Has anyone tried cycling Remeron/Mirtazapine?

Well it's official after 4 months on 37.5mgs of mirtazapine it pooped out on me so right now it's only helping with depression.

 

I'm curious if anyone has tried tapering off once it stops working and then maybe waiting for a month or so and reinstating and if it then again starts helping with sleep? If so I'd love to know details of how long I should stay off before reinstating or how long to taper off for.

 

I should mention I'm technically 1/2 through my taper off Clonazapam the insomnia and sxs got so bad though that I'm trying to cross over to Valium currently and am 60% of the way crossed over. I can feelorr sedation from the Valium but I can also tell the effect will just fade as by the end of each week of crossing over before I add more and remove from Clonazapam my duration of sleep is slowly decreasing.  So Im sure it's only of matter of time before I'm back to back to back to back 0 night's sleep which is so aggravating I want nothing more than to be able to stabilize enough during my taper so I can work. I have no support from my family to get through this so things are really tough.

You may not have the support of your family, but you have a lot of support here.

Wouldn't cycling be kindling?

I had the same experience with mirtazapine several years ago. After daily use of 15mg for a couple of months it failed to give me any sleep. I stopped it for several months and then very selectively reintroduced it only maybe once every other week. I did find the abstinence allowed me to use it again with favorable results.

 

You may want to ask your doc about Seroquil. Another sedating drug which binds at a different receptor than mirtazapine. I am currently using both in a once a week rotation. That is to say, one night mirtazapine and maybe three days later a night with Seroquil. Try to keep both drugs down to the lowest dose that is efficacious for sleep. For me it is 7.5 mg of mirtazapine and 37.5mg of Seroquil.

I had the same experience with mirtazapine several years ago. After daily use of 15mg for a couple of months it failed to give me any sleep. I stopped it for several months and then very selectively reintroduced it only maybe once every other week. I did find the abstinence allowed me to use it again with favorable results.

 

You may want to ask your doc about Seroquil. Another sedating drug which binds at a different receptor than mirtazapine. I am currently using both in a once a week rotation. That is to say, one night mirtazapine and maybe three days later a night with Seroquil. Try to keep both drugs down to the lowest dose that is efficacious for sleep. For me it is 7.5 mg of mirtazapine and 37.5mg of Seroquil.

 

Interesting so maybe I will try and come off and reintroduce after a while. Unfortunately me and Serequol do not work well together. It just caused me heightened anxiety and a feeling like the connections in my brain were being scrambled

Wouldn't cycling be kindling?

 

I don't believe so Mirtazapine doesn't have a GABA action. It's the antihistamine effect which is responsible for helping you sleep. Well and also it's antidepressant qualities in that it helps to quite your mind and help reduce ruminating on things. But I believe the anti depressant effects are only if you take 30mgs plus.

 

I think I've read that kindling is a limbic system effect where the NMDA receptors build memory networks based on repeated traumas so it might not need to involve GABA. Also Mirtazapine has an subtle indirect effect of increasing GABA levels. My current Remeron taper seems to be much harder than the last one, though I'm probably really feeling some other underlying condition or the benzo wd.

I used remeron too, in the beginning it helped me with the sleep, but after one year I had to double the dose. This didn't work out well because I got used to it again. In the end I tapered the remeron. Now I am using clozapine for a couple of years to sleep which helps me really good with my sleep.

 

I used remeron too, in the beginning it helped me with the sleep, but after one year I had to double the dose. This didn't work out well because I got used to it again. In the end I tapered the remeron. Now I am using clozapine for a couple of years to sleep which helps me really good with my sleep.

 

clozapine?

 

Can you please tell more as it is not rated for sleep

I think I've read that kindling is a limbic system effect where the NMDA receptors build memory networks based on repeated traumas so it might not need to involve GABA. Also Mirtazapine has an subtle indirect effect of increasing GABA levels. My current Remeron taper seems to be much harder than the last one, though I'm probably really feeling some other underlying condition or the benzo wd.

 

I think there is too much speculation about GABA, NMDA and so on here. This is not helpful because even neuroscientists don't know what happens with these transmitters during dependence or kindling (if it exists). Mirtazapine has no effect on GABA levels, that we know.

 

Are you sure your Remeron "pooped out" on you after 4 months? In my view this is very unlikely. More likely is that your benzo withdrawal is messing with your sleep. Also, 37.5 mg Remeron may be too much if you want to achieve sedation. I would experiment with lower doses.