Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[Ja...]]

Tnx for reporting your cuts Jasmin. I might start to taper soon so it's informative for me.

 

@Jack, how are you doing?

 

I am doing okay. Just okay, lol. It’s been a hell of a ride. I thought about reinstating to a low dose quite a few times the past few days. I did actually start having windows two days ago which has caused me to pause that consideration for a moment. Then this morning I was woken up at 5:30 am by an old symptom from a long time ago. It felt like my old friend librium withdrawal. I don’t talk about that much here and it’s not in my signature because when I first got here it was a puzzle piece I had not quite understood yet. In 2003 I started eating more citrus fruits to be healthier, ended up with bad chest pain and anxiety. Hindsight I have said many times before that I believe I have histamine intolerance. Anyway, went to the ER thinking I was having heart issues which they said were likely reflux and my heart was fine. Had an endoscopy and the pain was erosive esophagitis. I was also having some sort of stomach spasms. The doc gave me Nexium and Librax. The librax was to calm things down. The librax I only found out recently is librium! I took it for six months but a side effect of not being able to pee became to annoying. So I just stopped the Librax. I then became very sick every morning with the very cold burning sensation from my chest into my arms coupled with nausea and what I know now to be akistasia and out of nowhere I instantly had what the docs said was IBS. This went on for years. It lessened in intensity of course over time. It should not have lasted years BUT I was a young man who like to go to bars on the weekend occasionally. The drinking kept it going. If I went for a while without drinking beer it would go away and then would come back for some time if I started up again. Eventually it resolved completely when I pretty much gave up drinking thinking drinking was the problem. That was the first time I was in benzo withdrawal. It was gone for years until I went on Valium after a motorcycle accident in 2015 and that time it came with a lot more symptoms. The rest is in my signature. Anyway, after having this symptom this morning I am having my doubts that this is Remeron withdrawal. This may have been triggered by the removal of the Remeron but the symptom is too eerily benzo. After that stopped this morning and it did stop fairly quick I hit another window and feel fine right now. I think that this past few weeks and currently are another benzo withdrawal wave. I am not sure that reinstating Remeron will actually help with that. If the wave is triggered already I will likely just need to surf it. I am getting cycling symptoms but most of them feel more benzo than mirt. This feels just like the wave I had last Spring but slightly less severe. Yesterday morning I had significant muscle tension, leg weakness and akistasia. I paced a lot. This morning I had that one brief symptom and so far no others. My muscles have loosened back up and I have no anxiety or burning or anything right now. It is not over. That I know. After I eat breakfast I will get some symptoms. Around lunchtime my skin will start burning again and I will have a fever at some point today if not most of the day. Yesterday’s fever was nasty but yet I actually was able to enjoy the akistasia, lol as I walked around the neighborhood in the nice weather. This need to walk or pace is not nearly as severe as acute benzo withdrawal. I can sit down and sit still when I want and the discomfort that results is fairly minimal but present. I have been getting lower back pain and muscle tightness all over. It comes and goes. Yesterday it was there all day and did not come and go. I have a little bradycardia and had an ekg done yesterday which was all clear.  This is the first time in weeks that I feel good enough to believe that I can heal. Man I wish that back in 2003 the internet was what it is now. I didn’t even have my first cell phone yet let alone a smart phone. There was one computer in the house that everyone shared. It was not in our culture yet to google things. I think google came out that year maybe. Anyway if only I had know that I was withdrawing from Librium how different this could have gone. Hindsight 20/20 I guess.

[[Ox...]]

Part of this whole mess is figuring out your life story I guess. I struggled with this myself. I'm on my phone right now, but I am glad you are having windows. Hang in there.

[Guest [is...]]

Wow ! That is wild. I think you right about it being more benzo related. So I did a 1mg cut from 13mg to 12mg about a month ago now and it was totally different this time, The last cut I did was in April and it was a 1mg cut also. That cut and all previous cuts would bring on terrible mental symptoms that were like benzo shit but this cut six months since the last brought on basically zero symptoms which leads me to believe that the benzo damage is getting better. I will cut again in a few months and see how it goes. I really think if I never took benzos I could of damn near cold turkeyed the remeron. I have cold turkey a couple of AD in the past with zero issues. These fuc%in@ benzos really messed us up for a very long time.

