Remeron (Mirtazapine) Withdrawal Support Group

[[Po...]]

Perth. You cannot use water alone to make a liquid solution of mirtazapine. It will NOT go into a homogeneous solution in H2O. It will not dissolve uniformity in water alone. You need to use a SUSPENSION solution like ORA-Plus. You can buy Ora-Plus on Amazon. Make a mixture of 1 part water and 1part Ora Plus. Make a concentration of 1mg of mirtazapine to 1ml of the water/Ora-Plus. For example 50 mg of mirtazapine in 50ml of the water/OraPlus mixture. Refrigerate and shake well each time you draw a dose.

Pokey.

 

[[Ja...]]

Thanks Jack37.  I'm looking at your signature and it looks your are tapering around .3mg every 2-4 days?

 

I only did that for a short period over the summer. Then I started doing .3 every 7 days. Currently I am doing .15 mg every 3-4 days.

[[Po...]]

Jack. I have another question for you about the shortness of breath you have experienced. I’m having it only at night when sleeping. The term for that is orthopnea, shortness of breath when lying down. One primary cause of such is heart failure but I’m confident I don’t have that based on what my cardiologist has said. I have a mitral valve issue is why I see a heart doc. Another cause is gut obesity. I have that as a result of gaining weight on this danged stuff. There are other causes but I’m hoping once I finally get off I can lose the weight and eliminate the shortness of breath. But I’ve heard others mention shortness of breath while on/tapering off mirtazapine. but I’m curious what the mechanism is that mirtazapine alone would cause shortness of breath. I’m curious about your experience/ symptoms if you are willing to share.

Pokey

 

[[Ja...]]

Pokey,

        I honestly have no idea what causes the shortness of breath. Mine never happens at night only during the day. It also only happens when I am tapering too fast. Are you eating too close to bedtime? I know that when I take my dose at night I eat like an animal and go to bed so full I feel like I am going to burst. I’ve actually been woken up choking on food that comes up from eating so much at night. My shortness of breath is usually coupled with palpitations. Last night I took my dose and two times I had a very strong sudden dull pain in my left chest that was definitely heart related followed by some fast beats and shortness of breath. It happened twice. Other than that I felt fine. I wore the 7 day monitor and my doc says they are just regular palps and is convinced they are mirt related because I passed all tests. He told me I have the heart of an athlete. The strange thing is I can go all day lifting and running and up and down countless flights of stairs and exerting myself to the extreme and the heart stuff never happens until I am sitting down in my recliner doing nothing. I could go to the gym and work out like an animal for hours and be fine but as soon as I sit down to do nothing and watch tv I start getting heart palps and chest pain and shortness of breath. I just don’t get it.

[[ju...]]

Jack,hi again

Can i ask a question about the pattern of wd. As you know Dave described a pattern of monthly cut like that: first one or two days being off, then ramping at one week and then wane and stabilize on third week. In your situation, how does it work? Does it have cumulative effect from starting. What is the difference between September and now?

The last question is about me. Where did you decide to start tapering? When you were in the middle of benzo wd, for ex at 4th month, did you consider to go forward or wait patiently? I mean you started although you were symptomatic?

Thank you

[[Ja...]]

June,

        Yes I started tapering mirt while I was still having benzo symptoms. I decided to start because most of the time I wasn’t having any significant benzo symptoms. Tapering small amounts every few days like I am doing is a little tricky. Yes the effects are cumulative if you go too fast. If I go slow enough I don’t feel much at all. I try to ride the middle ground between taper speed and symptoms. It’s just something you have to do and you get the hang of it. Sometimes symptoms build up and that is when you see me hold for a couple weeks.

[[Po...]]

I have a question.  I’m now at .9mg of mirtazapine. Every time I make a cut I’m miserable for at least 10-12 days. Some times longer. 21 days seems to be about when I start feeling semi-human again. Although I continue to wake up each morning in discomfort whether 5, 10 or 21 days. So here’s my question. Why not jump off now and get it over with? Could it be any worse? Seems like I may be prolonging the agony with making these dibs and dabs cuts. So why not “rip off the band aide” and be done with it to writhe in a final bout of agony. Hopefully my last.

[[dr...]]

I have a question.  I’m now at .9mg of mirtazapine. Every time I make a cut I’m miserable for at least 10-12 days. Some times longer. 21 days seems to be about when I start feeling semi-human again. Although I continue to wake up each morning in discomfort whether 5, 10 or 21 days. So here’s my question. Why not jump off now and get it over with? Could it be any worse? Seems like I may be prolonging the agony with making these dibs and dabs cuts. So why not “rip off the band aide” and be done with it to writhe in a final bout of agony. Hopefully my last.

 

I jumped from 1 mg 3 days ago. I was OK at 3, 2 and 1 for a few weeks. I held 30 days per step. But it's hard right now. I'll keep posting. I was on 3.75 for years.

 

There is a big psychological rush to ending a taper. You don't have to keep going back to that poison every day. Good luck.

[[Po...]]

I jumped from 1 mg 3 days ago. I was OK at 3, 2 and 1 for a few weeks. I held 30 days per step. But it's hard right now. I'll keep posting. I was on 3.75 for years.

 

There is a big psychological rush to ending a taper. You don't have to keep going back to that poison every day. Good luck.

 

Yes, keep me posted how you are doing

[[Be...]]

I gone through the holidays, caregiving, two viruses, and my heat going out for a few days. Now I'm ready to taper. I've just started my liquid taper with the help of a compounding pharmacy. I'm just starting slowly switching over by using half dose in pill and half dose liquid. I won't cut until I'm fully on liquid for a bit. It's my own brand of mirt that I give them so I know what I'm getting. Wish me luck.

