Tapering Slowly

I'm not going the cold turkey route but I wanted to do it a little quicker if possible, what did you do to cope with the hell you went through going cold turkey?

Hi Rob

I think you will have to be your own "judge" ... some would say try 25% drop and see how you feel - but in mho I think that is far too much - so I would recommend you try 10% and wait for at least 2 weeks, preferably 3 before trying a bigger drop - say 15%, then if that goes well take it from there and maybe - only maybe try 20% ... this goes again what I do, but I'm sensitive.

The thing is, if you drop 50% and get in a spin with the withdrawal nightmare its hard to crawl up again when you reinstate.  Once the CNS gets sensitised its harder to bear.

Hope this helps.

I've been at 15 mg for five days and have had dizziness and felt like crap the first day after coming down from 22.5. Been up and down each day and I'm so tired of the feeling this medicine gives me. I started on 10 mg of Prozac the same time I weened down to 15 so I don't know which is hitting me if not both of them. Depression, anxiety and insomnia really is like living a nightmare daily..

Do you find that once you level off at lower doses that the side effects from Mirtazapine lessen, such as the tiredness and dizzy spells?

Hi plainden

How long did you take Remeron??? What was it for..???  Are you totally normal now..??

I have been on 15Mg for two months and as my situation got worse on it i decided to taper slowly. I have reached to 6.7Mg but at this dose it is making me really lethargic, foggy brain and completely unmotivated to do things so i am considering CT.

Good Luck buddy.

hi,been on it 2 years and now tapered to 0.9ml or 9mg.I had a nervous breakdown -developed severe anxiety with depression.My mood is generally pretty good now and anxiety is pretty much at bay now.Am i normal ??? not really -i am my "new" normal.I was talking to a friend who said i was still grieving for my old self and for my life before anxiety.This i agree.Due to anxiety i had to close my business after 30 years and still do not feel as if i am able to hold down a job.I think we all have a "new normal" after severe illness.

hi Plaiden

I too

Am now at 6.7mgs and have been a slower taker due to sensitivity. Wondered how's things now - how did following tappers

go ? Speed and rates like

What where your experiences

Would love to hear from you

hi,I have been on mirt for 2.5 yrs and been tapering since last may.I'm now on 7.5mg and this is my 10th day.My taper has been so up and down.I've said so in previous posts but it's been 6 days of awful,4 good,10 days awful,7 good,3 awful ,2 good etc etc.No pattern so can't make plans.My taper is 0.2ml at a time or 0.3mg.I wake about 3 or 4 in the night and occassionalyy have to watch TV for a couple of hours then back to sleep.My vision is affected by mirt-close up is no problem but anthing beyond 30m is kind od blurry,dreamlike so have a habit of walking past people who i know !!.Not v.nice.I also get breathless -this was in another thread that I started some weeks ago and seems to be quite common.I have also noticed that when I go walking I sweat alot-it seems that my body cannot regulate itself.When out walking I have asked friends if they get hot but it just seems to be me.Waking up is something I kinda dread -I ache from head to foot and the only remedy is to get up.A few weeks ago there was also the over whelming feeling of anxiety/restlessness in morning aswell so agin I had to get up.My tapers are anything between 2 weeks and 4 weeks,depending how I feel.At the moment I feel surprisingly  really well so my next taper wont be for a while I think .Good Luck.

Ohh okay did you reinstate to 7.5 mgs then ? As I thought on

6,7 mgs

I am at 6.7 in 4th week and well it's been tough I am finding it hard to be around people they annoy me ( family ) I ache all over and still can't stop well getting agitated that's how it's coming out in me

I am hard to be around and not much fun - my two teenagers walk past me as if I don't exists at minute

No one understand -

My doc no one

But I am like you determined to et my life Bk

They put me in this -

It's not my fault it hard to come off

They know this -

They don't want to really properly know !!!

I am still sleeping - broken at times but like said when awake it's hell

Ok so now im 2 weeks of cutting down from 15mg to 7.5mg. Now the only reasonni have done this is because at around 3am every morning give or take an hour dependent if i take the dose at 9pm or 10pm i keep waking with severe pins and needles all over my middle back shoulders and arms. It is so bad that im tossing and turning until i eventually have to get up. Its really scaring me im able to get to sleep fine. So i decided to see if reducing it would help but its nit made much difference some nights are worse than others. I just want to cry every morning as im so tired from the restless sleep and being unable to work. My question is did you have this at all. My doctor isnt sure if its the mirt or not hence waiting for neurologist app. I slipped a disc in my back couple if years ago so could be nerve issues but my backs not sore it just feels all weird. It all seems to be just such a coincidence that all these horrible symptoms have all been while ive been on this drug

Hi Kelly

was only on mirt for 9 weeks - pure hell.  I am nearly 6 weeks since my last mirt and I am feeling slightly better with the help of acupuncture and homeopath.  Still have palpitation and anxiety in mornings but not as bad as on the mirt or the last 5 weeks free.  What I did want to tell you I had pins and needles down both arms being on mirt and off.  Like you would wake up with them about 3.30am.  I still have them but less severe.  I stil have periods when I think my brain will never adjust back, but I am 66 and therefore slowly healing.  I have read on sites of other people having pins and needles.  Hope this helps

I get that sensation in my feet and hands sometimes and I also wake around 4 am and feel restless but kinda just lay in bed like a blob till I get out of bed around 6 for work but I don't feel like moving at all and could just sit in a daze for a couple hours after I wake up

Its funny that its actually prescribed for anxiety but for most it brings it on!