[[Ja...]]

Wow ! That is wild. I think you right about it being more benzo related. So I did a 1mg cut from 13mg to 12mg about a month ago now and it was totally different this time, The last cut I did was in April and it was a 1mg cut also. That cut and all previous cuts would bring on terrible mental symptoms that were like benzo shit but this cut six months since the last brought on basically zero symptoms which leads me to believe that the benzo damage is getting better. I will cut again in a few months and see how it goes. I really think if I never took benzos I could of damn near cold turkeyed the remeron. I have cold turkey a couple of AD in the past with zero issues. These fuc%in@ benzos really messed us up for a very long time.

 

My appetite is coming back which is a good sign BUT it is a double edged sword because every time I eat my muscle tension and skin burning/fever flare up. Like I said in my post before I was in a window this morning but breakfast would end it. And sure enough it did. I ate breakfast and wham within 20 minutes I was running a 99 temperature and muscle tightness in my legs and skin burning with mild anxiety. So far today the muscle tightness/weakness is only in my legs. And to be fair it could just be legitimate muscle fatigue. I have been pacing and walking and standing way more than I normally would even if I was at work. It’s a lot to put on your muscles in withdrawal which is the catch 22 of akistasia. I played guitar for about an hour but I like to practice speed picking which was making me sweat and therefore making my fever go up. Now I’m just laying on my made bed for a few to let my temp come back to normal. I think I’m gonna go trim the hedges in front of the house after that just to busy myself until it becomes too much.

[[Ja...]]

I'm reconsidering now. I have been running a fever for an entire month. I am afraid I am going to be in a years long protracted withdrawal if I don't reinstate on a low dose and try this again. This is not normal at this point. At least I don't think it is. I tapered so low I should not have a goddamn fever for a month with no end in sight. I have been out of work for a month. I don't know what to do. I feel so trapped. I feel like a prisoner. This is never going to end. I can't do this for much longer. I don't know what to do. I need to have a life again. I need it. I barely did anything and all my muscles hurt. I needed this to go smoother than this. I deserve for this to go smoother than this. I am in so much pain from losing my daughter. I can not do this anymore. What the hell am I going to do?

[Guest [is...]]

Jack brother hang in there. I think if you reinstate to the last does you were stable at you will get relief and get back to kicking ass. Remeron ain't like benzos where we go into tolerance withdrawal and are screwed. I would finish getting off the remeron when you are certain that you are healed from the benzo damage, however long it takes. Just get back to feeling good and try again later if you want, no shame in that man. Me and you are at the 33 ish month mark and even though I feel good now I am almost positive that I would be having issues if I wasn't still on the remeron.

[[Ja...]]

Jack brother hang in there. I think if you reinstate to the last does you were stable at you will get relief and get back to kicking ass. Remeron ain't like benzos where we go into tolerance withdrawal and are screwed. I would finish getting off the remeron when you are certain that you are healed from the benzo damage, however long it takes. Just get back to feeling good and try again later if you want, no shame in that man. Me and you are at the 33 ish month mark and even though I feel good now I am almost positive that I would be having issues if I wasn't still on the remeron.

 

It's hard to say. I microtapered and jumped off of .03. But I was destabilizing in the last month. So most likely .2 mg was is stability. But then again I have been off and adjusting for two months so .1 mg might do it.

[Guest [is...]]

Ok, I hope it helps and I'm sure it will.

 

Good luck !

[[Ja...]]

Ok, I hope it helps and I'm sure it will.

 

Good luck !

 

I still think I am going to give it until next week. But I am going to get the wheels in motion on getting the script in the meantime. Obviously 2 months later I no longer have any stable liquid mirt in the house. I am now thinking is mirt withdrawal unlike what I said this morning but also agree with you that benzo withdrawal sensitization is why it is so bad.

[Guest [Jb...]]

I would not reinstate. Two years is plenty of time to taper of this drug. From what I have read over the years no one gets off this drug easy, whether they taper or not. Look up Madfrank on here and benzobuddies. He had the same experience trying to come off remeron.  He ended up reinstating like 7 months later and doing a slow taper but he said it never helped and actually made things worse. He's much better now.

[[Ja...]]

