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Hi all, I am new to this site. A little background info. I have been on Venlafaxine for the past 8 or so years. I got off of the medication 5 years ago (somewhat abruptly) and had terrible withdrawl symptoms. I stayed off of the medication for four months before I finally reinstated, along with 7.5 mg of remeron and 1 mg of Klonopin. I was on the klonopin for a year and tapered off the mg over the span of a year. I had been on 150 mg of Venlafaxine. I sucessfuly tapered down to 112.5 over the span of six months. I did so well on this that my wife and I decided we would do a 3 month taper for the second quarter. I did okay on this and was on 75 mg for two weeks. Then I started having really bad anxiety/ocd/insomnia. We quickly reinstated to 112.5 mg which is what I have been on the past three months. I was also prescribed klonopin, again, as needed. I am taking .5 mg of klonopin four nights a week to help sleep. I have been having muscle spasms, increased ocd symptoms, GI symptoms, and more muscular pain which seems to only get worse the longer I am on the Effexor. I did a DNA Test and it turns out I am a poor metabolizer of CYP2D6-which is the enzyme used in metabolizing Venlafaxine and a lot of other SSRI/SNRI's. Desvenlafaxine is one SNRI that is not metabolized by CYP2D6. I am wondering if anybody has sucessfuly cross tapered from Venlafaxine to Desfenlafaxine. Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I started Mirtazapine 7.5 mg last year around February due to sleep issues. This dose didn't help me, and after 2 weeks I increased to 15 mg and after a month to 30 mg. However, it didn't help. So it was mid-September 2023 that I started to taper off from 30 mg to 15 mg, and was on 15 mg for 2 weeks. Being so naive about the consequences of Mirtazapine, I fast-tapered, and on the 10th of November 2023, I reduced my taper from 7.5 mg to 3.75 mg. Two days after that I lost my libido and sexual function. From the 10th of November to 14 December 2023, I was on 3.75 mg. 1. It was the 14 of December, and based on someone's advice I up-dosed to 6 mg from 3.7, for 5 days. 2. I tapered back to 4 mg till the 5th of January from 6 mg, as somebody else told me I would inflict more harm to my neurons. It means I was on varying doses from 6 to 4 for 20 days. 3. it was 12th of January that I regained all my sexual activity and libido, it normal as before. 4. By the 5th of February 2024, I tapered to 3.5 mg. 5. I again gradually lost all my libido and sexual function by Med February, and by now I have zero libido and erection. No morning, night or daily erection, my penis is shrunken and atrophied. Based on the above information, did an up-dose of 20 days help me regain my sexual function? Or it was a window from withdrawals? 1. Should I increase my dose back to 7.5 or 6 mg to regain my sexual life? 2. Should stay at the same dose of 3.5 mg and wait? 3. Should I stop altogether cold turkey 4. Or I should gradually increase the dose? PLEASE HELP me Thanks

My story is as follows: since 2012 I was living in constant stress and had huge business and responsibilities. I started to treat my stress by drinking wine. Then I decided to quit meat, and developed anemia. Since my body was weak, I had UTI and various inflammations in kidneys and gut. I was prescribed with antibiotics for 8 months; they totally destroyed my microbiome. Occasionally I was feeling sad from time to time, and at such moments was drinking wine. I know why I started feeling sad, as I was using wine as my coping mechanism to deal with stress, and wine is a big depressant and destroys your microbiome. On 2021 I started having anxiety. I was prescribed with antipsychotic Fluanxol and diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression. After 3 days anxiety was gone. But after 3month I developed depersonalization and feeling strange like depressed and my doctor said that depression is getting worse and I need SNRI- Cymbalta( duloxetine). I became suicidal and total zombie. After 1,5month she told me to CT, and prescribed Cipralex I developed: anxiety extreme one, vomiting, diarrhea, zombie feeling. After 1,5 month she told me to CT, then I was prescribed valdoxan it did nothing to me. Then I was prescribed mirtazapine, since all the polydruging I developed real depression and anhedonia. On the top they prescribed be Prozac. On Prozac I was getting slightly better, they upped the dose after one year to 60mg and felt even better but anhedonia and dysphoria were never gone. Now I am tapering mirtazapine since 2023 April, so since April from 45mg to 15mg reached now already. All was good for 2 months( November, December) even anhedonia was gone, but I was not tapering it as I was In Bali. Now when I started tapering again in December, withdrawals started to affect me on 27 January, 3 days bad 4 days good, again 4 days bad 10 days good, now when I reached 15mg I started having panic attacks. Does it sound for you like I have bipolar? I went to new psychiatrist today as I was feeling very scared of panic attacks and he said all these med did not help you initially as you are BIPOLAR. So now he wants me to prescribe 0lanzapine for 2 months meanwhile to CT mirtazapine and Fluanxol. And then after 2 months to stop olanzapine and Prozac and start lamotrigine. I am going insane, crying nonstop. Can I be Bipolar? Or is it that withdrawals mimic some other illnesses. I don’t feel that I was bipolar before meds I was just sad- and reason was too much wine. Anxiety was as a side effect of antibiotics in 2021. Please help going insane. Also what to do I reduced mirtazapine 10% every 3 weeks, now 2 weeks past the last reduction and I am having panic attacks every day and anxiety, depersonalization. Should I wait or should I up dose? Should I slow down with my taper and do 10% every 4-6 weeks? Please help

I stopped mirtazapine 5 and a half weeks ago. I had to get off because mirtazapine was making me worse. I didn't really taper. Most of the time I was taking 7.5 mg. then 15mg for a couple weeks and 30 mg a few dsys. It did not get really bad until about the 3rd week. A few days ago I was feeling better but today I feel awful . The symptoms are not specific except for the excessive tiredness. Will this ever end? Need motivation.

