Is memantine safe?

I started using it to check if it helps me regarding "frying brain" symptoms that was impacting my personal life and also my job.

 

I am a bit insecure about it's effects long term or it's withdrawal.

 

Any experiences or view on this?

I am on 10 mg a day.  It seems to definitely help.  I believe it moderates glutamates, which is an excitory neurotransmitter in the brain that tends to get out of wack when you taper benzos and increase anxiety.  It is a prescription.  It was originally tried as an off label anti depressant that I took on and off, but my Psych looked at it and realized that it could be useful in helping with the taper.

Thank you! Do you think it's safe in the long term in terms of changes in the brain? How long are you taking memantine? How were your first weeks and how long did it take to have a therapeutic effect? Did you start on 10mg?

 

Sorry for so many questions, kinda on a dilemma on what to do now. I already have here some memantine.

Abstract

Although memantine is widely used and generally considered safe, an abrupt cessation of memantine may result in discontinuation syndrome that can be distressing and result in decline of natural course. We report two patients who developed significant behavior disturbance after abrupt cessation of memantine.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19490142/#:~:text=Abstract,after%20abrupt%20cessation%20of%20memantine.

 

 

I'd probably taper it to be safe

Abstract

Although memantine is widely used and generally considered safe, an abrupt cessation of memantine may result in discontinuation syndrome that can be distressing and result in decline of natural course. We report two patients who developed significant behavior disturbance after abrupt cessation of memantine.

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19490142/#:~:text=Abstract,after%20abrupt%20cessation%20of%20memantine.

 

 

I'd probably taper it to be safe

 

I used 1mg daily for 3 days. I wonder if it was ok to jump off instead of cutting to 0.5mg or anything similar before.

Thank you! Do you think it's safe in the long term in terms of changes in the brain? How long are you taking memantine? How were your first weeks and how long did it take to have a therapeutic effect? Did you start on 10mg?

 

Sorry for so many questions, kinda on a dilemma on what to do now. I already have here some memantine.

 

I have been taking menantine for over three years.  I started at 10 mg and have stayed at that amount.  Everyone is different.  In my case it seemed to have an effect within a few days to a week.  But everyone is different.

Thank you! Do you think it's safe in the long term in terms of changes in the brain? How long are you taking memantine? How were your first weeks and how long did it take to have a therapeutic effect? Did you start on 10mg?

 

Sorry for so many questions, kinda on a dilemma on what to do now. I already have here some memantine.

 

I have been taking menantine for over three years.  I started at 10 mg and have stayed at that amount.  Everyone is different.  In my case it seemed to have an effect within a few days to a week.  But everyone is different.

 

Thank you! What were the symptoms that memantine helped most? I read something about it hindering neuroplasticity but I guess it's not substantial if it's helping with your taper.

Tried it, caused too many stomach problems for me (a known side effect), couldn't hack it, discontinued it. Also caused insomnia (another known side effect) after I was on it for over a week. Had one night where I tossd and turned with an aching stomach, called my NP next day, we agreed to stop it.  YMMV.

Tried it, caused too many stomach problems for me (a known side effect), couldn't hack it, discontinued it. Also caused insomnia (another known side effect) after I was on it for over a week. Had one night where I tossd and turned with an aching stomach, called my NP next day, we agreed to stop it.  YMMV.

 

Thank you for your input. Which dosage did you try? Some say it might take 2 weeks to adapt, but changes in neuroplasticity linda scared me.

Tried it, caused too many stomach problems for me (a known side effect), couldn't hack it, discontinued it. Also caused insomnia (another known side effect) after I was on it for over a week. Had one night where I tossd and turned with an aching stomach, called my NP next day, we agreed to stop it.  YMMV.

 

Thank you for your input. Which dosage did you try? Some say it might take 2 weeks to adapt, but changes in neuroplasticity linda scared me.

 

I was on it for nearly 3 weeks, and was taking only 5 mg. I really hung in there, hoping the side effects would abate somewhat after 2 weeks. But they didn't. It was was when the insomnia resulted in no sleep at all, and my stomach hurt so bad, that my NP had me stop it. The discontinuation syndrome mentioned above only applies when you are taking the full dose for a longer period of time. Since I was only taking half the starting dose, and it had been only 3 weeks, I simply stopped it as my provider instructed. I felt better within 2 days, stomach pain went down, I could get some sleep There's other stuff that moderate glutamate, one is NAC, which I am taking now. It is a supplement. Lot's of BB members using NAC, do a search and you'll find discussions on NAC.