1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Mirtazapine

Mirtazapine 'poop out' - anyone used inositol?

Posted , 5 users are following.

evergreen
evergreen

I am currently on mirtazapine which has been great for me, quickly clearing my depression and insomnia, as well as stopping my migraines, nausea and allergies. However, after four years, it has 'pooped out' and I am back to depression and insomnia so I am going to withdraw slowly from it. I started taking 12 grams of inositol yesterday in the hope that it will help me through the withdrawal.

Just wondering if anyone has tried inositol and if so, what were your experiences and how much do you take and when? Has it helped your depression? Has it helped with insomnia? Any problems?

For those of you who haven't heard of it, it is a naturally occuring substance which used to be called vitamin B8, but as the body can make it it is now not classed as a vitamin. There have been some studies which have shown it to be as effective as SSRIs for treating depression when taken at the rate of 12grams per day.

I am taking 6 grams with my breakfast in my mug of tea, and 6 grams after dinner in a soft drink. It is sweet so you need less sugar if you are mixing it into your tea or coffee.

0 likes, 33 replies

33 Replies

Next
  • carolyn79
    carolyn79 evergreen

    Posted

    Hi I have just read up on inositol. Fascinating. Wish I had heard of it before. Can you take with an antidepressant do you know? I have come off mirtazapine after 8 months due to weight gain but put on sertraline and quetiapine instead. Would prefer to have tried inositol instead. Good luck and thanks for share
    • evergreen
      evergreen carolyn79

      Posted

      Hi Carolyn, from what I have read it has no drug interactions. Good luck with your sertraline and quetiapine. Did you have any trouble coming off the mirt?
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Hi Evergreen

      Sorry to hear that Mirt' has pooped, and sincerely hope you wd ok, are you doing the 10% slow taper?  

      Sounds like you're prepared, I hadn't heard of the Inositol, let us know how you get on if you can, and wishing you well for your time coming off the Mirt.

      Best wishes x

    • carolyn79
      carolyn79 evergreen

      Posted

      Honestly, yeah big time but it was cause my gp told me to take one tablet 50mg every second day for two weeks and that was problem. Also started sertraline on the second week. It was he'll ended up in A and E as so suicidal tbh. Told it was withdrawal and go home and ride it out. Two weeks after that much better thankfully. But just aware. I was given diazepam to deal with chronic anxiety due to withdrawal. Wish I had been warned and tapered slower. X
    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Thanks. Yes, after three weeks of not really knowing whether it had pooped out - first of all started with insomnia 6 weeks ago but then was hit with the most awful depression around two weeks ago, I have realised that I was no longer getting any benefit from mirtazapine. It's a shame, and I'm dreading the withdrawal. I started my taper last night. I still only have 30mg tablets and so am diciding them as best as I can with a pill cutter, so I'm not being too accurate. I have gut down by an eighth of a tablet so a little more than the 10%. But I'm having trouble getting to see a doctor at present. There is a two week waiting list and usually only get to see a temporary doctor so there's no continuity in care and no getting to know the GP. They've had 3 GPs leave the practice in the past 6 months.
    • carolyn79
      carolyn79 evergreen

      Posted

      That's same at our docs. Never saw same doc and my wd advice over the phone. Didn't even tell me how long to skip a dose for. Chemist told me two weeks. I call and ask for doc to call back or if bad ask for an emergency where we sit and wait. People on here mentioned liquid version which is easier to measure dosage. As I said I was on 15 and told to miss a night for two weeks which I now know to be sh*t advice.
    • evergreen
      evergreen carolyn79