Dear SA team, Can you please help me/advise me regarding my issues with Mirtazapine? I was told by my psychiatrist that I simply stop taking 15mg Mirtazapine per night (I have been taking it for 18 months). He said that there shouldn't be a withdrawal period due to me also being put on Quetiapine (25mg per night) around 6 months ago. 17 days ago, I started to reduce my Mirtazapine intake from 1x 15mg tablet per night, to 1x15mg tablet every 3 nights. In the first 14 days I had horrible withdrawal symptoms including significant cognitive impairments like brain fog, dizziness, inability to think straight, forgetfulness, loss of coordination, feeling very spaced out mentally. I also found it very difficult to fall asleep, being awake until 9am on some nights. I then experienced palpitations a few nights ago around 2am which persisted all night long. Out of desperation, I took half a tablet (7.5mg Mirtazapine) at about 4am. However it seemed to do little- the palpitations persisted and I didn't fall asleep until 8am and only slept a couple of hours here and there. These palpitations stayed with me for several days. I rang my psychiatrist and he advised me to either stop taking the Mirtazapine entirely or to go back to taking it 1x15mg per night (my original dose). I came across your section on Kindling and became afraid that if I take the original dosage again, it might have a bad effect. I tired to call my psychiatrist back to ask this question, however his secretary told me that he couldn't see me until April and that he'd already advised me on this. 3 nights ago, I started taking half a tablet each night. It seemed to do nothing for the first day. However yesterday I felt calmer during the day insofar as the palpitations stopped. They did re-appear last night though. Today also the palpitations seem absent. However I have been worried by how energised and overstimulated I feel despite existing on just a couple of hours of sleep. Whilst I'm very thankful that the palpitations have relented (at least during the daytime yesterday and today) it worries me that I still feel overstimulated. Could this lead to akathisia/ mania due to taking too much (half the original dose 7.5mg)? Or is it because I'm taking too little and this is simply anxiety? Can you please recommend me a reinstatement dosing amount? I don't know what else to do right now. I am terrified of this getting worse (and potentially becoming permanent?) and am not receiving any proper help from my psychiatrist. I really don't know what to do here. I just want to know how much I should take that is a safe reinstatement amount. Is half a tablet too much? Will it lead to kindling? Or is it too little and I need to go back to the full amount to get better? Is this overstimulation a sign of kindling or is it an anxious nervous system? Mirtazapine is also a unique drug in that it functions more strongly as a sedative at lower doses and as an anti depressant in higher doses. So shouldn't the half tablet be a stronger sedative for my nervous system than the full tablet? Sorry if the information is a bit all over the place, my mind isn't coherent right now. I would greatly appreciate any advice given. Thank you very much, Brendan.

I’m unsure on the right terminology because I’m not sure what I believe anymore so please bear with me. last year after ten years on citalopram I had a sudden relapse in depression and anxiety (you could say I pooped out but who knows). The relapse has crippled me and it’s immeasurably worse than the first time around. It’s consumed me and I feel like I’ve lost my identity. Through this period the doctor changed me to sertraline and again to venlafaxine. Both of which had zero effect. I wanted to look at exploring more naturalistic remedies (not sure how appropriate it is to discuss this on this format so I will leave that there- but happy to hear people’s stories and experiences of doing that) but I’ve had a really tough Fortnight and when I went back to the docs this week he wanted me to try mirtazipine. I have taken that for two nights but after a chat with my therapist this morning who’s very critical of medications and the role of seretonin in all this I’m questioning if it’s the right thing. It’s all so hard when you are extremely desperate and just want relief really interested to hear everyone’s views and experiences

