Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[ja...]]

Hi Jack, June and everyone else, I made my 5% cut last night down to 0.025grams. Today I’m feeling foggy and off like always. It’s rainy and gloomy here. Been spending my day canning tomatoes. Tired already but that seems to be everyday. Luckily it’s not the crushing fatigue I usually get from this taper. Anyway just checking in to see how everyone else is doing.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[Ja...]]

Hi Jackie,

              I’m doing okay today. No fatigue. The only thing I have today is the flu-like symtoms. I would rate them as moderate. I ran errands all day and now am at my parent’s for dinner. I don’t feel well but it’s manageable. I cam tell you this though. That doc was out of her mind telling me to cut straight to 7.5 mg. I am so glad I went with my gut and started with a 10 percent cut. I feel like I really dodge a bullet there.

[[ja...]]

Jack, I’m guessing you did dodge a bullet. Most doctors don’t know about this kind of withdrawal. Sadly, then give out these pills not even understanding how bad it can get. What’s worse is they then accuse us of making the sx’s up. I’ve never met one doctor who understands this. Much of the time it is not their fought. How can they know. Anyway glad you’re doing pretty good though. I never know what I’m getting on any given day. At some point I would like to try a 10% cut but I’m too chicken. I’ll watch you for awhile.

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[Po...]]

Hello All. I’ve been tapering off mirtazapine for some time. I was as high as 30mg. I am now at 2.2mg and the lower I go the worse it seems to be. I wake up almost every morning feeling like I have a bad case of the flu. I manage to get through most days but some days I just feel awful all day. I’ve been on BB for some time but for whatever reason did not know this special group of mirtazapine folks was here. Nice to find u all. Can anyone tell me if others have experienced the same, that being, the lower they go the worse they feel. My doc and I as well think maybe I should just get off the last 2 mg quickly, a rip off the band aide approach and get it the hell over with. Can’t imagine I’d feel any worse I’m pretty sick n tired of all this. Can’t have a life.

 

Pokey

[[no...]]

Hello All. I’ve been tapering off mirtazapine for some time. I was as high as 30mg. I am now at 2.2mg and the lower I go the worse it seems to be. I wake up almost every morning feeling like I have a bad case of the flu. I manage to get through most days but some days I just feel awful all day. I’ve been on BB for some time but for whatever reason did not know this special group of mirtazapine folks was here. Nice to find u all. Can anyone tell me if others have experienced the same, that being, the lower they go the worse they feel. My doc and I as well think maybe I should just get off the last 2 mg quickly, a rip off the band aide approach and get it the hell over with. Can’t imagine I’d feel any worse I’m pretty sick n tired of all this. Can’t have a life.

 

Pokey

 

Hey Pokey,

 

How fast have you tapered? And have you ever reached a feeling of stabilization as you have? I weaned of Mirtazapine at a 10% dose reduction every 30 days. Many here are following an equally slow and methodical taper.

 

Personally, I'd advise against a band-aid yank. If your nervous system is already destabilized, that can have a huge affect. You describe feeling awful, what are your symptoms?

 

Hang in there,

 

Dave

[[Ja...]]

Hi Pokey,

            When you say you feel like you have the flu do you also have any nasal congestion or sinus inflamation or watery eye, any itching or anything like that?

[[Ja...]]

Hi all,

        So, just took my seventh dose at 13.5 mg. Today was decent. I had minimal symptoms. I was mostly flu symptom free except for about 2 hours where I had it only mildy. I had about an hour where my right hand felt like it was being elecrocuted every couple of minutes. I had some minor muscle spasms stuff but not often and nothing severe. My mood was slightly on the blah side but I wouldn’t quite classify it as depression. Back to work tomorrow so I guess I’ll see how that goes.

[[ja...]]

Hi Pokey, you’re at 2.2mg, not to far to go. Slow and steady and you’ll get there.

 

 

Today I’ve been keeping busy but this headfog is overwhelming all day and most everyday. Does anyone experience this? Whenever I get a break in this sx I always think, this is how most people feel, life feels easier. I can’t wait for that feeling. Day 3 of my cut.

 

Jackie :smitten:

 

[[Po...]]

