Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[du...]]

Ive only been on 7.5mg of Remeron for 28 days and it sure has helped me during the end of my valium taper. All I see is negative and horrible info about Remeron on here which is frightening and discouraging to me.

Ive spoken with a couple of my Drs about this 7.5mg of Remeron, and they want me to finish my benzo taper first and go from there. One Dr suggested that I might stay on this medication because I agree that I do have an anxiety disorder and have dealt with it my whole life and work every day on it. That's how I got into trouble with benzos in the first place.

 

Since Ive only been on it for 28 days at 7.5mg can I just quit? Also how do you taper? Does the pharmacy make a liquid compound for you?  Thx

[[Ja...]]

Dudeabides,

                  Remeron is a funny drug. Believe it or not 28 days is enough time to build a dependency. I honestly don’t know that your withdrawal, if you do even experience one at all would be any different now or later. Some even report that they failed their rem tapers while their CNS was still sensitized from benzo withdrawal but after a couple years they were able to quick taper the mirt with no withdrawal at all. If it is helping you might just use it to get you through the toughest of the valium withdrawals and then taper it. I don’t regret using it at all. I can’t imagine what I would have done without it. After 28 days you would still have to taper in my opinion.

 

Becky,

        I also get the fatigue til noon. I had it for 2 months when I went on the mirt. Then it went away. Now each cut is like a dose adjustment and so it is back until noon when I am cutting. It helps if I take it earlier. I take it at 7pm and go to bed around 9:30. I wake up for work between 5 and 5:30 am. The laer I take it the later the fatigue runs the next day. Taking earlier can help if you can. I don’t feel anything when I take my dose at night. I can still drive a car for like 2 hours afterwards. Then I start getting a little sleepy.

[[Be...]]

Thanks Jack. I took it earlier tonight. I'm going to slowly get it to at least an hour earlier. I believe this will help some.

 

Becky

[[ju...]]

Ive only been on 7.5mg of Remeron for 28 days and it sure has helped me during the end of my valium taper. All I see is negative and horrible info about Remeron on here which is frightening and discouraging to me.

Ive spoken with a couple of my Drs about this 7.5mg of Remeron, and they want me to finish my benzo taper first and go from there. One Dr suggested that I might stay on this medication because I agree that I do have an anxiety disorder and have dealt with it my whole life and work every day on it. That's how I got into trouble with benzos in the first place.

 

Since Ive only been on it for 28 days at 7.5mg can I just quit? Also how do you taper? Does the pharmacy make a liquid compound for you?  Thx

 

i wish i would say there is no matter about quitting. but when i was at first month, i tried to lessen the dose from 12 to 7.5 and got unpleasent effects and so turned back to 12 and i see you are already on tapering a drug, this could get you into a mess. imo this is just a gambling, a man can quit without no prob while another suffers so much. i started to taper(but now holding thanks to advices of people here) with a liquid generic mirt that 1 ml correspond to 15 mg.some other fellows taper using a comp. liquid 1 ml=1mg..

[[ju...]]

natalie, hey. it IS almost hell on earth, the whole withdrawal process - for certain. i think doctors, for the most part, have good intentions. i think they take their very standardized knowledge from medical school and couple that with what they are told by the pharmaceutical industry and that's what they dish out. it's what they know. sometimes it is wrong. this website is testament to that. we are the walking done-wrong-by-medicine crew!

i have to tell you, i got a good laugh last night. i was shaving and i was listening to the rolling stones' record "tattoo you." probably the last truly solid start-to-finish stones record. the second song on that thing is "hang fire." and i had never heard that phrase before in conversation until you said yesterday your gp told you to "hang fire" on starting the new med. damn near cut myself laughing when those dots connected. "HANG FIRE!"

you can't blame yourself for anything you've done w/ this process. don't do it. you're just trying to feel better. you've got kids to look out for. you have a career you want to get back to. even if you DID make the situation worse, everyday is a chance to make it better, letting your nervous system heal.

so, the blurred foggy vision. that symptom didn't just cut-out for me. it was a slow improvement. i should have taken better notes on how long and at what point certain things dissipated or ended, but i didn't. it was a gradual coming into focus though. like a camera trying to find its "zone." things are clear now.

also, i did have light sensitivity. this was a part of both my benzo and mirt withdrawal. not only would brightness kill my eyes, it would take forever for my eyes to adjust from going indoors to out, and back. not good!