Hello everyone, I’m so pleased to have found you all and very happy to be signed up to SA 😊 I’m here for my mum who was born in 1947 and is 76 years old. It’s taken me a while to get round to writing this, (massive), introduction, and some of the details are a little sketchy as mum’s memory of events aren’t always too clear. I really need some insight and advice so that I can help my mum so please let me give you some history and background – I’ll try to keep it brief! My mum has lived most of her life between Ireland and Scotland. I live in Scotland and, up until the end of 2013, my mum would split her time between her own home in Ireland and my home in Scotland. In 2013 she went to her doctor (GP) in Ireland and was referred to psychiatry and prescribed sertraline (50mg initially) for low mood and anxiety. Mum continued to take sertraline for the next three years (2013 – 2016) and was, at some point prescribed risperidone for 3 days but it made mum feel drowsy - we don’t know quite when or why this antipsychotic was prescribed but we are waiting to receive her medical records and should have a clearer picture then. I’m not sure after this date (2016) if there were any changes to mum’s meds but in February 2017 – May 2017, mum was admitted to the local psychiatric hospital presenting as catatonic and then delirious / psychotic. During her stay at the hospital, she was diagnosed with psychotic depression and received seven ECT sessions, her sertraline was increased to 200mg and olanzapine was introduced at 10mg twice a day (20mg in total) From 2017 – 2018 her drugs remained the same. In March 2018 mood dipped and we think her olanzapine may have been increased. In June 2019 re-admission to the psychiatric hospital was considered due to earlier catatonic symptoms reappearing. She avoided admission and recovered, her sertraline was switched to venlafaxine 150mg and then increased to 225mg. In November 2019 Mirtazapine (15mg) was added and in February 2020 pregabalin was introduced for anxiety (initially at 25mg twice a day but then upped to 50mg twice a day) As far as we are aware there were no changes to mum’s psychiatric meds until 2023. I should also add that she is on several other meds for other medical conditions – please see drug signature. Between 2014 and 2022 my mum remained in Ireland and, although she seemed well a good deal of the time, there would be periods where her mood was very low, and her anxiety really heightened. Sometimes when mum was like this the doctor would prescribe diazepam to help reduce the severe anxiety. When mum’s mood was low she would become increasingly anxious about everything and anything and, when spending time with my brother and his two younger children, she was very anxious that they would injure themselves or come to some harm. It was clear to me and my brother that this debilitating anxiety and constant worry was stopping her from being able to enjoy life and her grandchildren (she has always found most joy when being around her children and grandchildren). We could also see that mum’s physical health was deteriorating and we decided, in 2022, and with mum’s agreement, that it would be best if she permanently moved over to Scotland to be close to me so that I could support and be with her on a much more regular, daily basis. Mum’s mood and anxiety continued to fluctuate throughout 2022 and, due to other external factors, we couldn’t move her over here quite as quickly as we’d hoped. At the end of September 2022 she was, once again, in a very anxious/ catatonic state and narrowly avoided being admitted to the psychiatric hospital. She went to stay with my brother and his family for a week while we organized her coming over here. Although we’re not entirely certain, (as mum was living on her own), it does seem, prior to these more severe unwell periods, that mum was falling into a very anxious state and would stop eating, sleeping and we think perhaps stop taking her meds for maybe one or two doses. Mum was now living in Scotland with me, and her mood started to improve throughout October. She was offered a flat within the retirement housing complex, just a 10 minute walk away from me. With mum in Scotland we began to see a definite pattern to her mood - she would be well for around a month and then her mood would drop, out of nowhere and with no obvious trigger, and she would be super anxious with low mood for around 2 weeks and then would slowly start to improve again. In January 2023 I printed off a mood chart and we filled it in daily. In February 2023 mum had her first appointment with her new psychiatrist, (I have always been present during these appointments). I expressed concerns around seeing what I thought were some mild signs of tardive dyskinesia and mum was happy to start reducing her olanzapine with her psychiatrist’s support. The psychiatrist did not warn us about withdrawal effects or warn us to look out for anything and I, much to my deep regret, was completely unaware of the impact and dangers around dose changes in psychiatric drugs. Mum was on 15mg olanzapine, which was initially reduced to 10mg for 3 months, then to 7.5mg for 3 months, then to 5mg for 3 months. During the summer of 2023 mum experienced pain in her hip which her GP prescribed additional pregabalin for, increasing her daily dose of 50mg twice a day to 50mg twice a day with the addition of 100mg twice a day to help the pain (thereby taking her daily dose potentially up to 300mg). Mum did experience some dizziness around this time which we put down to the increased pregabalin dose. Throughout 2023 mum’s pattern continued in the same fashion as before and I noticed nothing untoward. Mum had an excellent October, remaining well for almost the entire month and I felt sure I was seeing a reduction in the tardive dyskinesia mouth movements. On October the 23rd mum’s olanzapine was further reduced from 5mg to 2.5mg. On the 26th of October mum was given her combined covid and flu vaccination – the very next day, (27th October,) she felt nauseous, dizzy, freezing cold and had general flu-like symptoms. After reading the patient info leaflet from the jag we assumed these symptoms were a side effect of the vaccination and didn’t for one moment consider that they could be related to the drop in her olanzapine dosage just a few days before… After 3 – 4 days she felt physically better but her mood had dipped - we weren’t surprised, she’d had a good month of feeling well and her mood was due to dip anyway, according to her pattern. Although mum had a tough week her mood seemed to be lifting and we went off to her psychiatry appointment. The psychiatrist asked mum how she was and she said she was OK and her mood was lifting – he asked her if she ever felt suicidal and she said no (she has never felt suicidal) he also asked if she suffered from SAD and she said no – she, like me, actually enjoys winter and the festive season very much. The psychiatrist told her to finish off her new 4 week prescription of olanzapine at 2.5mg and then she would be finished with olanzapine for good. That evening, around 6.30pm I said goodnight to mum, took a bag of her washing home with me that she asked me to do and said I’d see her tomorrow. I didn’t get any response from mum to my early morning text and, at 11.15am I decided to go and see where she was and what she was up to. I found mum unconscious in her living room – at some point during the night before she must have slipped into a delusional state and she had taken all of her month’s supply of tablets and all of the extra pregabalin that she had been prescribed. She also left a bizarre note about not wanting to be a big lady which made no sense. Mum was rushed by ambulance to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a local hospital and my brother and I were told to prepare ourselves for the worst – she was not expected to survive. Remarkably, and against all the odds, my wee mum survived this terrible ordeal of which she has no memory, (she also has no memory of her stay at the psychiatric hospital in 2017 when she experienced psychosis). It was at this time that I started to become aware of the damaging effect of these drugs and I became convinced that what had happened to mum was most likely due to a too rapid reduction in her olanzapine. During her stay at hospital her psychiatrist visited her and as good as reprimanded her for trying to take her own life. She was experiencing an extremely low mood, confusion and some delirium at this time, she was also classed as an adult without capacity. Despite this, her psychiatrist decided to cold turkey her from all of her psychiatric meds (olanzapine, venlafaxine, mirtazapine and pregabalin) without discussing this with any family member. He did not believe that mum was experiencing withdrawal symptoms and said that any withdrawal symptoms would be long past by now. I was now also learning the dangers of abruptly stopping psychiatric meds and I became very worried for my mum’s health and this new course of action. After a phone call with me, the psychiatrist did agree to reinstate mum’s olanzapine at 5mg, at my request, and her venlafaxine, but only at 75mg. I was still worried and could see that mum was deteriorating – mum was transferred to the local psychiatric hospital and the new psychiatrist was not willing to consider my request of reinstating her mirtazapine and venlafaxine at 225mg but she did agree to increase her venlafaxine to 150mg. A few days later and, after seeing no improvement in mum she decided that mum was having paranoid thoughts so she increased mum’s olanzapine to 7.5mg without discussing this with me – she also suggested that if mum was to experience withdrawal symptoms, like I suggested she was, she would treat them with lorazepam! She, like the other psychiatrist did not agree that mum was experiencing withdrawal and she also said that any withdrawal would be over by now. I was upset to discover that mum’s care was in the hands of another psychiatrist who wasn’t following the NICE guidelines on withdrawing psychiatric meds and was in denial about the severity or seriousness of possible withdrawal effects. I would love nothing more than for my mum to be off all of these meds but I knew that this cold turkey method could be incredibly damaging. From the day her original psychiatrist made the decision to cold turkey her It took me a total of 18 days and a formal complaint before mum’s meds were reinstated on the 11th of December, at her previous dosage and the olanzapine reduced back to 5mg (I had great support from the mental Welfare Commission, by the way, just in case anyone else needs support). I don’t yet know if I did the right thing, but it was difficult to find advice. Within a week mum’s mood was back to being really good, her memory was dramatically improved, and all confusion was gone. She continued to improve over the next couple of weeks and was officially discharged from hospital on the 3rd of January - no one in the hospital could believe how well and quickly she had recovered. Apparently, according to one of the nurses, the average stay in the psychiatric hospital is 6 – 12 months. Mum was there for just 4 1/2 weeks and spent the best part of those caring for her fellow patients! So, we find ourselves almost back to square one. Mum came home and stayed with me from the 3rd of January 2024 until the 11th – she then went home but was, unfortunately only well for one day and night and the following day her mood dipped again – I was anxious about what had previously happened so brought her back to stay with us until her mood improved or until I had “GrannyCam” (Echo Show) installed so that I could keep a closer eye on her. Mum has only just gone back to her wee flat (29th January 2024) and she is still pretty anxious although she is improving slowly. And this is where we find ourselves. Many, many thanks for reading so far…😊 I am really hoping that I can help support mum to get her off her psychiatric meds – she and I are under no illusions and, given the dosage and time that she has been on this hellish cocktail of meds we are aware that there is an extremely long road ahead of her. I am hoping, initially, that you guys can help me specifically with the following questions: · Would you recommend that mum take her tablets at different times throughout the day (she has morning and evening meds - venlafaxine and pregabalin are taken in the morning and olanzapine, pregabalin and mirtazapine in the evening), and if so, when would you suggest? · I feel that the first drug to taper should be the remaining 5mg of Olanzapine – do you think this is right? · When do you think it would be the right time to restart the olanzapine taper? And does anyone know if I can source taper strips in the UK on the NHS? · Has anyone ever experienced these periods of wellness and then periods of low mood and severe anxiety in a pattern such as I’ve described? Could these be some kind of Waves and Windows, bearing in mind that she was experiencing them prior to starting any kind of drug reduction · What can I do to help mum with this terrible anxiety? I have very recently bought her some chelated magnesium and she has had a couple of low doses of that over the last few days (but has avoided taking them 2 hours before or after her pregabalin, as per the SA advice on magnesium) · I am obviously very worried that there may be a repeat of what happened to mum on the evening of the 9th of November given that, aside from the flu like symptoms, there wasn’t much to warn me to be on the look out for such a severe reaction. Do you think that now that I know a little about what to look out for with withdrawal symptoms I will be able to pick up on times like this should they arise in the future when mum is tapering from her meds? Any and all advice will be extremely welcome – thank you all so much in advance and my apologies for the massive essay! Chris (tine) 😊💚 x x

Hi, I’m 70 and have had depression and anxiety on and off for most of my life. I weaned myself off Valium in my thirties successfully. I was prescribed Citalapram 20mg 15 years ago and it works for me. In the past twelve months my mobility has not been good and I have struggled badly with depression as I have the motivation but my body says “no”. My family had to intervene to get me some help and I was prescribed Mirtazapine which helped me through a bad patch. I now would like to come off Mirtazapine as I feel tired all the time. My doctor is aware of this and told me to do it gradually, which is sensible. I’ve been checked for everything to explain my tiredness and everything is fine, so my next step is to look at the meds I take. Thank you for reading this and any advice on coming off the Mirtazapine would be gratefully received.