My symptoms are hard to describe precisely. I wake up most every morning feeling stiff, achey, upset stomach/gut. Often wake with strong urge to have a BM. Tingling in my leg, sometimes short of breath and feel weak. No psych symptoms and I sleep, so no insomnia.  Overall feeling of malaise. Generally feel sick. After I get up and get going I start to feel better, not perfect but much better.  I started my latest cut from 7.5mg back in January and am now at 2.2mg. I guess I wouldn’t call that fast. Just know I’m sick n tired of waking up feeling this way. I’m using a liquid form of mirt I make myself btw, not that makes much difference I’d assume.

[[Ja...]]

I know I feel lousy in the morning and it doesn’t fully lift until about 12 noon or so. It reminds me of when I first started rhis med I would be exteemelt sedated until around noon. I was in such sever Xanax withdrawal at rhe time I wouldn’t have been able to notice any other symptoms. The reason I asked about your symptoms is because of this histamine intolerance thinfs that I’ve been looking into. I aleady found out that eggs and spinach make me very sick with symtoims. And not surprisingly both are high in histamine. I had chocolate after dinner the other night and had a rough morning and choopy night sleep. Looked it up andnaure enough chocolate is high in histamine. And I hear the lower you go in dose the worse the histamine intolerance gets.

[[Po...]]

I’ve wondered about the histamine issue. Certainly the lower I go the worse the symptoms seem to be. I have no idea what foods would affect this. Sounds like I need to do some research. When I get to 1.875mg, or 1/4 of a tablet I’m going to hold there for a while to see I can get some temporary relief

[[Ja...]]

I researched this extensively before starting and it seems that people hit a rough spot right about where you are. Many report having to slow down significantly at these lower doses. The same people report feeling able to accelerate their tapers after this hump around the 1 mg mark. But the interesting thing is that almost everyone seems to develop histamine intolerance during this withdrawal that gets worse as they lower their dose. At lower doses the main receptors hit by this drug are histamine. If you read symptoms of histamine intolerance they describe head pressure, dizziness, increased anxiety, joint pain due to inflammation, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, fatigue and general feeling of malaise. I watched all of the videos by a woman named Erin Green on youtube and she documents her entire taper. She noticed the histamine intolerance too and in her last video even states that her success in the end of her taper where everyone struggled she felt was due to her clean low histamine diet. Look into it. You certainly have nothing to lose by trying it.

[Guest [Me...]]

Hello everyone!

 

I postes a few times on this tread...

 

I am off the benzo since 8 months after a 14 months taper...and down to 1mg of mirt from 7,5 after 18 months of tapering...

 

I sleep well most of the time...but once in a whole, out of the blue I have a night of 0 or two yours of sleep...anyone in here get these?

 

I know last night I diffused some peppermint essential oil...could it be it? We never know do we?

[[Ja...]]

Hi Mary,

            I am not sure I went into it here in this thread but a few years ago after a motorcycle accident I was put on valium as a muscle relaxer by the doctor. Not sure why he chose to give me a benzo instead of a muscle relaxer but this was back when I could still trust doctors, a luxury I can no longer afford. Lol. Anyway, after 30 days I stopped clos turkey. I then went onto to have insomnia, anxiety, and stomach issues afterwards. I couldn’t work for weeks. I was so fatigued. The doctors couldnt figure out what was wrong. It only lasted a few weeks and then it went away. But it came back at random times over the next year or two. They thougt I had chronic fatigue syndrome. Then after a couple years it didn’t come back again. I now know that it was benzo withdrawal. I wish I would have figured that out before and then didn’t allow myself to end up on xanax for six months at twice the dose. So I am way more messed up this time. Point is, it may be the underlying benzo withdrawal and not the remeron. But insomnia is a symptom of both so could be either. However, if you can’t link it to a cycle in your mirt taper then know that I did experience this in a more minor prior benzo withdrawal.

[[ju...]]

Hello jack and everyone.

 

I am at 13th day of 12 mg and i am experiencing some bad days, i felt a feeling of like fever yesterday and fortunately its level reduced today, but burning sens. are available there. I am asking myself how long this crazy period will continue and so my morale is bad. I am still waiting to get stable a little. I am now on 23 day holiday but at home. Spending time at home is another issue, i know.

