People living with insomnia find it tough to have sleep during night hours. In some cases, you may wake up way too early and have problems in falling asleep again. As a result of these, you tend to take up in a state of fatigue or tiredness. Without sleep, you may not have energies to maintain mental and physical wellbeing. On an average, an adult requires 8 hours of sleep. Can you use meds like quetiapine for sleep? Or, more specifically, is quetiapine 100 mg for sleep a safe thing to take? You are advised to know more about this.
Many grown-up individuals live with short-term spells of sleeplessness or insomnia. This condition typically lasts for a few days’ time; in some cases, it may last for some weeks. People report of spending sleepless nights when they are living under stressful conditions or going through a one-off situation. There are instances of long-term spells of sleeplessness / insomnia. These are known to last for 2 – 4 months. There have been some reports of people living with long-term sleeplessness for more than 6 months.
The signs of sleeplessness can be one or more of the following: getting up way too early, finding it tough to sleep, fatigue or tiredness during your wake-hours, inability to focus on things, causing accidents while you drive or committing errors while at work. When doing your regular jobs turns into a difficult thing, it is time to see a doctor.
In this light, what is quetiapine?
This is a prescription med used for treating mania and signs of schizophrenia. Some caregivers also use it for managing the symptoms of bipolar disorder. Key chemicals of this drug help moderate the activities of neuro-transmitting chemicals present in your cerebral system. This drug belongs to a genre of medications known as atypical antipsychotic drugs.
Quetiapine
Quetiapine is used both as a stand-alone med and along with drugs such as lithium, etc. As an added use, doctors administer for managing spells of irritation, excitement, depression and mood swings. It is important to tell your doctor of recent episodes of heart problems, hypertension or hypotension, enlargement of prostate, etc.
Quetiapine dosage for sleep
This medication does not have the approval of FDA to promote sleep. Quetiapine is known to have sedative capabilities; physicians hence prescribe it to manage short-term spells of sleeplessness. However, such usage is pursued off-label mode. Quetiapine dosage for sleep ranges from 50 mg to 100 mg.
Higher dosage of quetiapine can lead to spasms or muscular spasticity, giddiness when you change postures, being restless or anxious. A few users who took larger doses of more than 100 mg – 150 mg noticed a sudden gain in weight, dehydration, high level of cholesterol, turning resistant to insulin, etc. Upon experiencing any of these adverse effects, it is a safe thing to talk to a qualified physician quickly.
There are many ways through which insomnia can be handled. These include behavioral therapy, changes made to your daily habits and administration of sleep-boosting supplements. There are a few prescription drugs available to treat insomnia; these are zolpidem, doxepin, etc.
None of the aforesaid is used for long. This is mainly due to the addictive nature of these meds. You may also try supplementary meds like melatonin. It is one of the proven sleep-inducing products. There are a few other sleep-promoting aids such as lavender, valerian root, etc. You are advised to talk to your physician / caregiving team prior to using any of these supplements. Though these sleep-aids pose lesser threats of side effects, the odds of their interfering with other drugs are fairly high.
Other techniques to make you sleep include relaxation practices like tai chi, yoga, respiratory exercises, etc. Above all, if you aim to have additional inputs on quetiapine 100 mg for sleep, it is a safe thing to talk to your treating doctor.
Disclaimer
Information provided here are only of supplementary nature. Information shared here does not substitute a qualified doctor’s advice. This website is not suggesting intake of this drug as safe or appropriate. Hence it is advised to talk to your doctor before consuming this med or any other drug
Education: Bachelor’s in Psychology from Stanford University; Master’s in Health Communication from Boston University. Experience: Over 12 years of experience as a health writer and content strategist, working with healthcare organizations to create patient-centric content.