First time. Sorry if im not doing this right. So all the drugs ive been prescribed over the years have been for insomnia or for restless legs caused by the antidepressants given to me for insomnia. About a year ago i did a sleep study and was told i have mild sleep apnea and that it could be causing my insomnia. Unfortunately i haven’t been able to sleep with cpap machine. Since the sleep study ive lost 25lbs. After i lost the first 15 my sleep started to get a little better so i started tapering Amitriptyline. From Januaury-late June 2023 I tapered from 50mg down to 10mg just by eye balling it and cutting off gradually bigger pieces. I felt it everytime i cut back further. After 2-3 days i get very irritable, then some flu like symptoms and after about a week the anxiety kicks in. The lower i get the longer it lasts. My last successful taper was last June. I went from taking 12.5mg(half of a 25mg tablet) down to a 10mg tablet. After about a week i had severe anxiety. Its a horrible anxiety that i can feel physically in my upper stomach lower chest area. It took about 2 weeks before it started to go away. Since i got down to 10mg ive tried to go lower 3 times but had to go back to 10mg because i dont seem to be recovering. Ive also been struggling with insomnia ever since I hit 10mg. Before I hit 10mg i was able to taper without it affecting my sleep. When i got to 10mg i bought a scale to help taper more accurately. This is where i ran into trouble. The pills i take are 10mg tablets with a pink coating on it. But they weigh anywhere from 61mg up to 67mg. I Dont know if its the coating thats off or the medicine. After my 1st attempt to taper down from 10mg i wasnt recovering so after 1 month i went back to 10mg. I wasnt sure if it was the medicine thats off in the pills so for a couple weeks i took only pills that weighed between 63-64mg and i leveled out. I did the same thing the 2nd time around but it took about 3 weeks. But this last time ive been just mixing it up taking pills of all different weights 61-67mg. Its been 5 weeks today and although my symptoms have improved im still have a little bit of that sick anxiety feeling off and on threw out the day and trouble sleeping. I dont know if its just taking longer to level out cause of some sort of kindling effect or if its because the medicine is off in these pills. Was wondering if anyone had insight on this. I decided i wont be using the scale in the future since the weight of the pills off by as much as 10%. I bought a medicine bottle, some oral syringe adapters and a 10ml oral syringe. My plan is to use 100ml of water so that every 10ml equals 1 mg. Im just waiting to feel 100% before moving forward. Im very nervous about switching to a liquid. Just looking for advice and support. Again if anyone has any insight as to why i havent leveled out all the way after 5 weeks i would appreciate it. Thank You.

Hello, New here. My primary issue is with the rollercoaster I’ve been going through with my antidepressant, Mirtazapine: History: I’ve been on Mirtazapine for several years, very happy with the effects on my depression, appetite, sleep, and even anxiety to an extent. It’s efficacy has been consistent for me, such that over the years, I’ve only needed to increase the dose modestly once (from 15 mg to 22.5 mg, a switch made ~1 year ago). The problem: just before the holidays 2023, I unknowingly used a counterfeit THC cartridge (don’t know what it was, but it was NOT THC), which properly thrashed my mental stability. After two weeks of distress - loss of appetite, cold sweating, bouts of heart racing, feelings that there is something very wrong (which put me in the hospital on two separate occasions, with “it’s probably just bad anxiety” being the punchline in both instances) - my psychiatrist thought maybe the Mirtazapine was worsening/prolonging the problem… So he cut me off cold-turkey. Knowing how effective it’s been for me, this was utterly devastating, but I indulged it, and we explored medication to calm my anxiety which, in short, did not stick >2 days (couldn’t handle the side effects). Moreover, after ~3 days without Mirtazapine, withdrawal started setting in - I literally could not eat (threw up everything I tried) nor sleep; I was intensely uncomfortable with a host of physical symptoms. I touched base with my psychiatrist again, asserting that I was not convinced enough that the Mirtazapine was worsening things for this cold-turkey cutoff to be worthwhile. We decided to reinstate a small dose of Mirtazapine to feel things out (7.5 mg/day). I’m now on day 3 of Mirtazapine reinstatement, and this is where I need feedback/help: reinstating the Mirtazapine has helped the majority of the most pressing symptoms; I can eat again, I’m sleeping okay, cold sweats/tremors/shivers have been largely resolved. What remains is: brain zaps (very pronounced days 1 & 2) and physical “jolts,” and today, an overwhelming feeling of pressure and heat in my head just after taking half of my 7.5 mg dose for the day - this was fairly scary, though I don’t have a fever at all (though it feels like I do), so I don’t think I am in a dangerous place. Otherwise, I’m feeling okay; my head is just in profound discomfort almost constantly, and this discomfort has made my eyes a bit twitchy, also scaring me. I am absolutely torn in that I have no idea if this discomfort is a result of the Mirtazapine itself, or a continuation/evolution of withdrawal symptoms as a result of my current dose not being near that which I was on for many months (& on the other end of 3 days without entirely). This being unclear makes it really difficult to trust a further reinstatement of Mirtazapine to a place closer to my normal dose, as I’m terrified it’s going to manifest something serious physically. I don’t know how to approach this with my psychiatrist without threatening another rugpull on the Mirtazapine entirely, which I know only gets worse before it gets better (I would want to do a supervised detox if pushed this direction). I am frustrated. I thought maybe bringing back the Mirtazapine would alleviate things, but now I don’t know if it’s the problem or the problem is I’m not taking enough. Any insight/suggestions for how to approach this are much appreciated.

