Mirtazapine withdrawal and brain zaps

Hi

I just don’t know how long , I’m about 10 weeks off Mirtazapine and still feel nauseous most mornings, tired and have brain zaps late afternoon, I’m still taking some Diazipam in the morning and at bedtime.

It’s been a horrible drug to get off , I think all AD’s have awful side effects but this has been the worst for me. Haven’t taken anything else and would rather not , I will have to see how the next month or so goes but I don’t want to.

I’m out of work to after working for over 30 years ! 

Hope things improve for you , I’m slowly trying to build up my fitness but it’s really hard. 

Realize that once you are off the drug, you will start to normalize.  I also had bad morning nausea on this drug.  The side effects are horrible.  Anticipate more difficulties as you taper and then for a period of time after you are fully off the drug.  The effects last a long time and it will take weeks for your body to adjust so be patient.  Within about a week of fully discontinuing Mirtazapine, I got the to the point where I started to feel normal again.  My nausea was reduced too.  I am now back to work and getting back to normal.  One of the worst aspects of this drug is the complete lack of motivation and inability to get out of bed.  It certainly doesn't help your depression when you are too tired, anxietal or unmotivated to even get out of bed and take a shower.

I woke up feeling pretty good this morning. I know it won't last but I'm going to enjoy it until tomorrow comes and sweeps me into nausea land again. yesterday was a terrible day of non-stop nausea and not eating and having no sleep.

In the eight months that I've been tracking how I feel, I found absolutely zero pattern or consistency to this

I'm going to start to exercise maybe walk on the treadmill everyday. I wanted to lift but that's completely impossible feeling this bad. my neurologist says that exercise is the only thing that really stimulates the brain to heal more than normal. Hang in there. Will get better eventually.

Like I said it's been 8 months and I'm still not normalized still waves and Windows of horrific symptoms. Not a huge improvement from the beginning so far. Hopefully things will improve all of a sudden and not slow and painful.

I was the same I tapered off for around 10 weeks from 45mg too 30 too 15 to zero thought I was doing ok then bang hit me big time never slept for 3 weeks never ate for a week would maybe only not off for 50mins hit rock bottom went too doctors broke down repeatadly they called in mental health nurses came out and I was given 5mg of diazepam to take three times a day and a sleeping tablet they worked every day I got a little better n better till now about 2 weeks later I'm feeling much better fingers crossed and now I'm on no sleeping tablet and only 2.5mg of diazepam once at night xx

How u doing Matt xx

 Nice to read your post that you are feeling better!!! 

Honestly I was in a really bad way 2 weeks ago I honestly thought I was never going too get better it was hell. Thank you there is light at the end of the tunnel but I must add they did change my medication to add venlafaxine so it could me a mixture of adding that that could be making me feel better I honestly don't know I know I defo needed too sleep the doctors said my body had just crashed with no sleep for 3 weeks then not eating for a week xxx

Hi Karen 

Bad day yesterday but today has been better, still carrying the bloody anxiety around with me but the more I push myself to get out of the house the more it should start to go, long road a head for me.

So happy you’re feeling better and getting back on track , well done you 👍

Hi there

Yes it’s so hard to exercise when your feeling as we do but I’m trying really hard to do it , I’m not running a marathon or anything just pushing myself to get my heart pumping ( and then nearly fainting!) 

Anxiety has been with me all day but I’ve tried to just let it be there and sort of ignore it , very hard to do when you feel it in your tummy though.

I’m also trying really hard to eat , even a sandwich that I swallow with water to get down , we need food to give us strength.

Glad today has been better for you as it has for me , yesterday was just a write off !

Keep going , it’ll come good soon 

Hi John 

I’ve been Mirtazapine free for 10 weeks now , withdrawal was awful! Still get a bit of nausea and brain zaps in late afternoon, I take Diazipam in the morning and again at bedtime for now.

I don’t want to go on another AD so trying very hard to focus on getting some exercise and doing Mindfulness at our local Mind once a week, I also start councilling next week so hopefully that will help.

