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Hello everyone, I guess I might be an outlier here. My journey into the hellscape of psychiatry started with an anti-emetic, metoclopramide, to which I had a terrible reaction which amounted for what I now know to be akathisia. Now I know that drug mimics or is similar to anti-psychotics. I took the drug at high doses for 20 days in December (10mg x3 day) for a nausea problem and it nearly destroyed my life. After that I took it as needed and only realized it was causing and keeping my akathisia going at the end of February. My restlessness appeared first with the typical akathisia movements only appearing after discontinuation. I was taken off the drug suddenly and my symptoms got worse after discontinuation. March and April I tried winging it without any medicine but the waves were so violent that I eventually caved and tried propranolol, didn't help. Biperiden, an anti-cholinergic, did help but had nasty side effects. Now it's May and here is the conundrum: I started tandospirone to help with anxiety a month ago. I also started on Mirtazapine recently as the propranolol doesn't help. First, 7.5mg in the evening, that was a month ago. I got a 10 day window, the best until now. Then I had a bad crisis and my psychiatrist upped my dose to 15mg. I got a nice 7 day window, then another crisis, that was a week ago. That crisis has passed. Yesterday I had a good day, today I am worse again. It is a rollercoaster. I don't know how I'm holding my job. I guess I have two questions. 1) Should I stay on the drug or not? This is something I have to decide by next Friday, that's my psych appointment day. 2) Given that I have only been on the drug around 1 month, two weeks on 7.5mg and two weeks on 15mg, would I need to taper if I chose to stop? If yes, how fast or slow would be advised? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Taking it one day at the time here. Very rough. PortugueseSea

Hi all, I guess this is here for others to view and associate with in their own struggles and battles, and also for me to come back and check my progress as the months go by. I started sertraline 50mg in Oct 2020 after a bad mental break due to ongoing stress and I guess my already anxious personality really showed it’s face. Also added in mirtazapine 15mg in late November 2020 as my main problem was insomnia before starting either drug. You can see the rest of my drug history in my signature. Fast forward to December 2021 and I am seemingly now fighting the affects of said drugs rather than the reasons with which I originally started the medications. All the problems for which I actually started the medications are gone through my work on my mental health and a great journey of understanding. My nervous system now appears to be very unhappy from the catalogue of medication changes in the last 8 months approx. As of December 6th 2021 I am still very much struggling with the physical and mental problems caused by the drop from 75mg to 50mg on September 17 2021. This was originally done to try and aid my awful reflux and indigestion problems, but only appears to have made them worse, temporarily at least. In my bid to reach stabilisation on this dose I am reluctant to change the medication again as I know the ramifications this will have on me, but it is so incredibly hard to wear a brave face and keep going on many days at the moment due to the crippling GI issues. My goal is to reach 6 months on this dose and I am currently at 2.5. Prior to my mental breakdown I was already taking 20mg omeprazole for stomach troubles but had never experienced acid reflux until increasing sertraline from 50mg to 100mg in December of 2020 (last year). I am now on 40mg omeprazole but my GI issues are ongoing. I hope one day I will come back and read this in a different place completely. Currently it is hard to see the sun once again rising with each day that passes. I am doing at least 60 minutes of deep relaxation each day which helps force my body to relax. I have set myself a goal to do this on each day for the entirety of December. It is so demotivating when my nervous system flares up every week or 2 and my stomach and skin are upset with each time this happens. Hopefully if I remember to come back and update in a months time things have changed. For now, thanks to anyone who has read this and I wish you luck through this process. We are all so mentally strong. Erimus Symptom Tracker (Intensity /10): Indigestion/acid reflux (9/10) Anxiety waves (7/10) Shortness of breath (7/10) Tension headaches (5/10) Hot flushes/sweating (5/10) Constipation (5/10) Insomnia (3/10) Sweaty palms (4/10) Muscle tension in shoulders/neck (3/10) Inability to concentrate (5/10)

Hello, I am 68 and this is my first experience with antidepressants. I began having severe stomach pain summer 2020 and lost 20 pounds. A gastroenterologist prescribed 7.5mg of Buspirone taken 2x/day. Because I was depressed about my stomach issues, my family insisted I see a psychiatrist who prescribed 7.5mg of Mirtazapine 1x/day. I began taking both about the same time in early December. In addition I began taking Hcl with pepsin for the stomach issues. My stomach issues have resolved and I have gained 6 pounds. But the drugs make me so lethargic and fuzzy brained. At first the Mirtazapine helped with sleep but now I frequently sleep very little, often less than 2 hours a night. I have decided to taper off the Mirtazapine and have just started with a 10% drop begun 5 days ago. I have felt ok so far just a little nausea. I need encouragement and ideas for sleep please as well as for my journey. I currently take 400mg of magnesium glycinate (100mg in the morning, 300 mg before bed), do restorative yoga before bed, do guided meditation, and meet with a therapist. Can’t take melatonin, gives me diarrhea. Also my gastroenterologist told me to get off the Mirtazapine but he thinks it can be done in 2 weeks. I am very frightened and anxious about the whole thing.

