In trouble with Mirtazepine
Posted , 6 users are following.
I was on 15mg from NOV 2018-Easter 2019 when i successfully tapered down to 7.5mg by July. I was using the skip one day every 2 weeks method which didnt work once i wanted to go lower than 7.5 because i got highs. So after 6 weeks or so trying that I decided to stick with 6mg daily from 1 October and do the 10% taper suggested by surviving anti depressants. I didnt do any drops yet because while I was feeling pretty good there were odd days where I needed a couple extra mg. All was well till 10 days ago when I was very fatigued by over working. At the sametime I took some time off to rest I also started a different brand of mirt provided by the chemist. After 4 days I realised it wasn’t agreeing with me and causing anxiety. The original brand never did this. So the fatigue, which I usually deal with by resting for a day or 2 and am then fine, was compounded by the change of brand which has destabilised me.
Since then (10 days) I have been back on the old brand desperately trying to stabilise. The first week I tried to do 6mg but had a few days of 8 or 9. Saturday I foolishly took about 19. this caused a big problem where i felt sick, couldnt sleep, had trouble eating and got extremely distraught for no reason. I vowed to stick at 6 which my brain has been used to for several weeks and it is about 4 months that ive been on around 7.5. it doesnt seem to be able to handle 15 anymore.
yesterday i was exhausted all day, was eating better but couldnt sleep. took 6mg at 6pm, went to bed at 7. couldnt sleep, took 2 at 11pm, 2 at 12 and 4 at 1. pretty soon after i felt similar to saturday. a friend has told me i must stick to 6 because my brain is used to it and its dangerous to keep changing the dose. i need to believe in myself and not turn to pills the hour i feel bad.
im looking for reassurance really, that im doing the right thing. 15 is definitely too much. i will speak to the gp later.
0 likes, 6 replies
sarah24378 Sept76
Posted
you really must not change you doses around it will make this alot worse. stay at 6ng and get stable then slowely taper. everytime you cange the dose you make things worse and mess up your brain furthrr
SerotoninSurfer sarah24378
Posted
I echo Sarah's wise advice. I have chopped and changed too much so speaking from personal experience. You need to allow your brain time to settle on a dose before changing. Ideally, this is months, not weeks. Also, your brain is used to a specific amount each day so skipping days is also not advisable. I would recommend when tapering you should take the same amount each day as opposed to skipping days.
toria_07298 Sept76
Posted
sept you really need to stick to the same dose, im tapering citalopram and after a whole year id nearly got stable on 6mg then i got a faulty liquid bottle and been trying to get stable again for around 7 months!
david46414 Sept76
Posted
I agree with others that you must not skip (it's the same as suddenly stopping.) I can only tell you of my own experience. I did get down from 1/2 of a 15 mg tablet by alternating daily without problems between 1/2 and 1/4 and after a few months alternating 1/4 and 1/8, but when I stopped I instantly had insomnia and bad anxiety. I think I will need to get down to a regular small fragment of a tablet before I can stop. Very low doses still give me good sleep. When I said above "without problems" I don't mean that I felt absolutely fine every day. I did and do get anxiety if there is something in daily life which is not going well (that is, not generalized anxiety.)
Sept76
Posted
thank you for your comments. I spoke to the gp 3 days ago who recommended going up to 10mg to stabilise. which i have done and am slowly becoming steadier. i have made an appointment to see him in a couple of weeks to discuss tapering but i think after two weeks off work because of this i will need to stay at 10 for quite some time before trying the taper again. now i know to only accept the brand that works for me i hope not to have this problem again. i will do the 10% taper method for sure.
Sept76
Posted
I've been on 10mg for 3-4 weeks. I'm steadier but very fatigued. On 7.5 earlier this year I was tired but not like this; I can't do all my work, in fact only a few hours 3-4 days a week.
On 15 I was working, going to the gym, socialising and had enough time to rest. Now my life is constant rest interspersed with a bit of work / food shopping. Does anyone else have experience of 10mg? I'm not sure whether I need to just give myself more time to get over recent turmoil or the dose is the problem. I'm seeing the GP next week.