Mirtazapine withdrawal

Oh and a little sea salt not table salt helps. Tables salt contains other minerals where as sea salt is pure sodium. Even when you're better keep on the sea salts, table salt sucks..

: )

Listen to pjdme! Look at all the past posts from us...you will see that we were both in a pretty bad state!

As I keep saying and will keep repeating you need time, time, TIME!

I hope you can work out what you want to do, but please stop messing your body about.

I understand about the doubting...I was there about 9 months ago. I have to be careful taking vit/mineral supplements as they trigger tremors and insomnia at times. I had muscle aches and took magnesium 2 nights on the run. 1st night it really relaxed me and I slept well, 2nd night I was up with tremors really badly. Might have been the coffee I drunk too. I will take it again tonight and see what happens, if I am suffering again I will not take it for more than one night at a time in future. It really is trial and error. If I take vit C my head buzzes at night and I cannot switch. I used to take herbal nytol but that triggers symptoms too. I really think that only time, rest, and good diet are the healers. Chin up! It will get better.

Thanks for writing. At this VERY moment I'm feeling better. I have to quit obsessing about it. That's part of the reason I'm making myself more of a nervous wreck. I knew in my benzo w/d days that w/dnin benzos are non linear. But I've NEVER heard of antidepressant w/d being non linear. But it makes sense. I remember the waxing and waning of w/d with benzos. But never thought remeron w/d could be the same. I don't think that little rescue dose messed me up a couple nights ago. Don't worry about me. K? I'll be fine. I'm feeling a HUGE lift this evening for some reason. My wife and kids and I are at my moms eating dinner. I helped my mom fix a few things in her house and tonight. I think keeping busy is good. I also rededicated my life to Christ today at church. Is it normal to have good weeks and bad weeks? I'm also going to see a psychologist tomorrow. He does NOT prescribe meds. Yay! But he does do CBT, which I think can never hurt. Last night after hanging insulation in my basement (finishing our basement) I took a shower and laid in bed. We had a family sleep/movie night in bed. Which means my 2 kiddos slept with us last night. Always fun til your 3 year old seems to sprawl out and take up most of then king size bed. Lol. I slept by taking no OTC meds. I fell asleep at 11:45pmish and woke up though at 5:45am. I'm so sick and tired of the sleep deprivation. At 6:30am I still couldn't fall back asleep so I took 1 unison tab. (OTC sleep med) didn't really work. Laid in bed til 9am. Then went to church. Still no appetite but today I was able to eat without gagging food down. Let me also ask you this. Can my regular anxiety be treated with CBT alone? Can I learn to cope with stress and anxiety without meds? There IS a reason we all went on these drugs for a reason. If that reason is insomnia, typically insomnia is a side effect of depression and or anxiety. The reason I was put on benzos YEARS ago (2+ years free now) was BC of BAD BAD BAD anxiety. It was so bad I couldn't sleep for nights and even had parasthesia (tingling on my ear). That's how bad my anxiety was back then. I also didn't know what anxiety was back then so it made me more scared. Then instead of my Dr recommending a therapist he labeled me right away and threw me pills. I was thankful for ativan back then. But got physically dependant later. Anyways. That's my history. I'm thinking CBT will be beneficial and I think I CAN do this w/out drugs.

I am sure there are people, experts who can help you manage or even overcome anxiety naturally. I am sure that this is an option. I can't see it being a quick fix though.

Remember though that w/d anxiety has no trigger, it just happens. So if you get anxious in a certain situation I am sure it is possible to train your body to gradually react differently until you can face that situation without anxiety. In w/d there is very often no such triggers. It happens without warning and without reason - the worst sort of anxiety because there is no explanation to why you are feeling the way that you are. This brings with it a sense of hopelessness and helplessness that you may not get at any other time.

I have spoken to people who have been through benzo and antidepressant w/d. Some have said the antidepressant was at least as bad and for some people worse.

Yes it is normal to have good and bad weeks. It is normal to have good and bad hours and minutes too! W/d is very unpredictable.

I STILL get runs of days where I feel absolutely crap!

Sometimes there are triggers to your symptoms being worse....for me it's tiredness mostly, and supplements. I developed a lactose intolerance during w/d too.

I found at one point when I was working a lot of long hours that that triggered a week or so of bad symptoms. I learned to not take on as much. Heavy exercise caused problems too. I would take it easy at the gym for a while....gentle to moderate is probably ok....some people find too much activates them and they end up 'wired' as you say! When I used to go to the gym I went 3 times a week and I would manage 2 weeks before coming down with a cold virus, I would take a week off or 2 then my fitness level would almost be right back where it started then I would go back and end up ill again. I stopped going. I will maybe try again in about 6 months or so.

Listen to your body and take a mental note of when you feel bad. What were you doing that day or the day before? Has your body responded to that in the same way previously? If so maybe avoid that for a few weeks. Are you tired/dehydrated?

