Jump to content

Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group


[no...]

Recommended Posts

Do u think that being cautious upon eating is more important when waves hit than normal times? When there isnt a strong wave and i eat some unwanted foods, i get unpleasant effects, but somehow i achieve to tolerate it. But, now i am on a strong anx. wave and when i eat some unwanted foods like i ate stuffed brine grape leaf yesterday, it hits me stronger than normal. I am trying to cope with this kind of anxiety with taking some Vit C. But, it doesnt cut my anxiety completely. Eating is such important?Thank you
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 4k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • [Ja...]

    389

  • [Co...]

    238

  • [ja...]

    216

  • [no...]

    205

Top Posters In This Topic

Hi again everyone ...  :crazy:

 

At the start of this month, I had to come off very-low-dose Mirtazapine after just a week. Before that, I'd just taken a low dose once a week or (later) once every few days (just from the start of my taper onwards), but my epilepsy reacted against it and gave me mini-seizures that stopped as soon as I stopped the Mirtazapine. I'm not out of the woods yet though...

 

Going by the '80/20' principle as I understand it, I'm now halfway through my benzo taper, having started in early May at a low-ish (20mg.) dose of the benzo, Clobazam (equivalent to 10mg. of Diazepam), and then tapered to 4mg. - very slowly at first (due to epilepsy-related 'hiccoughs') and then slightly faster.

 

I carried on tapering after I stopped the Mirtazapine, but have had some muscle problems since that led me to wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences with an early withdrawal from Mirt: A week after the c/t, I experienced what I guess were some delayed Mirtazapine withdrawal symptoms (wriggling sensations in my calf muscles); these vanished after a couple of nights but came back with complications after another week: I was diagnosed with calf inflammation following a walk that was pretty short and easy for me (I'm also a cyclist and like to run sometimes); the strain seemed to start with muscle tension and then a couple of spasms (along with a lot of discomfort) when I went to bed at the end of the day. Due to a foot deformity, I've always been prone to calf problems, but I'm also aware that muscle tension and spasms are benzo withdrawal symptoms, and that I've already gone one step beyond this only halfway through the taper.

 

I'm not experiencing any other obvious withdrawal symptoms, but I get the impression that any withdrawal symptoms you experience *while you are still slow-tapering from a benzo* will probably become near-unbearable during acute withdrawal. I'm just unsure as to whether Mirtazapine might be involved - The impression I get from this support group's experience is very much that withdrawing Mirtazapine seems to aggravate or bring on withdrawal symptoms of the benzodiazepine, peaking maybe a couple of weeks after the change in Mirtazapine dose. I guess I'm lucky to get it all out of the way so soon; just wondering if and when I'll stand some chance of finishing the benzo taper (even if I have to slow right down again) without bringing on months of excruciating agony - ending with both my legs having to be rebuilt or amputated from the waist  :D

 

All advice appreciated as always  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[d4...]
Has anyone on here done a faster taper than 10% a month.  Remeron has given me extreme OCD symptoms and compulsions and I'm loosing my mind.  I feel like I need to get off it faster in order to see any chance of healing from benzos and remeron.  I'm psychotic 24/7 with racing and looping thoughts, terror and mental akathisia.  I've gone from 15 to 9mg in 4 months and haven't had any change or increase in symptoms.  I think the lower doses is where the problems start?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Perth,

I'm two years off benzos this week and I'm 12 weeks off a 7.5 mg dose of Remeron.  I dropped down a bit quicker than 10% a month.  My first cut was 25% and it took me 6 weeks to stabilize.  I was 1 year off the benzo when I started my taper and I was still having a lot of withdrawal symptoms.  I then started a liquid taper at .15 mg/week (.1ml).  I definitely was more symptomatic when I hit 3.75 mg.  It wasn't horrible (nothing compared to the benzo withdrawal) but it was more uncomfortable.  But, what I did notice is that all symptoms most definitely decreased quite a bit after 4 weeks off Remeron.  Currently, two months later,  on a scale of 1-10 my symptoms are at a .5.  I still have waves, but they only go up to a 1or 2 at most.  It's impossible for me to tell what are benzo symptoms and any remaining Remeron withdrawal symptoms.  My triggers are the heat (it's 100 degrees where I am it is does bring on waves when I'm out in it), anything greater than moderate exercise, and sugar.  But, I am able to tolerate more than I could just a few months ago.

