Should I come off Remeron first or Zoloft first?

Hi everyone,

 

I'm now 2 mos off benzo, and have stabilized on remeron 15mg for sleep and zoloft 50mg daily. I feel like most of the bad feeling I have is coming from the Remeron but I also hear it's hard to come off of. I dropped to 7.5mg last night. Just wondering what everyone's thoughts were if anyone has experience with this? Most of the acute sx I experienced from benzo withdrawal were mental (psychosis, debilitating rumination, insomnia, derealization, SI). Most of those symptoms have went away but I wonder if it's because the other ADs are hiding the underlying symptoms. Thanks for any input!

Hi

 

I came off sertraline 1st, they stuck me on 200mg and I had a couple of seizures so had to come off rapid, not sure if I experienced bad w/d or not because I was a mess anyway! I was still on mirtazapine and Diazepam at the time so maybe these two bolstered the side effects I’m really not sure. If I had a choice I would still have come off the sertraline first anyway as the mirt was helping me sleep and this was my only escape at a really bad time. 50mg is a low dose so why not quarter them and drop a quarter and see how you feel after a couple of weeks? It’s all trail and error really.

 

Good luck and congratulations on being Benzo Free 

I see. Thanks so much for the response! Can I ask if you decided to eventually come off the mirtazapine? It is also helping me sleep but I felt oversedated during the day so I decided to come down to 7.5 first. Crossing fingers I don't plunge back to hell in 2 weeks lol. Maybe after I stabilize in a month I'll come off the sertraline completely.

I see. Thanks so much for the response! Can I ask if you decided to eventually come off the mirtazapine? It is also helping me sleep but I felt oversedated during the day so I decided to come down to 7.5 first. Crossing fingers I don't plunge back to hell in 2 weeks lol. Maybe after I stabilize in a month I'll come off the sertraline completely.

 

Remeron is actually more sedating at lower doses ...  A while back I took 3.5 mg and I slept for about 16 hours!  I also felt like a complete zombie the next day ....

That’s the reason I decided to come off it, I was sleeping like 12 hours and was a total zombie all day I couldn’t find any motivation to help myself get over the breakdown ( had a total breakdown hence the 3 meds to try and stabilise the anxiety and depression) I needed to fight and I just couldn’t whilst on mirt, I am pretty sensitive to head meds so maybe others don’t get so zombie like on mirt, I couldn’t  get off the couch! Don’t forget everyone is different and some are ready to discontinue a med and some are not ready to it’s a personal choice and it’s your choice don’t be pushed into making a decision if your not ready but if you do decide to keep cutting go slow I wouldn’t have cut half I cut in quarters.

 

Take it easy and wishing you well