Thanks for writing back mini3585,

Last night continued to be a good night. After leaving my moms, I got home, immediately started working on my basement, hanging up insulation. I think keeping busy really helps. I then took a Zyrtec for allergies, took a nice shower. Got into bed, and read a book, put Christmas Vacation on in the background, played on my phone for a bit. Then got comfy, and fell asleep. Sleep is still pretty difficult. I remember waking up many times throughout the night, but remember dreams. I still get bouts of mind chatter/nonsense information flowing through my head at night, but then fall back to sleep, b/c I remember dreaming. Towards early morning, I toss and turn the most. My stomach feels gnawing, like stomach acid/empty. I also remember feeling this sensation all over my body, like mild bad energy, but it's not horrific in my sleep occasionally.

I am tired a lot during the day, but not too bad, but im typically like that anyways. I don't think I'm dehydrated.

How long were you on Remeron again? And I'm wondering why I had such a harder time getting off this time vs. the times in the past.

I've made it this long. So I'm going to keep on trucking.

Also, when you say w/d anxiety comes without reason. Back when I had anxiety 6 years ago, before meds, I didnt know why I was having anxiety though either. There may have been multiple triggers that I didnt realize back then. So it's confusing.

But really, all of this doesnt matter.

What matters is, is that I'm going to do therapy, therapy can not hurt, whether this is w/d or a mix of w/d and anxiety. It may help take my fears away from w/d. I keep obsessing about, how I feel, I obsess about sleep, I obsess about sensations, I obsess about these forums, and am on them constantly. lol. So I've got to learn to break away, and just live.

I'm just thankful that the trembling is gone. That's the worst.

Will keep you guys updated as I go along. Stay strong! Keep your head up!

Started on Sertraline 50mg January 2011 (increased to 200mg over a couple of months)

Started on Risperidone for 'resistant depression' end of Feb 2011

Stopped Sertraline October 2012

Started Mirtazipine October 2012

Stopped Mirtazipine December 2012

Stopped Risperidone March 2013

Lets hope that therapy helps you. The obsession could be worse because of w/d too

Just got home from my 1st psychologist appointment. I've seen therapists in the past. But they just wanted to give benzos. I saw a psychiatrist once who helped me get off ativan. Was thankful for him then. But I saw him a month ago to help me with this funk I'm going through and all he wanted to do was give me pills. Same with my GP. This psychologist was super awesome. He's also a minister and a Christian.

Basically my battle right now is anxiety. And I can't figure out if its still remeron w/d related or just anxiety.

His answer was "it doesn't matter". I really liked this answer! I even feel better!! I think I'm having a mix of both. But I'm obsessed with the thought of w/d, and that in itself IS giving me underlying anxiety which is not helping. He also did a background on myself, some test, and he's almost certain I'm borderline creative genius. With all the instruments I can play, the video production and film awards I've accomplished so young in my life.

But he said its a blessing and a curse. But we are working on all of that.

3 things we are going to start working on.

1. Control thoughts

2. Control adrenaline

3. Calm mind

Also he also said a few other cool things.

"Where my focus goes, my energy flows"

"Fear is the enemy. The opposite of fear is faith"

He also said to turn "what if" thoughts into "so what" thoughts.

Happy healing everyone. Whatever we are struggling with, there IS hope!!

Modify message

Its interesting to read your posts and experience with Mirt w/d.

I have reduced to 22.5mg 12 days back after being on 30mg for 6 months. The reason for my reduction was increased anxiety and agitation, I found MINI's comments Interesting

Quote " I found at one point when I was working a lot of long hours that that triggered a week or so of bad symptoms. I learned to not take on as much. Heavy exercise caused problems too. I would take it easy at the gym for a while....gentle to moderate is probably ok....some people find too much activates them and they end up 'wired' as you say! When I used to go to the gym I went 3 times a week and I would manage 2 weeks before coming down with a cold virus, I would take a week off or 2 then my fitness level would almost be right back where it started then I would go back and end up ill again. I stopped going. I will maybe try again in about 6 months or so."

I feel as if I have experienced the same issue with the GYM and lots of work/activities, I haven't been to the gym since 6th Nov. I joined beginning September and was working out heavily and made great progress, but suddenly the anxiety hit me from no where but I kept at it but ultimately I felt something was wrong.

I'm planning to go back and see how it goes, but I will keep you guys posted.

Never give up

Going from 30 to 22.5mg is quite a big reduction. A lot of advice I have sought has come from forums set up for people facing w/d problems from psychiatric meds and some literature/information from psychiatric Dr's (who are very few and far between). The common advice is to reduce by 10% of the current dose so from 30mg to 27mg then to 24.3mg etc. etc.

This way it is a steady reduction and gives the body more time to adjust. A reduction of 10% per month is adequate. Some people wait for longer between dose changes if symptoms are bad.

I have unfortunately been suffering from prolonged withdrawal syndrome.

Perhaps you could try going back up to 30mg until your symptoms settle and then reduce by a smaller amount. There is plenty of info online on how to do this with liquid or tablets

Christopher, I am glad you have found someone that is willing to work with you. Be patient...and give yourself time

Hi everybody,

No perfect English but willing to share my expercience:

I have been om 15mg for a year for anxiaty and depression and withdrawal symptoms took three months after my last dose. withdrawel peaked at 3 weeks, slowly it got better. I tappered down over a month period until 3,75 mg and then stopped. My WD symptoms were, chronic diarea (gave me a perianal abscess!), shivering and racing thoughts.