I would not reinstate. Two years is plenty of time to taper of this drug. From what I have read over the years no one gets off this drug easy, whether they taper or not. Look up Madfrank on here and benzobuddies. He had the same experience trying to come off remeron.  He ended up reinstating like 7 months later and doing a slow taper but he said it never helped and actually made things worse. He's much better now.

 

I ordered DAO enzyme and a bought a new bottle of Quercetin. I’m gonna try treating it like a histamine issue and see what happens. The symptoms are lightening up for me BUT my willpower is decreasing at the same time making it seem like things are not getting better. The way I have felt so far today I could tough it out. I’m just worried about it getting worse.

[[ja...]]

Jack I hope things are beginning to improve for you and you don’t have to reinstate.  I feel for you, when you feel so bad for so long you just want it to stop in any way that helps.  You have been so strong during your difficult taper try to hang in there.

I’m one week on my reduced dose of 5.0 and this cut threw everything at me, days of headache, nausea, tinnitus, anxiety, internal tremors, lots of muscle pain and lousy sleep.  Last night sleep improved some, 5 hours of sleep, few nights before that it was 2 or 3 each night.  I am hoping this is a sign things are starting to stabilize.  I’m thinking I’ll hold this dose for at least another week and see how things go.

[[Ja...]]

Jack I hope things are beginning to improve for you and you don’t have to reinstate.  I feel for you, when you feel so bad for so long you just want it to stop in any way that helps.  You have been so strong during your difficult taper try to hang in there.

I’m one week on my reduced dose of 5.0 and this cut threw everything at me, days of headache, nausea, tinnitus, anxiety, internal tremors, lots of muscle pain and lousy sleep.  Last night sleep improved some, 5 hours of sleep, few nights before that it was 2 or 3 each night.  I am hoping this is a sign things are starting to stabilize.  I’m thinking I’ll hold this dose for at least another week and see how things go.

 

I had a lot of trouble at 5.1 mg. That was the part of my taper where I was sicker than I am right now. It was the sickest I had been since my Xanax CT although not nearly as severe but still awful.

Actually my symptoms have been calming down a lot the last couple of days even though I still have a ways to go. It also sucks having the knowledge that this stuff is not linear. I am acutely aware that I can be on the mend and then go back into full symptoms or worse out of nowhere and that awareness does make it hard to enjoy the windows. Nonetheless yesterday was not so bad and so far today is not off to a bad start either.

[[Ja...]]

Today is the third day in a row that I woke up symptom free. Symptoms now start later in the day. Except today. Today symptoms did not start until I went mattress shopping, bought a mattress, loaded it in my truck, drove it home, carried it up three flights of stairs, went outside mowed the front lawn, then the backyard. Boom fever and burning skin. Sat down ate lunch. Just finished lunch. 97.6! The fever went away. It went away few times yesterday too after it started which never happens until 8 or 9 pm usually. Now I feel fine again. No burning. No fever. No anything. Gonna go do the weedwacking now I guess.

[[Ox...]]

Great Jack! This shows how long withdrawal can last. I hope you continue to see progress.

[[ju...]]

Today is the third day in a row that I woke up symptom free. Symptoms now start later in the day. Except today. Today symptoms did not start until I went mattress shopping, bought a mattress, loaded it in my truck, drove it home, carried it up three flights of stairs, went outside mowed the front lawn, then the backyard. Boom fever and burning skin. Sat down ate lunch. Just finished lunch. 97.6! The fever went away. It went away few times yesterday too after it started which never happens until 8 or 9 pm usually. Now I feel fine again. No burning. No fever. No anything. Gonna go do the weedwacking now I guess.

 

Hi Jack. It is interesting you have had some fever in some terms of WD. I dont know anybody who report fever in rem wd. I think it comes from benzo wd probably. I am not an expert, but if it is due to benzo WD, other sxs also may come from benzo WD. Apart from that I read somewhere in the posts you mentioned you got toppled down after a breakfast. This is a clear sign like most people(also me) you are also in the middle of a histamine mess. Please be calm and keep going. Be kind to yourself in terms of thought. There are some factors we keep control which are thoughts, diet etc. You are one of the strongest men whom i meet here. I know Dao tablets will give you a comfort which will alleviate your CNS burden such that you wont worry your CNS.

 

As you said before many times. Hang in there brother. Salute from Turkey with all my heart...

