Finally getting there! Quit Mirta four weeks ago

I took 15 mg. Weight gain is one of the biggest side effects. 3 mg is not so much, you're getting there!

Thanx for your reply evergreen, I just started to loose weight this week! Hope this goes on. I know weight gain is one of the biggest side effects, so I am not surprised you gained 8 kg. Actually very suprised you managed to loose weight while you were on Mirta.

How are you doing now? Do you feel better? 

I'm not great really, but better than I was when I first went on ADs. I still suffer from insomnia and anxiety. However, I am pleased not to be on any antidepressants anymore. I do have to take temazepam at night to sleep, but find it gives me no side effects and it suits me really well.

I still use benzo's twice a week when I really can't sleep. But I am getting there. Still have some trouble sleeping sometimes, but I decided to not let it get me down too much.

I was thinking the same thing, if it was wise to quit around this time. But on the other side, I also had withdrawal midsummer, so I am not sure if the weather is the largest factor.

Anyway, I have been losing some weight. Might take some time though. Especially with all the Christmas eating. 😉

Slept very bad last night. Around 5, I managed to get 2,5 hours of sleep. I feel totally worn out now. The night before last night I slept, but woke like 5 times. I am going back to the doc to discuss reinstating. Maybe this is not the best time for me to hang in there.

If lack of sleep is your major problem maybe you could discuss something to help that with your doctor, rather than going back on Mirt? When you're so short of sleep it affects the whole day and how you cope with it.

Lack of sleep isn't, touch wood, a problem I've had since coming off Mirt, just feel nauseous for which I've some pills from the drs which help a bit and a general "down" feeling all the time which as you say isnt helped by the time of year and the dark days.

Going back on a low dose of Mirt maybe right for you, I went down that road a year ago having been off it for about six weeks and I'm determined not to go down that road again.

Good luck, let us know how things pan out when you've seen your doctor.

Both doc and I agree that taking a low dose of Mirtazapine again is an option, but we want to explore other options first. So we agreed that I will take melatonin (3 mg max) and Oxazepam to give me better sleep. If this works for a few nights I regain some strength hopefully to lift me over the dark cloud of December. I usually feel like halfway through January is already a totally different time. Much lighter. 

For me this is an especially dark month due to a traumatic experience I had half December. Anyway, thanks for you support greta! How are you doing today? Hope you find your way up soon.

Glad to hear you've something that will hopefully help with your sleeping. Better option in my opinion than straight back on Mirt. I do hope it works for you and you get some good sleep.

I'm definitely very slowly improving each day but it's so much slower now I'm off Mirt completely than when I was just tapering. However well the day begins it only takes one small thing to confront me during the day to send me on a downturn as I had today. Laughably small things but but my coping ability, usually no problem, seems very thin. So the trauma you were talking about suffering must have really set you back.

I agree, let's get through to mid January and things hopefully will start to look better!

Take care, have a good Christmas.

You nailed it! Tapering seemed to be easier than quitting. I don't know why. Today I got a cold, and this seems part of withdrawal as well. I also looked up stories today and a lot of people agree 6 weeks seems to be the turning point where withdrawal seems to pass. But everybody is different, and if I have to reïnstate, I will.

I was hoping that last night I could just sleep without a benzo, but I couldn't. Had my third night this week of less than 5 hours sleep. But the night before that I slept really well. My mood is all over the place. But I survived Christmas today and tomorrow I have zero family obligations. So that's something.

I hope you are doing fine and you are enjoying Christmas.

I do hope you manage to establish a decent sleep pattern without going back on Mirt, you've come so far without it, but I do sympathise as I've found it difficult the last few days. I find Christmas such a trying time at the best of times and stuck in the middle of winter, we've both chosen a daft time to try and come off it!

You seem to be 2 weeks in advance of me and my local pharmacist said it's at least 4-6 weeks before you will see any improvement. At the moment my mood is so low a lot of the time but I'm hoping that with the lengthening and lighter days things will get easier. I'm going to try and hang on until the end of January which will be 8 weeks since quitting completely and if I'm still suffering I suppose I'll have to trek back to the GP.

Meanwhile I watch your posts with interest.Best of luck with tonight's sleep!

Hi Greta, 

How are you doing now? I am still not my old self again, but to be honest, I can't really complain about my sleep. I slept 6 hours last night, and the two nights before that, slept 8 hours. That is actually pretty decent, although last night was broken up, because I was awake between 2 am and 5 am. I was sure I wasn't going to sleep again, but I had a glass of milk and some peanuts and still managed to sleep around 5 am. And the good news is, I didn't take a benzo or something like that, so that's definitely a plus. But I do feel 'off'. And that is worrying me.

My trackrecord of getting past the winter blues is not so great. I'm usually getting better halfway through february. I can hold on for a while longer, but next week I have to go back to work again, and I am definitely not looking forward to that. Hope you are starting to feel better again.

 

Hi Whosthatgirl

Great to hear your sleeping is so much better, specially as you've managed to avoid Benzo so far. Don't need to get hooked on anything else!