Hello. I used antidepressants before and quit cold Turkey, as you might see from my history, lexapro. While on them I got visual snow but it was very very mild, and it knocked my IQ points down, at its worst it gave me nocturnal insomnia while I was on it and made me sleep during the day. quitting cold turkey fixed all the problems within 15 days. No withdrawals from that. My problem is, I got floxed 4 months ago due to fluoroquinolone antibiotic usage (ofloxacin). In case you don't know it has the same effects on your brain as benzo/antidepressant/antipsycotic withdrawal. It knocks all the gaba a receptors out of balance, leading to the buildup of excess glutamate and this knocks other receptors out of balance tooi leading to excitotoxicity. I got hit with crippling insomnia. Didn't sleep for ten or so days, took unisom, passiflora etc, nothing worked. I found the floxies forum (Thinking in retrospect this was a mistake), they recommended mirtazapine. Went to the psychiatrist, he perscribed me with it without me mentioning anything about it. So I took it, 15mgs. Didn't work. A few days later took 7.5mgs, it would work... gave me like 6 hours. I noticed mild ringing tinnitus in left ear, didn't tie it to mirtazapine at first because the antibiotics I took gives you tinnitus as well. The T went away in two days. I made my first fatal mistake around this part. Mirt would only work on 3 consecutive nights. On Night 4 I'd have to switch to unisom for 3 nights to get any sleep at all. So I rotated the meds. Over time the left ear and a little bit later the right ear got blocked and hissing came in. Along with tensor tympani syndrome (fluttering in ear drums). It was a 1-2/10 in intensity. Meds would stop working completely on day 42. took atarax which bumped the T to a 7 for 3 hours. Took unisom 7 days later, did the same thing, but worse.. Around this time I was able to sleep on my own, no meds, no night sweats or panic attacks, no nightmares for 18 days. Got 4-5 hours in fragments. I was getting better. Hissing was dying down, ears were getting unblocked. Day 62. I woke up to a ringing 10/10 tinnitus in the middle of my brain, towards the right. After that day my brain got electrified. Don't know if it was due to antibiotics or WD from mirtazapine. Didn't know WD was a thing at that point. Couldn't sleep that night so I took Mirt again. Took it on and off going forward. Over time sleep got worse, started having other CNS symptoms, sweating, night sweats, vivid dreams came back, tension headaches, suicidal thoughts etc. They were GONE for months. Hyperacusis and dysacusis started, hyperacusis was gone in the first month too... After a real long time, like 50 more days later, I was sure mirtazapine was giving me all these issues. Doing some research led me to this site. What happened was there was an electrical storm in my brain for a long time and it was getting worse and worse. Electricty was literally moving inside my brain from one spot to another in the bed. This was very different than brain zaps. No other floxie described their tinnitus like this so I knew mirtazapine gave me that. Went on tinnitus forums only to find others with same issues. Dropped the devil's pills, the electrical sensations are totally gone, I haven't gotten daily fleeting t for one week, sleep is bad but I can sleep better now compared to the time I was on them (funny). But I'm left with a myriad of other issues... -I don't feel tired or sleepy since I quit the pills. -Insomnia (No deep sleep, can't sleep more than 5 hours, always in blocks, sometimes with night sweats and dreams which are lessening day by day since I'm off M) -Tinnitus (I have no hearing loss on left ear and 15db loss in right ear, otherwise my hearing is like a 2 year old baby's, the left side of my brain is buzzing, and inside my left ear has electrical type of buzzing) -Hyperacusis -Dysacusis (Hearing is fine but occasionally I would get an electrical filter over sounds) -Floaters (Started a day after M, but since antibiotics also cause it, never tied it to M) -Some Afterimages when I look at a light source. -Tension headaches/pressure/vibrations in brain/ears. some tingling in head. All in all, I took M on 60 nights over a course of 3.5 months. What am I looking at here in your opinion? My main worry is the ear related stuff, Since I don't have hearing loss and my hair cells are healthy, do you think this buzzing and electrical sensations would go away over time, along with hyperacusis? I don't hear the T outside, it RAMPS UP in silence though. On tinnitus forums, most people with buzzing healed within two years. I need some soothing words guys... this is my main problem and if it goes away, I'd consider myself pretty much recovered even though I have many otehr issues. I can deal with insomnia and other stuff. But still wondering how long it would take for me to be able to regain the ability to take naps.