[[30...]]

hi group,

I would love to join in!  Although I am not tapering my 15mg of mirtazapine I will be one day eventually and just want to keep reading and learning.

 

I do have a question though --- I have been freaked out about being on mirtazapine since first prescribed in April of 2020 for appetite/sleep.  it gave me an appetite (but weight gain hasn't been an issue) and has helped me sleep.  I was doing fine on it.

I was going through a Xanax taper - still am and my doc had placed me on he-man doses of supplements from a place called Hardy Nutritionals to "help me in my taper".  I was doing fine and got down to .75 of the Xanax in February (so went from 1.5mg to .75 in about seven months)....then had some blood work done and my b6 was near toxic -- doc said it was okay to come off the supplements ( I was takin six tablets of their amino acid supplement and 10 of their vitamins a day -- tons!)

 

I tapered the supplements over a few months and in June the bottom came out.  I went into acute.  I called my doc -she didn't understand why. I called hardy and spoke to one of their scientists and he said I should never have stopped mid taper because their supplements are used to help people off meds by their supplements potentiating what other meds we are on (so according to him -- in March my body was only being given .75 per day of Xanax but may have been registering it at closer to 1.5 or 2mg) and he said the supplements were also potentiating my mirtazapine.  of course there is no way to measure how much.

 

long story short-i am basically in acute.  updosed my Xanax to 1mg ( I dose five times a day in an dlmt) and have held steady on my 15mg of mirtazapine.  my days tend to go like this:  I wake up around 9am and I am either horribly depressed or terribly anxious/terror filled/dread then throughout the day I have anxiety, intrusive thoughts, depression, skin burning, agitation like I want to come out of my skin, SI -- the whole nine yards......somewhere between 8pm and 10pm I start to calm and can read, write and feel a bit more like myself -- then I take the mirtazapine around midnight and tend to sleep around 12:30 until morning when it starts all over again

 

I am afraid the mirtazapine is suddenly causing all of these daytime symptoms but maybe it makes more sense that my system is now super sensitized due to losing those supplements and the perceived drop in both mirt and Xanax.  I am going to hold another month or so and then continue with a slow taper off the Xanax and just leave the mirt alone for now ----

 

does that sound like a reasonable plan?  I know the daytime symptoms I am having can also be typical bad benzo withdrawal as well ---

 

ugh

 

things were going so well --- its so unfortunate

 

thanks for letting me join

[[Ja...]]

For me Xanax symptoms and Remeron symptoms were very similar. The patterns were different however. I got the late night relief with both Xanax and Remeron withdrawal and have no idea what causes that. The morning stuff was different though. Xanax I would wake up in severe withdrawal everyday. It would stay all day and then calm down at night. Remeron I would wake up fine and the symptoms would develop later in the day. I think it is because histamine levels build up as you eat throughout the day. Not sure why it calms down at night except for that histamine levels naturally drop later in the day as your body shifts our of alertness. I want to say your symptoms sound more benzo than remeron but am basing that off of the way the pattern ran in my body. You may want to just try holding everything until things calm down. Unless of course you think you are in tolerance withdrawal from Xanax. Either way, if it’s Remeron it should eventually calm down on it’s own as tolerance is not really a thing with that drug. If it’s Xanax tolerance then you would have to start tapering off but it is hard to say with the whole supplement complication. Either way I would tackle the benzo first and then do Remeron when that’s all done.

[[no...]]

hi group,

I would love to join in!  Although I am not tapering my 15mg of mirtazapine I will be one day eventually and just want to keep reading and learning.

 

I do have a question though --- I have been freaked out about being on mirtazapine since first prescribed in April of 2020 for appetite/sleep.  it gave me an appetite (but weight gain hasn't been an issue) and has helped me sleep.  I was doing fine on it.

I was going through a Xanax taper - still am and my doc had placed me on he-man doses of supplements from a place called Hardy Nutritionals to "help me in my taper".  I was doing fine and got down to .75 of the Xanax in February (so went from 1.5mg to .75 in about seven months)....then had some blood work done and my b6 was near toxic -- doc said it was okay to come off the supplements ( I was takin six tablets of their amino acid supplement and 10 of their vitamins a day -- tons!)