noise sensitivity too. i remember standing in line to procure some food one day and this happy gal behind me in line was having a good old time w/ some kind of chewing gum product. cute. and she was snapping her gum, blowing bubbles, tra-la-la-la-la, SNAP!... ahhhh. i was about two seconds from turning around and saying "sister, if you do not immediately cease the noisy jawing of that watermelon flavored chew chunk you have in your mouth, you may see a man, weep, drop, spontaneously combust, turn into ash, and blow away right here on the spot!" oh, i could just hear the announcement over the store's public address system, can't you? - "cleanup on checkout aisle 3." and then the pimply faced food bag boy comes and sweeps up my dusty remains! ah! for real. the snapping of gum might as well have been canon fire. i am way past that symptom now. thankfully! i still deal with some coming and going tinnitus now, but that too has improved greatly.

i had gradually become agoraphobic as i developed benzo tolerance, so i was "used to it" by the time i hit withdrawal. i'd feel so lightheaded in public places, especially stores, that i thought i was going to drop. losing consciousness was a big fear. and if i had my kids with me, it made me even more nervous because what the hell would happen to them if i passed out!?!? let me tell you this. i had that symptom for over 2 years. and i never ONCE passed out. never once. have you actually ever passed out? i never did. but i feared it like crazy. it'd bring on a panic attack like nothing else. that agoraphobia is gone. i'll go wherever now. drive wherever. it's fine. that symptom will go!

i'm glad you were able to vent, that this is helpful. you're going to be fine if you make solid decisions going forward to take care of yourself. i think you are already doing that. remember - be a WISE consumer with the medical stuff. diagnostics have proven you are a physically healthy natalie. your nervous system is tweaked. and nervous systems heal. we have amazing capacity for healing. awe-inspiring really. you'll get there.

i did alright last night. i awoke this morning, the usual 4am "wham wham wham wham" of my heart. cortisol rush. the bright moon was there to put a light on the whole fiasco. so i did my usual "simmer routine." i take a magnesium glycinate. i sit in the dark in the living room and listen to "david bowie" or "thin lizzy" or whatever on the iPod and take some deep breaths and the cortisol slowly burns...away. i even find that coffee helps when the depression side of things kicks in. it doesn't over rev me any more. a good cup of black coffee and a thin lizzy ballad will have me going, "yeah, things get dark sometimes... here's to the darkness! ha!" truly, with the depression. if it is not harm-yourself or harm-others depression, it's normal human stuff. feels like hell. but if anyone ever tells you that they never get depressed, they are either lying or boring!

hang in there natalie. keep checking in here if this helps. when we bounce this stuff off others, it "normalizes" it all. once foot in front of the other - here's to it!

dave

 

hi Dave,i have been exp. some cortisol rush for app. 10 day. when will this pass? i have also magnesium glycinate and does it work?but my problem is not just about nights, it also contains the days in these days.what do you say about that?

[[no...]]

hi Dave,i have been exp. some cortisol rush for app. 10 day. when will this pass? i have also magnesium glycinate and does it work?but my problem is not just about nights, it also contains the days in these days.what do you say about that?

 

Hi June,

 

It's a terrible feeling. But it will pass. The corisol cycle is normal, but it's part of our natural wakening response, but in acutely stressful or chronically stressful situations - which is the case during withdrawal - it can be overwhelming. The nervous system is more sensitized to the cortisol release.

 

Early in withdrawal, I had spikes in the early morning, as well as in the later morning pushing noon, and then the rest of the afternoon and towards evening would be a decline in the levels.

 

The magnesium glycinate worked for me much of the time, but not always. There have also been studies noting that aspirin also reduces the cortisol response, but aspirin can be bad for the stomach lining and so I chose not to try that.

 

But this is a "normal" part of the withdrawal process, at least as I experienced it.

 

Hang in there, friend.

 

Dave

[[Be...]]

Hi buddies. So moving my dose earlier helps with the morning groggies. I'll keep moving it back until I reach an hour earlier. Thanks again Jack.

 

Now on to my next symptom. I have to be close to a bathroom as I've been having lots of loose stools. I expect some of this but it's getting a bit ridiculous. Has anyone tried a probiotic during tapering? I tried one a few weeks ago before tapering and it seemed to really help my stomach. Anything else that helps?

 

Becky 

[[Ja...]]

I went to the gastro about it. He said that it’s just the way it is coming off of antidepressants. At least he was aware of it. Lol. He told me to take immodium if it really bothered me. I wasn’t sure if imodium was bwd safe so I haven’t tried it. I’ve just been dealing with it. It’s not too bad. Mornings are worse and it’s better on some days than others. I stay away from dairy and foods with too much fat.

[[Th...]]

Is Remeron especially difficult to come off or does this apply generally to any antidepressant?

[[Ja...]]

Some are easier than others. Not everyone experiences withdrawal from Remeron.

[[Be...]]