Hello, This site was included in an article about the dangers of antidepressants that was in Dr. Mercola's daily email. I am not or have never been on any antidepressants myself, but have been on a mission to research and find the best way and support for my son to wean off of Remeron. The reason he was put on this med was for chronic insomnia. Prior to being prescribed Remeron he had been taking Nyquil every night for a very long time. Over the years he has tried many natural vitamins and supplements with none of them helping. For about six months the doctor had him on both Remeron and Vistaril at the same time, but for the past month he has just been on Remeron 45mg. Thank you very much for accepting my registration. Cecelia77

Hello, I would like to introduce myself. I need a lot of help and advice on my situation as it's somewhat complicated. I was on Cipralex for 4.5 years. It stopped working as well and I was extremely emotionally blunted so I went to a psychiatrist for help. He increased my 10 mg dose to 15 mg's. I immediately developed severe suicidal thoughts and what I now know is akathisia. I lowered the dose down to 10 again until I saw a new psychiatrist. He increased my dose to 20 mg's of Cipralex in a week. All hell broke even more loose. I believe I developed some serotonin syndrome and lowered my dose to 15 in one week and back to 10 another week. I decided after this hell that I wanted to taper off as quickly as possible. Obviously I didn't know then what I know now. I jumped off 5 mg's of Cipralex and cross tapered to 15 mg's of Mirtazapine as I had lost 25 pounds in a month and had severe akathisia. I stopped the Mirtazapine after 5 days as it was a terrifying experience. I remained medication free until after 4 weeks the akathisia creeped back in. I went back on Mirtazapine at 7.5 mg's and almost unalived myself twice. I entered inpatient care at that point and lowered my Mirtazapine to 3.75 mg's. They put me on Pregabalin(Lyrica) which I'm now off as of November 2023. I should also add I took Ativan intermittently from May-October so I was often confused on what role that played in my akathisia. I had a big 2-week window recently but I'm now in a vicious wave. I want off the Mirtazapine because I feel it's been causing my anhedonia and DP/DR. My question is should I start tapering Mirtazapine? I still have akathisia and it's not helping with anything other than increased appetite at times. Any advice is appreciated.

I (31F) had some anxiety around getting pregnant back in June 2023 and my doctor recommended proactively starting on anti-anxiety meds to help. Unfortunately, no one really explained to me that the meds could make me feel worse before better and I ended up on a drug cocktail of Buspirone 30mg, Mirtazapine 30mg, Ativan 1.5mg and Promethazine 12.5mg. I finally stabilized on all these meds around Sep ‘23, but I am devastated because it has delayed our plans of starting a family and will do so even further due to taper. I have done some tapering and am down to 0.5 Ativan and 18.75mg of Mirt (see signature for taper times). I am now holding Ativan and working on Mirt taper, but currently trying to hold and stabilize before continuing to taper as I have learned I was tapering too quickly. I have a few questions: What are the risks of tapering Mirt at 20% every 4 weeks (vs 10%)? Could the withdrawal compound? If I follow this rate I could realistically be at a pretty low dose in 18 months and resume my plans of starting a family, but I don’t want to mess it up and cause further delays. What do people define as stable? I’m have some GI issues with the Mirt taper and some increased anxiety, but it’s coming in waves and windows, and it’s not nearly as bad as when I went on all the meds. Should I continue to push forward or wait for further stabilization? Does anyone have experience tapering Mirt during pregnancy? I’ve done research and know this drug doesn’t have as much research as other ADs but existing research results don’t differ significantly from other ADs, but just trying to understand my options. I am taking Promethazine for nausea, but I’ve now learned it’s also an antihistamine, could this be curbing my Mirt withdrawal and ultimately cause me more trouble when I stop it in the future? I am devastated I am in this position and know it is temporary, but feel like I am on the reproductive clock. I know this is a long post, but appreciate the support.

I am on 30mg mirtazapine and 50mg trazodone for 3 months. I would like to taper but not stable enough. I have been through hell with valium, hopefully this shows in my signature although I can't see it here. I am still not functioning and suffering beyond words. As I write this horrible painful jabs of anxiety stab up my arms and throat. If I wait to heal, and do a long slow taper, will the ad withdrawal be okay? Does ad withdrawal cause anxiety that makes you call out, rock, suffer pain, be unable to function? I have been on the mirt 3 months. I imagine I need to wait another 3-6 months before starting to taper? I do not care about having anxious thoughts. I do not care about brain fog or suffering depression. I need the physical anxiety feelings of pain in throat and chest, painful surges up body and arms, gone. I want to be able to sit back on my sofa and watch tv. I am worried I am too traumatised to recover. I have suffered for over a year with internal aka, writhing around, pulling hair, banging head, unable to breathe, crawling around, violent shaking of every body part...now I am 6 months off the valium and these most serious symptoms have stopped, but still have the painful surges and the painful throat and chest tightness. I was only getting 2 hours sleep until the mirtazapine. I now get 4-6 hours sleep. I don't know how much longer the drug will keep working for this. I worry I will need to kill myself every day, as my "life" is intolerable.

46yo male in Australia. Government lockdowns and financial debt tipped me into severe depression end of 2021 and I didnt know it until I was in that dark hole. Was given Mirtazapine, it did help me as I needed sleep and needed to regain my appetite. The initial side effects was the usual sedation, brain fog, lower blood pressure but the huge benefit of sleeping outweighed that. After watching Dr Andrew Huberman and his 'sleep cocktail' I started taking supplements, Magnesium Threonate, Apigen and L-Theanine and started walking 7am every morning to get sunlight in eyes as it resets your body clock, regardless of how I felt and what the weather was. Also walked at night too. Took 3 months off work which added to the financial stress. (Mortgage is $1000/week, married, 2 kids). I came across 'Vipassana Meditation, A Guide for Beginners' on youtube. Please do it, it taught me how to slow down my overthinking mind, its amazing what are subconscious mind does and when youre aware of it, its the beginning of getting better. All you have to do is lay down on your back and listen. So simple. I also joined a gym and started doing weight training. Also found Dr Jordan Peterson's lectures on depression on youtube very helpful, David Goggins mental strength stories and came across Dr Eric Berg explaining the link to gut health and mental health. I started eating raw saurekraut (creates serotonin in your gut) then 4 ate pasture raised eggs every night as the tryptophan in the eggs helps transport the serotonin to your brain neurons. Things you learn when youre on this horrible journey! I was still taking 30mg Mirtazapine daily and 4 months into it I was confident to start tapering. I bought the Gem20 scale for $50, a pill cutter and nail file. Slowly tapered 10% to 15% every 1-2 weeks for 14 months. The Brass Monkey slide seemed too long, 30mg would of taken 6 years. While I was tapering I started taking fish oil with a very high EPA ingredient, 750mg. The higher the EPA, the better for the brain. In the 14 month taper I had approx. 10 nights that I couldnt sleep, had some agitation and was very flat but I knew I was getting better. Withdrawals look like depression symptons, stick to it but slow down with the tapering if it gets too much. You will always have some withdrawals but as long as you can still function you will get there. Now 4 weeks from getting to 0mg I still have some small withdrawals like agitation and not feeling myself but thats nearly gone too. Feel free to ask questions. I was there, I found this website when I first started my journey and it stressed me out more, all the disaster stories. But here is a positive story that was done with alot of hard work and consistency to get to where I am. You will do this too!