 

Anyway, sys..

[[Ja...]]

Hi June,

          Yeah, I understand completely. I am on my 10th day after my first cut and while I am physically feeling measurably better I notice that around day 7 or 8 my mood tanked. It makes is hard. I have been going through this for a year now and I just want it to be over. But the only way out is to go through it. I am noticing that I really can not tolerate sugar. It makes me feel much much worse. I am also getting migraines now. I get ocullar migraines which I really don’t like because I cam barely see when I am having them. I had anxiety for a few days which seems to be ramping down now. This is in now way comparable to benzo wothdrawal as far as severity goes but I was feeling so much better it is discouraging to have to face any discomfort again. The worst part is that ir affexts our mood when we need our spirits up the most. It does sound like you are starting to stabilize which is great. Just remember that when you so it is okay to enjoy it for a while before cutting again. I am considering microtapering my next 10 percent cut over the course of a week or two to see if it softens the symptoms at all. Guess we’ll see.

[[NJ...]]

Hello everyone!

 

I postes a few times on this tread...

 

I am off the benzo since 8 months after a 14 months taper...and down to 1mg of mirt from 7,5 after 18 months of tapering...

 

I sleep well most of the time...but once in a whole, out of the blue I have a night of 0 or two yours of sleep...anyone in here get these?

 

I know last night I diffused some peppermint essential oil...could it be it? We never know do we?

 

I thought peppermint was supposed to be energizing?

[[sh...]]

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

 

Hi Dave and Jackie,

 

Dropping in to check on things.  Jackie good to hear you are still making progress.  I'm sorry you are struggling so, but CONGRATULATE you on your perseverance.  My prayers are with you.

 

Dave, it's nice to meet you.  I haven't been on since page 175 and am now seeing your posts since.  I really, really appreciate your support for so many here and for your wisdom from years of tapering this drug.  I realize from Jackie's comment that you started this thread.  I have been trying to read through this group from beginning to end to gain more knowledge before I continue tapering.  I'm only about a third through the info and took a bit of a break.  I seem to remember when reading early summer that your name and Avatar were different.  Did you change that recently when you became a moderator?  Just trying to fit pieces together regarding what I read then and now.

 

I can't tell you how helpful it is to hear from someone who has been through this, is doing well and is still here to share and support.  Thank you so much for that and for your continued support when you could just be getting on with your life.

 

You mention that you were on drugs for much of your life and are finding freedom now.  I am so thrilled for you.  That just must feel so liberating to find an all new baseline without drugs. 

 

On that note, I wonder if you could share a couple of things?  First, can you share a bit about why you held for so long from 2014 to 2018?Secondly, did you have anxiety prior to all these drugs and is that one of the reasons you were prescribed drugs?  If so, did that come back to haunt you in withdrawals and, if so, was there anything you were able to do/take naturally to help with that?  This is my case and I wonder how I will handle it drug free, especially now, since I'm very compromised from both a Benzo and AD taper. 

 

The Mirtazapine was a bit of a rescue for me from the former.  However, I have had many drug/supplement and even food interactions with it that have made a taper very difficult to calculate percentage cuts.  That's another story for later.  Just wanted to introduce myself and say thanks for being here!

[[ja...]]

Hi Sharkie, Dave, Jack, June and everyone else., also welcome Merrymary.

 

Today is day 8 of my 5% cut and I’m doing better on this cut so far, however I know how quickly it can change. Sx’s I have are still the cog fog and bouts of anxiety but I’m coping ok.

 

Thank you Sharkie for the kind words and your prayers. Same to you my friend.

 

Merrymary, I get those nights every so often where I can’t sleep. It’s like my brain is wired but for the most part thank goodness I’m still sleeping most of the time.

 

Hang in there,

 

Jackie  :smitten:

[[ju...]]

Hi everybody again, there is a question in my mind that i want to take answer. We are arguing not only the rem but also the foods that we should eat. I have been trying to do low histamine diet, but i am really hungry because there is not too much option. First of all, as i understand, tomatoes, its paste, spinach and banana are absolutely forbidden. As tomatoes paste or juice are used immensely in many meals, this limits us drastically. By the way, i like eating 🍅

 

Out of them, gluten and dairy is really a problem?So, What do we eat? Bread is forbidden, pasta is forbidden, cheese is forbidden and so what? Is the trick here to take these foods in low amounts or cut completely. My appetite is very high, but i am hungry for that issue.