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

Hi Everyone, I am just going to jump right into this. I developed anxiety 4 years ago after having several life crisis in a months time. My mom was diagnosed w Dementia. My little sister was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer. I was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.A childhood friend died in his sleep from heart failure. I tipped over from the stress. I went to my GP and she started throwing AD's at me to help silence the anxiety. The AD's only made me worse. I went to the ER one night after experiencing my first panic attack The ER Dr gave me a script for Ativan. I took it for four weeks and then stopped because I was feeling much better. A few days later my world turned on it's axis. I didn't know what was happening. My anxiety was worse, I was pacing, heart racing, Panic attacks daily.... I went to my GP and she said I needed to see a Psychiatrist. To get in to see anyone was 3 months. I started to spiral. I had no idea I was in withdrawal! I ended up in the hospital to get help for my anxiety. I was put on Effexor (75mg)and Klonopin (.25mg). I stabilized and was sent home. I did really well on Effexor. After 4 months on Klonopin I started to slowly taper off. I tapered over 3 months. The taper went pretty well. I was cutting and weighing my pills. 8 months after that I felt good and talked to my Psychiatrist about tapering off of the Effexor. She strongly recommended to go slow and we did. I tapered for almost 7 months. To be honest, the Klonopin was easier to come off of than the Effexor. She put me on Prozac before my last cut of Effexor. Tapered off of the Prozac over 3/ months. I still had some anxiety but it was tolerable. It felt AMAZING to be free of AD'S and the Benzo....then COVID hit and my mom passed away. Anxiety came back w a vengeance. I ended up back in the hospital after a very bad reaction to Zoloft. My new psychiatrist kept telling me to "push through," the first 3 months. I was back on Klonopin but now it was.50mg twice a day.The hospital took me cold turkey off of Zoloft and started me on Remeron and Trazadone. The next day they added clonidine. The klonodine didn't agree w my system at all and I was taken off of that in two days. They released me from the hospital 5 days later. I lasted two weeks on Remeron. I was so disoriented, confused, high anxiety and felt like I could become violent on them so they weaned me off of that over 4 days and put me back on Prozac. Prozac didn't help my anxiety, I had constant headaches for months! I did get an MRI and it was normal. I started to feel more and more depressed on it. I was on Prozac for maybe two months when my psychiatrist took me off of that (tapered over 6 weeks) and put me on Lexapro. I had to have back surgery during this. I did NOT take a single pain med out of fear of making my WD worse. At first I thought the Lexapro was helping? I was still having breakthrough anxiety so he bumped it up. My Psychiatrist retired and a new woman came in to take his place until they could find a new one. She bumped my Lexapro up to 25mg when I told her I was having major anxiety rushes, my face would get bright red, I wasn't sleeping very well. That increased dosage was the worst! I was like a zombie but w heightened anxiety. I couldn't work, I would sit at my desk and space off for hours! I felt awful. So, she told me to start tapering off of the Lexapro (4 weeks total! I knew better...) and she wanted to cross taper me onto Effexor. I started that and boy....the depression was BRUTAL! I was not sleeping well, could hardly focus, anxiety was high, my legs felt like jelly, my head would burn, I felt my brain tingle all the time... I was nearing the end of my rope. I was desperate for a Psychiatrist that CARED. The interim Psych left and a new one came in. She wanted me off of the Effexor because she felt it was too hard to come off of and if it didn't work for me, I would be in for hell. I told her I was scared to switch AGAIN and she assured me that switching to Duoloxetine was it's "sister drug," and I shouldn't have an issue. I trusted her. The last 3 months have been.... (How do describe this hell?!) a daily battle to push through hell on earth. I am still working, I can still function, I take care of myself, my home, my dog. I am a divorced woman with a 22 year old son. I live by myself with my Rottweiler. Life is so friggin' hard when you are trying to get thorough this mess. I now have a WONDERFUL and caring Psychiatric nurse practitioner who truly cares. She is holding me on the last 10mg of Lexapro until the Effexor/Lexapro WD calms down...IF it calms down. I should tell you that I can't believe I have pushed through the last year. My symptoms have been Burning in my head, headaches, tingling in my head, mood fluctuations, burning on my skin, bloodshot eyes, pressure on my chest, sensitivity to heat, depression, sweat easily, joint pain, ringing in my ears, no motivation, grinding my teeth, feeling mentally off at times, at the beginning I couldn't sit still, short tempered, at times in the beginning of the Lexapro taper, I didn't want to talk at times...like I almost couldn't, buzzing in my body, feel like I'm going crazy sometimes, anxiety rushes...etc I am interested in this group for support and the combined knowledge from it's members. I know that NO ONE can tell me when this is going to end. What I am hoping is that someone can tell me what I am going through is normal for all of the med changes? I am honestly concerned if I am still having problems because of the Duoloxetine? My anxiety IS better since I have been on it. I get 8 hours of sleep. I don't drink. I don't use illegal drugs, don't smoke. I eat pretty healthy. I don't exercise. It's tough to get out for walks when you feel like hell and I guess I save my mental energy to work. I know I have rambled on. My mind feels like it's in a vice and also these drugs affect how well I put my thoughts into words. For the most part I am a happy and well adjusted person. I feel like the last few years have been stolen from me because I faithfully followed Dr's instructions and thought they knew best...I was so wrong. Thank you for your time. Blessings to all of you.

Hi I am new here, I was on citalopram for 9 years at 40mg and I thought it wasn’t working as well as previous so asked my dr for some cbt to try help but instead he switched me to mirtazapine on a 10 days switch taper(I had no knowledge on tapering at the time). I felt awful for the next 8 weeks so he then switched me back and I had an allergic reaction to the citalopram this time so he switched me to sertraline 100mg which still didn’t help and he then told me to stop with just a 2 week taper. I am now 4 months on nothing and have so many withdrawal/kindling symptoms. *constant heart flutters especially if I get adrenaline rushes or take any different medications or exercise * fast heart rate a lot * GI issues. * off balance, on a boat or drunk feeling * reactive to some foods and drinks *chest pains *brain fog *anxiety and panic *eye floaters and blurry vision *tremors and internal vibrations *weight lose, no appetite And more I just want to know if this is all normal and has anyone else had all the heart symptoms. Fast, fluttering and feeling weird. I get it a lot more if I do anything physical or eat sugary foods.