Anyone experience the most uncomfortable brain pressure on this drug. Can’t work out if it is anxiety or the actual medication causing it. The most uncomfortable sensation ever like my brain is folding in on itself some days and like an Ill fitting jigsaw that won’t settle on other days. It’s absolutely relentless

I think I'm one of the very few people to have ever had an experience with mirtazapine where it could be considered as an addiction. I started on 15mg 7-8 years ago, and was at one point using up to 135mg. I couldn't tell if it helps or if taking it just cancels out the withdrawals. When I wake up, I'm high-strung and feel a lot of mental tension. I take my first 1/4th dosage and it mellows me out. I used to really enjoy having my worries fade, my anxiety fade, and to just be a content vegetable for the day. The downsides are crazy, I went from being an athlete to obese, with T2 diabetes. When it works, I'm lazy and unmotivated, I just eat and play video games. I cut down to 90mg, and haven't been able to go lower for long. The effects no longer work as well, I've been using daily Ativan at 2mg to pick up the slack. I've also been on Effexor 225mg for a few years, I tapered down to 75mg without any significant issues. My doc suggested a bridge, an SSRI, to help lower the need for mirtazapine. Has anyone here had a similar experience? They say this drug is harmless and side-effect free, but the withdrawals are absolutely no joke.

Please help. Very insane situation and still can’t believe this happened bc I took my K taper so carefully and knew all what to stay away from, persevered thru hell and was get myself back and functionality, love feeling and joy towards end of it. Had sleep come back to 5-6hrs taking .5mg gummy kid melatonin only after last few yrs at 0-3hrs. 4 mos off Klonopin 3 ye taper, 2 months of psych hospital hell all the med changes, 3 days into now Covid positive and all the neuro symptoms ramped up that day. Not sure if it also is Mirtazapine neurotoxicity bc I’m reacting badly after taking now…. Didn’t in psych hospital. All beta blockers trialed one time in in First psych place- early to mid Nov. I'm beyond freaking out as intense panic in gut twisting and turning having jolts in gut. This is all so so so hard. I’ve had 120+ symptoms they K taper so I’m used to persevering through hell, but had been recovering pretty well towards lower doses with anbout 10 symptoms per day varying but predictable ….all hell broke loose at .018mg. Acute was horrific stuck in dark closet for 6-8 weeks as my eyes hurt so bad and akathisia ramped up with any light. then hell began bc I had to go to ER m, ended up in 3 paych hospitals bc of SI and all hell since then. back home now, have covid day 3 that skyrocketed my synproms and now I can’t figure out what this is what’s. had covid pretty bad in Swpt 2022 but recovered in a few weeks, still on .12mg K at that point . Severe body clenching and eye pain and now now Mirtazapine is very drying and can cause eye problems and so freaking out. Had to come off 1 wk Elavil in 2021 bc of eye color changes and 6 wks of hell followed but was still on K at that point. the akathusua is my biggest hardest thing and how it affects so much. I know I made mistakes here recently and went against everything I knew not to take but I was forced to bc I they out in my IV water or forced to take tablets. I had all written out what couldn’t tKe and my family had that and we gave to hospitals and psych places and the nurses and staff intentionally wanted to screw me up more bc I was a ‘broken Betty’ with the akathisia and they didn’t get the aka. They psychologically also put me thru hell to get me to break completely…. I was terrorized. Laying still now body extreme vibration buzzing internally clenching involuntarily jolting involuntarily, This can happen with covid remeron and Klonopin but I've not had it had this severe before. I am unable to lay really. It’s like my brain is screaming inside and I want to scream running…. Again had this to a degree during K taper but not constant. Want to scrape face off, yank eyes out. During acute K I was pulling hair literally out bc aka was so so bad and pulling skin and scraping face. All stuff I couldn’t control. So heartbreaking for me bc I didn’t want to be doing it. I repeat same things over and over fast all day long. Rock at times, just disaster. I already have my body attack my thyroid with hashimotos, I'm susceptible to autoimmune issues and now all of this. My body is on fire internally 30min-2hes after taking 7.5mg Mirtazapine at 9-10pm. Body starts jolting and extreme RLS, eyeballs start shaking and try to roll back in head. Chest pain and heart pain, intense mental akathisia. Stomach rolling. At some point of fallen asleep and then awaken to nightmare and extreme panic chest. Bottom clenching pressure and internal walls on own. It's horrendous feeling. Stomach same. 97lbs. But eat The feeling your being uncomfortable tickled on bones and organs can't do anything to stop it- akathisia. Want to pull everything apart. Can't close eyes during day bc they burn and hurt so badly, pressure and akathisia behind them. Just dart open and so much burning pain and I've tried 3 eye drops types today. Can't even take 15mg armour without severe reaction when I was doing ok at 30mg. Normal amount is 75but was too stimulating initially coming off K so de said I could take lower but now TSh is a 10, yet can’t do much. Vitamin issues d is like 11 3 mo ago, b12 is under 300, I know this is horrendous souls but vitamins stimulated me and I clumsy be outside due ri eye issues. Please help with any encouragement and what talk might think about the Mirtazapine. I’m so angry I’m on this bc it’s not helping and here I persevered thru K taper whole time saying I’d never get back on anything after. they were going to do lithium at place and I said well some people have had ok time with Mirtazapine for akathisia bc I was terrified of lithium. So total of a month being on, changed bransa a week ago coming home bc didn’t know brand from hospital and my pharmacy gave what that thought . I am devastated annd have been and to survive minute to minute. This is like worst horror story I could ever imagine and my family is overwhelmed (live with brother who can’t handle much of this anymore after 3 1/2 years ) parents are a basket case and in 70s so they just can’t have all the stress I’m putting on them. I’ll try to edit with help later bc eyes are hurting so bad and body jolting about. K march 2020 after in hospital with covid type symptoms and antibiotic rash-adverse reaction. Told had severe anxiety and Gad disnt know better had never had any of anxiety in 37 yrs. .75mg tapered to .005mg in Aug 2023 Will update more later

Hello, Currently trying to taper off my psych meds particularly Sertraline. I've been struggling so much with tiredness and lack of motivation since being on it. I recently tried to go from 50mg to 25mg and last about 6 days..I've reinstated 50mg today and I'm here for peer support/ advice on next steps. I am based in the UK and want to do the 10% method using Sertraline Oral Solution from the GP. They are very reluctant to prescribe it, can anyone provide me with advice on how best to approach this ? I really don't want to be messing around crushing up pills. Also how long should I sit at 50mg before thinking of starting my 10% taper? Thanks, Nige

