Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[no...]]

Hi guys,

            I just joined the forum. I did an introduction post but thought I would introduce myself here. I am 7 1/2 months post xanax taper and have been on mirtazapine since December. I feel ready to start tackling the mirt. I picked up a bottle of liquid mirt from a local compounding pharmacy today. I am on 15 mg. I haven't started the taper yet. I was thinking of taking the liquid in full strength for a few days to make sure the liquid doesn't cause any issues for me. I'm not sure if that's really necessary though. My doc thinks I can just halve the pills but after the hell I've been through with benzos I just don't trust them anymore. I will try 10 percent and pray I am lucky and can go fast but at least if I am not one of the lucky ones I won't be in over my head. Xanax was hell. I lost 45 lbs, was suicidal and ended up in the psychiatric unit only to be put on this stuff. Honestly, I hate it but it probably did save my life. I hadn't slept or eaten in 2 full months. I don't think I would have made it too much longer. And that was just tolerance withdrawal. The fast taper I had to do was pure hell. At least I know what I am in for this time. Anyway, the info you guys provide is awesome. I couldn't have made it this far without you all. Seriously. This forum was a blessing.

 

Jack37, hey.

 

Welcome, I read your introduction sir, you have been through a lot. Sending you so much compassion for what you have endured.

 

To me, your approach to tapering Mirt is wise. Most doctors told me to halve the pills for 2 weeks and then stop. I tried that once and it didn't deliver me anything good. The Mirt did the same things for me that it did for you. It helped me sleep and helped me gain some much needed weight that the benzo withdrawal stripped off me. I too feel like the Mirt probably saved my life and gave me some semblance of stability.

 

The cuts are going to be decent sized at first. That first cut from 15mg will be a solid 1.5. It goes slower as you get lower. 10% every 30 days worked well for me. I was able to escape most of the heavy withdrawal symptoms associated with Mirt discontinuation at that pace. There were some months where I held - If I didn't feel I'd stabilized from the last cut, or if I had something heavy going at work or home that required I be on-point. Always go with how you feel. Have the taper schedule, but listen to yourself. The liquid makes it easier. Is the solution 1ml = 1mg? That makes the accuracy pretty close to spot-on.

 

Most symptoms from Mirt cuts for me followed a pattern. I'd make a cut and the first day or two would feel a little "off." Then things would level out until about the 1.5 to 2 week mark and I'd feel another uptick in symptoms. Weeks 3 and 4 would see those symptoms abate and at the end of week 4, I'd evaluate if I truly felt ready for the next cut and act accordingly.

 

I think you are also wise to take the 15mg liquid for a couple days before you make the cut. Some of the caution I exercised when cutting included holding a bit when I got new bottles of liquid Mirt and holding even when I switched to a smaller oral syringe. Little changes can sometimes cause minor disturbances. Also watch for settling of the sediment in the solution. Be sure to shake the bottle enough to get the Mirt evenly distributed, but not so much that you create a ton of bubbles as that will affect the quantity when you draw your dose. And finally, watch the expiration dates. I did find the liquid Mirt seemed to lose some potency after it'd come close to its shelf-life.

 

All in all, you are going into this the right way from my perspective. I've been off the Mirt completely for over two months and everything is totally fine. I jumped from 0.2mg. That last month was literally a drop on the tongue. It felt odd not to take something before bed for a few weeks. But now feels good to be free. Slow and steady wins this race in my experience.

 

Hang in there, you're already a survivor.

 

Dave

[[Ja...]]

Thanks for reading all that. I appreciate the help. So I didn’t take the liquid last night but am going to take it tonight at 15mg. The suspension is 15 mg to 5ml.. So a 10 perecent cut will be 4.5 ml. I am going to make my first cut on Wednesday night. Wednesday would have been mu daighters 11th birthday and I don’t want to make the day any harder than it has to be and I want to make sure I am stable for my wife. Hopefully the switch to the liquid doesn’t trigger anything but I have to start taking it because it says it’s only good for 2 weeks according to the compounding pharmacist. I am hoping being that I have only been on for 9 months that I can taper off over a year but I know it’s gonna be whatever it is. Hopes and reality don’t always align unfortunately. I feel pretty good all day but get sognificant anxiety every night about 30 minutes into my dose and I feel my heart beating in my body. It’s a very unsettling feeling. It may have been there all along but I’m feeling so good during the day at this point it now may be noticeable. When I was withdrawing hard from Xanax I didn’t notice any side wleffects from the mirt except for sleep and eating which I desperately needed. The anixiety lasts until the morning grogginess wears off so I am confident it is the mirt that is causing it. I am hoping it gets better as opposed to worse as I start to decrease my dose. Fingers crossed.