Hi there, So I've been lurking on here for the past few months, and some of the advice and reassurance I've been getting from reading threads here has really helped turn things around for me after a truly hellish time, so I wanted to lead with thanking you all for that. It's been nice just to not feel alone in all of this. Now, I'll get into some of my history. I started out taking 50 mg of sertraline after a deep depressive episode that I'd been trying and failing to fight through alone for years in about 2016. I took sertraline for a few years, and started having what brief blackouts for a few seconds or less. This was pointed out to me while I was driving with a family member, and ran a light that I hadn't even realised I'd gone past. After the sertraline struggles, I went on 75 mg of venlafaxine, which didn't really help my depression and I started to feel much worse mentally and really struggling with insomnia. In January of 2019, I was prescribed mirtazapine to help these symptoms, I started out on a low dose, and we later upped it to 30 mg. This helped greatly for years. I started sleeping fully, and gradually found some emotional stability, with maybe some minor side-effects, dry mouth, appetite fluctuations, morning grogginess, but that was about it. I still don't know if these two things are related or not, maybe I was just unlucky? However, in June of 2021, I was feeling extremely emotionally happy. But I started to notice tinnitus and a constant feeling of fullness and pain in my ears. I was prescribed a course of antibiotics, but they didn't really help. I later saw an ENT specialist who diagnosed me with eustachian tube dysfunction. A few months later, I started having a feeling of tightness in my chest, trouble breathing, irregular heartbeats, etc. A few ECG tests after a trip to my GP indicated I had pericarditis. After two weeks of ibuprofen, I was supposedly in the clear. And I was, for a little bit, but then I started having more chest pains, tightness, and palpitations again, along with frequent burping, abdominal discomfort, cycling between diarrhoea and severe constipation for several days at a time. I was also having a lot of vision problems (significantly increased floaters, particularly when I look at a bright or white light source, redness, dryness, and photosensitivity). A 72-hour ECG came back mostly clear, and doctors told me I probably had sinus arrhythmia, which is quite normal and usually completely asymptomatic. My blood pressure was normal too. I was put on omeprazole for acid reflux, which helped for a while, but I eventually ran out. Since my gastrointestinal symptoms had settled, I was told to just ride out the chest issues, and that they were likely anxiety. I tried this for a while, and then I started experiencing some other things, sudden leg and arm twitches, tremors, closed-eye hallucinations when sleeping, increased heart palpitations, neck stiffness, and headaches and tenderness at the back of my head. Having researched some of these symptoms to try and figure things out, I spoke to my doctor, who inspected me for signs of infection as a lot of these symptoms lined up, except for the closed-eye hallucinations and tremors. I was told there was nothing wrong. I brought up the potential of having an adverse reaction to the mirtazapine, and he recommended we wait a little longer. I came back a few weeks later with a lot of the same symptoms as well as sharp pain in my kidneys, increased urination at night, extreme anxiety and agitation, and a return of my gastrointestinal issues, whilst still having all of the other issues. I was given a prescription for a lowered dose of mirtazapine to 15 mg and told to taper over the course of a month. By now, it was December. I'd already started to try to improve my diet and improve some of my habits to manage my acid reflux after the pericarditis scare, no coffee (god, I miss it), no alcohol, much better eating habits, and daily exercise through brisk walking/jogging on the treadmill. This helped a little, but while exercising one night, I felt faint after only five minutes, and had severe chest pain, which hadn't happened before. I stopped and called my local hospital's non-emergency number and explained my symptoms and history. I was taken in via ambulance, inspected by paramedics and quickly examined. A brief ECG while I wasn't having palpitations and a blood test returned normal, so I was told something my chest pain and tenderness was "maybe something muscular" and released. I continued to take my lowered dose, and noticed an increase in whatever muscular chest pain I was having, an overall feeling of dullness throughout my body, increased tremors, acid reflux reaching my throat and causing vocal instability, temperature sensitivity, and a lot of brain fog. One night, I stayed up a little later than usual, and noticed that some of the brain fog and dullness eased significantly for a while. I took my dosage before bed and woke up the next day feeling as awful as I had before. I discussed this as a phone appointment with another doctor at my GP surgery, and was advised to stop the mirtazapine immediately without completing the taper. I did so, and felt significantly better for a few days. Then, I guess the withdrawal symptoms must have caught up with me, because a lot of the feelings I'd had returned with a vengeance. Although I stopped having the hallucinations, improved photosensitivity, tremors, full-body dullness, chest tightness, and brain fog, my acid reflux and indigestion got even worse, and I started having nerve pain, symptoms that seem to line up with peripheral neuropathy, constant gurgling in my legs, loss of appetite, extreme anxiety, heart palpitations that felt completely different to the previous ones, and a complete inability to sleep. After a few days of this, I had sharp chest pain after a sudden palpitation that radiated to my left arm. And then I started struggling to breathe. I returned to hospital, was inspected again, returned normal tests (although they had issues drawing blood from my arms), and was sent home again, being told that it was probably indigestion and my breathlessness was a result of a panic attack on the journey to hospital. After discussing my SSRI withdrawal, the hospital advised me to see my GP and restart omeprazole now that I'd been off my mirtazapine for a few days. It's been about a month since I was in the hospital there, and I can say with certainty that things are getting a lot better. I'm no longer having heart palpitations, my flank pain is mostly gone, I haven't had that full-body nerve pain for a while, my appetite's back, and my anxiety's at least manageable now, a lot of the peripheral neuropathy symptoms are improved, I'm sleeping for at least 4 hours on my worst nights, and I think my tinnitus is finally improving. I'm still suffering with increased urination at night, that gurgling sensation in my legs, irregular heartbeats/inconsistent heart rate, bradycardia, constant tiredness, acid reflux/indigestion (I'm on omeprazole again now, but I'm still having some symptoms), as well as some strange pains in my neck and back, mild muscular pains, a nasal drip and occasionally runny nose, an intermittent cough, and most recently a new kind of chest pain around my sternum that only seems to flare up occasionally (possibly costochondritis, or heartburn, but I'm medically undiagnosed at the moment so it's hard to say for sure). That's most of it, at least, there might be a few other minor things I'm forgetting or I don't think are related to withdrawal, but we're gradually unpicking all of these issues. As for things that have helped me, I'm taking a marine magnesium supplement every night that seems to really calm me and help me sleep, and prevent the nerve pain. I've also found that CBD oil or tea seems to help calm my anxiety and nerves during the day, a hot bath does absolute wonders, and the jogging was helping to stabilise my heart rate from some worrying inconsistencies into something manageable as well as calming some symptoms. It seems every week or few days or so, some old symptom goes away and a new one takes its place, and while I absolutely hate the uncertainty and constant change, things do seem to be getting better overall. That being said, I've felt pretty rough today, this new chest pain's been taking the wind out of my sails and got really bad after I used the treadmill yesterday, so I've decided to avoid that strenuous exercise until it settles. I've discussed it with my doctor and we're keeping an eye on it for now. Things still feel quite worrying and challenging, but nowhere near as terrifying as they used to be, for at least a solid month I had no idea what was going on, and I was convinced this all might kill me. The advice I've found here so far has really helped. I just wanted to share my story, provide some advice for anyone else who is still struggling, reassure anyone else out there that it does get better, and see if any more experienced people on this forum had any advice or similar experiences with the issues I'm still having. Thanks for reading and all the advice! Kairos

Sorry about the name as "Redman" was a childhood nickname and I have already started with it. I was placed on Seroquel 25mg twice a day, mirtazapine 7.5mg at bedtime, and gabapentin 200mg three times a day a little over two months ago after a psychiatric hospitalization. At first I thought the meds were great as I finally had something that gave me sleep at night. But this effect didn't last and I didn't realize the reason I was feeling so bad was the medicine and not just my condition, I'm of the opinion, as I look back and at what I was able to do before and since I began them. I didn't realize what these meds were and how that dependency had already set in until doing some research online. After a month of my doctor trying to adjust these meds I realized with fear how difficult getting off Seroquel was going to be given my weakened state and my dread of losing any night's sleep. I would appreciate any advice, tips, pointers, etc. Thanks.

