Marle, our girls are the same age and seem to share amny of the same issues.
My (R?) AD was in three back to back rehabs with the last being a dual diagnosis. Seroquil was one of the many medications she was prescribed. All in, medications were running us about $3000 a month, out of pocket, as she has no insurance and her mental health issues have been deemed pre-existing conditions, on an independent policy.
I looked into getting Seroquil from Canada and even then, we could not swing it, long term. Once back at home, her local Psychiatrist substantially reduced the dosage and gives us bags of Seroquil samples along with a script for Lithium. She takes both about an hour before she retires, for the evening.
She sleeps a good 12 hours a night but then again she slept 12 hours a night, without the stuff. She is not any more sluggish than she usually is, with or without the stuff.
I have done a lot of internet research on Seroquil looking for opportunities for abuse, resale, a high and so on. I have seen a few instances on message boards devoted to all things opiates that occasionally someone is able to snag a few Seroquil when they are dope sick or trying to kick it on their own.
While it is not addictive, tolerance does seem to build in some people, overtime. Quitting Seroquil also seems to be an issue for some people, some of the time, because they do not seem to be able to sleep without it. Who knows, maybe they can only sleep 8 instead of 12 hours?
AD gained a lot, and I mean a lot, of weight, while in rehab. They said this is common when the DOC is heroin and espeically because of the meds. Once home, I saw that she was eating enough for 3 people and although I am no MD, I wondered if this was the reason for the weight gain.
Since then, she has lost most of the weight. How much, if any, of this weight loss has been potentially assisted by some other non prescribed drug or intentional restricting, I do not know. It's always something.