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For those who successfully stopped Mirtazapine, how long until the insomnia went away?

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noctua66895
noctua66895

Greetings everyone,

I had been taking Mirtazapine ever since 6 years ago on a 15mg dose. Recently (4 weeks ago) I stopped after tapering down to 3.75mg. The first week everything went really well, no issues whatsoever. After the 10th day the tipical withdrawal issues started to crop up (slight nausea, itching in different extremities, flu-like symptoms, and of course... the insomnia).

The most difficult symptom to deal with for me right now is the insomnia. There are days where I sleep 2.5 hours which is maddening. There are other days where thankfully, I get to sleep 6 hours or so.

For those who have withdrawn from remeron/mirtazapine has the insomnia subdued? And if so, how long did it take and what dose where you at before quitting?

Thanks!

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  • david28533
    david28533 noctua66895

    Posted

    Hello, I stopped cold turkey (a mistake) Feb 27th, and I am just getting my sleep habits back. I will let you know right up front. How long, how much, how bad, or otherwise, when your are talking mirtazapine withdrawal, the last thing that you want to do is compare yourself to someone else. First, no two are the same, and second, if you are different, your anxious mind will tell you that it isn't the mirtazapine, and you will be worrying that you have something else and end up at the doctor's office. I wish you the best. David
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    • noctua66895
      noctua66895 david28533

      Posted

      Hello David,

      I think you nailed it there, it definitely has your mind spinning thinking all sorts of things. Personally I am just worried my brain is completely screwed up now when it comes to sleep or histamine management. Reading about people who overcame the withdrawals and had their sleep improve is encouraging though!

      Also I've seen that in general it seems like for a lot of people it takes 3-6 months which is just so, so very long. Having said that, there are not many options here, I have to withdraw from Mirtazapine eventually... may as well do it right now. 

      Lastly, was it a gradual improvement of sleep or did it happen all of a sudden? Plus, if you don't mind me asking, how much were you sleeping when the insomnia began and how much are you sleeping now?

      Thanks a bunch!

       

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  • London_ridge
    London_ridge noctua66895

    Posted

    Sound like you tapered just fine.

    The sleeping will come back although I'm sure it feels like forever

    There are some good you tube videos for helping sleep.

    It sounds like you're doing really good. Glad to hear it as it can be worse.

    If you've gotten a few six hours I think you are well on your way to 8

    Best wishes it's rough but I'm glad you are on the road to recovery

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    • noctua66895
      noctua66895 London_ridge

      Posted

      Hello Rose!

      I've read some of your posts here and they have been quite helpful! Yes, the 6 hour sleep days have been encouraging. I am taking 300mcg melatonin and 500mg of valerian which seem to help. Today I slept 2.5 hours which just sent me on tilt and finally made me make an account here. =p I think, or rather, I assume it may have to do with me eating a lot of histamine inducing meals yesterday (lots of lime and tomatoes in yesterday's food).

      I really hope you are right and these 2.5 hour sleep days are just small relapses. I am also grateful the itching, nausea and dizziness have not been too strong. It is just this insomnia that's making me quite upset. 

      Thanks for your encouragement! smile

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    • esther07884
      esther07884 noctua66895

      Posted

      I have tried. A good few times to stop mirtrazepine and failed miserable the panic gets me every time and diagnose my self with all kinds of terminal illnesses I haven't had a mirt for 3 days now and this was s when my panic is kicking in, but doc gave me trazadone 50mg gets me to sleep 100 mg makes me feel awesome shame I can't take them in the day, I have read all about mirt the last few weeks and it is awful, I ut 3 stone on in four or five e months . since I've had none ive only ate a bowl of cornflake (3 days ) good luck to all I hope I get through it this time . and all of you I. The same boat xxxxx

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    • ann55375
      ann55375 London_ridge

      Posted

      I am having trouble with mirtazapine.  Coming down now at 3.75 but the depression and anxiety which never went away are troubling as they seem to be worse.

      do i stick this out or go back up, or will dr put me on something else i cant tolerate. 

      Did mirtaz help your symptoms before you stopped.

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  • London_ridge
    London_ridge noctua66895

    Posted

    Hi Noctua

    yes be careful with the histamine inducing foods. Remember mirt has a very heavy histamine block. Once this block is removed ( I assume ) histamines are are felt like an invasion as the body has not seen them in so long. 

    sounds like the melatonin is helping you some and that's great.

     I think the key here is that when you do have a set back like the 2.5 night that it almost becomes a mantra of ...." Oh no im back to ground zero" 

    we can't separate the mind from the body, therefore we have to be careful of our thoughts and trick the mind into non anxiety. 

    Some of the best ways I've found are meditation tapes or even sleep hypnosis videos. All on you tube for free.

    i like Eckart Tolle, some people don't like him. It's all about what you resonate with. Find that sweet spot. I had a tendency to play them all night as some are 8 hours long. they certainly reach the subconscious.

    so do try some of these videos enough of them to choose from. 

    Im a believer in the collective unconscious , which only means to me that we are picking up not only on our own stress but the stress of others.

    Many people are struggling with sleep these days, so it's not just a personal problem.

    anti histamines can help but for some people are not compatible with them hence maybe why they didn't mesh well with Mirt. 