Hello, I had a horrific year from late 2021 to late 2022. All of this culminated in a very bad mental breakdown, and I was struggling to eat. I was prescribed 15mg of Mirtazapine in mid-November 2022. I had quite intense physical side effects for a while, mainly fatigue and very heavy, aching limbs. I took the first dose before bed and had the side effects the next day. I also had an instant loss of libido and ED. I tried to taper off the drugs in January 2022 and quickly had another breakdown after initially feeling better, no physical symptoms. I ended up being prescribed 30mg by the GP and had 3 weeks off work. I returned to work, but was still not good emotionally/mentally ie. I don't think the medication really helped. I had EMDR therapy, which helped me to get better from the traumas I had suffered, and I was doing well mentally. I spoke to my GP (regular doctor in the UK), and tapered down from 30mg over around 4 weeks and took my last dose on around the 24th/25th April. All through tapering I felt pretty great. I was going to the gym and my physical strength increased all the time back to where it was pre-drugs. My sexual side effects were rapidly diminishing and I met a wonderful young woman. On the 1st May I did a 6mile walk and went to the gym. I thought everything was going great, and I had no idea that I was going too quickly and felt better and better every day. I had no idea that symptoms could be anything other than mental/emotional and poor sleep from withdrawal. My sleep was lighter and not great, but still okay. On the 2nd May I was at work and felt very anxious and had worse brain fog throughout the day. By the end of the work day I felt terrible and thought I was just getting unwell. My boss had been unwell and I had been in close contact with him. I had awful illness from then on. "Flu-like" symptoms- found it very difficult to eat and when I could it was the plainest food possible. Intense fatigue. These were all symptoms of what my boss had been ill with. After some days, I wasn't getting better, and although I was sleeping I was experiencing common issues similar to those I have since found online ie. waking up at 3am every night, waking up each morning fairly early with a big cortisol dump/anxiety. I worked from home as best I could for three weeks, but this week I have finally had to take time off work. I have improved from the first week and a half of intense flu, and am left with mainly chronic fatigue and still have difficulty eating. I feel pretty rough from not eating much as well. I am sleeping, but still often waking up at 3am and then again at 6ish. I have days when I don't feel as bad, and then I have days where I'm totally exhausted and can barely eat, like today. Yesterday was okay. Sadly, a week ago, my erectile dysfunction also returned for the most part. I have windows of entire evenings when I feel okay. My GP's theory is that withdrawals should be mild, and that I had a viral bug at the same time as withdrawals which made it worse. I did have blood tests done on Tuesday which I am hoping to have an appointment with the GP tomorrow (Friday) to discuss. He said that reinstating seemed risky now that I'd gone so far through withdrawals and that I should just start feeling better very soon. I'm so torn as to what to do. I have improved since the earliest, very acute symptoms. I haven't had ANY relapse depression at all, I just want to be physically well like I was during/before tapering. From reading this forum, I'm around the 1-month mark where reinstatement starts to get risky. The smallest prescription dose is 3.75mg. Although the general trend is upward, I still have awful days and quite frankly unless I improve significantly I cannot return to work any time soon. I know it's somewhat unrelated, but I have a holiday in two weeks that I booked in Autumn, and although the wonderful person I've been seeing briefly is very patient and understanding, and I've seen her at times when I've been feeling okay, if I am unwell for much longer I cannot expect her to hang around as we've only recently met. I am desperate not to be so unwell anymore. I was doing so well other than physical side effects, and was living life etc. I will update tomorrow with blood test results etc. but what would people recommend? Push through or reinstate a low dose? I've ordered DAO enzymes that should arrive tomorrow. I'm intensely fatigued today so maybe a good night of sleep tonight will make tomorrow better.

