Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[Ja...]]

I am happy to report that I am semi stable at this point. I have been back to work for over a week and had a good Christmas. I have gained back at least 5 pounds and can eat as much as I need or want. I can eat whatever I want but some things do increase symptoms so am I being mindful. I think Xanax withdrawal, Remeron withdrawal, Nexium side effects and my autoimmune disease all came together to form a perfect storm. I am now keeping all of them in mind throughout the day and am managing to stay functional again so far. I dropped my Nexium from 80 mg to 20 mg and that stopped most of my stomach burning and greatly improved my digestion. I increased my Remeron to 7.5 mg and that helped with a lot of other symptoms. Not sure if it is withdrawal related or if it is because it quelled what I believe was an extreme Xanax wave which seems to be common right before the 3 year mark. It could also be because Remeron is a researched treatment for the autoimmune disease that I have as it apparently blocks eosinophilic degranulation in the liver. Patients who take Remeron with my autoimmune disease live significantly longer. So now I have to decide whether I am even going to be stopping it or if it has to be part of my treatment for the disease. Anyway, I am not worrying about that right now.

[Guest [is...]]

That is great to hear Jack , I wouldn't worry about being on the remeron long term since there is no tolerance wd with it or anything else I know of.

[[Ox...]]

Glad you are doing better Jack!

[Guest [7G...]]

I read recently that a Benzo wise doctor said that remeron significantly prolongs benzo withdrawals and masks the symptoms and that he has had a lot of patients have to reinstate benzos when remeron pooped out on them.

 

Is this anyone's experience?

[[Ox...]]

I've heard it too. Not sure how it relates to my own story.

[[se...]]

I read recently that a Benzo wise doctor said that remeron significantly prolongs benzo withdrawals and masks the symptoms and that he has had a lot of patients have to reinstate benzos when remeron pooped out on them.

 

Is this anyone's experience?

 

Hi where did you read this?

 

I am currently tapering klonopin and taking 7.5 mg remeron and I feel every cut.

 

Thanks

 

Seeking.

[Guest [is...]]

I read recently that a Benzo wise doctor said that remeron significantly prolongs benzo withdrawals and masks the symptoms and that he has had a lot of patients have to reinstate benzos when remeron pooped out on them.

 

Is this anyone's experience?

 

Link the article please , I don't believe that is true

[[Be...]]

Glad you are better Jack and stabilizing. I hope things continue to improve for you.

 

Becky

[[ja...]]

Happy new year to all, hoping for more settled times and an end to this virus and more normal times for everyone.

I have been holding at 1.5 for about 3 weeks now, this cut has been a very difficult one.  Maybe a few more nights at that dose for a little more stability then going to try 1.2.  Ox, hope you’re doing well, looks like maybe 4 or 5 days into your last cut.

[[Ox...]]

Happy New Year everybody! Hope 2022 brings continued healing for us all.

 

@yasmin, I'm on day 5 of my last 5% cut and actually doing well. I figure this is a pace I'm comfortable with. Your cut from 1.8 to 1.5 might seem small, but relatively it's still a big step. Good to hear you are recovering from that. Do you already notice improvement? I feel like I am getting more clearheaded with each cut.

[Guest [is...]]

Ox ,I am glad to hear the 5% cut makes you feel more clear headed. I am going to try to cut again but this time I will try 5% cuts, so 12mg to 11.5 and hopefully it won't bring on any mental sx.

[[Ox...]]

Good luck Issey, let us know how it goes. Today is day 7 after my last cut and I am doing well. Maybe a little tension and headache, but that's all. Still moving slow and steady.

[Guest [is...]]

Ox , what are the sx you get when you cut ? Mine are just some mental strangeness

[[Ox...]]

I felt down, anxious and tense. This is only my third cut. Trying to take my time. Seems to help. I have a tendency to go too fast.

[Guest [is...]]

Ok , good luck !

[[ja...]]