So I am 16 days into my small cut of Rem. I'm having difficulty with this first cut. I did not expect it to be this bad. I read here that the 2 week mark the withdrawal increases. Still I'm not sure if it's because my cutting is inaccurate (I use the scale). Nausea, loose stools, dizziness, etc.

 

I called a compound pharmacy that sounded good. I explained that I need the same manufacturer. I mentioned that my doc was hesitant about getting me a liquid script. Since I already have the pills from the mail away pharmacy, she said I should bring in the pills in the bottle and they could make a liquid prep. She was knowledgeable and told me that I might even still have a reaction because the "delivery" of the med would be different. The pharmacist said I could bring in some pills to see if it works so I won't mess up all the pills if it does not work. What do you think buddies? Should I get the liquid and start again at the full 7.5 mg dose? Or start at the 7.5 mg pill for a week and then try the liquid? I think I could go down by .1 each taper to make my system happier.

 

Becky

[[Ja...]]

My first cut was the worst. However it was a 10 percent cut. I then stabilized after a couple weeks and them started cutting .3 mg twice a week. It was tough but not too bad. I allowed myself to stabilize for this wedding I attended this past weekend. I am now tapering .3 mg per week. At this slower pace I am not having much in the way of withdrawals. I feel some but it’s minor. I am going to continue at this pace until i reach 7.5 mg and then reevaluate. The first cut was the worst though. I am using compounded liquid. I started tapering as soon as I got the liquid with no adjustment period. This could also be why my first cut was so much worse.

[[Po...]]

Becky. It will be impossible to cut accurately in small increments below 7.5mg without going to a liquid form of the mirtazapine. I make my own liquid form of it. It’s really quite easy and much much cheaper than going to a compounding pharmacy. I’d be glad to tell you what you need to do it and how.

Pokey

[[Ja...]]

My insurance covers the compounding costs. Not all do. Something to keep in mind.

[[Be...]]

Hi Jack. I believe my insurance does not. My prescribing doctor, when asked, flat out refused. On two difference occasions. Is it liability, too much work, I do not know. I started calling around well reviewed pharmacies that compound and found one. I just bring in the pills and they make it in one day. I get my pills from a mail away pharmacy a 90 day supply. Is this even legal? lol. I thought that the doctor has to directly send the script to the compound pharmacy. Whatever, I may do this. I don't know the cost yet.

 

Pokey thanks for your offer. I need to find a way that works. I expect withdrawal of course but I am not so confident in my cutting and weighing. The pills crumble when I cut so I have to add a piece to the pile on the scale. Not sure if it's working right. I suspect my cuts are bigger than I wanted. I only wanted to go to 7.2 mg, just a .3 cut.

 

I was just there at the pharmacy and they seemed on the ball. She showed me a 5 ml syringe and where the increments were, .3 was the smallest increment, but I could go in between the lines to get a dose of say 7.35 mg. The 7.5 dose would be the full 5 ml syringe. I would also get the same brand each time since I'm bringing in the pills. I pick up the liquid (two weeks worth) Monday. If all goes well I'll bring in a month's supply at a time.

 

I am not sure and still thinking about it. My plan is to go back to the full dose 7.5mg, stay there for a while, and then start the liquid. It's just over 2 weeks. I hope it's not too late to go back to the full dose.

 

Becky 

[[Be...]]

Wow I just called the pharmacy and it will only be $15 a month. She explained that it's because they are only doing the compounding and I supply the med. This will be a lucky break if it works.

 

Becky 

[[Po...]]

Becky. $15 for compounding is pretty cheap, amazing they will do it that cheap. It’s easiest to draw an accurate dose if the concentration is 1mg/ml and they probably should not compound more than 30 tablets at time for the sake of shelf life. Be sure to shake the bottle well at each dose. The mirtazapine tends to cling to the sides of the bottle. Curious why your doc is opposed to having your mirtazapine compounded into a liquid form.  You gotta get it compounded one way or another as there’s no way to get an accurate dose trying to cut tablets especially as you go lower in dose from 7.5.

Pokey

[[Ja...]]

My pshych wouldn’t write me a script for liquid either. She said you can just cut you’re dose in half and then stop. I said, no that’s okay I’d like to taper off 10 percent at a time. She said it’s not necessary because mirtazapine doesn’t cause withdrawal. I said I’m sorry but I know that is not true. I want to be cautious here. She said well, try cutting the pills and if it doesn’t work then we will do the liquid. She was just being lazy. She likes to rush you in and out the door. She would rather risk my suffering than learn how to write a compounding script for Remeron. So I smiled and walked out. I walked right past the counter where I normally schedule my next appointment. Haven’t been back since. My PCP was willing to help me out. I offered to do the leg work for him. He appreciated that. I went to the contending pharmacy myself and discussed dose options with them. We settled on 5mg per 5ml. If I was on 7.5 mg I would do what Pokey suggested and do 1mg to 1ml. I will likely switch the formula to that when my dose is lower. The pharmacy told me what the script had to say and I made an appt back with my doc. He of course called the compounding pharmacy to verify the info was correct. And then I had my liquid.

