Swims Seroquel (Quetiapine)/alcohol overdose!

[wellhelm]

Swim is very careful about mixing pills and alcohol. He does so carefully or not at all. On this ocasion, however, he consumed three quarters of a fifth, blacked out and then took what he believes to be 600 miligrams of Seroquel. Could have been more. Swim has no recollection for the next two days. He beleives if he had only drank the alcohol he would have woke the next morning with a nasty hangover and that would have been the end of it like so many other times before. This time was different. This is what he was told happended after he blacked out. He layed down on the couch and became unresponsive. After several attempts by his room mate to wake him she was concerned enough to call 911. When the paramedics arrived they threw swims dead weight on the gourney. Upon arriving at the hospitial, staff checked his heart rate which was at a stagering 160. With so much alcohol and drugs in his system they declined to add any more drugs to the mix and elected to wait it out. Swim's eyes were rolled back in his head for the better part of 24 hours. Then he began to shake violently as DT's set in. These were not alcoholic DT's as swim only drinks 3-4 times a month but general DT's from the alcohol/seroquel combo. They were so bad that swim had to be restrained by leg and arm cuffs. After roughly 36 hours the shaking subsided and he physically calmed down. He then became dillusional. (all this was told to swim by family, doctors, nurse's). He began having conversation's with groups of people that were not there. Pausing to let others talk, responding and asking questions, and laughing insanely with this phantom group of people. He was smoking smokes that were not there. Watching football(not soccer) games on blank wall's. And reliving old memories aloud. At this point swim's family asked if there was a possibility of brain damage to which the doctors replied, "we'll have to wait and see". Around 50+ hours swim was some what lucid. It came and went. He was still easily confused and his brain felt like absolute mush. This is what personally scared swim the most because he was now self aware and aware things were not working right. Swim was unable to hold a conversation with out getting lost. Now that the doctors felt swim was out of imediate physical danger they moved him to the mental ward for further evaluation where he slowly did come around thank god!

This report serve's no other pourpose then swims own personal record of these events and a reminder of how dangerous careless mixing of alcohol and drugs can be.

By the way swim is prescribed Seroquel and does not take it for recreation thus has a high tollerance. He's not psychotic but suffers from horrible insomnia and is supposed to take 400mg's prior to bed time. Why seroquel? Because it's not addicting

These symptoms swim has had seem to go along with his previous theory that high dosses of seroquel(maybe anti-psychotic's in general) can cause dissociative states.
http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=204403#post204403

[Politicalchalk]

While Swim can't comment on psychiatric side-effects, he does know that quietiapine, like most anti-psychotics, has tardive dyskinetic and dystonic effects are moderately high doses or in sensitive people. Very similar to the DT's swiY described.

Swim was on quietiapine for bipolar-related psychosis, and were not getting good results. Upped him to 600mg (thanks, drug reps), had some freaky, terrifying seizure like reaction. Fuck that. :mad: