Tapering from 3.75mg mirtazapine

I think that's probably the smallest you can possibly go cutting the pill after that it might get a bit tricky ,like you say exercise is a great boost for your mental well being

epsom salts are awesome too and music x

cheryl-thanks. but i wonder if all insomniacs suffer serotonin deficiency versus some might have gaba deficiency? the insomnia is caused by imbalance amongst our neurotransmitters, but how do you know which one? esp if your insomnia isn't caused by depression.

serotonins are known for promoting good sleep. Those that suffer from low serotonin levels can definitely have sleep issues.

The stigma of thinking that antidepressants is used only for depression is largely false. From personal experience, I know that OCD, insomnia, anxiety, panic disorder, depression etc are individual symptoms that are part of a family falling under the general disorder of depression. It's like when someone has a cold. The symptoms would be Runny or stuffy nose, Sore throat, Cough, Congestion, Slight body aches or a mild headache, Sneezing, Low-grade fever etc. You may not exhibit all the symptoms at once and each time you catch a cold it may be a different symptom.

Throughout the majority of my adult life I've gone through different periods of insomnia, anxiety, panic disorder, agoraphobia, ocd, and only once.. depression. All of which an antidepressant helped to relieve those.

I don't know too much about gaba deficiency. It may be a discussion worth diving into.

There's lots of great research out there regarding boosting serotonins naturally. Read up on it.

• food
• exercise
• vitamin D (get out in the sun 😃 and take supplements. As we get older, our bodies lose the ability to produce vitamin D)
• music
• laughter
• massage
• chocolate 😃

I beg to differ. I cut mines down to the size of a mere salt grain. It's the ocd in me...lol

thank you, somebody who knows what they are talking about. very well articulated.

I know this is an old thread but did you manage to get of in the end, Nigel? I'm where you were on the 3.75mg - any advice or positivity would be very welcome! Thank you

hello,

I was on 7.5mg more or less from the start. 3 and half years later, I'm still on 7.5mg. things are going a lot better, so im not interested in reducing.. 7.5mg is not a high dose, and in the whole scheme of things, I don't think it's a big deal. luckily my gp is okay with this. I might be able to reduce, but think it would be difficult. I think a lot of people believe they will feel better if only make this change, or that reduction. I've settled on my meds, they work, I feel loads better, so that's fine. Im still on the quest for feeling better, through different types of excercise and certain pastimes etc, but not from changing meds.

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I'm glad things has settled for you and that it's working out on 7.5mg. Best wishes

Sorry, my mistake, thought you were talking about diazepam. it's mirtazapine, yes? I'm on 30mg of mirt, and 150mg of ven. been on that for last 2.5 years. Best I've felt in 20 years, much more "normal behaviour". don't intend changing. a lot of us need meds on a long term basis. A mirt dose of 7.5mg is very low. it's used at that dose as a sleeping tablet alternative alone. imagine coming off mirt is difficult, as it's sedative and you'd experience sleeping issues. personally, have found that once you find a dose/med that works, relative to the state you were in previously, then stick with it, and look outside of meds for further improvements. I just take the tablets and don't give them any further thought. only downside of my mirt dose are the hunger pangs. its taken a MASSIVE effort to successfully control this through diet and excercise , which have brought about considerable additional benefits. I cannot eat what I want on mirt though, and that is a strong hardship. I use a fit bit for exercising, it's brilliant for be aware of heart rate while excercising. Extremely important, to get benefit from exercising, otherwise too much effort means too high a bpm, which means you've produced too much adrenaline, which will exacerbate anxiety.

hope you get something from this.

Thank you so much for your reply. So you are on the 'californian rocket fuel' combination? I'm so glad to hear it is working for you.

Even though my mirtazapine does is so small is still comes with the constant hunger and the rages. That's really why I'm so keen to come off. I have taken up fitness too in the hope that helps to counteract the extra food! Interesting about the bmp - I hadn't realised that so will certainly bear that in mind.

Thanks again for your help

excercise, way too much, when I was young, was what started off my anxiety. Dr's don't appreciate high levels of adrenaline, perpetuate anxiety. if you Google it, you will find references to it. was something that I experienced again and again, until I understood it, and now keep my bpm from going too high, for too long. fit bits make it easier to monitor. if you get excercise right, you get the feel good endorphins, and your heart rate drops to lower than what it was before you started the excercise. get it wrong, anxiety levels over a short period of time will increase. ideally, you want your bpm to be around 50 to 80% max of your max bpm for your age. using bpm as a guide, roughly indicates the amount of adrenaline you are producing.

yes, the rocket fuel did work for me, and it worked quickly. they go well together.

I used to scoff at people that talked about mirt hunger, but now think its true. it gets me at night, or when discipline/mood low. i make sure if I want a binge, then I have cereal etc. I can't eat anything I really like or fancy. have an extreme healthy diet. not out of choice, but necessity.

Thank you - that's really interesting. I generally run for 45 min to an hour but will monitor it more closely.

That's towards max duration I've found. If max bpm is say 170 for your age, for mental well being, I'd say running at no more than 120 bpm would be ideal, 130 tops. Best to play around with it, and be aware of bpm/which correlates with effort and adrenaline. Its just a switch in focus for why you are running. It's manipulating your body, and it's responses to make you feel good. Get it right, it's great. Telling sign, is that immediately after excercise, bpm ideally drops below your normal pre excercise bpm. That's a healthy body's response, your parasympathetic nervous system taking over after flight or fight adrenaline. if it doesn't happen, means you've done too much. Get things right, your bpm each day will remain constant and gradually lower over time. Get it wrong, you've done too much, and your daily figure will increase over time, which is an indication for higher anxiety. An increasing trend in daily bpm means to ease off. That's me done on the subject. 😁 all the best.

i felt absolutely awesome after withdrawing from mirtazapine.

Good for you. Did you really need a med in the first place?

i had really bad depression but i learnt to control it with exercise etc.

Very well done. I'm a bit obsessional, excercised for 6 or 7 years to extremes but always made myself worse. Gave up, took up yoga for a few years then gave up. Had a breakdown 4 years ago, meds had stopped working. Worst I've had, ground to a complete standstill. Took a year to get meds right. at same time, took up sun salutations every day. pyhc says I have recurring depression, ie certain events will trigger. that's why I'm so anti stopping meds. I couldn't face going through that again. took up cycling in spring, then swimming in summer. now alternate between swimming one day sun salutations next. using a fit bit to monitor my bpm, has been a breakthrough for me, in limiting what I do, to get maximum benefit. in mind many years ago, had a quest for managing depression through excercise, but with limited access to info at time never managed it. even now, it's difficult to get it right. so glad you responded, as what you have achieved took me so long to start to achieve myself. when I get more tense than usual, if I look back on fit bit, I can usually see the cause, and adjust. Hats off to you for what you have achieved.

aw bless you nigel ❤ its hard isnt it, i have OCD which i try not to let control me, sometimes people just need a little help, have you tried epsom salt baths for relaxation? and magnesium for sleep/anxiety?

hello Nigel are you still on this site please?