 

I wish you all the best in  your recovery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[f6...]
Hello dear community. I am of since a month after a 26 months taper. I am experiencing severe insomnia...where did I go wrong I stopped at 0,05...I tried going back on this last dose and I was so sick...So no reinstatement for me. Anyone knows if this has happened...Everyone seems to walk of with success...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[d4...]

Hello dear community. I am of since a month after a 26 months taper. I am experiencing severe insomnia...where did I go wrong I stopped at 0,05...I tried going back on this last dose and I was so sick...So no reinstatement for me. Anyone knows if this has happened...Everyone seems to walk of with success...

 

What dose did you taper from?  Were you put on remeron for insomnia?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello dear community. I am of since a month after a 26 months taper. I am experiencing severe insomnia...where did I go wrong I stopped at 0,05...I tried going back on this last dose and I was so sick...So no reinstatement for me. Anyone knows if this has happened...Everyone seems to walk of with success...

 

Hi Merrymary. It is totally normal to have insomnia after tapering even if your taper was a longer one. The insomnia may last several months but at some point you'll notice it will improve. After most people "jump" from their meds there is a period of time where they just have to grin and bear it for a while. Their symptoms like insomnia need some time to clear up. Hang in there.

 

Becky

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[d4...]

Hi Perth,

I'm two years off benzos this week and I'm 12 weeks off a 7.5 mg dose of Remeron.  I dropped down a bit quicker than 10% a month.  My first cut was 25% and it took me 6 weeks to stabilize.  I was 1 year off the benzo when I started my taper and I was still having a lot of withdrawal symptoms.  I then started a liquid taper at .15 mg/week (.1ml).  I definitely was more symptomatic when I hit 3.75 mg.  It wasn't horrible (nothing compared to the benzo withdrawal) but it was more uncomfortable.  But, what I did notice is that all symptoms most definitely decreased quite a bit after 4 weeks off Remeron.  Currently, two months later,  on a scale of 1-10 my symptoms are at a .5.  I still have waves, but they only go up to a 1or 2 at most.  It's impossible for me to tell what are benzo symptoms and any remaining Remeron withdrawal symptoms.  My triggers are the heat (it's 100 degrees where I am it is does bring on waves when I'm out in it), anything greater than moderate exercise, and sugar.  But, I am able to tolerate more than I could just a few months ago.

 

I wish you all the best in  your recovery.

 

Hello.  Thank you for the reply.  Can i ask how you calculated .15mg = .1ml?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[d4...]

Perth,

Warrior’s pace would have been .15 mg reduction per week.

 

Jack, would you mind quickly explaining how you calculated that?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
[f6...]

I finished my taper two months ago...

 

Also of the benzo for 20 months...

 

I have dpdr ans vision problems back...unbelivable!

 

We will heal...

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
Does it make sense to evaluate blood and throid values? One of buddies from BB said that it can also cause the anxiety. I dont think so, because i have never had chemical anxiety before this mess, but it made me think about this?Is it worthy to take these values and even treating it if there is a problem?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does it make sense to evaluate blood and throid values? One of buddies from BB said that it can also cause the anxiety. I dont think so, because i have never had chemical anxiety before this mess, but it made me think about this?Is it worthy to take these values and even treating it if there is a problem?

 

Well, I had all of that stuff checked in early benzo withdrawal and everything came back normal for me. My cortisol levels were a little high and that was the only abnormality ever found on my bloodwork during withdrawal. It can't hurt to have it checked.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Perth,

Warrior’s pace would have been .15 mg reduction per week.

 

Jack, would you mind quickly explaining how you calculated that?

 

Hey Perth,

              Sorry I've been away for a while. It's been a while but if I remember correctly warrior said they reduced 7.5 mg in a year's time and there are 52 weeks in a year. So 50 weeks (which is close enough to 52) X .15 mg equals 7.5mg. So I just vaguely remember somewhere that Warrior wrote they tapered off 7.5 mg in a year. 7.5 mg divided by 52 weeks is .14423077 mg per week. Then I rounded up to .15 mg. I hope that helps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey all,

          Just an update on myself. I still believe I had Covid back in March. For a while I though it was a wave or mirt withdrawal caught up to me but the fever for 41 days and the fact that it did not come back when I continued my taper now has me thinking that it was not the mirt. That and the fact that I was exposed to Covid and many of my coworkers that were exposed were all sick at the same time as me and were also sick for months just like me has me leaning towards Covid being that they had the same symptoms as me and are not in mirt withdrawal.

