A sheriff complained to some of us on a taskforce that prisoners were abusing Seroquel in jail. These were not prisoners with MH issues. Has anyone studied the addictive properties (or not) of Seroquel?

As an ex-seroquel addict who completely believed I needed it for sleep, I can attest it is possible to break the cycle. I was deeply convinced that I could not sleep without Seroquel and always had extra handy when traveling, when my sleep would become disturbed. I popped Seroquel and used it as my security blanket routinely. I was always terrified I would become manic if I missed a few hours of sleep.

Once I began questioning the heavy use of meds, however, I withdrew successfully quite quickly. Much of addiction is psychological. This is not to say that all the antipsychotics and antidepressants, and benzodiazepines do not have real and hard-core discontinuation syndromes. They do!! And I'm suffering from them as I go off one drug at a time.

However, once I decided to go off Seroquel, I went off in minute doses...suffered a bit of insomnia and came out the other side WHOLE!

I can't say enough about tiny titrations. It can take months to get off just 25 mg. The larger the dose the larger cuts you can make. Once you get to smaller doses the titrations need to be smaller and smaller.

I supported my body with diet and nutrition. I have a diagnosis of bipolar 1. If I can do it, I'd venture to say most people can do it. I feel much better without Seroquel brain fog.

I am a Seroquel user, and it is the only drug I use for Bipolar Disorder. I am well on my way to coming off of it, because I am leaning towards essential amino acids, and I have told the pdoc that I think at this low dose, it is too useless and only really gets me to sleep hard and well.
Addictive? Totally. Seroquel rocks for sleep disorders. I can see insomniacs hugging their bottles of Seroquel to survive.

I guess I don't understand why this is a phenomenon. There's a whole array of medications that people become dependent on. Any sleep medication becomes "addictive" when taken all the time. I myself can't sleep without a couple. I've had insomnia since I was 15 (32 now) and tried everything under the sun to sleep. I really am ok with being dependent on a drug. I sleep 7-8 hours a night and it's changed my life. So I take some mood stabilizers and some sleep stuff and my quality of life is better. It is it perfect? Nope. But at this point, I take what I can get.

Yes, when the "supposed" benefical effects of the drug didn't work for me and I was only getting the horrible side effects, I reported this to my doctor who in turn just kept increasing my dose until I was at 800 mg. A walking zombie. And when that didn't work, she kept me on Seroquel and "piggybacked" it with other medications.

I guess she either didn't want to believe or didn't want to listen that this drug was not working for me and only making me worse.

Once I stopped the Seroquel at the advice of a very smart and seasoned pdoc who I was referred to by a very smart and seasoned bp'er it was like I was a new person.

Get off that stuff if it doesn't work, who knows what the side effects are. I have a lot of muscle, joint pain that shouldn't exsist due to my yoga practice I do almost daily but sometimes it is hard for me to get up from sitting on the floor due to joint pain.

I just stopped taking 50mg of Seroquel cold turkey.[after a 6 month use] Withdrawals were a bitch, but I am now SLEEPING.
ON Seroquel, I had interrupted sleep, nightmares, and woke up unable to think, see or focus due to the train wreck fog in the morning.

I was able to remove it quite faster than I anticipated, and the surprise result is deep, and sound sleep.

That shit was a waste of my time. It stopped a racing mind and that's about all it's good for in my opinion.
I doubt I will ever take one again, even as a PRN.

Wow. I take Seroquel at night, too, but I don't view the world quite the same way he/she does.

However...it's difficult, if not impossible for me to sleep without Seroquel. The overall effect of my reduction in Seroquel over time is an increase to an unbearable level of anxiety.

I've come to the conclusion that I will probably have to take Seroquel, or something new and improved, for the rest of my life.

The scary part is what could happen while on the drug and not asleep. You can't take something every night and have nothing surprise you after you've taken the medication that won't allow you to go right to bed. Driving? Forget it, I've hit a pole and realize I could get a DUI next time. Cook? No way - I ruined our fiberglass stovetop when hot chocolate burned on it. We're not responsible when we're on a sleep-dosage of Seroquel, yet...we THINK we are.

If I had to pick one medication to take with me on a deserted island (hey - everyone has their fantasy), it would be Seroquel. I think I could live without all of the rest, but not that one.

I've been taking Seroquel for over 4 years now and I ABSOLUTELY agree with everything this guy says! As a matter of fact, I've run out of my Seroquel tonight, so instead of being fast asleep at 2:30am, I'm surfing the Internet.

Seroquel has turned me into a "legal drug junkie"....earlier this evening I was using a flashlight to search under my bedroom furniture to hopefully find a pill that maybe I once dropped on the floor, but after crawling around on my hands and knees for over an hour, I didn't find a single pill. I know there's no use in trying to force myself to sleep - It's an impossibility. I haven't slept ONE SINGLE NIGHT without Seroquel since my first dose. I absolutely panic when I run out.

Seroquel is a truly horrible drug in my opinion. The first two years on Seroquel I gained over 70 pounds, and became borderline Diabetic. I was eventually prescribed two additional medications that caused me to lose all the weight - and more - over a 6 month period. I frequently have horrible night terrors and I'm quite sure the Seroquel is to blame as I had no history of nightmares before starting this medication.