My sleep is just horrible its and anxious sleep tossing and turning unable to get into a deep relaxing sleep. I never had this at all before i had this drug. So basically i havent had a refreshing deep sleep for a year. My stomach is just messed up.

Do you feel like its robbed you? Thats how i feel. Ok i had really bad crippling depression and it helped lift it but by god it's got to work on me in other negative ways and trying to get off it was horrendous. Ive heard its actually easier to get off class a drugs than this

The problem of withdrawal is that it messes with the nervous system in so many different ways and you get so many different feelings that it's hard to decifer which is withdrawal and which isn't. You've got to remember anything the body does has to go through as brain signals first so if your not giving it it's usual amount of mirt then it's all out of whack and the signals can be giving you pretty much any physical symptoms. If you have had a previous injury in that area then definitely it will affect it more. Everything that you are experiencing will be withdrawal and the fact that it's getting you second guessing just adds to the anxiety and depression , so it's really important that you try .. and I know how difficult it is but you need to try to ignore any funny feelings or symptoms then they don't blow up into something that they aren't. X

Well done Ruth for coming off them, you are on the road to recovery and you will soon be back to normal! 👍

Sorry Kelly I forgot to mention that anxiety affects the back in so many ways because of the tension in the stomach which contracts the back muscles and so most of the day you will be tensing up without realising it and that puts pressure on the muscles and can impair nerves which can lead to ( itching , pins and needles, back spasms and hot and cold sensations) . The only reason I know is because I had all the above symptoms and I know it was withdrawal because they have all gone now.

The trouble is im asleep and wakened by severe pins and needles that makes it impossible to stay still. The doctor even agreed with me when i said it isnt like when you have an axiety attack and all that symtoms come on with it then you manage to calm down and they go. This actually waking me up and no.matter what i do i cant get comfy unless i just get out of bed. Thats what makes me think its either the damaged nerves in my neck (from a concussion i had abroad) or slipped disc thsts being aggrivated by the mirt. Some nights i lose all feeling down my left side. Scary what this drug can do. I do know where youre coming from with the anxiety symptoms thiugh because i do get them mainly when im out but this specific feelings dont add up through the night

Thanks Grant

You are so right, muscles tensing stomach, back and neck.

Sleep approx 6 hours but wake up with.  Palpitations take propananol for this.  Stomach messed up partly due to Helicobacter antibiotic treatment.

Terrible hot and cold.  Had anxiety before medication but this went to a dife

Different level.  Now having to learn to deal with it.  

Sorry page froze.  How long till you felt ok Grant?  

Was having CBT. My therapist delayed some treatment as they said they ere well aware of the problems some people were having coming off mirt.  People keep saying do not read forums but without this site I would have thought I was going mad.  Reading other people are having these problems helps you cope.  Everyone keep posting as it gives others some light at the end of the tunnel.  Will keep updating my progress.  Thanks to everyone.  Hope you doing ok Calmer.  Good luck all.

Hello Ruth. It took me about 4 weeks to feel some changes for the better but about 6 weeks to feel myself again. You go through stages of feeling better and then you will have a Bad day thrown in which if you let it will get you down, you need to stay positive even through the nausea and stomach pains and everything else because it helps immensely !! I know I keep saying it but just focussing on the finishing line and not allowing it to take over your life is key to recovery

Thank you Ruth, I am good, considering the taper !!  

Pity your therapist delayed, would have been good to work through it together maybe, never mind, it is what it is.  CBT is really positive isn't it, was it an 8 week course?  Could do with it forever hey ... now there's a thought    xx

 

Hi I'd 6 weeks course but have done a lot myself.  Got to 6 weeks off mirt felt better now entering week 7, think I am having a wave.  My therapist cancelled appointments as I also had Helicobacter treatment which further messed my head and stomach.  I was in no fit state for cbt.  It is so hard to keep positive when you want to do things and your tired and lack motivation.  Terrible palpitations this morning which have now settled somewhat (4 hours later). Now have thick head and dizziness.  By the way because I was going through so much therapist has told me I can sign up for another course of cbt, just have to ring.  Thanks to everyone on this site for information.  Read an article somewhere saying that you should use these sites as it helps you know the things you are going through are experienced by others and you are not going mad.  Saves on trips to A&E.  Please everyone keep posting even when your feeling better because it does give hope and also an idea as to what you may come up against.  Thanks again.  Will keep posting.  I do think my healing will be longer as age is now against me.

You have a lot going off for sure Ruth; so did you get treated with anti-biotics for the Helicobacter ... I can see how that would upset everything. Yes its hard to keep going when fatigue and apathy is by your side, just do a little, keep moving upwards ... so hard with CT.

Keep a watch on the palpitation, maybe see your doctor if they get bad, see if there is anything they can do, not everyone wants to take Propranalol, but best be checked over.

Wishing you some relief and good days Ruth