I am newbie here. I have a long history with other psychotropic drugs and several DSM diagnoses over the course of my life and I am now well over 40 years of age. I won’t go into the totality of it as it would take too long and the moderators have enough to do. I just want some advice on getting off Remerone (Mirtazpine) and dealing with what I think may be ongoing withdrawal from Cymbalta which I stopped taking 2 and half years ago. My story in as brief as I can make it (not great at editing) I started to suffer with chronic back pain in 2007 when I was 36 years of age which resulted in severe insomnia and work absences and was not resolved by manual treatments or exercises. It was eventually diagnosed as fibromyalgia and I started to take 50mg Trimipramine, brand name Surmontil for sleep in 2007. By 2014 it was no longer working for the pain. I had met people on a pain management course for arthritis who were taking Cymbalta. I saw the rheumatologist about it. She said Cymbalta was good for nerve pain so I decided to give it a go as I was desperate for the pain to stop. On the first night I stopped the Surmontil I got no sleep and began in the next three days to experience severe anxiety, restlessness and insomnia. I took my first Cymbalta pill (30mg) four days after stopping the Surmontil. The back pain went away within 24 hours of taking it. I was ecstatic. However the anxiety and insomnia that started when I stopped the Surmontil got worse. For the first time in my life I got akathisia and panic attacks. I could not sit still or concentrate – I couldn’t even watch TV and I’m a big TV watcher. I walked about 12 miles a day and could not eat. I was prescribed sleeping pills but still got no sleep. I spent the night pacing around the house and lost over a stone in weight (I’m relatively slim for my age so a stone is a lot for me). After six weeks of this was I was near breaking point and saw a psychiatrist. A friend of mine had been taking Remerone (Mirtazapine) and found it wonderful for sleep. I was desperate for sleep so I asked the psychiatrist if she could prescribe me some and she gave me 30mg of it and some Rivotril and Seroquel to take as needed. To be honest I think if I hadn’t gotten the Remerone I might have gone psychotic from the lack of sleep. I got my first night’s sleep in six weeks and stabilised within a month. After two weeks I reduced the Remerone to 15mg. For the next four years I was ‘stable’ on 30mg Cymbalta and 7.5mg Remeron except for regular appalling migraines which I put down to approaching menopause. After approx. eight months the pain killing properties of the Cymbalta pooped out and I started to get pain again but it was manageable. In 2018 my blood results showed dangerously high cholesterol and liver enzyme readings. I rarely drank – maybe a glass once every six weeks. My psychiatrist said it was the Cymbalta and said I could have a drug holiday as she called it. She told me that I could stop the Cymbalta immediately as 30mg was a low dose but by this point I had finally realised from stopping the Surmontil that this would not be a good idea. I looked up the instructions on tapering on this site and some other sites and purchased the book ‘The Antidepressant Solution’ by Dr Joseph Glenmullen on withdrawal from antidepressants. I bought a milligram scale and started a journal documenting my titrations by removing a number of beads and decreasing by 10% of that reduction every two weeks. I documented my withdrawal symptoms in a journal. I started the titration on the 2nd of June 2018 and finished on the 20th February 2019. Even with extremely slow titration I began to experience insomnia, anxiety and restlessness and my mood began to drop in July 2018. I took herbal, vitamin and omega three supplements throughout but to be honest I don’t think they helped greatly. I thought once I was off the drug the side effects would dissipate completely but two weeks after my last taper they got much worse. I had constant debilitating anxiety, insomnia and began to experience regular suicidal ideation. I was unable to concentrate. I had also tapered my dose of Remeron down to 3.75mg in tandem. I had developed eczema on my hands and feet four months before I started the taper from Cymbalta and this continued unabated. The only thing that brought down the anxiety was HIIT workouts but the hip issues I had been dealing with for the previous 4 years acted up again I had to stop the classes. I started bioidentical HRT in September 2019 and though the progesterone did help with sleep a little bit it did not resolve the anxiety and suicidality. The following year 2019 I again sought psychiatric ‘help’ as I was at the end of my tether with suicidal thoughts and severe anxiety. I was told I was bipolar. I got a prescription for Lamotrigine 50mg in January 2020. I got assessed for Autism spectrum disorder as a therapist I had been attending had kept banging on about my being on the spectrum for several years. Two weeks before the lockdown occasioned by the pandemic in 2020, I got a diagnosis of ASD and was told the other diagnoses I had been given over the course of my life of borderline and bipolar disorder were probably incorrect. The local mental health clinic had shut down due to the lockdown. My anxiety was very bad and I had no other meds to ‘help’ so I started taking the Lamotrigine in June 2021 and within nine days developed a rash. I sent photos to my GP who told me to stop taking it because it could prove dangerous. I tried taking it again three weeks later – same rash. On this occasion my GP told me I could not take it again. I finally got an appointment with the Mental Health day clinic and got 150mg Seroquel. I had upped the Remeron up to 7.5mg again. After being on the Seroquel one month I developed stomach issues and was prescribed Omeprazole. I had to take laxatives and enemas for constipation. I lasted on this dose until October 2020 when I got a bowel impaction an enema did not fix which was scary. I gradually weaned the Seroquel dose down not very scientifically until December 2020 when I stopped taking it completely. I noticed that since taking the Seroquel that I had developed muscle cramps and pains in addition to the chronic pain I already had. In the last month I started doing somatic exercises which have proved quite helpful. My anxiety has continued but I have held off taking anything else like Rivotril or Lexathan which I had a small supply of as the rebound anxiety they cause is not worth it. I am 2 years and four months off the Cymbalta and am currently still on 7.5mg Remerone in tablet form. I would like to get off Remeron but accept that it might not be possible. Once I had titrated down previously to 3.75mg the weighing scale would not register any further decrease in weight and there are no chemists where I live who will liquefy the dose down. I missed the dose by two days once when I ran out once and nearly ended up in A&E with fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. My immediate concern if someone has managed to read this far is how much longer does the Cymbalta withdrawal last? And if this any way in hell that I could ever get off the Remerone? My sleep has stabilised somewhat over the last three months and I now get five/six to seven hours per night most nights. My anxiety is still very high but my living situation is very difficult and I don’t have any significant support. The pandemic removed the few support structures I did have so I think this has a bearing on things. I have found that the amino acid Lutein helped the eczema which is now (touching a lot of wood) manageable though I still can’t wear jeans because of the nickel. surviving antidepressants timeline.docx

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.

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 am so glad that I came across this forum! I feel like crying when reading peoples stories and their struggle with coming off the antidepressants! I was prescribed Zoloft for anxiety and Depression which I have been suffering for years! Mainly anxiety and panic disorder! I am otherwise healthy. Zoloft caused PGAD that has caused me so much anguish, I feel like I am living in a nightmare! I only took Zoloft for 3 days 25mg and this happened to me! I wanted to and still have thoughts of suicide! I felt that I was some kind of a freak and pervert! It has been 4 weeks and things have improved but not completely gone! I constantly feel burning sensation, and tingles that drive me crazy! I can deal with the burning sensations but tingles I can not stand! I got better then I took a herbal supplement for anxiety and it has come back today! I am taking fish oil supplement and I wonder if I am now sensitive to fish oil too??? Should I stop or cut back on fish oil? I just don't know what to take anymore! I never could imagine that this could happen to me as I was not aware! The doctor did not mention anything so I had no idea! I am naturally a slim person and my only worry at the time was if I was going to gain weight while on antidepressants, and my doctor reassured me "Very Unlikely". I took her word for it and I took the medication. In did not want to deal with, anxiety, depression and plus weight issues as a result of antidepressants! I told my doctor what happened to me and like many others have reported "she has never heard of it". That made me feel so humiliated and embarrassed. The point is that the doctors are not educated in regards to this issue. I recently went back to her and told her that I am still experiencing issued down below, burning sensation ever since Zoloft and she said that it is a coincidence! I am sick of doctors, they are full of ****! You tell them one thing and they turn it around! I just prey this eventually goes away and settles down! If this does not settle down I would consider removing sensitive part of my anatomy! I hate it! I can't stand it! How is everyone else coping with this? What have you found that helps? I have not felt peaceful down below for the last 4 weeks! I have never heard of this condition prior to taking antidepressants. Please help, Thank you.