Still in a very dark place but have determination on my side 💪

Glad your doing well now 

I don't blame you for not wanting to be on ADs.  My mother and wife are all about psyche meds.  I could do without them, but to them there's a little pill to solve every problem.  I would try to do without them if at all possible.  Obviously, if you are having suicidal thoughts, that's probably not a good idea.  In any event, everything ultimately comes down to you accepting and/or being able to mentally handle your life situation.

Be careful with the benzo. You should not take them for more that 2 weeks. I was in withdrawal from benzodiazepines. it's a thousand times worse than any antidepressant. It took me 4 years to recover after stopping them. I lost everything. Do lots of research before taking any mind altering drugs.

I just hope n pray one day I will come on here n you will say yes I'm feeling much better now it's awful you will get there I think the diazapam definitely helped me but most importantly I needed to let my body rest n sleep always thinking of you xx

I've took them for just under 2 weeks n been fine I only took 3 a day for a couple of days went down too 2 couple of days then 1 couple of days then a half then none. Xx

Hi

I’ve been on them for 6 months , will do a very slow taper.

I couldn’t have coped without them , doubt I’d be here ! Will go carefully though , thanks for your concern 

Hi Stuckindoors

Can I ask why you came off your meds , was it because you were feeling better or they were making you worse ? Have you gone on any other AD or are you not taking anything now ?

Good to hear you have a plan to get off them. Most doctors in my Massachusetts are cutting people off now due to changes in the laws that are grouping them in with opioids. People are being cold turkied because most doctors are unaware of withdrawal from these drugs. They think people can just stop after a few weeks of tapering and be fine. These drugs actually physically change the brain. And it takes months to years for brain receptors to recover. Hopefully in time they will be more educated on these meds. They don't know what the hell these mind altering drugs do to people.

I was on Klonopin and Remeron for some anxiety I had when I was 16. I'm now 48. These drugs were touted as a miracle cure back then. I was told they were safe and had to take them for the rest of my life. The anxiety from the withdrawal is much worse than any real anxiety I ever had. A little therapy would have been much better.

I stopped because I was getting interdose withdrawal on the Klonopin. I would get shakes, nausea, depersonalization, fatigue etc.. in between my doses. I was told it was all due to anxiety by the docs. Total BS I know now.

My wife is actually a Doctor. She new nothing about the withdrawal these things can do. They are not taught this. The info they get on drugs comes from seminars given by the drug companies and they certainly are not going to mention the negatives.

She gets it now and will not prescribe these anymore. I had her read the success stories on benzobuddies.org. Hundreds of stories of what happened when people stopped these meds and their journey back to heals. Very uplifting to know they all got better.

Hi stuckindoors

That must have been a nightmare for you did you have to come off all your meds cold turkey, Antidepressants and Benzo’s ?

Why did your state make that decision?

I’m in the U.K. and they dish out AD’s like smarties in most cases !

I did not cold turkey. I tapered over 18 months on the benzo and 14 months for Remeron. The law change is recent but the result will be Doctors afraid of being sued cutting patients off these meds to fast.

How are you feeling today?

Hi

I’m about the same , still trying to work on my fitness as o know it’ll help.

Went food shopping but ended up going back to the car as I felt to anxious in there , I know it’s best to just carry on through the anxious feeling but I just couldn’t today, there’s always tomorrow.

How are you today? 

Was able to eat a good lunch today, but 20 minutes later I was so nausiated that I had to lay down. I can't seem to get through a day without a bad period of extreme nausea. At least I ate something...

HI,

good to see you are feeling much better! I noticed in your text " nearly fainting"!

I have had really difficult to do exercise because every time I'm feeling exhausted, dizzy etc.

Just doing little! I even started a discussion approx 3 weeks ago! 

Same?

Hi

I bet your wife couldn’t believe what she was reading! 

GP’s in my area just whack you on AD’s it’s a scandal really , more and more research is showing that they don’t actually help in the long run but then getting off them is a nightmare!

I’m still in the thick of anxiety and low mood but know I have to get off these Diazipam to stand a chance of getting well , I’m on 5mg a day which I split between morning and bedtime, I’m gonna taper over the next two months .

I pray I can get my life back without meds , I’ll do anything to make that happen.

Hi Timo

What’s the name of the discussion I’ll check it out.