A certain vulnarability remained, so that now almost half a year later I had to resart again. I have had two months of bad sleep due to becomming a dad of a baby that has to beed fed every three hours and my wife is still recovering.

I only take 3,75 mg and it eases anxiaty right away and makes makes me sleep again after feeding twice a night.

I know that i have to go through WD again later and it was horrific but now I have no choice.

For diarea i took a pro biotic supplement and loperamide. For nausea I took traveler tablets occasionaly, wich are also 5HT blokkers. Also raw cacao beans is good for mood. (but not tasteful)

Good luck all

I have been on Mirtazapine for 8 months. I started to feel better and decided to withdraw on an alternate day dose. Took my last pill 10 days ago. I have had to start taking the pills again as the withdrawal was horrendous. Nausea, dizzy, headaches. Now I am getting the initial side effects again as my body is having to get used to the medication once more. Nightmare

Hello I am new here, but just got done reading all the post in this discussion. I have been

on Mirtizapine 30 mg. now for around four years. I can see that what I am going through

now is Mirtazapine withdraw. I have read some horror stories concerning it's withdraw

before, but never tried to stop taking it until five days ago. I am on a B/P med. called

Clonidine so when I stopped the Mirtazapine I started taking 0.2 mg. of that twice a day

Instead of 0.1 mg. twice a day and thought that would help. I want to get off of Mirtazapine because I now weigh 220 lbs. when I weighed 180 lbs. before taking it. It doesn't matter

how you eat you will still gain weight on this medication. Well I thought I was doing good

until today. I felt fine for four days, but today I have all the withdraw symptoms I read in this forum. I thought the Clonidine was keeping me from getting them, but was I WRONG.

I felt so bad today I thought I was getting the flu, but I don't have a temperature. Now after

reading these post I see what is wrong with me. I always cut the 30 mg. of Mirtazapine in

quarters and took one quarter before bed and one in the middle of the night and two during

the day. I just took one quarter again after reading about what somebody in this forum said about serotonin shock when you go cold turkey which could kill you. It is around four PM

and I just took one quarter. I will take another quarter before I go to bed tonight. I don't

want to take the two quarters I usually took during the day because I don't want to go back

to 30 mg. I will see how this works and wait until trying to reduce any more. I can see like

other post I am in for a long miserable journey getting off of this medication. I even take

Lunesta 3 mg. and still had a hard time sleeping last night. I want to thank all you for

all your post here in this forum which let me know what is happening to me. I am glad to

know what is happening and that I am not getting sick. I have to watch my health seeing I

am a 63 years old man and since I been on Mirtazapine my health isn't as good especially

since gaining all this weight. Thanks again to all of you and Merry Christmas.

I stopped Mirtazipine and Citalopram in October, gradually reducing my dose and then stopping altogether. I have been experiencing insomnia, hot and cold body parts, being tearful and what I describe as a 'head rush' a mini dizzy experience.

My doctor is trying to tell me its menopause symtoms

Im not sure

any suggestions?

thanks Jules

hi yukg, sorry to hear you are going through the mert withdrawals. i too took this med, as you have probably read... myself, i have taken other anti/dep (ssri's) and had no bad withdrawals... Mirt though for me and many others was 3 months of hardship, more or less for the others... no sleep hardly, couldn't leave the house due to anxiety thoughts and anxiety attacks (panic attacks) pacing up and down the hallway, telling myself its gonna be fine, when in fact it was far from it, racing heart, paranoia, thinking aliens were controlling my mind and my next door neighbor, seriously : ) and a little more : / it may not be an easy ride, but hang on in there, you will get better...

as for the serotonin shock you mentioned, it is just your nervous system readjusting to you're normal self, it will take a bit of time... since my withdrawal ordeal with mirtizapine, i have read up on this med and other anti/deps and psych meds... im no doc, but i have now a bit of understanding of what they are and what they can do... it was mentioned earlier in this thread that a person can die from Serotonin Syndrome if they were to stop their med, this is not the case. Serotonin Syndrome only happens if the said person had taken too much of the med, not too less.. some people can throw up misinformation even when they are trying to help i guess...

anycase, just make sure you eat plenty of good nutritional food, greens and veg, rice, oily'sh fish, vit c, plenty of water, a good drink is red grape juice, squeezed, not from concentrate, have this with 50% filtered water, if you can... tomato juice lemon, orange etc and veg/fruit smoothies, i think you get the picture : ) just eat good food and cut out any junk, coffee, sugar, dairy stuff etc. it will speed up your recovery, good old mother nature provides the best...

let us know how you get on yukg, and all my best to you and all else. we know where you have been or are going, be strong and encourage yourselves, you will get better : )

jules hows that for timing : ) yes i/we had the same thing tearfulness, dizziness, worthlessness and many more horrid thoughts and feelings... do keep up with your doc and try and see a specialist if you want/can... hang in there you will get better : )