[[ja...]]

Hi Dave, hi Jack and everyone else.

 

Dave, I just wanted to say how appreciative I am for your help on this forum. My question to you is how long after you got off the Mirtezapine did you feel like yourself? I have read that some even after a long taper still struggled with symptoms, some for along time.

 

Jack, I am so sorry about your daughter. I read your post also and I’m deeply sorry. You truly have been through so much. My concern for you is being only off the Xanax for 7 months and trying to taper the Mirtezapine. I know we are all different and it’s possible that you will be able to do this but if things get really rough then maybe just put the taper on hold a little longer. I waited for 32 months of being off the benzo before starting a 5% a month taper from the Mirtezapine. This is my 2nd time coming off a benzodiazepine and my last. Just so you know, we are here to support you.

 

I’ll be making another 5% cut in a week down to 0.025grams. Today I’m having a lot of joint pain, some mild anxiety and stomach tightness. Every month I get closer to being free. Keep pushing forward despite the pain in hopes to feel normal someday.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[Ja...]]

I considered waiting but I have reached a point where the side effects of the mirtazpine have exceeded the discomfort of my Xanax withdrawal symptoms. I am honestly not even sure what is what at this point. Sometimes I feel 100 percent healed and sometimes not. So I am not sure what is what. I figure a ten percent drop would be like feeling it out. I think the longer I am on the mirt the hardwr it will be to come off. I am not sure if this is true or not. I am certainly proceeding with caution.

[[ja...]]

I certainly understand Jack and yes doing 10% should be ok. I know what you mean by not knowing what is what. The fact that sometimes you feel 100% could mean you will get through this more smoothly.

 

Jackie 

[[ju...]]

Thank you for the information that you gave and welcome Jack. Dave please reply my previous post and i am curious about the concern "longer we hold on mirt, more difficult to come off it, is it true?

[[no...]]

Dave, I just wanted to say how appreciative I am for your help on this forum. My question to you is how long after you got off the Mirtezapine did you feel like yourself? I have read that some even after a long taper still struggled with symptoms, some for along time.

 

Jackie, hey.

 

Nice to meet you and thank you for your kind words

 

For me, I think part of the beauty of the long taper is I had almost no symptoms after discontinuation, so feel absolutely fine. And I would say that from about 2mg down, I felt better than I had in ages (I’d been on some form of medication since I was a child).

 

It’s hard in some ways to answer when I started feeling like myself because due to being medicated from about age 6/7 onward, I had no idea who I was as “myself.” I feel like I am learning that now, being drug free. But prior, in all memory, I always had some drug coursing through my body.

 

But over two months off mirtazapine and, that having been the last drug, all drugs, I feel better than I have ever felt in my life. I feel life anxiety like anyone else would, I feel occasional physical symptoms, but they don’t stick around and I am learning how to handle life untethered. And I am getting to know who I am, as this person Dave, like who I truly am. And it is still surprising.

 

Hang in there,

 

Dave

[[Pt...]]

Mirt seems different than benzos in that it doesn't seem to have such thing as tolerance withdrawal, so holding each dose longer shouldn't have negative effect on the body or mind.

 

That being said, I've been tapering 10% every 2 weeks, and am now down to 1.5mg from 15mg. So far, there has been no new withdrawal symptoms on top of the ones I'm already suffering from benzo withdrawal. Hoping things will continue to (at least) be steady as I go even lower on mirt.

[[Ja...]]

That’s why I’m glad I traded Xanax for this stuff. Tolerance withdrawal from Xanax was the worst experience of my life.

