Will an increased dosage of Quetiapine increase somnolence?

Question

According to a psychiatric nurse in the UK, the dosage of Quetiapine in the treatment of depression does not proportionally influence somnolence / sleepiness during the day. The dosage is taken at night. My own research suggests the opposite - I found that reducing the dose decreased somnolence so it seems to me that they are in fact linked. Where can I find information which will prove / disprove the nurse's assertion? This will be useful when requesting alternative medication. I would also be interested to know if this relates to the drug's half life.

Answer 1

By decreasing the dependence on any medication, your body‘s natural reaction is to start regulating itself more properly and appropriately thus your circadian rhythm becomes stabilized. This is similar to being prescribed steroids. The body decreases it’s production of endogenous steroids while receiving oral steroids, thus when the tapering dose begins and ceases, the body starts to naturally regulate and increase its own production of them, such as Cortisol. However every patient is different and behaves differently when introduced to different medications and when medications are introduced to them. Half-life, metabolism, general health and age, nutritional status and many other factors increase the PharmaKinetics and pharmacology of medications in the body. CYP 450 metabolism, and other forms of drug metabolism exert a great effect on the uptake and utilization of medicine.