The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so. The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses. Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing. Quetiapine extended-release tablets are also used along with other medications to treat depression. Quetiapine tablets may be used as part of a treatment program to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in children and teenagers.
Quetiapine is in a class of medications called atypical antipsychotics. It works by changing the activity of certain natural substances in the brain. Quetiapine comes as a tablet and as an extended-release tablet to take by mouth. The tablets are usually taken one to three times a day with or without food.
The extended-release tablets are usually taken once a day in the evening without food or with a light meal. Take quetiapine at around the same time s every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take quetiapine exactly as directed.
Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor. Your doctor will probably start you on a low dose of quetiapine and gradually increase your dose during the first week of your treatment. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions about the amount of medication you should take each day at the beginning of your treatment. If you do not take quetiapine for one week or longer, you should call your doctor before you start taking the medication again.
Your doctor will probably tell you to start taking a low dose of the medication and gradually increase your dose as you did when you first started taking quetiapine. Quetiapine may help control your symptoms but will not cure your condition.
Continue to take quetiapine even if you feel well. Do not stop taking quetiapine without talking to your doctor. If you suddenly stop taking quetiapine, you may experience withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. Your doctor will probably want to decrease your dose gradually. This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
Talk to your doctor about eating grapefruit and drinking grapefruit juice while taking this medicine. You should know that you may gain weight while you are taking this medication. Talk to your doctor about ways to control weight gain, such as eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising. You and your doctor should check your weight regularly while you are taking quetiapine. Take the missed dose as soon as you remember it. However, if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule.
Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one. Samuel S. Hersberger , 1 and Isabelle Arnet 1. Kurt E. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer.
Allemann: hc. Allemann et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.
Abstract Background. Introduction Previous studies showed that fragmenting concerns every fourth tablet in ambulatory setting [ 1 , 2 ] predominantly because of dose adjustment, swallowing difficulties, or costs [ 3 — 5 ]. Material and Methods We obtained all orders placed by Swiss community pharmacies at Medifilm AG, the leader company in Switzerland in the repackaging of medication into unit-of-use soft pouch blisters, located in the industrial area of Oensingen canton Solothurn [ 25 ].
Results Between January 1 and December 31, , a total of 4,, tablets were packed in unit-of-use soft pouch blisters by Medifilm. Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Figure 2. Discussion Fragments of tablets represented 8. Conclusions Tablet splitting has a major role in dosage adjustment and should be limited to specific clinical situation, that is, titration of dose and pediatric and geriatric patients, and according to the recommendation of the product manufacturer.
Acknowledgments The authors wish to thank Markus Meier Medifilm AG for disclosing the database, Martin Recknagel for extracting the data files, and ywesee for providing the archived Swiss Summaries of Product Characteristics. Disclaimer The authors are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. Conflict of Interests The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.
References 1. Quinzler R. The frequency of inappropriate tablet splitting in primary care. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Rodenhuis N. The rationale of scored tablets as dosage form. European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Tablet splitting. Therapeutische Umschau. Zerkleinern von Tabletten. The Medical Journal. Breaking of scored tablets: a review. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. Australian Pharmaceutical Advisory Council. Commonwealth of Australia; Substantial reduction of inappropriate tablet splitting with computerised decision support: a prospective intervention study assessing potential benefit and harm.
Arnet I. Wrongly prescribed half tablets in a Swiss University Hospital. International Journal of Clinical Medicine.
Shotbolt P. Quetiapine in the treatment of psychosis in Parkinson's disease. Therapeutic Advances in Neurological Disorders. Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products Swissmedic. Summary of Product Information. Agranulocytosis and granulocytopenia associated with quetiapine. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. Bridler R. Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia.
Swiss Medical Weekly. Maher A. Efficacy and comparative effectiveness of atypical antipsychotic medications for off-label uses in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of the American Medical Association. Devlin J. Symptoms may include severe constipation or stomach pain, inability to empty your bladder urinary retention , blurred vision, drowsiness, delirium, confusion, and falls.
Your risks may be increased if you are over 65 and have a history of these side effects. If you experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor right away. Taking it again could be fatal cause death. Quetiapine can cause drowsiness. The use of drinks that contain alcohol raises your risk of this side effect.
If you drink alcohol, talk to your doctor about whether this drug is safe for you. For people with diabetes or high blood sugar: Quetiapine may increase your blood sugar levels, which can worsen your condition.
Extremely high blood sugar may lead to coma or death. If you have diabetes or risk factors of diabetes, talk with your doctor. They should check your blood sugar before and during treatment with quetiapine. For people with hyperlipidemia high fat levels in the blood : Quetiapine may further increase the levels of fat cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood. High fat levels raise your risk of heart attack and stroke. Therefore, your doctor may check your blood cholesterol and triglycerides during treatment with quetiapine.
For people with low or high blood pressure : Quetiapine may worsen your high or low blood pressure. It may also increase blood pressure in children and teenagers. Your doctor should monitor your blood pressure while you take quetiapine. For people with a low white blood cell count: Quetiapine may lower your low white blood cell count even more.
Your doctor should monitor your white blood cell count often during your first few months of treatment. This can help make sure that quetiapine is not decreasing your white blood cell count. For people with cataracts : Quetiapine may worsen your cataracts. Your doctor will monitor you for changes in your cataracts. They will examine your eyes when you start treatment and every 6 months during treatment. For people with seizures: Seizures have occurred in patients with or without epilepsy while taking quetiapine.
Quetiapine may make it harder to control seizures in people with epilepsy. Your doctor should monitor you for an increase in seizures while taking this drug. For people with hypothyroidism low thyroid level : Quetiapine may lower thyroid hormone levels and worsen your existing condition.
Your doctor should monitor your blood thyroid hormone levels before and during treatment with this drug. For people with heart problems: Ask your doctor if this drug is safe for you. This drug increases the risk of abnormal heart rhythms. For people with liver problems: Quetiapine is mainly broken down in the body by the liver. As a result, people with liver problems may have increased blood levels of this drug.
This raises the risk of side effects from this drug. For people with severe constipation : Quetiapine can cause constipation and increase your risk of gastrointestinal problems including bowel block. This has been deadly in people taking this drug with other drugs that slow movement through your gastrointestinal tract. If you have questions, talk with your doctor. Using quetiapine with anticholinergic drugs may increase the risk of gastrointestinal problems. For pregnant women: Quetiapine is a category C pregnancy drug.
That means two things:. This drug should only be used if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk. For women who are breastfeeding: Quetiapine may pass into breast milk and may cause side effects in a child who is breastfed. Talk to your doctor if you breastfeed your child. You may need to decide whether to stop breastfeeding or stop taking this medication.
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