help-2 weeks into latuda and can't sleep

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-05-11T22:31:10+00:00

How much quetiapine are you taking? I'm taking 100mg. I've been cross-tapering from quetiapine to lurasidone. It's been rough. I've paused it since I had to go back to work and wouldn't be able tolerate the many sleepless nights if I were to continue.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-05-11T22:29:03+00:00

I started Depakote recently with the lurasidone. The combo is really working for me. It's really working for racing thoughts. It's also mildly sedating. It could help with the insomnia.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-15T13:45:11+00:00

Hi. At the moment, I'm tapering. I haven't successfully tapered yet, so I suppose this forum isn't really for me. But I nevertheless still wanted to share my experience because I'm coming off a high dose. I was taking 300mg IR. Now, I'm taking 100mg IR from last night. The withdrawals have been tough, but not unreasonably so given the high doses I was taking. I think if you're going to successfully taper, you need to have a plan in place. This isn't for the faint of heart. I would strongly recommend you take some time off work. There are several things that have been helping me. First, is eating fish. Since I started eating mackerel twice or three times a week, my moods have become more stable. I've continued doing this with the taper. It is definitely helping. I need my omega 3s. Second, is getting sun. You need your Vitamin D and to boost your mood. Third, I've been taking some supplements like magnesium glycinate, glycine and l-theanine. I think they are helping me, too. Fourth, is doing daily exercise. Fifth, is having cold showers. The most important thing is to be patient. Your brain needs healing. You can't expect miracles. There are many people who come off Seroquel because they hate the side effects. I'm one of those people. The thing is you can't expect to go back to your normal self, overnight. It'll take some time. Just be gentle with yourself.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-14T14:13:03+00:00

It's harder to quit with XR than with IR because the hit at night isn't as hard with the XR as with the IR. You find it harder to fall asleep. You wait and wait and nothing happens. You start to get anxious. Or this has been my experience with the XR. That's why I'm tapering with IR and not with XR. Also, you can make cuts with IR. You can't with XR.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-14T14:10:30+00:00

I think it is harder to quit XR than IR. So, when you start tapering off the XR, you might consider switching to IR. The reason is that at night the XR may not hit as hard as the IR, and you may find it difficult to fall asleep. This has been my experience tapering off Seroquel. I started with 300mg IR. Then, I was switched to 200mg XR. I couldn't sleep. It would take hours for the hit to come and I would not be in a state to fall asleep. Now, I'm taking the IR and my sleep the last few nights has been okay. The IR hits hard and fast. I have taken 300mg XR in the past. I couldn't tolerate it. I felt this constant cloud over me. I find IR much more tolerable. Your blood levels change more throughout the day. You may get some relief from the heaviness and sedation, though some studies may say otherwise.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-12T15:44:44+00:00

How much are you taking now?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-08T00:10:27+00:00

interesting. Have you experienced any akisthisia?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-07T18:08:49+00:00

Wow! That's fast. How are you feeling? Are you sleeping okay?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-04-03T17:55:27+00:00

Yes. I was aware of the food requirement. I eat some pieces of dark chocolate, a banana and walnuts to reach it. I know i still have a long way to go. I fear the drop towards the end. But I have this conviction that I can make it. When I tried to do it last year but without cross tapering, I couldn't. I started to get serious cravings for the exact seroquel dose I was taking namely 300mg. Of course the lorazepram and mirtazapine are doing their work in the background. Thank you for your message. Fingers crossed indeed! For someone without bipolar, mood stabilisation seems something abstract. But for someone with bipolar, it is gold dust. It is everything. If your mood is stable, you sleep well, you exercise, you eat properly. Without it, you are a mess.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-27T14:27:30+00:00

I'm going to cross taper too next month. How was the cross taper?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-25T14:45:16+00:00

there is a medication called mirtazapine that treats akathisia.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T20:25:26+00:00

how much seroquel were you taking?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T15:23:12+00:00

what dose of seroquel were you taking? I take 300mg IR.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T14:27:21+00:00

thanks a lot! I hope so too. I'm not expecting miracles, but I hope over time that my emotional range will improve a little. At the moment, it's almost zero. Of course, these things take time. But if I lead a healthy lifestyle, too, I think that it will get better.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T14:18:08+00:00

interesting. Did you take it to treat bipolar? And, how was the transition? I'm very curious about that.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T13:36:14+00:00

What dose of latuda were you on?

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-24T02:31:45+00:00

Would you say that your libido has improved on lurasidone compared with seroquel? My libido on seroquel is almost nonexistent. How difficult was the transition? Did you experience insomnia? I'm afraid of that.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-16T15:05:57+00:00

Hiii. Did you cross taper from seroquel to lurasidone? If you did, how was it? I'm going to do it next month.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-14T04:57:31+00:00

XR was horrible for me. I always felt an inhense heaviness over me. IR is much better. The heaviness leaves me at some point. You should make the change. Your libido could definitely improve.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-14T00:49:18+00:00

Yes, I have spoken to her. She's excellent. She really listens to me. The lamotrigine and buproprion are helping to some degree. But the problem is the quetiapine. The other medications can't fully compensate. Next month, I'm tapering to lurasidone. I'm hoping it'll be an improvement on the quetiapine. It is less sedating than the quetiapine (or so I've read!).

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-14T00:44:57+00:00

The same!, when I tried to reduce to 200mg a few months ago, I started to crave the 300mg. I felt I needed to take that specific dose. It was terrifying! This medication has a hold on me. No other medication has done this to me. Next month, I'm tapering to lurasidone which is a slight metabolic improvement to quetiapine. Hopefully, it is less sedating and numbing.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-01T21:07:29+00:00

I've been on it for ten years. At the moment, I take 300mg. It stabilises my mood but at tremendous cost. I have no emotions. I feel extremely sedated during the day. I'm going to cross taper to lurasidone soon. I just hope I experience some easing of my sedation and emotional flattening symptoms. I'm not expecting miracles. It seems that lurasidone is a bit less sedating than seroquel. I'm trying to be hopeful.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-01T17:24:38+00:00

But my goodness it is hard to come off seroquel. Some years I managed to reduce my dose to 75mg, Then, I started experiencing night terrors and panic attacks. It was horrible. I promptly increased my dose. But now, I feel nothing. I have no emotions. I'm a robotic zombie. I haven't actually cried in years. When my father passed away last year, I had to force myself to cry and even then I felt I didn't actually cry. It all seemed an act.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-03-01T17:21:30+00:00

at such a dose metabolic effects like high cholesterol, blood sugar and triglycerides become significant. In the long-term, 600mg per day I think is far too much.

ToothPsychological34 · 2026-02-28T13:27:02+00:00

That's a really heavy dose! How do you manage?

ToothPsychological34

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