I'm supporting my husband in his journey withdrawing from AD and Benzos. My apologies for the length of the story but as an introduction it paints a better picture for giving advice. He is a 77 year old male in excellent physical health and until last year in good mental health. He has always been on the anxious side but it was specific to travel and feeling out of his comfort zone while away from home. He had been working with a therapist to address anxiety related to travel and felt he was getting a handle on some strategies to deal with some of his fears. In early 2022 he lost 2 very close friends within a few months. Both friends were part of a pipe band that he has been involved with for 40 years. One friend, in his mid 50's, was the pipe major and so the band became somewhat rudderless after being a going concern. He found all of this very stressful and began experiencing some anxiety any time the pipe band was part of a conversation. In early May a second band member passed away and days after his funeral we travelled from Canada to visit family in the UK. At this time he was taking Lorazepam PRN only to deal with travel anxiety e.g. while at the airport and the same on return so, very rarely. Part of our vacation included a trip to Crete with my siblings and their spouses. While in Crete he became more anxious as the days went on and one day experienced a panic attack. From then on his anxiety increased fearing this could happen again at any time. By the time we were due to fly home to Canada he was anxious every day. Upon returning home he made an appointment with his GP who suggested Wellbutrin 150mg to deal with the anxiety. After one week of steadily increasing anxiety and nausea the GP switched him to Buspar 10mg BID and recommended an appointment with a psychiatrist to review his symptoms and medication. The psychiatrist diagnosed GAD increased the dose of Buspar to 10mg TID. Two weeks into the dose increase his anxiety and nausea were increasing to a severe level and once again and he was taking .5mg Lorazepam more often, sometimes several days in a row to ease the anxiety. In consultation with his GP he decreased the Buspar back down to 10mg BID with the idea to cross taper onto Mirtazapine 30mg. All of this trial and error of medication was happening during the month of August while we were hosting 10 visitors from the UK which in itself caused significant stress and anxiety. By the end of September he had been on Mirtazapine 30 mg for about 6 weeks. He was experiencing occasional nausea and anxiety but much improved from when he started taking the medication. In the middle of October we travelled to Morocco. Travel triggered his anxiety and the Mirtazapine didn't seem to relieve it so he began to need Lorazepam again to deal with this. During our trip we both got Covid. He was not very sick and only experienced mild flu like symptoms for a few days. He began to have trouble sleeping and took Melatonin to help with this. Unfortunately, this caused bizarre nightmares. After Covid he began to experience a burning sensation across his neck and shoulders and sometimes across his chest. He began to be quite agitated, restless, and his anxiety got much worse. November and the beginning of December were relatively stable with anxiety, nausea and burning sensations occasionally but not all the time. In January his symptoms became more frequent and more intense and he talked with his GP about coming off Mirtazapine as it was definitely not helping and possibly making things worse. His Dr agreed and suggested a taper that we now know was way too fast. Coupled with the addition of Lexapro and Quetiapine as aids to withdrawal he was now dealiing with side effects from the added meds and withdrawal from the Mirtazapine all at the same time. Here is a brief summary of the meds taken: May 2022 - panic attacks and GAD. Rx Lorazepam .5 mg PRN for anxiety until March 2023 June 1 Dr prescribed Wellbutrin 150mg June 13 Dr switched Buspar 10 mg BID - Psych Increased dose to 10 mg TID Aug 9-Feb 8 Dr switched to Mirtazapine 30 mg Below is a brief timeline of the withdrawal process from the GP: Feb 9-16 Mirtazapine 15 mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Seroquel 25 mg BID Feb 16-22 Mirtazapine 15 mg, Lexapro 10 mg, Seroquel 50 mg in am, 75 mg in pm Feb 23- Mar 1 Mirtazapine 7.5 mg, Lexapro 10 mg, Seroquel 50 mg in am, 75mg in pm Mar 2-16 Mirtazapine 7.5 mg Tapered Lexapro and Seroquel concurrently March 17-19, Mirtazapine 5.6 mg, Seroquel 25 mg BID March 20-26, Mirtazapine to 3.75 mg, Clonazepam 25 mg BID March 27-April 2, Clonazepam 25 mg BID April 3-May 3 Tapered Clonazepam May 3 no drugs He has not taken any medication since the beginning of May and is a little more than 7 months into withdrawal from all drugs. At this point it is impossible to know which of the drugs are causing the symptoms. He continues to suffer from insomnia and has some nights when he gets of a few hours of broken sleep and then he'll have a good night of 7 hours. He has become anxious around the amount of sleep he gets. He has developed social anxiety even to the point of visiting our children and grandchildren and suffers extreme chest tightness and anxiety at the thought of socializing. Interestingly, when he's actually visiting with people he does quite well. Likewise, he experiences the same symptoms if he needs to be in the car for longer than about 15 minutes although he is able to drive, go to the supermarket and do daily activities without too much discomfort. Sometimes he will wake and complain of "flu like" symptoms where he feels like he has a temperature but he doesn't. He has trouble with temperature regulation and is often very hot or too cold. He has experienced a couple of weeks about a month ago when his symptoms were a little less intense than they are now but just recently they seem to have ramped up once again. On a daily basis his symptoms include anxiety, chest tightness, feelings of hot and cold waves, agitation, restlessness, fear, and depression. The symptoms change in intensity throughout the day and a trigger can cause a sudden spike in intensity from mild to severe. Hi symptoms tend to get worse during the day until around dinner time then gradually subside during the evening until they are almost gone at the end of the day. We have recently sent of for some genetic testing as it would be interesting to see whether any of the medications he has taken might have been contraindicated based on his genetic profile. We're not sure what we will do with this information once it is available in the next few days. Perhaps, should he consider taking a different AD down the road, this information may serve to inform that decision. Based on his experience with ADs so far I would think this would be unlikely. However, the one thing no one can tell us is whether the symptoms he is experiencing at 7 months off a relatively low dose of Mirtazapine for a short period of time are from withdrawal or a worsening of his previous anxiety. How long do you wait in the hope that is the case? Does he look at the possibility of yet another AD? He is becoming more depressed by his constant symptoms on a daily basis. Doing nothing but waiting it out seems futile. Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

Hello all fellow mental health warriors, I am having a tough go of it currently. I was on an SSRI (of some sort) for 20 years. My most recent psychiatrist and I decided to try to bridge me over to Lamictal 50mg ER to see if my sexual side effects from the SSRI would go away. They did, (which is amazing) BUT Lamictal has given me such severe headaches and now such severe insomnia that I am now relying on Ativan now almost every night. My psychiatrist recently tried me on very low dose Mirtazapine (3.75mg), as a substitute for Ativan, which made me sleep for 12 hours and made me dizzy for the next 48. I am currently unsure if I should just stay on the benzo (Ativan) which does not leave me groggy and dizzy all day and try to taper slowly from there or keep trying liquid Mirtazapine (Remeron) at maybe 1mg per night for sleep. I also am going to request liquid Lamictal to taper eventually but for now, I am tolerating it ok. I want to be drug free so bad but I also need to sleep to function at work and give my children a functional mother. Currently waking up crying in the middle of the night at 2 or 3 pm and unable to fall back asleep. Just wanted to reach out to the community for support. With love and hope, L