[[ju...]]

Is there anybody who explain to me, where does a taper plan end? I made an example plan with two week and % 7 ratio and it seems it will never end from a point:

80

74

69

64

60

56

52

48.5

45

.

.

23

21.5

.

As you see, i tried to lessen % 7 of previous dose, but as we go forward, the steps gets smaller to limit reaching zero. What is the trick here?

[[Ja...]]

Hi June. I’m just starting mine but I think I can help. I’m the type that obsesses and researches everyrhing I do. So it will end it just takes a long time.. It appears to not be uncommon for people to taper for years. For example my taper is from 15mg. It would take me 41 months or 3 1/2 years to get to the .2 mg jumping point that Dave mentioned in his taper. However it seems most people are able to accelerate when they get to the extremely low 2 or 1 mg doses. Also, I notice some people have points in their taper where their lives allow a little more instability so they make a calculated larger cut at that point. But I think the point is if you don’t need to get off of the drug for some specific medical reason to take your time. I had to rush off of Xanax because of severe tolerance withdrawal. It seems there is no tolerance withdrawal with this drug so not as much urgency. I want to get it over with but I need  to make sure that when it’s over it’s truly over. My personal goal is med free with no reinstatements.

[[ja...]]

Jackie, hey.

 

Nice to meet you and thank you for your kind words

 

For me, I think part of the beauty of the long taper is I had almost no symptoms after discontinuation, so feel absolutely fine. And I would say that from about 2mg down, I felt better than I had in ages (I’d been on some form of medication since I was a child).

 

It’s hard in some ways to answer when I started feeling like myself because due to being medicated from about age 6/7 onward, I had no idea who I was as “myself.” I feel like I am learning that now, being drug free. But prior, in all memory, I always had some drug coursing through my body.

 

But over two months off mirtazapine and, that having been the last drug, all drugs, I feel better than I have ever felt in my life. I feel life anxiety like anyone else would, I feel occasional physical symptoms, but they don’t stick around and I am learning how to handle life untethered. And I am getting to know who I am, as this person Dave, like who I truly am. And it is still surprising.

 

Hang in there,

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave, you give me hope as I get lower, thank you! Being on these drugs since you were 7 blows my mind. Bravo to you for getting off from them! And thank you for starting this blog. I didn’t know I was going to need it in 2012 when I c/o from 2mg Xanax to 40mg of Valium. I truly thought I would get off from that and be done but here I am. I don’t know where I would be right now if I hadn’t found this forum. Like you Mirtezapine saved my life literally so I am grateful. I hope you stick around awhile.

 

Junelight, you can post and ask for help with a taper schedule. Just post under general taper plans and someone will come along and help you. Bella helped me and there are a few others who can help too.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[ju...]]

Hi June. I’m just starting mine but I think I can help. I’m the type that obsesses and researches everyrhing I do. So it will end it just takes a long time.. It appears to not be uncommon for people to taper for years. For example my taper is from 15mg. It would take me 41 months or 3 1/2 years to get to the .2 mg jumping point that Dave mentioned in his taper. However it seems most people are able to accelerate when they get to the extremely low 2 or 1 mg doses. Also, I notice some people have points in their taper where their lives allow a little more instability so they make a calculated larger cut at that point. But I think the point is if you don’t need to get off of the drug for some specific medical reason to take your time. I had to rush off of Xanax because of severe tolerance withdrawal. It seems there is no tolerance withdrawal with this drug so not as much urgency. I want to get it over with but I need  to make sure that when it’s over it’s truly over. My personal goal is med free with no reinstatements.

 

so what about your plan,did you define a goal to complete the taper? i started to think the desire of coming off of drugs make us more angry and the other side being slow makes some questions with it: "i am also anxious, does holding make me less anxious for a while?" if it is so, it is worthy to try. i was planning 100 day taper and coming from 15 mg and i was anxious ten days ago, then i reduced the dose to 7.5 mg and it hit me like a bullet, now i am trying to stabilize at 12 mg.

[[bo...]]