 

Becky

[[Ja...]]

Good luck Becky!

[[ja...]]

Good luck Becky!

 

Jackie 

[[ju...]]

Good luck Becky!pleased to see you here again..

[[Be...]]

Thanks guys & gals.

 

Becky

 

[[Ja...]]

Sometimes sticking to a schedule is hard. Tomorrow night is my next cut. It took so much self control not to make the cut tonight. I could handle it but Sundays and Thursdays are my cut days. I made myself wait. The reason I am so excited about this cut is because tomorrow night’s cut will be to 7.5 mg. Tomorrow officially marks the halfway point in my taper! It will have taken me 5 months to go from 15 to 7.5 mg. I hope I can continue to keep this pace going forward. I guess I’ll have to see.

[[Ja...]]

HALFWAY!

[[ju...]]

Celebrate you!I hope you ll do fine.I hope we all get through this...

[[Lu...]]

Looking for some advice

iv come off valium 5 month's ago

Zopiclone 3 and a half months ago...

 

gp put me on mirtazapine 5 month's ago has helped alot with sleeping and low mood upped my dose from 22.5mg to 30mgs two weeks ago because of very bad anxiety that came out of nowhere i was doing fine up until then

 

So 2 weeks on and I'm still no better a little worse if im honest..

Don't know what to do for the best come off it all together or just keep pushing through

[[Ja...]]

The problem with questions like this are that no one really feels comfortable answering. This stuff is so case specific and small dose changes produce such dramatic results in certain individuals that no one wants to feel responsible for messing you up. Any advice we give is going to somewhat vague and very conservative. As I mentioned on another thread for most people higher doses as in doses above 15mg tend to have a stimulant effect on people. This actually increases your anxiety while decreasing depression. As you start to drop below 15 mg the lower you go the more tired and sedated you become which helps with anxiety but does not necessarily do much to help with depression. I don’t think anyone can tell you whether you should stay the course of come off because no one can possibly know what the outcome will be for you. As for me the lower I go in dose, I am now just below 7.5 mg the better I feel in terms of my emotions. Anxiety and depression and low for me at this point barring the occasional panic attack which I have learned to control for the most part.

 

If you do decide to discontinue use then you should proceed very cautiously. You have been on it for five months so discontinuation may be very difficult. Most everyone currently participating in this thread is on a slow taper schedule and struggling greatly. Personally I find this stuff easier to kick so far than benzos were but that is just my personal experience. I am tapering off at a rate of .3 mg per week and I am still suffering albeit not as bad as some of the others on here.

 

The moderator who started this thread reported the same as you when he was taking a similar dose and said that as he dropped down to around 7.5 mg he felt that mirt better suited his needs for benzo withdrawal due to the anxiolytic effect it has at lower doses. You can go back to page 1 of this thread if you would like to read that post for yourself.

 

In summary, I am not surprised you are feeling anxiety at 22.5 mg of mirt and I believe that you could benefit from a lower dose but the road to that lower dose could be a long symptomatic taper. Some people can discontinue mirtazapine with absolutely no symptoms. Unfortunately you will not find out until it is too late which is why I advise proceeding with caution. If you are one of the unlucky ones like those of us participating here then a CT or even an oversized dosage cut could be catastrophic.

 

I hope this helps. Pretty much all I know that is pertinent to your questions. Not trying to scare you, my intent is just to inform you. Good luck in making this difficult decision. We have all been there. It’s a tough choice to make.

[[Lu...]]

Thank you jack37 for all the advice im actually on 30mg the past 16 days

my gp upped my dose from 22.5mg to the 30 bcos of the anxiety but it made my symptoms worse..

 

[Guest [pe...]]

Has anyone noticed a vice grip head pressure starting the same time every day since being on remeron?

[[Ja...]]

Thank you jack37 for all the advice im actually on 30mg the past 16 days

my gp upped my dose from 22.5mg to the 30 bcos of the anxiety but it made my symptoms worse..

 

Sorry, I must have misread your post. But the principle is the same. IMHO 30 mg is too high of a dose for symptoms associated with benzo withdrawal. I was on 15 mg the whole time and feel 10 times better now that I am down to 7.5. It could just be that I am that much farther out from my benzo jump though. I have read many posts from people who had ramped up benzo symptoms when their mirt dose was too high. Mirt is misunderstood by doctors and for some reason when they don’t achieve the desired results their answer is always more. However, I believe in benzo withdrawal the answer should generally be less. We all react differently though so it’s difficult to pin down.

[[Lu...]]

Thanks Jack it seems everybody is saying the same.

So im going to go back down to the 15mg.

I'm 18 weeks in total on this tablet so hoping i won't suffer to bad with side effects of lowering it

[[ju...]]

Although i hold my dose stable on 11 mg and take care about the low histamin foods, i am gettin serious skin rashes. Jack and Jackie, have you ever get such rashes and when did they attack in taper? While holding or reducing?

[[ja...]]

Good morning buddies. June, I am dealing with a lot of itching now and sadness. I made another cut two nights ago down to 0.016 grams. I have 3 more cuts after this one and I’ll be below 1Mg then I’ll go as low as I can weigh on the scale. I’m hoping so bad that the mental/emotional symptoms pass under 1Mg. I’m still holding for a month. Sometimes I feel like holding for just 2 weeks but I’ve decided to keep doing it this way. Doing the best I can. It’s certainly not easy. I couldn’t even sleep on some new sheets I got last nigh. Even after washing them because they were too rough next to my skin. They were $50 sheets. I have other sheets that I do fine with so at 1130 last night I was changing them.

 

Jackie