Hi all, I have come to this website fairly late (I hope) in my journey with psych meds. I no longer take anything, but 9 weeks from my last dose of Fluoxetine I am still suffering bad waves/windows. Until May of this year, I was still suffering badly with waves/windows from Diazepam withdrawal, which began properly in June 2022. I have been off work pretty much since then. Things got a good bit better between May and August, more like a higher baseline of anxiety/vulnerability to stress, rather than the waves/windows pattern. During this time, I was doing Neurofeedback and the ketogenic diet (thanks to Dr Chris Palmer's excellent book). I was able to do a speech at a family gathering, which feels unthinkable now. In June, I started tapering from Fluoxetine, 20mg (my history with which you can see in my signature), using the liquid solution, reducing by 2mg every 3 weeks. I now realise that was too fast. In mid-August I started getting waves again. I had not done nearly as much reading into SSRI withdrawals as I had with benzos, so I assumed it was the Diazepam waves coming back (which Ashton says can happen), but then at the end of August I got one of my worst waves ever for about 4 days: suicidal depression, 0hr sleep (even during worst of benzo withdrawal I could get 2-3 hours a night), tremors, agitation. At the time, I believed that was because I was given a different brand of the liquid solution - I thought maybe more of the active ingredient was getting into my system somehow, causing serotonin syndrome (because of the tremors). But now having read about the dangers of linear tapering I am guessing that it was withdrawal from Fluoxetine, and my cliff edge was around 10mg, made worse as I was/am not yet fully recovered from the Diazepam withdrawal. However, at that stage I decided to just to jump from 10mg, partly influenced by doctors who said that would be fine. I have now read about the need to do hyperbolic tapering, but I am where I am - 9 weeks off and I do not really wish to reinstate. I am having waves/windows every 3 days, which is very different from Diazepam - that was more like 3 week waves, 1 week windows - but they do seem to be just as severe, particularly the depression. I realise that I am perhaps lucky that I was on Fluoxetine rather than another SSRI (I am well over a year out from stopping Mirtazapine, so I don't think that is likely to be playing a role still). I am interested to hear any indications/opinions from folks on here as to how long it may be before the waves disappear and I return to my previous level of function. I am encouraged by the fact that although they are regular/severe, the waves do seem to have identifiable triggers rather than totally random. This is embarrassing, but I have found that one definite trigger is orgasm/ejaculation. In that process, there is a huge release of dopamine, followed by a decrease but also an increase of a hormone called prolactin which at a high enough level can cause psychosis. I am thinking my dopamine levels/receptors are just too low, because dopamine restrains prolactin production. You may ask, why not abstain? But another clear symptom of my withdrawal is uncontrollable nocturnal emissions, which I didn't even have in my teenage years - roughly once a week, followed by a 3-day wave. I did not have obvious sexual dysfunction while on Fluoxetine, but I am thinking that this symptom is some kind of rebound hypersexuality. Finally, the other clear triggers for symptoms are sweet foods and stress. Thanks for reading - I wish you all continued, and quick, healing.

i am 2 years and 4 months mitrazpine off.I feel very bad i have still big anexity.Big pain in body in muscle.thingling in fingers in teeth.I sleep 4/5 hours .I feel very depressed and hronic tired.i have adhedonia too.I last time have windows before 6 months.Any advice what to do it ❤️?

Hi Everyone, I’ve been on Bupropion 300xl since beginning of 2019 so almost 5 years. I also was taking Trazodone 50mg nightly for sleep and dropped to 25mg for a month or so then discontinuing it around June 2023. I also discontinued Losartan a blood pressure med around the same time. The doctor said my blood pressure was doing great and I could come off if, I wanted to. Around July 2023, I started to experience anxiety creeping in slowly due to a trigger thought from my past. I let it manifest and get bigger and bigger day by day until I went in full panic mode. It got so bad I went to VA hospital where I get care and they gave me Hydroxyzine for anxiety and panic attacks. I took it but it really didn’t help the anxiety was too strong at this point. I wasn’t sleeping very good. Had a couple more panic attacks. I then went back to the VA and saw mental health provider who told the Bupropion was causing the anxiety. He dropped me from 300xl to 150mg (75 ir X 2 a day).and started buspar 5mg morning and 5mg night. This was 21 Sep 23. I take the bupropion at 6am and 2pm. I also had a blood panel, thyroid test, and ekg to rule those out for the anxiety. All came back normal. I also started therapy. I stopped taking the buspar after a week. Didn’t really feel it was doing anything and made me feel weird. The anxiety has been debilitating at times it seems to be getting better slowly day by day. I’ve never had it this extreme in my 47 years. I’m retired from the Navy after 20 years and have had some stressful situations but this has really got me. I went back and saw mental health twice saying this a rough ride not being able to sleep a full night and the anxiety. They gave me rameron 30mg to take at night. I took it one time and then didn’t take it again. Didn’t want to get started on something else and the side effects of weight gain not worth it to me. Also tried Trazodone again 100mg just to see if I could get some relief made me too groggy and didn’t really help same with Hydroxyzine 25mg. I just feel off, tired, irritable, frustrated, depression and anxiety comes and goes. Sometimes I have passing suicidal thoughts but would never act on them and I share this with my wife just so she knows what’s going through my head. They definitely scare me. Definitely affects your quality of life. I guess I just deal with it now. It’s no where near like before or at panic level. Oh and they want to put me on Prozac now. I haven’t touched it yet. I mentioned my sister is on it with good results so they feel that would be a good fit. I think I was dropped too fast on the bupropion and I’m feeling the withdrawal. It’s been five weeks now and just wanted to see what everyone’s input on this is. I want to try and be done with these meds and go natural. I don’t want to introduce more stuff that I’ll have to come off of. The biggest thing I’m dealing with is anxiety and poor sleep. I’ve looked at the taper schedule and guess I’m beyond the taper from 300xl spot. What are your recommendations at this point? I think it was odd I was dropped to 75ir x 2 a day. Any recommendations to ease the burden? Many Thanks!

I was on Valafexine for 10 years. I was at 2 75s a day. I tappered off myself for a year. When i got to the point where i was off of it my withdraw started gradually with dizziness and irritability then it progressed to feeling tired all the time and bad anxiety for a week then it went to sweating, shaking, panic, free fall feeling insomnia. I ended up in the doctors office and back on 2 25s a day to stabilize me. After three days i went up to 100 mg a day for 5 days, then they put me on 37.5 and i was on that for 6 days and ended up in the hospital for serotonin syndrome. The psychiatrist took me off of valafexine and put me on heavy sleeping pills, and buspar. I stopped the buspar after 4 days because it was to much for me. Im on day 4 of no valafexine. I started the dizziness yesterday. I just want to know if anyone has a similar story and if the withdraw is as bad the second time around? Has anyone been put back on and tappered back off with a better and shorter withdraw time?