 

I tapered the supplements over a few months and in June the bottom came out.  I went into acute.  I called my doc -she didn't understand why. I called hardy and spoke to one of their scientists and he said I should never have stopped mid taper because their supplements are used to help people off meds by their supplements potentiating what other meds we are on (so according to him -- in March my body was only being given .75 per day of Xanax but may have been registering it at closer to 1.5 or 2mg) and he said the supplements were also potentiating my mirtazapine.  of course there is no way to measure how much.

 

long story short-i am basically in acute.  updosed my Xanax to 1mg ( I dose five times a day in an dlmt) and have held steady on my 15mg of mirtazapine.  my days tend to go like this:  I wake up around 9am and I am either horribly depressed or terribly anxious/terror filled/dread then throughout the day I have anxiety, intrusive thoughts, depression, skin burning, agitation like I want to come out of my skin, SI -- the whole nine yards......somewhere between 8pm and 10pm I start to calm and can read, write and feel a bit more like myself -- then I take the mirtazapine around midnight and tend to sleep around 12:30 until morning when it starts all over again

 

I am afraid the mirtazapine is suddenly causing all of these daytime symptoms but maybe it makes more sense that my system is now super sensitized due to losing those supplements and the perceived drop in both mirt and Xanax.  I am going to hold another month or so and then continue with a slow taper off the Xanax and just leave the mirt alone for now ----

 

does that sound like a reasonable plan?  I know the daytime symptoms I am having can also be typical bad benzo withdrawal as well ---

 

ugh

 

things were going so well --- its so unfortunate

 

thanks for letting me join

 

This sounds a lot like - almost exactly like - what I went through and for me, it was the xanax that was the real issue. I am in agreement with Jack - that you should continue to taper the xanax and leave the remeron as is.

 

I was in xanax tolerance and had to taper despite feeling unwell, I'm hoping you don't have to do that. And It's always hard to gauge the impact of the supplements.

 

One thing I was advised by a naturopath during my withdrawal that helped was "only mess with one thing at a time." Meaning don't add, subtract, decrease, or increase more than one thing at one time. Otherwise, you'll have no idea what is causing the benefit or increase in symptoms. That helped me a lot. I think your idea of holding for a month and then proceeding w/ tapering the xanax is wise.

 

Sorry you are dealing with all of this.

 

Hang in there.

[[Ox...]]

I have a short question. I've been having some pretty serious diarrhea for the last two days and it's made me feel off. Sorry if this is TMI. I'm doing a little better now but I'm wondering if it could give me a little withdrawal. What's your take? Does anyone have a similar experience? What can I do to ride it out best as I can?

[Guest [is...]]

23 days since last cut and I have had some benzo mental stuff comes back , I should be stable soon which I am happy about . Whenever I have cut the Remeron benzo sx come back and they are always mental nothing else . I am so damn frustrated, I will not cut agin for a long time if ever again.

[[30...]]

thanks guys for the feedback -- yes, totally agree don't want to change more than one thing at a time.  I do think ya'll are right and it is most likely the benzos.  I mean I take the remeron and I don't feel worse after I take it and about an hour or so later I fall asleep -- its just my days are so terrible -- that I want to find something to blame it on -- but more than likely it is the giant cut that I felt after giving up the supplements ---- I'll keep you guys posted -- thanks so much

[[Ox...]]

I have a short question. I've been having some pretty serious diarrhea for the last two days and it's made me feel off. Sorry if this is TMI. I'm doing a little better now but I'm wondering if it could give me a little withdrawal. What's your take? Does anyone have a similar experience? What can I do to ride it out best as I can?

 

Anybody?

[[Ja...]]

I have a short question. I've been having some pretty serious diarrhea for the last two days and it's made me feel off. Sorry if this is TMI. I'm doing a little better now but I'm wondering if it could give me a little withdrawal. What's your take? Does anyone have a similar experience? What can I do to ride it out best as I can?

 

Anybody?

 

My stomach is a mess with this withdrawal. It could certainly be withdrawal. I can't eat any sugar at all. I have to eat a lot of fiber to try to slow things down. I don't think the diarrhea causes the off feeling. I think the withdrawal feelings just go together with the stomach stuff.

[[Ox...]]

Tnx for your reply. It sounds plausible that it could be withdrawal, but that's not it. I think it was food poisining. Anyway, I am feeling better now. How are you? Still on the way up?