Posted by musky on March 4, 2006, at 0:20:10
In reply to Re: mirtazapine/remeron updates? » musky, posted by johnnyj on February 25, 2006, at 13:08:14
>hey no problem
I have been taking over a year to taper.. very very very slowly as I do not want to get side effects and have to be able to function. Yes I am cutting my pills. I had the pill form . I was on 45mg at one time if you can imagine. they kept giving me more and more thinking more is better.. ya right. Terrible side effects with jerking and almost like a seizure, frightening daydreams, numbed out all the time etc. I never felt joy, happiness, or could even cry. I was constantly aggitated, scrunching of the face, and marching on the spot (couldnt stand still). I have never had these symptoms before until taking this drug.
I am now down to about 3.25mg per day. I would cut down about 10% and stay on that dose for 2-3months which is why it is taking so long.
I have found an acupuncturist that is helping me to get off and this I believe has helped with withdrawl. Yes even tapering as slow as I have has given me side effects. These drugs change you brain chemistry and it takes time for your normal brain chemistry to return, Im told in the literature and people that have come off meds that it could take up to 2yrs for the body to return to normal. The longer you are on a drug the longer it takes to get your own biochemistry back. Sounds like you are doing the right thing. And like me, be careful when you come off as to not interfere with certain other events in your life.. just be patient. some of my side effects have gone down.. still restless though , but not as bad, and the jerking has gone away almost completely.
my emotions have been up and down but I just keep hanging in saying to myself its not the depression or anxiety but rather withdrawl .. its been hell , but I want to be OFF of this Remeron and be back to the way i was.
Oh ya, I use to take ativan for panic and have not touched one in over a year and a half,, again thanks to acupuncture and meditation... it really, really works!!!
Hang in there... keep going and dont believe all the dr.s... only you know how you feel you live in your body , not your drs..
Oh yes, the insomnia i had too at the beggining . I just rode it out... your body does manage without sleep... dont take another drug to offset the first.. its a vicious cycle.. I just accepted it and started exercising more,, it passed. I am now sleeping not too bad and not as many horrific nightmares either since tapering...
keep posting...
muskyThank you very much for posting. I am at a point where I need some encouragement.
>
> How are you tapering? Cutting pills in half? I talked to a pharmacist about mixing the sol-tabs in a little water and taking it that way. She thought his was good but said to call the company. She thinks it is stable so it should be ok.
>
> I am 7.5-mg and things are day to day. I am actually feeling depressed but I am almost 100% sure it is the med. This drug really affects my head and makes in very heavy and the physical feelings are depressing me. Sometimes I get the sharp pains in my head and it feels like someone is sitting on my brain. I have nausea today also. I just hate this drug but I cannot wean off until April 21 as I have something important coming up. I hope I can last until then. I want to be free of this drug.
>
> The thing I fear the most is the insomnia when I go down. I don't know if you read my earlier post but I was off this for almost 2 weeks and my sleep was so light and nausea was terrible. I guess I should get something to help with sleep, but my doctor said we should limit what I take because we don't want to have withdrawal from that too.
>
> I wish we could get people to post on this drug more. Have you found any other sites that have any good info?? Thanks and good luck. Please keep us posted and I will do the same.
>
> johnny
poster:musky
thread:613132
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20060228/msgs/615714.html