit and it doesn't seem to make a difference. I do think it's worry - and not feeling good enough, the alcoholic's worst fear. It can be so deeply embedded that it's almost "normal".

Phmdyw · 07-15-2011, 03:49 PM

Kiki, I identify with you. It seems almost like a roll of the dice. Might sleep, might not. One thing I will share: Someone with years of experience in recovery tells me that I will sleep when I stop demanding it. Like so much else in spiritual life, it's a paradox. Instead I've been trying to say, "God, I know I might not sleep tonight and I'm not going to fight it." In the morning if I didn't sleep, I ask God to give me whatever I need to make it through the day, as it suggests we do in Step 11 of the big book. Best to you, and don't give up! I'm not going to.

07-13-2011, 04:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
Phmdyw Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Coventry, RI Posts: 61	Seroquel and Neurontin for Anxiety and Sleep anyone? 12 years ago when I was first getting sober in a hospital psych ward they gave me a small dose of seroquel. It knocked the heck out of me in 15 minutes and I didn't like they extremely heavy feeling. They suggested I keep taking it so I did. I had already been taking a pretty high dose of neurontin for a few years and have stayed on that too for all these years (800mg throughout the day.) I quickly got used to the heavy, dopey feeling of seroquel at bedtime and relied upon it to fall asleep. During my 1st year of sobriety I needed more and more seroquel to help me sleep. About 1.5 years into sobriety i started awaking in the middle of the night and would go smoke a cigarette, then fall back to sleep immediately. I believe this was due to worry and anxiety over a lot I had going on at one time, and not having alcohol and drugs anymore to take it away. My mental symptoms were "bubbling up" finally. Some nights I'd awaken 5 times. I began to awaken feeling very unrested to the point I couldn't show up for committments because I was exhausted. I have played around with the dose of seroquel over the years and have been consistenly at 50mg for a few years which isn't very much. I have stayed on neurontin at 800 mg throughout the day. But I still have these unrestful nights although I usually only awaken now about twice. The problem is, I seem to need 9 - 10 hours of sleep to feel rested and if I don't get that sleep I'm a completely different person - uncapable, unable to think or recall vocabulary, bad moods, huge bags under eyes, whole body is wiped out exhausted. I can't tell if this is all because of anxiety due to my disease or a medication problem. Am I overly-medicated or under-medicated? Do I just need different meds? Should I try to get off the neurontin and seroquel and try something else? I've tried to cut out the cigarettes, coffee, etc. and that makes no difference. I also take a very small dose of a mood stabilizer (trileptal) which doesn't seem to do much but calm me down during the day more. Any insight would be helfpul - I've got no sleep apnea etc, and psych docs can't seem to shed light on anything. The medical proffession and the addiction community are still worlds apart and it makes being a consumer very difficult.

07-13-2011, 04:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
WhiteWave Wandering Student of Life Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: MSP MN Posts: 126	I've been on a few different doses of seroquel over the past year after addressing my mental health at treatment for alcohol dependance. Currently, I'm on 100mgs 30 mins before bedtime. I've been at that dosage for the past 6 months and I've found that it reduces the anxiety I'd get as I tried to fall asleep, but recently I too have been waking up in the middle of the night... up for a short spell, and then right back to sleep. I, honestly, attribute this to stress. I truly believe that stress can have an impact on the effectiveness of any perscription drug. I know that I do not need to adjust the meds - on true average, they've been reliably effective. It takes a bit of will power to look at the average of the past several months as opposed to the past few weeks. But maybe you might need an adjustment?? I don't know what your patterns (or lack thereof) have been, but if it seems like your meds do their job most of the time, just not all of the time, they're probably working at least okay. One thing I recommend to supplement the effectiveness of seroquel is exercise. Not like routine aerobics, or whatever, but just being active. Sweeping my appartment before vacuuming in the summer kinda feels like a work out Or try walking a mile or two a day! Just getting that activity in, eating a good dinner, and taking the seroquel seems to get me to bed at a decent hour, keep me asleep, and leave me waking pretty darn refreshed. No matter what, I wish you the best!!!!!!! Blessed be, WW __________________ ~~~~~~~ As above, so below. ~~~~~~~