 

I want to continue drinking some light tea twice a day, some light white cheese and fruits..

 

Please give some info about that...

[[Ja...]]

The low histamine diet is tricky. However, there is no need to stave yourself. And it’s important to remember it’s about total volume of histamine in your body and not so much about individual foods. Banana is forbidden because it is a histamine liberator meaning it releases histamine from other foods in your gut. So in theory if you ate extremely low to no histamine and then ate a half of or a single banana you would be fine. Think of it like this. You have a faucet and a drain. The faucet is flowing at a gallon per minute and the drain can process a gallon maximum. If you left things alone at this rate it would be fine as the drain is keeping up with the flow. However,  if you started adding a cup of water per minute to the sink eventually it would overflow. However, if you turned the faucet down to half a gallon per minute and continued pouring in the cups of water the sink would not overflow. You will not feel symptoms from histamine until your internal sink overflows. It is highly personal because where I might have a 1 gallon drain you may have a 2 gallon drain and could handle a higher amount od histamine from your diet. In remeron withdrawal the size of our drain decreases and now you need to find your new limit. So a couple pieces of bread might be okay if you are eatinf otherwise low histamine. It is important to note as well that wheat/gluten is actually very low in histamine. It is the yeast that is causing the problem. If you are a bread lover then find some recipes for yeast free bread and you should be good assuming you are not gluten intolerant. Dairy is also not necessarily high in histamine. Ages cheeses like cheddar are and fermented dairy like yogurt is. But you might be fine with ice cream or just straight up milk. You have to experiment a little bit. Also, if you have seasonal allergies you will have to be much stricter with your diet during allergy season because your sink is already overflowing. There are yeast free rice breads available in some supermarkets and you can find gluten free pastas made from quinoa, corn or rice flour that you should tolerate better if wheat pasta is bothering you.

[[Pt...]]

Rather restricting yourself harshly, why not do a symptom based modification in diet? If certain foods cause symptoms such as headaches, stomach issues, then cut down on that food group. I'm down to 0.75mg and haven't found that any specific foods are causing symptoms. I eat everything in moderation though, and stay away from junk food, that's pretty much it. If I go lower and find that eating something revs me up, then I'll cut back on that.

[[no...]]

 

Dave, it's nice to meet you.  I haven't been on since page 175 and am now seeing your posts since.  I really, really appreciate your support for so many here and for your wisdom from years of tapering this drug.  I realize from Jackie's comment that you started this thread.  I have been trying to read through this group from beginning to end to gain more knowledge before I continue tapering.  I'm only about a third through the info and took a bit of a break.  I seem to remember when reading early summer that your name and Avatar were different.  Did you change that recently when you became a moderator?  Just trying to fit pieces together regarding what I read then and now.

 

I can't tell you how helpful it is to hear from someone who has been through this, is doing well and is still here to share and support.  Thank you so much for that and for your continued support when you could just be getting on with your life.

 

You mention that you were on drugs for much of your life and are finding freedom now.  I am so thrilled for you.  That just must feel so liberating to find an all new baseline without drugs. 

 

On that note, I wonder if you could share a couple of things?  First, can you share a bit about why you held for so long from 2014 to 2018?Secondly, did you have anxiety prior to all these drugs and is that one of the reasons you were prescribed drugs?  If so, did that come back to haunt you in withdrawals and, if so, was there anything you were able to do/take naturally to help with that?  This is my case and I wonder how I will handle it drug free, especially now, since I'm very compromised from both a Benzo and AD taper. 

 

 

sharkie, hey.

 

It's nice to meet you too, thank you No, I've always used now-power and my avatar has always been what it is. I'm too boring to go and change stuff up too often. I like to stick with the same old and roll with it.