[[Be...]]

Hi everyone. Going through withdrawal is one crazy thing. I reinstated to 7.5 since I only started my taper 10/3. A lot of the w/d I was having calmed down, anxiety/d/r/nausea. I still feel pretty bad. I believe partly that this is a virus/flu I have come down with. Coincidentally I had my flu shot on 10/11 (my husband too). I felt cold-like symptoms after the shot. I asked my husband if he felt anything. He says he had the same stuff. A few days later the rem w/d symptoms increased especially the loose stools. My symptoms today are upper respiratory symptoms, a little nauseau, and constant loose stools. It's possible the flu shot revved me up too or gave me a small dose of the flu.

 

There are times in my withdrawal I have questioned everything, including this, and ask myself, "what the hell just happened?".

 

Feel better everyone.

 

Becky 

[[ja...]]

Hi everyone, Jack, when I tapered Valium I had to do all the math for my doctor every month then he wrote the script. I was just thankful he was helping me. It really was a miracle he helped me because he wasn’t going to at first. If he hadn’t helped me I would have had to drive 5 hours to and 5 hours back to see a “ Benzo wise doc “ each month. They make it difficult to get off these drugs but so easy to get on them.

 

This coming Sunday I’ll make another cut. Been doing ok again as long as I cut out the sugar. It really sends me into major brain fog and anxiety. My stomach muscles are a bit tight today but hanging in there. Have a good Sunday everyone.

 

Jackie 

[[Ja...]]

Yeah I notice the same thing Jackie. Sometimes I have to watch my sugar intake and sometimes my salt intake based on my symptoms. I have another cut tonight to 10.8 mg.

[Guest [Lo...]]

Anybody have horrible withdrawal side effects that continue after 4 months off?  It is hard to know whether I am still experiencing them or klonopin tolerance.  Thank you.  Nasty drug!

[[Be...]]

I'm sorry Lookinup. I don't have the answer to that. I agree it's a nasty drug. A couple of members on this thread have had w/d's after stopping it. I believe brave rabbit was one if I remember correctly.

 

I wanted to ask rem peeps. I was told by the pharmacy that the liquid remeron lasts about a month. Has that been your experience or does it last a bit longer? I was thinking maybe it could be frozen.

 

Becky

[Guest [Lo...]]

I'm sorry Lookinup. I don't have the answer to that. I agree it's a nasty drug. A couple of members on this thread have had w/d's after stopping it. I believe brave rabbit was one if I remember correctly.

 

I wanted to ask rem peeps. I was told by the pharmacy that the liquid remeron lasts about a month. Has that been your experience or does it last a bit longer? I was thinking maybe it could be frozen.

 

Becky

Thanks, Becky.  I will check into brave rabbit’s posts.

[Guest [Lo...]]

 

I am between 80% and 90% healed. I have amazing and really good patches of feeling healed with no insomnia and no night time pain , and then some scattered low times of  night time muscle and nerve pain in my lower arms and legs , along with some insomnia . Initially I went through an intense period of withdrawal when I jumped from the remeron . A lot of pain, insomnia and horrible akathisia . Recovery has been completely non-linear since then, but finally the good days and nights far outnumber the bad . Hang in there . Many of us have been hit with the remeron bomb and recovered .

 

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I too had terrible akathisia. It started as 24/7 inner restless horror terror feeling and turmoil where even watching a Disney cartoon was scary, then morphed into a sharp stomach-twisting nervousnesses, and now it’s a on and off chemical fear or slight mental unease with much less physical agitation. I remember how tight my solar plexus was for months at a time. Either way the worst of it is over but now I tackle Benzo and beta blocker withdrawal, both of which I took to mitigate the remeron withdrawal.

 

I also had cardiac issues because of the remeron cold turkey. Insomnia. Dysautonomia. Electric shocks. Intrusive thoughts. Tinnitus -‘d even some auditory hallucinations. Intolerance to stimulation. Elevated adrenaline in blood tests. Burning etc etc. Did you have mental symptoms like fear, unease, or dp/ seperate from the ak?

 

Thanks for the hope. I’m glad you’re almost there at 100%!

. Oh my, I am experiencing horrible effects from coming off 1.8 mg remeron in June.  Hope to get through this.  Using Ambien to get a few hours a night and next will be benzo and Propanolol.  Does it really come to an end?