07-13-2011, 07:10 AM	#3 (permalink)
cocobella Eternally Grateful 4/25/08 Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 208	I would talk to your doctor about what they suggest. It's amazing how different people react to the same medications! I have a severe sleep disorder that led to my addiction to benzos and sleeping pills, along with opiates for headaches caused by sleep deprivation. 3 years ago in treatment I was put on Seroquel and it was increased along with other medications (Doxepin, Remeron) to 600mg at bedtime. I've been on 600mgs for 3 years now and I sleep about 7 hours and then I am wide awake...no drowsiness or heavy feeling. So every person is different and dosages have to be carefully adjusted. I do wake up on it several times a night too, but like you guys it's just for a couple of minutes and then back to sleep. Sounds like you are on the right track though! Sleep is so important and it really can affect your quality of life. Hang in there! __________________ "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

07-13-2011, 12:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
SoberJennie Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Alabama Posts: 1,193	Isn't Seroquel an anti-psychotic? Isn't it primarily used to treat schizophrenia? If so... why are doctors prescribing it to help people sleep? My Mom died of an overdose of Seroquel a little over a year ago. She had only been taking it two weeks when she OD'ed on it. A GP gave it to her. It seems very wrong to me. __________________ “The shortest answer is doing the thing.” -Hemingway

07-13-2011, 11:47 AM	#4 (permalink)
Phmdyw Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Coventry, RI Posts: 61	Thanks both, I have had a feeling for a while that my problem is mostly due to stress (and fear) - perhaps the fear driving the stress. I know the emotional things that cause the fear (and then there's the plain old alcoholic thinking that exacerbates the fear too). There might be a medication issue, not sure. I have written down on a piece of paper: "Increase my tolerance to for stress" and am going to meditate on that for a few weeks. Thank you.

07-13-2011, 12:05 PM	#5 (permalink)
MycoolFitz Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here, Now Posts: 4,271	I take 150 mg of time release Seroquel prior to bed, primarely for sleep. In truth it seems to do little for me. I tend to take an hour or more to fall asleep and wake up numerous times during the night. This has been my pattern for many many years. Constant heavy drinking would break this pattern but in truth I wasn't really falling asleep I was passing out and therefore coming to rather than waking up. I've recently added 200mg of 5HTP before bed but I still don't sleep. This seems to run in the family so who knows.

07-13-2011, 12:55 PM	#7 (permalink)
MycoolFitz Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here, Now Posts: 4,271	So sorry about your mom. Seroquel like many prescribed drugs can have multiple uses including those you mentioned as well as a sleep aid. It was originally prescribed by my psychiatrist based on my history and later by my family doctor also based on a number of personal factors.

07-13-2011, 05:36 PM	#8 (permalink)
Phmdyw Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Coventry, RI Posts: 61	MyCoolFitz: It's true, my father also awakens a lot during the night - every night. he finishes sleeping on the couch. SoberJennie: I'm so sorry for your loss. Seroquel has long been given to patients in hospitals because they "calm down". Even just a decade ago when i got sober, they knew less about alcoholism/addiction so i was kept in a hospital instead of being sent down the hall to rehab. Basically everyone on the wing was given seroquel. it makes staff's jobs easier, and sometimes people really do need it (at least for the short-term.) Seroquel, like many drugs, has a primary use and then is found to have a good 2ndary use in smaller doses. It helps with anxiety, moods, and sleep. Recently nursing homes in my state (MA) were instructed not to give it to the elderly because it does something bad to them (they knew they shouldn't have been doing this and it was found there were thousands of geriatric patients on it!) I think it just has a different mental affect on the elderly.

07-15-2011, 03:49 PM	#12 (permalink)
Phmdyw Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Coventry, RI Posts: 61	Kiki, I identify with you. It seems almost like a roll of the dice. Might sleep, might not. One thing I will share: Someone with years of experience in recovery tells me that I will sleep when I stop demanding it. Like so much else in spiritual life, it's a paradox. Instead I've been trying to say, "God, I know I might not sleep tonight and I'm not going to fight it." In the morning if I didn't sleep, I ask God to give me whatever I need to make it through the day, as it suggests we do in Step 11 of the big book. Best to you, and don't give up! I'm not going to.

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