 

I have reached a point in my benzo withdrawal where I am no longer experiencing muscle fatigue. I have regained all of my muscle composition and strength. I can lift just as heavy as before when I have checked. I can lift very heavy things at work again without any issue. The only thing stopping me from getting back into the gym at this point is regular life, a lot of overtime and home renovations.

 

I have been working like crazy renovating our house. I just got the computer set back up tonight so I figured I would catch up here. I had to many people to write back to to mess around on my stupid phone. I hate typing on my phone. I guess I am a baby boomer stuck in a millenial's body. Lol.

 

I have finally reached 3 mg on my mirt taper. I have not added that to my signature yet because of a discrepancy in my syringes. Now that I have reached 3 mg I can now switch to a 1 ml syringe (my compound is 15 mg/ 5 ml). I learned the hard way to switch syringe sizes with caution when I went from the 5 ml syringe to the 3 ml syringe. 3 ml on the 5 ml syringe and 3 ml on the 3 ml syringe were not the same volume of fluid and it caused me to make a large cut unexpectedly. The same issue has arisen with this current graduation to a new smaller syringe. The 1 ml syringe when filled to the 1 ml line is equal to .9 ml on my current 3 ml syringe. So, I am going to wait a couple of weeks and then treat the switching of the syringe like a .3 mg cut because it essentially is one and then I will consider myself truly at 3 mg when I am at 3 mg on the new syringe size and then will update my signature and proceed from there. I am excited about switching to the 1 ml syringe because it has A LOT more little lines on it and I can actually start micro tapering accurately or at the very least have much more control and accuracy in my cuts. Yes, this is something that actually excites me, haha.

 

I hope everyone is doing well.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone on here done a faster taper than 10% a month.  Remeron has given me extreme OCD symptoms and compulsions and I'm loosing my mind.  I feel like I need to get off it faster in order to see any chance of healing from benzos and remeron.  I'm psychotic 24/7 with racing and looping thoughts, terror and mental akathisia.  I've gone from 15 to 9mg in 4 months and haven't had any change or increase in symptoms.  I think the lower doses is where the problems start?

 

Perth, sorry for the delayed answer but yes, I have tapered at 20 percent in certain months but it got a little rough. I've slowed it down now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[d4...]

Thanks Jack37.

 

Has anyone heard or experienced a constant looping thought about food and eating 24/7?  This is not the same as hunger all the time but not being able to stop thinking about food for even a second.

 

As you can imagine I am going absolutely insane from this.

 

I don't know if I need to hold for longer or keep tapering of rapid taper.

 

Any advice?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys,I wish you all the best of luck on the mirtzapine journey.

 

I have got down to 6mg now..

I am wanting to do water titration,could any body help me at all please  :smitten:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys,I wish you all the best of luck on the mirtzapine journey.

 

I have got down to 6mg now..

I am wanting to do water titration,could any body help me at all please  :smitten:

 

I assume you have dry cut down to 6mg? I have my Mirt mixed at a compounding pharmacy which in my opinion is the best route to take. However, it can be financially restrictive for some. Some insurance companies will cover it. My compounding pharmacist claims he can get most insurance companies to cover it, it just has to be billed right. I am fortunate that my prescription coverage covers just about anything so it was not a concern for me. I am familiar with water titration because I got off of Ativan that way. My Ativan pills did not like to dissolve in water so I would actually sand them down into the water with a nail file and then shake it up. So for example you can take a 15 mg mirt tablet and you will see on most brands there is a halfway line in the middle of the pill. With the Ativan I would sand down the pill to the halfway mark and then I would know it was 7.5 milligrams of powder. Then maybe I would mix that into 50 ml of water. I always used larger quantities of water and shook very well. I think it is more consistent to mix multiple pills at the same time. So maybe I would sand down 50 milligrams of the drug and mix it into 500 mg of water and then shake it up really good and then I had very small little ziplock containers that I would carefully dispense the doses into doing the math to get the desired amount of the drug I wanted. Then I would go to the fridge each night and take my dose like taking a shot from a shot glass. Just some ideas. This is how I did it when I had to. By the way the reason I only sanded half the pill is because it left me with something to hold on to. I would just toss the other half of the pill because I was never able to sand down that half accurately because once I got close to my fingers it started breaking into larger pieces that I was unsuccessful in getting to dissolve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just passed the 7 month mark from jump. It was a 3 month taper from 3.75 mg.

 

I'm up til 5 AM regularly. In the last week my body has gotten more sleep, and has been able to fall back to sleep in the AM, a relief.