I have been taking Trazadone since January 2014. I started with .75 Traz and have been slowly tapering the past six months. I am now down to .38 Traz after making a cut 2 nights ago from .45 Traz.. I take it at night to sleep along with 7.5 Remeron. I have been doing well with sleeping on the .45 which I have been holding the past 2 months. Last night my sleep was very light and fitful after the cut. I doubt I got that much sleep. Also, this October I will be on year off Ambien 10 mg. I am looking for some encouragement from folks who have been down this road before with Trazadone. Any success stories out there? How did you feel along the way with tapering? How was your sleep? How did you feel one week off Traz, three weeks off, a month off?

Hello everyone i’m a 26 years old male. End of 2017 the doctor give me mirtazapine because I was sleeping very bad for over a year. She said it wasn’t addictive and if I dont like it I can stop anytime. I never had depression or anxiety in my life the only thing was the lack of sleep. I started it in december 2017 at 15mgs in the evening. The first day I take it I got some kind of panic attack I couldnt think, everthing feels strange and my hands were tingling. I went back and asked if it was the medicine but she thinks it was just a panic attack because of the lack of sleep. I stop taking it for a couple of days. Then I started it again because the doctor assured it wasnt the medicine. When I started again the only thing I noticed when I took them are some kind of brain zaps and restless legs. But that did go away after a few weeks. Everything went good after that for 4 months,I sleep during that 4 months the only side effects i noticed were that I eat a lot and sometimes I got the tingling in my hand and feet. After the 4 months I became very scared because I was just sitting at home and out of nowhere I getting very scared and noticed that what I now know getting intrusive thoughts. I never had them in my live. Then I started googling and find out I wasnt the only one who has problems with this drug. I was so scared that I decided to quit the drugs so I went to the doctor again. This was around March 2018. She tould me to take 7,5mg for 3 weeks and after that 3,75mg for 3 weeks and then quit. When I jumped to 7,5 mg I felt great for a few weeks then I go to the 3,75mg and felt terrible I couldnt function at all I was very tired and even watching television became to much. I couldnt eat,sleep and noticed I get tinnitus and my ears got very sensitive to sounds. I hold it for a couple of weeks but then I cant take it anymore so I went back to 7,5mg and felt relief after three days. That worked for a couple of weeks but after that I noticed the intrusive thoughts are back and they would get worse. After that I googled the whole day and became obsessed about the withdrawal. I hold at the 7,5mg for a couple of months because I was to scared to decrease. Sometimes I felt good but most of the time I felt realy bad and scared that I never get better. In July of this year I decided to taper because the symptoms get very bad again. I went to the doctor and asked for the liquid mirtazapine and she agreed. At the moment I am doing a four month taper, every 2 weeks I am going to drop 1mg and at the moment Im at 4,5mg. I know it is way too fast but I never stabilize on a dose and Im already sick all the time. At this moment my symptoms are: Racing thoughts Tinnitus Nausea cant eat much losing weight. Obsessive about withdrawing Some kind of brain zaps/tension in head. Muscle twitching I get some sleep I think 4 or 5 hours but some days i dont sleep at all. I follow some topics here about mirtazapine for a while and I know it is a very bad drug.

Good morning. I have spent the last week stalking this website and thought how wonderful it was to have such a support system. So here I am. As you will see, I haven’t been on mirtazapine for very long. I was desperate at the time and needed relief like many of you have stated. I still wasn’t feeling great when upping the dose to 11.25 mg but refused to go any higher. I started seeing a functional doctor back in Aug and it turns out, I have an over active thyroid which has pooped out my adrenals. So here begins the healing process. I was put on wholefood supplements. Meaning, each ingredient has come from a whole food source. I have been off refined sugar, junk food for 3 and half months. The withdrawals from that was fun! I have been feeling better, ups and downs but I felt like I needed to be off mirtazapine in order to heal properly. If that makes sense. Knowing to decrease slowly I thought that 16% would be a good start. Nope. Within 4 days I went into withdrawals. Anxiety through the roof, nauseous and upset stomach. I immediately took my original dose and have been doing that for 6 days. I am still not 100% and I just feel exhausted, sick to my stomach in the mornings. It comes and goes. Appetite way down and little waves of anxiety. I am looking for support during my process. My husband is sweet but hearing “it will get better soon” is not helpful. I practice mindful meditation, yoga, journaling. My head is in the right space, but my body is rebellious. Can is take longer than a week for your body to build up to the dose you reinstated? I’m assuming so as every body is different but it just feels nice to hear it. To conclude this novel. Once I stabilize, my functional doctor will guide me with a taper where we will start at 2.5%. I’m thinking after the holidays so my body has time to be still. Any advice will be great. I would also like to journal my way through this here in hopes to help not only myself but others as well.

Hi I am new to this forum and this is my first post . I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine and 200mg of pregablin , I have been on these mess for about 3 to 4 months . I have just cut my mirtazapine from 30mg to 15mg and in the space of 4 days I have have horrible side effects , anxiety through the roof , shaking , lack of appetite poor sleep crying spells and the general feeling of feeling crap . The reason I have started to withdraw from the mirtazapine is that after 3 months I feel no benefit only get awfull side effects . No help with my anxiety and depression if anything it's made me more depressed . I have gone through withdrawing from Effexor and that was really tough , however just the drop for a few days of the mirtazapine has left me crushed , my doctor told me that mirtazapine was a easy drug to withdraw from , but after 4 days it has left me house bound . Has anyone got any idea on how I get through this or any experience in mirtazapine withdrawals

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

Hi this is my first post, I ct of mirtazapine 10 months ago as per doctors recommendations and since then have been experiencing severe muscle weakness, spasms and knots. I believe my history will be included in the signature of this post? I’ve been trying all the recommended treatments like magnesium, heat etc which helps only a bit. Hoping to get help with the following questions: I’m still taking 25 mg sertraline, which I was taking before the mirtazapine, and did not experience the muscle issues. However, with my CNS kindled could the sertraline be contributing to the spasms? My understanding of mirtazapine is it hits +25 receptors so would anyone know which ones in particular could have been adversely affected to cause the muscle issues, ie histamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, etc? Not sure if other medications are ever recommended but wondering about the use of a muscle relaxant or other drug that could help relax the muscles without causing further damage to my CNS. Any other supplements and/or diet recommendations such as low histamine or low glutamate?