I'm wondering about trying Remeron as my sleep has gotten bad again at 17 months and I've been very depressed and angry lately. I'm not recovering from quitting Klonopin like I thought I would. I feel like crying all day, every day, and I'm starting to suspect that what I'm going through is more than benzo withdrawal.

[[Ja...]]

June,

        I understand wanting to be rid of these meds as soon as possible but I don’t think that is completely in our control. We get to decide that we will come off and through determination it is certainly an attainable goal but the speed of the taper should be controlled by our symptoms. I wish I could will my mind and body to heal but I can’t so I know I have to listen to it. In short, I don’t have a taper plan/schedule. My only plan is to continue dropping my dose quickly as I can heal. If I can get off mirt in months then great, if it takes years then I’ll just roll with it. But one thing is for sure once I’m off I’ll think twice before taking so much as a Tylenol. Lol. If you needed a schedule it could be written easily but it would likely be a waste of time because there are too many unknown variables such as your own personal rate of healing, pre existing condtions, how the drug will interact with you as you get to lower doses, as well as unforseen life circumstances that would make it impossible to properly estimate. Sounds like your best course right now is to stabilize and then slow down. I’m not going to stress myself by making a schedule for withdrawal. I don’t think it would be healthy for me.

[[Pt...]]

Do you guys think 1.5mg of mirt is doing anything at this point? Is my sleep actually sustained by this small amount?

[[Ja...]]

Yes, it can be. From reading this board and another I’ve heard that only 1 mg will put you to sleep. Why not just  continue to micro taper and jump from .2 mg just to be safe? It sounds like you’re doing great so far. I’m hoping I do so well. I also wanted to ask you how you tapered. Did you do ten percent of the past dose or ten percent of the original dose or in other words just doing 10 drops all at 1.5 mg each?

[[ju...]]

Hi everbody. Jackie i looked your progress log up and saw how an amazing road you went. Starts/stops, waves/windows. Looking this kind of trips, sometimes i feel myself impatient.

 

I am regretful that i didnt listened your and Dave's suggests. Since i dropped my dose from 13.5 mg to 7.5 just for three days, my anxiety got worse and it hit the roof yesterday so that i was very reluctant to go work, so i didnt today morning. According to the your past experiences, am i living this trial's bad effects? Is this a wave? Will this bad anxiety finish and go down to an acceptable level. I am now holding myself at 12 mg without looking the time. Am i also living the wd of ADs that i stopped ct three months ago after usage 10 15 days. I think i should not consider the time for cut/hold, just consider being well before cutting...

 

Unfortunately, my thought of coming off rapidly remeron comes from it makes anxiety and harms us some other ways. But, i see this is absolutely awful.

 

Jack, also thank you for the details you give. BB is an incredible source that makes us go on...

[[No...]]

I've held for over 2 months, now gone down to 7.5mg as from last night, having cut my 15mg tablet in half. Will see how this cut goes ....

[[Rh...]]

Wow, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on Benzobuddies!  I do miss all the people, but found it necessary in my Valium taper recovery to stay off social media and stuff...glad to be back though!

 

have been reading some posts and I have my own question...  I’m down to 2 mg Remeron and looking to taper off the rest using 1 mg capsules I have compounded and a 1:1 ratio liquid I have compounded as well.  I tried to go 1 mg capsule and 1 mL liquid but have been hit hard with wd symptoms.

 

I’m thinking of opening a capsule, dividing it into 4ths, taking 1/4th (or .25) away and tapering the .25 I took away using liquid.  That does seem possible, although confusing I guess.  I just seem too sensitive to taking 1/2 my dose in liquid.

 

Anyone else with this problem?

 

I’m also experiencing headaches, neck pain, nausea and dizziness which are a bummer!

 

Thanks-  Rach

[[Pt...]]

Hey jack,

Great advice lol I'm gonna stick with the microtaper thanks!