      Posted

      That is the problem with GPs, they don't seem to understand how hard it is to come off drugs. I was on tramadol for a year until I realised how addicted I was. When I spoke to my GP they told me they were not addictive! I was left on my own to withdraw. I managed it in the end but only by doing a slow taper. I was left with the most crippling depression though.
  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    Day two of cutting down by one eighth of a mirtazapine and supplementing with 12gms of inositol. I feel much less deppressed. That horrible brain chemical, physical hurting severe depression has lifted and I feel optimistic and more motivated. On the downside, I have had nausea and headaches. Whether this is early withdrawal symptoms or a reaction to the inositol, I don't know, although no side effects to inositol, have been reported so it is probably early withdrawal symptoms from the mirt. I have been taking half a 10mg tablet of temazepam every night for sleep, and have been doing so for around six weeks from when the mirt stopped working. But last night I was far less tense than I would normally be when I awoke to the strange banging in our country house that has been plaguing me lately. I just can't find where it is coming from and it keeps me awake. But last night, I felt quite relaxed about it and fell back to sleep. So I think that is due to the inositol. So far so good!
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Feel for you - wonder what that noise is !!!  

      I wonder if you talk to the doctors surgery if they would leave you a prescription for some 15 mg, might make it easier to chop possibly.  I 'think' they are available in soluble, so it may be worth enquiring, because then you can work out a wd method easier, or better still the liquid which I am withdrawing with, which some docs will give, although I had to kind of beg, took a copy of the CITA stuff along with a copy of the 10% plan, and literally left the doc a copy to read !  The 10% can be printed from here:  

      https://patient.info/forums/discuss/depression-resources-298570

      then scroll down to:  

      "Reducing ADs using 10% withdrawal method" 

      I've also sent you a PM, I don't suppose you will be able to tell wether its wd or uptake of inositol, although withh the latter being more natural it may not be that.  Remembering wd kicks in any time after 5 days of so from Mirt, or more likely after 10 days I would be suprised if it is the Mirt yet.  Oh my ... such a goddam awful drug when it poops like in your case, I think Rose had this, you maybe could chat with her?

      Hope your days stays good, wishing you well.

      C   x

       

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Thanks, Calmer. It is so hard getting to see a GP at the mooment and just as I think I have found a nice sympathetic knowlegeable one, she leaves!
  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    This is my fourth day into mirtazapine reduction (I have had three reduced doses). I have not been headachy or nauseus today, but I have been hit with the most crippling fatigue. I had to really force myself out to muck out the horses and then to do a 30 minute workout. I feel a lot better post workout, so maybe the key is to push through. All this may be nothing to do with the mirt withdrawal of course as it is very early days. Thankfully I slept well last night without a sleeping pill. I was awoken at 6.30 by the mysterious intermittent knocking. Very annoying. It sounds like it's coming from outside the house, but sometimes only does one knock every 15 minutes or so and is therefore very difficult to locate.
    • Sunbird8
      Sunbird8 evergreen

      Posted

      Glad you had a good night.

      Wonder what the knocking can be?

      I replied to this thread yesterday but it has not appeared even though there were no links.

      Keeping it short today!

       

    • evergreen
      evergreen Sunbird8

      Posted

      Thanks. Yes, whatever it is I wish it would stop. I'm the only one in the house who it wakes up. But I have always been a really light sleeper.
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      just a small thing really, but just wanted to say during my wd (5% every 2 weeks) I get 'hit' with fatigue between day 6 - 10 ... then when that wears away I feel better all of a sudden - the nature of Mirt wd I guess!

      This knocking thing is catching !!!  I was away for the weekend, the wind so bad & knocking outside every 10 minutes last night ... ggrrrrr ... so tired - home sweet home now, so hoping for a good night.

      Could you go look and let us know what your knocking is!  x

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Only one knock last night. Really loud around midnight. Stressed me out so I took a sleeping pill and slept until 6 am. No more knocking. The noise is like a gas gun bird scarer, but there are none out in the fields at the moment. When one of those malfunctions it goes off like a shotgun intermittently all night and drives me insane! I still cannot work out where the noise is coming from because it can be quiet for hours and then one bang.

