Mirtazapine withdrawal hell
Posted , 15 users are following.
Hello, my name is grant, I just want to tell the people who are on mirtazapine how I got off the drug and the fact that I am drug free and feeling myself again shows it can be done.
I had general anxiety for a good few years and never thought too much about it until I started getting panic attacks and kept having to go to hospital because I thought I was dying. Anybody that hasn't had panic attacks will not understand how they make you feel...and the worry of having another panic attack at an in opertune time would usually bring 1 on anyway. My life was literally turned upside down and I went on a roller coaster of different tablets and some of them made me feel very ill and I just got worse and worse. My doctor finally put me on mirtazapine and it definitely helped me for a few months. It then it seemed to stop working so I upped my dose and was eventually on the highest dose you could take. I put on nearly 2 stone and I felt like half the man I used to be... no emotion just feeling very flat and getting through each day was a struggle. I decided to have a go at coming off the drug only to become very ill and go back on them just a week later. COLD TURKEY IS NOT THE WAY TO GO OFF THESE TABLETS.i carried on taking the tablets as I didn't think I could cope without them for about a year and a half. My life was just going downhill and I felt lost and alone and sometimes asked myself if I really wanted to be alive!
I just thought to myself that before I went on these tablets I was fine and that I could be fine again if I could only come off them. So I tried again but this time slowly, I did it by just keep missing a tablet for 1 day for a week then 2 days then 3 and so on until I was just on 15 mg every 4 days. I won't lie because the withdrawal I was having was sometimes unbearable and I was so close to going back to my full dose, but I didn't and after the three week mark of having no tablet I finally started to feel just a bIt better... wow! There was light at the end of the tunnel! My emotions started coming back and I felt human again which made me determined to never go back on the tablets.the withdrawals I got were horrible l, I had the runs for at least 4 weeks and felt sick to my stomach, I was getting headaches loss of appatite severe anxiety spikes and quite a few panic attacks thrown in. I just kept telling myself that it was withdrawal and being positive was a big part of my recovery. I started going back to the gym and running when I had the time and eating healthy. I finally felt like the person I knew was still in there somewhere was back and I was enjoying the little things in life again. The biggest thing that helped my through was DEEP BREATHING whenever I felt an attack coming on, I could literally stop an attack coming on by controlling my breaths. Life is a wonderful thing if your brain will let it be, and now that I am off the drug I feel amazing. I just want to tell anybody that feels lost and scared and that this will be them for the rest of their lives that it is not the case, I didn't want to live at 1 point and now I feel on top of the world. Your mind is the most powerful tool at your disposal and if you think positive that's what the outcome will be!!!! We can get over anything if we put our minds to it .??
3 likes, 52 replies
sue97090 granto
Posted
I've found that it's best not to obsess too much about the WD syndromes. Some people get them only mildly. Mine were severe when I was taken off 45 mg. cold turkey -- ended up in the ER because I was dehydrated from throwing up water -- but I found the following things somewhat helpful even then: if you smoke, quit entirely until the WDs are over; distract yourself and try to get out of the house even if you have to throw up in a bag (this may gross out other people, but it can really help with the nausea -- the worst thing is staying in all day nursing your symptoms); try to get a prescription anti-nausea medication like Zofran (gen. name odansetron); and if insomnia is really bothering you, try an OTC sleep aid like Benadryl, or if necessary a prescription sleep aid -- but ask your doctor if what he is prescribing is a benzodizapine (sp?), and if it is, do NOT take it regularly for two weeks or more, because then you will have benzo withdrawals to contend with, and they are worse than mirt. withdrawal. Killer anxiety. Maybe ask for a prescription for trazadone instead. That was developed as an anti-depressant, but it isn't a very good one; but it makes one very drowsy for about 45 mins., so if you take one right before bedtime it may help you fall asleep. I'm told that it's more commonly used as a sleep aid than an AD these days. And it's not addictive. Also remember that eventually you will sleep, even if you miss a night or two -- your body and brain have to sleep, and in fact also nothing can keep someone awake for more than a few days (except possibly injecting methamphetamine, or a torturer waking you up every time you drop off). deep breathing is excellent for anxiety, as is exercise, which is also excellent for depression. It will be the last thing you feel like doing but try to force yourself.
Alternative remedies for nausea may also help: acupressure, ginger, plain crackers, sniffing peppermint or lavender essential oils, etc. And, again, distraction. Just not roller-coasters.