    I can take them on occasion and they seem helpful. 

    The videos by far have helped the most and are not addictive! 

    Find the right one and enjoy your sleep. There will be bumps in the road but the main thing is don't loose,your footing on those nights. Treat the symptoms and know there is an end to this drama of mirt. 

    Wishing you the best 

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  • London_ridge
    London_ridge noctua66895

    Posted

    As far as how long. I think you will see a difference in sleep patterns becoming longer by six weeks ...

    you will have some good nights and some still not so good. It's two steps forward and one back it seems 

    you still gain one step and that's a real good thing 

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  • georg85519
    georg85519 noctua66895

    Posted

    Hi,

    I am about 5 weeks off Mirt. In week 2 and 3 sleep was really bad with not more than 2-3 hours sleep. I took trazodone for 4 days and slepp improved to 5 hours, but I didn't like side effects. Then I started to use holy basil and tryptophane and sleep after week 4 improved to 3.5 to 5.5 hours uninterrrupted sleep. I want to mention that the problem  besides the limited uniterrupted sleep was the fact that after I woke up no more sleep was possible. This problem improved slightly after entering week 5.

    There is a lot of information about sleep aid on the net. What helped me was information from Julian Ross' book Mood Cure. I also use ALPHA STIM device which calms you down nicely. Still getting hot flashes and dry mouth when I wake up but there is a lsight improvement as time goes on.

    Hope that helps

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    • esther07884
      esther07884 georg85519

      Posted

      Can I ask what side effects you had off trazodone, I swapped mirt for trazodone last week only 100g per day but I've been very happy, too happy sometimes not sure if thats normal but still get panic attack j St before I go sleep. I find it has help with the wd of mirt though x x

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  • susansasha
    susansasha noctua66895

    Posted

    Hi I finished mirt after tapering slowly and have been off for three months. Sleep did improve but I still get nights where I get no sleep and when I do sleep I keep waking. I am all over the place and it does get me down. I take a nytol once a week not sure if it helps? I struggle to believe that mirt can do this asnonly took it for ten months. X
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  • dave54337
    dave54337 noctua66895

    Posted

    Hi noctua, how are you getting on? I've been down to zero for 4 days. The insomnia has just started hitting me too. Last night and tonight sad. Hope it doesn't last to long.
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    • noctua66895
      noctua66895 dave54337

      Posted

      Hey Dave!

      Happy to report back. I have really good news. Let me first preface the following by saying this is not medical advice in any way. I am just sharing my experience and what helped me (tremendously).

      As you may remember I was having constant 2.5-4 hour sleep nights with a couple of fragmented 5-6 hour nights scattered around. It was pretty horrible.

      Forward to today (8-10 days later) and I am having lots of 6.5-8 hour sleep nights. The main factor for me has been my diet which to this day is still blowing my mind. I had no idea this could make such a big difference for me. 

      The days that I follow a low (strict) histamine intolerance diet I am sleeping 6.5-8 hours. My progress has been the following:

      Day1: Followed the diet very well: slept 6 hours uninterrupted + 1:30 extra

      Day2: Followed the diet very well: slept 7 hours uninterrupted + 1 extra

      Day3: Got cocky, ate a lot of lime popsicles and tuna: 4 hours of sleep, couldn't get back to sleep at all.

      Day4: Followed the diet: slept 6.5 hours uninterrupted.

      Day5: Followed the diet: slept 7 hours uninterrupted.

      Day6: Got cocky again... This time I paid dearly. I ate lime popsicles again (3 of them) and 3 big chunks of chocolate: I slept 2 hours total and couldn't get back to sleep AT ALL.

      Day7: Followed the diet: 7 hours of sleep total

      Day8: Followed the diet: 7+1 hours of sleep.

      Day9: Followed the diet: 6.5 hours of sleep with 2 wakeups in the middle of the night + 1 hour.

      So, while this may be something unique to me, it has been working quite, quite well.

      What I am doing is the following:

      1.- The most important in my experience: A -very low- histamine diet. This means no tomatoes, citric fruits, etc. I found a massive list of foods in PDF format that shows the histamine levels of a lot of foods. I am using that as a guide for the most part. This is what has made the most difference for me so far.

      2.- Extras:

      Vitamin B complex

      Vitamin C

      Valerian 

      Melatonin 12 hours before the hour I want to wake up at.

      Again this is not medical advice, I am just sharing my experience. smile 

      The only thing that worries me at this point is whether or not my body will eventually adapt to foods that contain histamine again. Before Mirtazapine I did not have these intolerances at all.

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    • dave54337
      dave54337 noctua66895

      Posted

      That's really good news. It's a testiment to you and proof that things do (and always will) get better with the right attitude and control. Thanks for sharing. I slept ok the last couple of nights. I've been on a calorie controlled diet since I stopped the mitaz, but im can't be sure if it's helping. Im only imagine it would be worse otherwise. I will look into the low histimine diet too.

      I had a bit of a wobbler yesterday, with the stress of starting a new job and career next week (I'm in between jobs at the moment). I know this probably isn't the best time but I want to start the new job with a clear mind and positive outlook - a completely new me

      Anyway enough about me. Again thanks for sharing and a prosperous future.

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