      Today I feel much less fatigued. I also think the inositol is definitely having an effect because I feel much less depressed than I did before starting on it. I have cut my mirt down to 22.5mg because it is too difficult dividing the tablets into eighths. I am hoping this won't be too big a step. I guess I will find out in a few days if it is. I won't drop down further until I know I am stable on the 22.5mg. From what I read it is the very last bit which is the hardest.

      Does anyone know if cutting down will make me lose weight or is it all or nothing with mirt? ie. is it any amount, no matter how small will have a big effect on weight?

    • carolyn79
      carolyn79 evergreen

      Posted

      I went from 30 to 15 and lost nothing but once I was off it completely my appetite and cravings stopped completely. I lost 7 lbs quickly. Levelled out now with appetite back to normal

    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Who said the courntryside was quiet !  I hope youu find out soon what it is ... Sunbird & I are intrigues for you lol!  Slept like a baby last night, sorry about that folks!  - but then I'm still on 10 mg Mirt ... with the liquid I go down no more than 0.1 ml (with a 1ml syringe from the vets !!) which equates to 1.5 mg Mirt.  So I cannot say how 30 to 22.5 will go - pretty hard but hey ... we're all different evergreen, and maybe it will be brief when OR if it hits.  Definately stay on that for at least 14 nights coz otherwise you may well come a cropper ... better to be safe.  I get the "go on go lower" call to drop the Mirt quicker - but I've read too much of the sufferings.

      No, I doubt the cyt down wil help you lose weight, the cravings go on I'm afraid.  Lets remember to ask ourselves this when we get half way!!

      Do youu remember David who went cold turkey from thbis forum, I think he was around when I first started talking to you both (Evergreen & Sunbird).  Well he has been off nearly 8 months and been through hell the whole time, losing weight and major gastro problems, anx/insomnia the lot.  Finally he was advised by his American doc to reinstate at 3.75 and hey presto, symptoms all gone - food craving returned!  

      I think Cold Turkey is the worst thing ever, many many not getting their sleep pattern back, it's so much better to let those neorons fire back into place with a slow wd.

      Now about that banging ... do youu have an extraction fan in the bathroom?  Coz' when it's windy they make a horrible loud noise if the wind whips them the wrong way - just a thought smile

      Enjoy your day now that you slept well, makes a big difference.

      Wishing you well & happy too.

      C x

    • evergreen
      evergreen carolyn79

      Posted

      Thanks. It's what I figured. I probably have this problem keeping weight off until I am completely free of mirt. Well done for kicking it!
    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Yes, I had been reading about poor David. How annoying for him to have to reinstate a small amount after going through all that. I am in total agreement with you about cutting down slowly. I will see how this cut goes and then ask my doctor for some 15 ml and then for the liquid as I get closer. Only problem is the mirt really still helps me not have migraines and itchy skin. I will have to go back on the daily anti-histamines and cope with the migraines and nausea. But now that mirt isn't working for my sleep and depression, I would prefer to get off it due to the weight problems. I am sure the inositol is really helping me mood-wise.
    • carolyn79
      carolyn79 evergreen

      Posted

      Problem is I am Sertraline 100mg instead plus 50mg Quitiapine instead. Feel a million times better after my way to quick withdrawal from Mirtazapine. Would ideally be like to be off all meds but my crash coming off Mirt lead me back to more meds. Psychiatrist says stay on same meds and dose for 3 months and then we will readjust. I was doing really well on Mirtz and was aiming to come off it completly as felt so much better.

      So beware wrong wd advice from GP took me back to more meds. But for the moment forcusing on feeling better than I was last month. Plus started CBT and yoga which helps too. 

    • carolyn79
      carolyn79 evergreen

      Posted

      I just read an article about lack of magnisum and migranes. Recommended putting two table spoons of Epsom Salts into your bath and soaking for 15 mins. 

      Worth a try

    • evergreen
      evergreen carolyn79

      Posted

      Thanks. I had started taking madnesium every day around 5 months ago so will be interesting if this helps me to keep mainly free of them. I do still get them with mirt, but only around 3 times a year unlike at least once a week before mirt.
Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.