 

I tend to forget who I am, and whether I am in a healing process or not, as the months and even years go by. I am 4 years off benzos, and have other meds to kick after that. It's madness.

 

Has anyone come out the other side of this feeling inspired to testify?

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does Mr. Onion have a power to f..k one's life? Yes, it does. Lol. While i have been engaging with Vit C to get relief from anxiety for some day, i ate a pot of lemon sauced onions with fishes as an old habit. Today, i got 6 sxs. Yes, it is incredible. Too much anxiety, stomach pain, restless bowel, depression, headache, restless face nerves.

 

I dont know the mechanism what lies beneath this. Whether first the onion sucked acidity of my stomach and then this leaded to anxiety because of broken stomach and bowels. I was doing very well for 5 or 6 days due to Vit C 1000mg for one day, but today has been a real agony. I had to take one more and it settled down a little.

 

I wonder now how i will cope with lots of sxs at the same time when i am ready to go on bigger cuts like 5 % or 7 %. Thankfully, there is a savior for me now, that is at least Lipo C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does Mr. Onion have a power to f..k one's life? Yes, it does. Lol. While i have been engaging with Vit C to get relief from anxiety for some day, i ate a pot of lemon sauced onions with fishes as an old habit. Today, i got 6 sxs. Yes, it is incredible. Too much anxiety, stomach pain, restless bowel, depression, headache, restless face nerves.

 

I dont know the mechanism what lies beneath this. Whether first the onion sucked acidity of my stomach and then this leaded to anxiety because of broken stomach and bowels. I was doing very well for 5 or 6 days due to Vit C 1000mg for one day, but today has been a real agony. I had to take one more and it settled down a little.

 

I wonder now how i will cope with lots of sxs at the same time when i am ready to go on bigger cuts like 5 % or 7 %. Thankfully, there is a savior for me now, that is at least Lipo C.

 

Histamine! That's the connection!

 

Fish - unless is super fresh (and I mean like absolutely fresh from the sea, or flash frozen and flash thawed) is super high in histamine

 

Lemon - High in histamine and a histamine liberator

 

Onion - Histamine liberator

 

June! You ate a histamine bomb! Even all these years out, I would probably still end up in bed if I ate what you did, as delicious as that sounds. All of those symptoms you describe are squarely inline with histamine intolerance. And because the Mirt messes so intently with the histamine receptors, we're susceptible.

 

My master reference for histamine in foods.

 

https://www.mastzellaktivierung.info/downloads/foodlist/21_FoodList_EN_alphabetic_withCateg.pdf

 

Hang in there brother!

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am grateful for this link Dave. You mentioned this before and i am taking into consideration it whenever i face with unknown foods or additives. I am also hiding this Deutsch link to get benefit. But, as you know, the day i started Remeron,the day also was i stopped tomatoes. Whenever some accuses me being high histamin, i am always giving this example. Lol. Briefly, i am so conscious. For example, i pay attention even the additives in salt and i buy with no hist. kind.

 

In this situation, i only accuse onion. Because, i ate fish last week, i got agony from it, but there was no GI issues. The lemon was a bit, so i neglect it, but i am sure that onion was too much and it gave me GI issues and big anxiety. Fishes were both last week and this week big kind not the sardines which is naturally high histamin even if it is fresh, but as you said they may have been waited some in bazaar. Dave, what is the libarator exactly, what is the difference with high hist? So, i ll search the fresh fish if i want to eat anymore.

 

I am seeing many people on rem are eating bananas to elevate mood and sleep. I think i should just rearrange my diet again. Mainly i am feeding with chicken, beef meat and fruits and veggies. Lastly, what is the risk of potatoes?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know you are super careful! :) But yes, if that fish was hanging out in the market for even a short amount of time, the histamine would build up rapidly. The more a meat or fish has time exposed to the air, the more decomposition that happens, the higher the histamine levels rise. Trust me my friend, it took me a long, long tome to get the hang of the histamine eating.

 

So really, you likely had the worst of both worlds. You had high histamine in terms of the fish, but then the onion being a liberator actually accelerates the release of histamine from other foods. So it is like an amplifier. Does that make sense? It's a fine balance. I can eat some histamine liberators. And now that I have healed quite a bit, I can even eat some high histamine foods. But if I eat the wrong combination, it will still hurt.

 

Potatoes should be fine. I have never had a problem with potatoes and they have a score of 0 on that list for being neither a high histamine food, nor a liberator.

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites


×
×
  • Create New...