Safety of low-dose seroquel to help with sleep in bipolar patient?

I’m not a psychiatrist but a psych nurse. I also have bipolar 1 and have be on and off seroquel for many years. Here’s my two cents:

Seroquel is not a good drug to use as a sleep aid and at that dose I doubt it’s doing anything for your mood.

I wouldn’t stop taking it until you’ve had a chat about this your doctor. You’ll need to discuss other strategies/medications that can help with your sleep.

Antipsychotics are not addictive. I wouldn’t worry about any long lasting effects from taking this small dose. As you’ve experienced, it’s hard to sleep without it. This will be uncomfortable but it will not last forever.

While you wait to speak with your doctor try sleep hygiene . This will be really important for when you stop taking the seroquel. It’s best to implement these strategies to your routine now so that the transition will be a little easier.

I wish you all the best!

/r/AskPsychiatry Thread