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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2014, 16, 1 (pages: 35 - 40)

Requests for quetiapine from jailed substance abusers: are they a form of abuse or self-medication in response to long-term opioid dysphoria?

Pacini M., Santucci B., and Maremmani I.

Summary: Background and aims: Quetiapine is an available resource in the treatment of psychotic symptoms and agitation in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It has also proved effective in relieving withdrawal from opiates and other substances, with a favourable impact on anxiety, pain perception, insomnia, reduced appetite and negative craving. Cases of abuse have been documented in jails. So far no study has related illegal quetiapine use to one specific category of substance abuse. Methods: the anamnestic and clinical data of 17 substance abusers, who had been asking for quetiapine, were gathered during a period of imprisonment. Results: Subjects were adult males, mostly of Arabian origin, who asked to be given quetiapine after imprisonment, showing stabilization at therapeutic dosages, especially in the lower dosage range. Their shared clinical features were dysphoria and aggressiveness, while they showed heterogeneous profiles for substance abuse patterns and pictures, psychiatric history and on-going treatments. Conclusions: All the cases described in this paper, indicate a phenomenon of quetiapine use, with no clear core features of abuse or addiction, but a usage pattern that is, certainly, specifically oriented towards quetiapine.