 

In terms of the long taper, I was very cautious. Benzo withdrawal had been so terrifying, I really didn't want to go through anything like that again. My approach to Mirtazapine withdrawal was much more pragmatic and careful. And I just didn't rush it. I'd been on drugs since I was 6 or 7 years old, so in the scheme of things, I felt I could deal with a bit more time if it meant doing what was right for me. Because ultimately, my goal was what I am now - drug free. I just didn't want to achieve drug-free in a way that hurt me. I wanted to come out of this stronger. I did come out of this stronger. Much stronger.

 

So you have to remember, when you ask me if I had anxiety before all these drugs, that I was on the drugs at such a young age. Memory in those early years is fickle. But ostensibly, that was one of the reasons I was put on the drugs. Because I was not living up to academic expectations. I was shy. I was nervous to be separated from my parents. So yes, most likely I was an anxious little boy. And I had terrible, terrible anxiety when I was on the drugs. I am now in my 3rd month completely drug free. After decades and decades on some drug or other, I am drug free. Do I ever have anxiety, yes. But anxiety is a natural human response to stressful situations. And I find now, the anxiety I experience is appropriate to stressful life situations. Work presentations, my kids getting sick, things needing fixing - I get some anxiety. But it isn't that unstoppable, surging, debilitating anxiety I'd always known on the drugs. It comes, I deep breathe, I lift some weights, I dig in and hunker down, I handle it, it leaves, and I go on.

 

My guess is that you will become acquainted with anxiety in a different way too. Regular life anxiety is not fun, but it isn't the same variety of anxiety that you have known medicated and during withdrawal. And also, it is worth realizing that during the time we were on the drugs, we have aged, grown, be exposed to different things. The psychological condition of humans is completely fluid. Had I never been medicated, I might very well have grown out of my shyness on my own.

 

All this to say, I have never felt as well as I do now. Never. Of course I've only truly known a medicated life until now. But I am really becoming well accustomed to the non-medicated life. And really, everywhere from 2mg of mirtazapine and below has been a slow and gradual accustomizing (I think I just invented that word) to life as I know it now. I am no-one from nowhere. If I can have a positive life post-withdrawal, anyone and everyone can.

 

Hang in there,

 

Dave

[[sh...]]

Dave,

 

Thank you again.  Your success story is both encouraging and compelling.  I appreciate you sharing so much.  I guess I'm just remebering wrong your name and avatar when I started reading this thread, but hey, that's nothing new.  The brain fog has been one of the things I struggle with. 

 

Thanks for answering my questions.  I'm so glad you came out of this as strong as you did and are now willing and able to help others.  I value your input.  So just to clarify, in your signature when you went from 3.6 in 2014 to .7 in 2018 were you tapering slowly (as you explained) the whole time?  Did you have to hold for extended periods of time (maybe even months) to stabilize?  Did you have a system of 10% or 5% cuts within a specific interval?  Forgive me if you have already mentioned this somewhere else and I haven't seen it.  I think we all can relate that we want to acheive drug-free in a way that doesn't hurt us!!  So I'm gathering as much data to help me in that venture.

 

You've waited a very long time to be drug-free.  I can't even imagine how life must now feel.  I did not start taking an AD until age 40 for anxiety/panic.  That you started so young is hard to comprehend.  It's wonderful you are feeling so good now.  I am hopeful, I will someday be able to have a positive life post-withdrawal too.  Thanks for the encouraging story.

 

Sharkie

 

 

 

 

 

[[no...]]

So just to clarify, in your signature when you went from 3.6 in 2014 to .7 in 2018 were you tapering slowly (as you explained) the whole time?  Did you have to hold for extended periods of time (maybe even months) to stabilize?  Did you have a system of 10% or 5% cuts within a specific interval?

 

Yes, you've got it correct sharkie. 3.6mg in 2014 to .7mg in 2018 - I was tapering that slowly. And there were some incredibly long breaks in there. I often took short breaks from cutting around holidays or when I had important events coming up - just because I didn't want to risk destabilization. And there were a few very long holds - like months - where the Mirt side-effects were subdued enough that I felt I could hold for an extended period of time just to let my nervous system catch up with the changes. For the most part, it was 10% every 30 days, but yes, with the aforementioned holds. I never cut before 30 days, but was not averse to waiting longer, and sometimes much longer than 30 days, depending how I felt. Those are really good questions.

 

Hang in there,

 

Dave