Quetiapine Accord
Quetiapine Accord is an antipsychotic medicine used to treat mental illnesses like schizophrenia, mania, and bipolar depression.
Form
tabletti, kalvopäällysteinen
Strength
25 mg
Active Ingredient
Quetiapine hemifumarate
Manufacturer
Accord Healthcare B.V.
How to Use
Dosage
Your doctor will tell you how much to take. The usual daily dose is between 150 mg and 800 mg.
Method
Take tablets once a day at bedtime or twice a day. Swallow whole with water, with or without food. Do not drink grapefruit juice. Do not stop taking it without your doctor's advice.
Important
The maximum daily dose is usually 800 mg.
Possible Side Effects
COMMON
- •Dizziness, which might cause you to fall.
- •Headache.
- •Dry mouth.
- •Feeling sleepy (this may go away over time).
- •Symptoms if you stop the medicine suddenly, like trouble sleeping, nausea, headache, diarrhea, vomiting, dizziness, and irritability.
- •Weight gain.
- •Abnormal muscle movements (e.g., trouble starting movements, shaking, restlessness, or stiff muscles without pain).
- •Changes in certain fat levels in your blood (triglycerides and cholesterol).
- •Fast heartbeat.
- •Feeling your heart beat strongly or irregularly.
- •Constipation or upset stomach.
- •Feeling weak.
- •Swelling in your arms or legs.
- •Low blood pressure when standing up, making you feel dizzy or faint.
- •High blood sugar.
- •Blurred vision.
- •Abnormal dreams or nightmares.
- •Increased appetite.
- •Irritability.
- •Problems with speech.
- •Thoughts of harming yourself or worsening depression.
- •Shortness of breath.
- •Vomiting (mostly in older people).
- •Fever.
- •Changes in thyroid hormone levels in your blood.
- •Decreased number of certain types of blood cells.
- •Increased liver enzymes in blood tests.
- •Increased prolactin hormone in the blood, which can rarely cause breast swelling and unexpected milk production.
- •Increased prolactin hormone in the blood, which can rarely cause missed or irregular periods in women.
RARE
- •Seizures or fits.
- •Allergic reactions, like hives and swelling around the mouth.
- •Fainting, which might cause you to fall.
- •Unpleasant feeling in the legs (restless legs syndrome).
- •Difficulty swallowing.
- •Uncontrolled movements, especially of the face or tongue.
- •Sexual problems.
- •Stuffy nose.
- •Diabetes.
- •Changes in the electrical activity of your heart (seen on an ECG).
- •Abnormally slow heartbeat, which may cause low blood pressure and fainting at the start of treatment.
- •Difficulty urinating.
- •Decreased red blood cells.
- •Decreased sodium levels in your blood.
- •Worsening diabetes.
- •Confusion.
- •A serious condition with fever, sweating, stiff muscles, severe drowsiness, or fainting (neuroleptic malignant syndrome).
- •Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice).
- •Liver inflammation (hepatitis).
- •Long-lasting and painful erection (priapism).
- •Menstrual problems.
- •Blood clots in veins, especially in the legs (swelling, pain, redness), which can travel to the lungs causing chest pain and breathing problems.
- •Sleepwalking, talking in sleep, eating in sleep, or other activities during sleep.
- •Decreased body temperature (hypothermia).
- •Swollen breasts or unexpected milk production (galactorrhea).
- •Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).
- •Metabolic syndrome (a combination of at least three conditions: increased belly fat, low 'good' cholesterol, high fat levels in blood, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar).
- •A combination of fever, flu-like symptoms, sore throat, or other infection, along with very low white blood cell count (agranulocytosis).
- •Bowel obstruction.
- •Increased levels of creatine phosphokinase in the blood (a substance from muscles).
- •Severe skin rash, blisters, or red areas on the skin (e.g., Stevens-Johnson syndrome, toxic epidermal necrolysis, erythema multiforme).
- •Severe allergic reaction with breathing difficulties or shock (anaphylactic shock).
- •Sudden swelling of the skin, usually around the eyes, lips, or throat (angioedema).
- •Abnormal secretion of a hormone that controls urine volume.
- •Muscle breakdown and muscle pain (rhabdomyolysis).
- •Drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS), which appears as flu-like symptoms, rash, high body temperature, enlarged lymph nodes, and abnormal blood values.
- •Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis (AGEP), which appears as small pus-filled blisters on red skin.
- •Withdrawal symptoms in newborn babies if the mother used Quetiapine Accord during late pregnancy (e.g., shaking, stiff or weak muscles, sleepiness, restlessness, breathing problems, feeding difficulties).
- •Stroke.
- •Heart muscle disease (cardiomyopathy).
- •Inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis).
- •Inflammation of blood vessels (vasculitis), often with small red or purple bumps on the skin.
Important Warnings
- Do not take Quetiapine Accord if you are allergic to quetiapine or any other ingredient in this medicine.
- Do not take Quetiapine Accord if you are taking certain medicines for HIV, fungal infections (azoles), certain antibiotics (erythromycin or clarithromycin), or a specific antidepressant (nefazodone).
- Tell your doctor right away if you get a high fever, very stiff muscles, sweating, or feel very sleepy or confused. This could be a serious condition called neuroleptic malignant syndrome.
- Tell your doctor if you have uncontrolled movements, especially of your face or tongue.
- Tell your doctor if you feel very dizzy or sleepy, as this increases the risk of falls, especially in older people.
Show 9 more warnings
- Tell your doctor if you have seizures (fits).
- Tell your doctor if you have a long-lasting and painful erection.
- Tell your doctor if you have a fast or irregular heartbeat, even at rest, palpitations, breathing problems, chest pain, or unexplained tiredness. Your doctor may need to check your heart.
- Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you get a fever, flu-like symptoms, sore throat, or other infection, as this may mean you have too few white blood cells.
- Tell your doctor if you have constipation and ongoing stomach pain, or constipation that does not get better with treatment, as this could lead to a serious blockage in your bowel.
- Do not drive or use machines until you know how these tablets affect you, as they can make you sleepy.
- Quetiapine Accord should not be used in children and adolescents under 18 years.
- Do not take this medicine if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant, without talking to your doctor first.
- Contact your doctor or go to a hospital right away if you have thoughts of harming yourself or committing suicide.
Use in Elderly Patients
Category D
Avoid use in older adults. Anticholinergic. Sedative. For treatment of psychosis only. Inappropriate as a hypnotic. Increases the risk of cardiovascular events, QT prolongation and orthostatic hypotension. Increases risk of falls, extrapyramidal symptoms and cognitive impairment. Reduces the effectiveness of drugs for Alzheimer’s disease. Avoid grapefruit. (updated 15.1.2024)