Ox,

Nice work on the taper and good sign that you’re feeling more clearheaded.  I know what you mean, the brain fog and cloudy head was one of the reasons I wanted off this drug.  It has improved a great deal for me.  My last cut was pretty nasty, took a bit longer to stabilize for me, days were rough from day 3 to about day 16 before starting to improve.  I considered doing a long hold because it was so rough, sleep was terrible for about a week.  But instead I decided to try another small cut and see if this cut is any better.  I reduced my dose to 1.2 mg on Jan 2, today is day 3 and I am already starting to feel this cut, starts off with headache, tinnitus and nausea and generally gets worse before things start to turn around a bit on day 8 or 9, so I guess we will see how this cut goes. 

Issey, if you decide to start your taper let us know and we will be there to encourage and listen and compare notes with you. 

 

[[Ja...]]

So I was just about stabilized and then... this morning I woke up and went to take my Nexium and somehow took 7.5 mg of Remeron by accident. It is a surrealistic nightmare. I feel fine but am terrified. I am sure this is going to destabilize me. I am so scared. I am going to skip my dose tonight and go back tomorrow night at my normal time. If I take tonight’s dose then it is definitely going to increase my blood levels so I feel I have to skip tonight. I am terrified. Things were going so good. I have such bad luck that I just can’t make myself believe that I am going to be fine. Things don’t go fine for me too often so I am pretty sure this is the end of the world for me right now. I can’t believe my stupid brain allowed me to do this.

[[Ox...]]

I'm so sorry you feel terrified Jack, I understand. Don't beat yourself up though! You are human, mistakes happen. I hope you remain stable.

 

I think I missed a dose this summer, and I did feel it. I now have a google task to remind me to take my dose, and the upside of tapering is I use a pill box with the days on it, so now I know if I took the dose or not.

 

Let us know how you feel tomorrow. Digital hug for you!

 

yasmin, you are brave doing a 20 % cut, glad you got over your last cut. I'm glad you feel more clear headed too. Gives me hope I will improve more. 

 

I'm on my 9th day and I feel ok. Will stabilize this week and do a mid week cut next week from 12,8 to 12,2 mg.

[Guest [is...]]

Jack, Remeron has a long half life , you will be fine and you won't notice anything different.

[Guest [is...]]

Jasmin, I will do that when I muster up the courage. In 2020 I cut from 30mg to 15mg and in 2021 I only made two cuts and I am now down to 12mg. I am feeling pretty close to healed from the benzo wd disaster so I am kind of enjoying things. Every time I cut in the past it would bring back strange benzo mental sx so I would like to avoid those:) My hope is that when I am fully 100% recovered from the benzos the cuts wont be so bad.

[[Ja...]]

Question now is where to go from here. I have been stressing this all day. Do I skip tonights dose or do I just take tonight’s dose at the scheduled time and pray that the extra dose I took this morning does not send me back to hell. This is an extremely hard decision to make and I am very scared about it.

[[Pa...]]

Question now is where to go from here. I have been stressing this all day. Do I skip tonights dose or do I just take tonight’s dose at the scheduled time and pray that the extra dose I took this morning does not send me back to hell. This is an extremely hard decision to make and I am very scared about it.

 

What about a half dose?

[[Ox...]]

When I wasn't sure if I missed a dose I took half a dose to sleep. So I think that might be a good idea.

[Guest [is...]]

I would skip tonight's dose

[Guest [7G...]]

So I decided to test and see if Remeron was causing some of the symptoms I am experiencing.

 

I didn't take it for 2 nights. The first night I slept fine, maybe one hour less than usual. Last night, however, I slept maybe 3 hours and I have never had insomnia before.  I have many other benzo symptoms though.  I noticed the heavy fog and drugged feeling and constant hunger has diminished.

 

I am currently at 5.5mg of Remeron (down from 15). I tapered over a couple of years doing long holds.

 

I am tapering a little differently than most in here.  I put my 15mg pill in 300ml of water so each ml equals 0.05mg. I take out half a ml or 1 ml a day and until I get down to 5-10% of my previous dose and hold. I don't notice much of a change in symptoms, especially the Remeron ones I have read about (insomnia, itching, etc).

 

I am in a dilemma on whether or not I should keep off the drug and hopefully it doesn't get worse or keep tapering.