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.

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 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.

Hello, and thank you a million times for the site, I am gutted to be here. I'm so sorry I didn't fill in my history, I thought it went in the signature and didn't want to do it twice, I'm in something of a rush and feeling utterly terrible. I realized I should have but don't seem to be able to go back and fill it in. Apologies for any inconvenience. One of a thousand stupid decisions I seem to make all the time on these meds. So I'm hoping for some advice about switching. I've been on Mirtazapine for approximately 8 years and I'm reaching the point where the Gemini scales won't be accurate so I'm looking to switch. However, I switched to Prozac a couple of years ago and had a terrible time. I was manic, couldn't sleep or eat, and so went back. At the time I thought it didn't agree with me but I now realize it may have been withdrawal from the mirt that was causing the problems. I'm really sensitive, which is why I've had to change pills in the past after reactions like skin rashes so I'm worried about trying something new. I'm hoping you guys might have an idea of what I could switch to that's soluble and hopefully, easier to get off than Mirt. Also, over the 2 or 3 months I'm starting to feel depression creeping in, which I haven't had before as a withdrawal symptom, so I don't know if it's withdrawal or relapse. I can't take anything else for the depression as it'll interact so I'm thinking of going back up to 7.5 and staying there but the thought of staying on this medication makes me feel suicidal. This is complicated by the fact that I stopped drinking completely 3 weeks ago which can apparently cause depression although the depression starting earlier but it could be exacerbating it. I realize there's a chance, a good chance, that, having been on these meds for so long, and having swapped about along with being so sensitive, I might well have to stay on them forever. I'm trying to come to terms with this, but I don't want to give up giving up too easy. Many thanks again for the site, I wish I'd found you earlier, and for any advice you can offer.

Hello, I came across this website through google search "vraylar" My med history can be viewed in my signature. I have been browsing this website for a while and I finally decided to register an account. I guess I feel desperate and really need some advice meanwhile waiting for a horrendously long time to see a neurologist and an ENT doctor to check what is going on and rule out other underlying situations. I was first diagnosed as bipolar back in 2018 when I was still in college by school's healthcare center's psychiatrist. We tried Abilify first, switched to Lamictal and quetiapine after intense akathisia (it went right away when I ct abilify and switched to Lamictal and quetiapine). Then quetiapine gave me stuffy noses and by the beginning of 2019 I realize these meds didn't make me feel well at all, so I did taper on my own and became med free from 2019-end of 2021. In the beginning of 2022, due to relocation to a new city, entering master program at a nice grad school, breaking up, worrying about whether I can get a job/go into a PhD, I had intense stress and caused me want to seek help from psych med again. My school referred a nurse practitioner (later found out to be irresponsible as hell) and she put me on vraylar 1.5 mg beginning 2/11. First 2 days feel ok until 2/14 I realized that feeling of "muscles bursting out of my skin" was caused by vraylar. I talked about this with the NP and she added mirtzapine on 2/25. It did not work and the NP told me to just stop both on 2/27. The rest of my med history is in my signature. The nurse practitioner is perceived as irresponsible because she dropped me immediately after I was hospitalized and disabled my account so I can't even access my medical record. My development of symptoms: 2/14 - 2/27: intense feeling of "muscles bursting out of my skin/inner vibration" and restless/akathisia 2/28 - 3/16 (after stopping vraylar and mirtazapine): continued above symptoms, and muscle twitches/faciculation appeared: sometimes my finger, legs, and arms would twitch around. When I hold objects in my hands they tremor a lot. during hospitalization: 3/17 the inner vibration alleviated during the day (might be due to trying lorazepam at night of 3/16), then came back at night in full force through out the entire hospitalization; muscle twitches spread to head. I felt my right ear had some infection and the nurse gave me some ear drops. 3/23: discharged, severe akathisia, along with all symptoms described above. 3/24 - 3/28: inner vibration/akathisia alleviated, but came back on 3/25. 3/29: inner shaking alleviated for a day, and then came back full force on 3/30. all other symptoms continued. 3/30-4/10: a period of "inner vibration alleviated for a short while and came back throughout a day." all other symptoms continued. Starting from 4/09, a "squeaky noise" joined along with feelings of flowing sand/electro current running in the back of my head. 4/11-4/18: inner shaking was replaced by "bugs crawling under skin" and the intensity varied. On 4/11, right-ear tinnitus joined. On 4/16, a loud thump can be heard in my right ear as if the muscles in my inner ear also joined the muscle twitching symptom. 4/19-4/28: "bugs crawling under skin" almost disappeared in core area and manifested more in limbs, all other symptoms continued. 4/29-5/7: every morning when I wake up I felt something exploded in my chest and made me extremely agitated. all other symptoms continued. 5/8 - 5/22: no more morning wake up explosion. The inner vibration came back in legs. Started to have very low energy since 5/8. all other symptoms continued. 5/23: woke up with the most severe electro shot/numb feelings in my limbs, as if there was no blood flowing at all. all other symptoms continued. 5/24-5/28: strong electro shot/numb feelings in arms when lying down on back, although nothing was on my arms. all other symptoms continued. 5/31: all of a sudden full body inner vibration came back this day. all other symptoms continued. 6/1 - now: no more full body inner vibration. electro shot/numb feelings mainly manifest in hands and feet. all other symptoms continued. Now I know the symptoms that still manifest are paeathesia, tinnitus and faciculation. They are still very disabling and by no means I am functioning. The faciculation has dropped from around 70 tics/hour to around 20-50 tics/hour. I am just very scared that it might be permanent and that even if I healed, all other non-psych medications that didn't give me trouble in the past would trigger all of these terrible symptoms again in the future. I don't know what to do. Nothing seems to be stimulating or make my situation worse, but nothing helps neither.