Today I went for a walk/jog then did 25 minuets of fairly vigorous exercise, have been flat out on my bed since , totally wiped out , 10 weeks off Mirtazapine, how much longer can this last 😩

How has your day been?

I started my Diazipam taper on Saturday, doing it very slowly! 

Hi 

Mirtazapine/Still difficulties to exercise.

Good actually, even though I didn't sleep very well.

I'm doing a very little exercise. Increasing daily but not much. Step by step!!

This will take time but I will get there! Someday

 

She was surprised to say the least. I did go to see a world-renowned neurologist in Boston that validated that this was what I was going through with the withdrawal. So there are people out there that know about it. That education just needs to trickle down to the family doctors. A few lawsuits will change things fast.

I did 30 minutes on the treadmill today, fast walking and jogging some. I'm proud of myself for doing it. I felt terribly nauseous today. I wasn't able to eat anything today and had crazy bad tinnitus and I'm super fatigued. No breaks today but hopefully in the long run excersise will help the symptoms.

Hi stuckindoors

Well done for the exercise, I know what you mean about feeling fatigue afterwards it’s gonna be a slow build up , it’ll take time but will help in the long run.

I had horrible anxiety yesterday but I got a bit better in the afternoon, also felt a bit nauseous.

Hope you have a better day today 

How you doing Matt x

Hi,

good for you! I'm trying to do as much as I can. My biggest problem is these palpitations during exercise. I really hate those! My tinnitus ended two weeks ago.

Hi Karen 

So nice of you to check in with me still, thank you.

Not a good day , I’ve had a few ok days , been working on increasing my fitness, very hard at 53 ! 

Gonna stick with the HRT for a few more weeks then assess how things are , there has been some small improvements but today has been a tough one 😩

How are you ? 

I was doing ok and then Sunday nite had a bad night with sleep again. But doctors told me I have a urine infection so with feeling the pressure of needing too go too the toilet kept me up all night so I'm on antibiotics too. Scunnered just want too get better that's the 2nd urine infection in 3 weeks. That's good you've had a few ok days not everyday is going too be a great day for anyone suffering with this or not. That's the best thing I think keep going a few more weeks n see how it goes are you getting plenty support xx

Hi Karen 

Yes urine infection can really take it out of you , you’ve probably had a couple because you’ve been run down , hopefully the antibiotics will kick in quick and your sleep will be good again and you’ll feel better.

Yes hubby still off work and I start councilling tomorrow, on the waiting list to for CBT . Gonna have s**t days I suppose it’s all part of it , long road to recovery.

Hope you sleep better tonight and carry on getting stronger 💪

Thank you I'm still not having a great sleep but hopefully I will get there eventually. I think you will feel better with the councillor I found it much better just too talk too someone who knows what there talking about and get any worries off your chest it's defo good too talk I've told everyone now. I didn't talk about it always felt kind of ashamed I couldn't manage like everyone else. But now I don't care I never dine anything too ask for this. I do everything the doctors n nurses tell me too do. Hopefully we will both get through this soon. I'm still only back at work doing little shifts but it's a start always thinking of you take care xx

How u keeping Matt x

Hi Karen 

I’m up and down ! Anxiety is a bloody nightmare though but I started a slow Diazipam taper just over a week ago so that won’t be helping.

Depression seems a bit better so maybe the HRT is starting to work , I’ll know in a few more weeks if it’s gonna help with the anxiety.

How’s things going with you ? 

Just take the tapering slow I take it the doctors are monitoring you. That's good u feel the depressions is lifting a bit. I'm doing ok I'm managing a lot better than I was. I'm just taking a day at a time. I'm defo not crying as much as I was. Keep in touch xxx

Hi Karen 

Glad your moving forward.

GP knows I’m tapering but hasn’t got a blooming clue ! I’ve done all the research myself and defo doing it slowly.

Keep up the good work your on the road to recovery 👍 

That's crap about the doc situation. I must admit my mental health team/nurses have been fantastic. And I believe they got me better because they could answer all my questions n fears. The gps dont know everything esp mental health. So if I was ever too get ill again hope i don't obv I'd ask too be transferred too mental health. I hope you get better soon Matt cause it's awful I know xx

this gives me hope timo! do u recall how long the tinnitus lasted?