Q:  Could This be From Seroquel?

My brother was on Seroquel, 100mg only at night (not bid) for 7 months with no titration on or off the drug. Now he has numerous side effects for the last 6 months even though he has been off the drug for 6 months. These include slow beard growth, hair loss, beard turned grey, slow toenail growth, weight loss, no appetite, trouble sleeping, stools turned to clay color, constipation. He is concerned he may have permanent brain damage, and symptoms are getting worse.  An EEG showed low brain wave activity which possibly indicated brain pathology.  Have you heard of this before with any neuroleptics?
 

Dear Mr. H' -- 
That is not sounding like anything I've ever seen or heard of.  Except for the weight loss, it almost sounds like something hypothyroidism could do.  Of course depression can do quite a few of those things itself.  The "clay-colored stool" invokes problems with the liver or gall bladder system, usually (e.g here's a basic reference on that). 

At such a low dose, as you point out, it would be extremely unusual, I would think, for Seroquel to have done this.  There is an association between Seroquel and liver problems, perhaps that is a connection worth pursuing.  Your brother has probably had the simple blood test that should show liver problems ("chemistry panel") and the simple test for thyroid problems ("TSH": thyroid stimulating hormone level) so you'd probably want to know that these were okay ("I'm sure you've already checked his thyroid and liver and those blood tests looked okay?").  

Dr. Phelps
 

Published January, 2003