 

I actually halved my pill 15mg directly to 7.5mg for 2 weeks, then I got 7.5mg pills and halved to 3.75mg for 2 weeks with no worsening symptoms. My body actually felt a relief because I was feeling revved up with toxic feeling at the higher dose. Once I got to 3.75mg, I created my own dilution so I could go down by mL instead of mg. There's compounding pharmacies but I didn't trust them not to use alcohol as a solvent (they frequently use this for compounding). Here's what I'm doing:

 

Crush two 7.5mg pills with back of a spoon, pour it into a clean water bottle with no water. Add 50mL water with pipette (can get this from any pharmacy), add 50mL maple syrup, shake and store in fridge. The point of maple syrup is to increase viscosity so the crushed mirt can bind evenly throughout. Mirt doesn't dissolve well in water alone. The point of adding the water is so shaking it can be easier. Every 2 weeks, Ive been following this taper plan (basically decreasing by 5mL).

 

7/15:20ml, 3mg

 

7/26: 15ml, 2.25mg

 

8/9: 10ml, 1.5mg

 

8/23: 5ml, 0.75mg

 

Once I get to 0.75mg, I'm going to crush only 1 pill, 50mL water, 50mL maple syrup and go down from there every 1 mL until I reach 0.15mg and then jump! This is the true microtaper.

 

9/6: 8ml, 0.6mg

 

9/20: 7ml, .53 mg

 

10/4:6ml, .45 mg

 

10/18: 5ml, .375mg

 

11/1: 4 ml, 0.3mg

 

11/15: 3 ml, .225mg

 

11/29: 2 ml, 0.15mg

 

There's so many ways to do this to be honest, I just calculated it my way so that it made sense to me and worked with my pipette. It's not 10% decrease, but if you want to go slower initially, just lower by 1mL or 2mL instead of my 5mL. I heard that the hardest will be the lower doses, which is why the true microtaper for me starts at 0.75mg. Key point is just using maple syrup (or anything with high viscosity). Will keep everyone updated.

[[ja...]]

Hi everyone, hi Junelight. Sorry Junelight you are suffering. In answer to your question I can only give you what I would do in your shoes. Given your past medication experience I would hold on the Remeron for awhile and get stable or stable enough. Whenever I feel like dropping this drug I remind myself that just because I get off from it doesn’t mean I’ll be well. I’m not saying that there are those who can do it but I’m not willing to go there and see. I have a family and responsibilities like you and many on this forum. I feel a mess at times just cutting 5% and this last cut was like 2%. I had a wonderful week last week and this week is hell. This drug is very unpredictable in my opinion. In the end we have to do what feels right for us. You’ll get this figured out and you will be alright. For me a taper schedule helps but that doesn’t mean it can’t be tweaked to fit our needs.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[ju...]]

hi jackie again,

when i looked your benzo  taper, i saw a schedule like that:

Jan    7TH,  14.5mg  (2013)

Jan  17TH,  14mg

Jan  25TH,  13.5mg

Feb  2ND,  13mg

Feb  10TH,  12.5mg

...

But you say, cutting 5 % make you uncomfortable sometimes. In other words, you make a faster program in benzos than remeron. I was thinking a 10day or two week hold-2.5 cut program, but i am a little confused about that.

 

What about this prog?

 

Sincerely...

[[ja...]]

Hi Junelight, the schedule you are looking at is from when I tapered from Valium in 2012. I c/o from 2mg Xanax to 40mg Valium and did this taper. It wasn’t easy at all. Remeron is not Valium and so I searched the blogs and forums to see what was the best approach. Just about everyone I talked with told me no more then 5 to 10% a month. I chose 5% and glad I did. For example, today I am in a horrendous wave. The fatigue is terrible. I can hardly lift my arms to type and this is day 28 from my last cut so for me to cut every 2 weeks I think would catch up to me and cause more sx’s. If you can cut every two weeks then that’s great. Maybe just make a cut and hold for a month and see how you do first. If you’re good then try every 2 weeks. Why put yourself through hell if you don’t have to.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[ju...]]

And so when ll this mess finish if we take this road in this pace? Cutting 5 % means for a month corresponds to many month and also more addiction to this drug? If you can say that, i had nearly no sxs during tapering, it may worth. I dont know what is what really:( When i was planning to finish in 100 day, i came to the point that i would be happy if it ended up in one year:)

 

To you, do i differ from you using remeron after ADs, after not benzos? Seeing so many people tapering benzos in one year, encourage me in this shape...