I know what you mean about the days, it varies, my mood is so low a lot of the time but for me I think a lot of it is the Christmas thing throwing everything out of sinc not to mention the long lonely evenings which really do my head in. I started taking Mirt two and a half years ago when my husband was diagnosed terminally ill and after he died needless to say I continued to need the support. I tried to give them up a year ago though, but due to a fairly fast taper (didn't know any better then!) and then not recognising the withdrawal symptoms, thought I was just going back to my old problems, I went back onto them.

Big mistake in retrospect but I have done more research since then and am sure that this is something I just have to get through as right now I'm determined not to go back on them. Like I said before though, really bad time for us to do it, but we are where we are.

Do keep in touch and let me know how you go, and I do hope you can handle life when you get back to work next week, as long as you can get some sleep I'm sure you'll be halfway there.

Hang on in there!

PS How's the weight loss going? Still losing the excess hopefully?

Hi Greta,

I am so sorry for your loss! Life can be so unfair and I am sure that's not helping. And Christmas is always a moment where the pressure of being happy and loved can weigh down on us. I personally hate Christmas. The pressure of being cheerful and 'the most wonderful time of the year'. Are you kidding me? Most wonderful time of the year is clearly summer, not winter! ;-)

Anyway, I am feeling better these last few days. Sleeping is better again and I am sleeping full nights again of 8 to 9 hours sleep. Who would've thought. Like I wrote you in my other post, I also use the 5-htp (50 mg which is a really low dose) and light therapy. This helps my mood and it helpst me sleep.

Weight loss is kinda stable. I won't be losing weight this week with all the eating, but I am def. not gaining and I did loose some weight last week. I can go hours without eating again, so I am sure I will lose the Mirta weight soon.

Hang in there Greta. We already had the solstice, so it gets a little bit lighter every day.

Just caught up with this and your post on the other thread which I responded to. SO pleased your sleep pattern seems to have improved so much and that your weight is getting under control.

As you're a couple of weeks ahead of me with quitting it gives me hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel! I still get anxiety early a.m. and a bit low during the day. But as you say we're on the right side of the solstice and blinking Christmas is behind us. Once this frost and fog lifts it will help.

Here's to the New Year!

Slept a little worse last night, but I had so many good nights before that, so it's just a small setback I guess. I hope you will have a great New Year, and your withdrawal diminishes! I am going to up my dose of 5-htp to 100 or maybe 150 mg, and see if I can tackle the last odd nights of not sleeping well. Hope you feel better soon!

Hi Greta,

How are you doing currently? I just wanted to let you know I am still having rough days and I think I am going to reinstate. Not sure though. Sleep is still rough and today I felt really depressed. I will be 8 weeks post this weekend, and if things haven't turned around by now, I don't think they will. Also, I have a job to keep and my boyfriend will be away for a trip in a few weeks, so I have to take care of myself.

Hope you are doing fine!

Hello! I have a question for you since you have been off mirt for a while. I quit 5 days ago (I was on 7.5 for 2 months), and the first 3 days were terrible. Nausea, panic, insomnia, anxiety, everything! But each day it is getting better. Should I expect more, or do you think I'm in the clear? It seems weird to me that I feel so differently from others. 

Thanks.

Hope you are doing well!

Hi Blyther,

If you are improving, and feeling better, then that's good news isn't it? Mirtazapine withdrawal comes and goes in waves, so this might not be it. But don't worry about it too much, just monitor yourself.

I am actually thinking about reïnstating. I am 8 weeks post, but still not feeling my old self again. 

It is good news! I think my anxiety is just getting the best of me now. Oh no! I'm sorry you're not feeling good. Maybe reinstating would be good for you until you can stabilize again.

Hi Whosthatgirl

So sorry you're going through a rough patch, withdrawal does seem to be a very erratic business. I'm two weeks behind you in quitting but sure that at last I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I can have days or partial days of feeling quite positive which gives me hope that there's an end to this somewhere. Then next morning I wake up in the dumps although, having said that this morning was the first morning since quitting 6wks ago that I had no anxiety on waking. Doesn't mean it won't be there tomorrow morning, of course, but does give me hope to hang on.

I hate to see anyone having to go back on this drug, especially when they've been off it as long as you have, but everyone's situation is different and just because I'm now retired and on my own I have only myself to think about. I have a very close and supportive daughter locally but don't want to bleat on to her too long about it, so try to remain pretty independent.

If you've got a job and people in your life relying on you, I can quite see you might need to resort to Mirt again to get you through this, as much as it grieves me to say it! Everyone is different, so no-one can dish out advice about that, but don't forget we have Christmas behind us, which I gather suits us both!, and Spring not so far away. Sorry you're still having a few problems sleepwise, that is probably helping to drag you down.

Wish I could say more to help get you through this, you've come so far.

Thanks so much for your lengthy reply Greta! Today is a rough day, but to be hones, the last two weeks where more difficult. But I don't want to slip further into depression/anxiety and I'm afraid I might have to call in sick at work. I can not afford to do that. Last week I was feeling bad, but at least I could just ride it out at home.

And I was just getting back on my feet workwise. If I call in sick now, for more then a few days, I will totally lose my job. And that has me thinking again about the future and this makes me really scared and angry. I don't want to sit at home again, climbing up the walls. This is exactly the time last year when everything went downhill, when I was feeling so bad and lost. And lied awake all night. 

Anyway, thanks for your reply Greta. I really hope we ill both feel better soon. Looks like you are definitely on your way!