Unlucky Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hi,can anyone help me,i went on mirtazapine for 3 weeks last year when I had tinnitus start,it was to help me sleep,this was back in july last year,it was making my tinnitus change so tapered of,last dose 3.75, after a week had horrific side effect, brain zaps,sking tightning in my neck,hot and cold rushes in my head,and I feel the current running in my head all roynd my ears all the time,like someones letting tyres down in my ears, my tinnitus has got worse,my ears feel weird all the time like cold and damp in side this has been over 6 months now and its not stopping, my life is hell,the current in my head is the worst as it rushes round so fast at times all in my ears I cant think, all this for 3 weeks sleep?? 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus SquirrellyGirl Posted March 7, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hi Unlucky, I am so sorry that you are having all this fallout from taking mirtazapine for such a short period of time. This med really gets its hooks into people quickly. I know a moderator will be along shortly to help. It would help others see your situation at a glance if you could put your drug history, with dosages and dates as best you can, in your signature block. You can look at other peoples' signatures at the bottom of their posts to get an idea. This will help the moderators as well. Instructions are here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/ Though you were on it so short a period, there are still changes made in the nervous system in response to the action of the drug. You can learn more about that here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/603-what-is-withdrawal-syndrome/ Recovery from these drugs occurs in a windows and waves pattern: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/82-the-windows-and-waves-pattern-of-stabilization/ Many here take 2-4 mg of fish oil a day and that can help with brain healing and zaps, which perhaps you are experiencing some version. Also, for anxiety and sleep, many have found magnesium to be helpful. I take magnesium glycinate because it is well absorbed and doesn't cause intestinal upset. Hang on and a moderator will be along soon! SG Started ADs back around 1995 after bad break-up, starting with Prozac. Switched to Wellbutrin, and then to Effexor in 2002 Effexor XR 2002-2014 up to 225 mg at one point, down to 37.5 mg towards end but back up to 75 mg in 2014; now realize I had W/D as I dropped down, memory very poor about history. Extreme emotions, poor concentration as I stepped back down, didn't connect the dots! Summer 2014 reduced to 0 very quickly, was sick of anhedonia/sexual dysfunction due to meds, depression never controlled if not worse. Didn't recognize WD since symptoms built slowly (thought I had ADD! and menopausal on top of it), starting with severe sweats, very bad cog-fog and memory issues, culminating in weight loss, severe anxiety and depression, panic, severe apathy and insomnia by eight months off. Saw p-doc who put me on Remeron, increased from 7.5 mg/day to 37.5 mg by May 22, 2015; still doing very badly though able to sleep. June 1. 2015 Reinstated Effexor XR 37.5 mg, Remeron dropped to 30 mg PM. Immediate relief of symptoms, like nothing had ever happened! Joined SA and began on advice of friend who recognized it was WD all along! Began tapering in July 2015. Been tapering both meds ever since, focusing on one more than the other or doing no more than 5% of each per month. 12 mg Effexor and 5.8 mg Remeron (mirtazapine SolTabs to make a solution with OraPlus) as of 5/4/2017 Update 3/14/18: 2.9 mg Remeron and 6 mg Effexor; 6/10/18: 2.6 mg Remeron and 4.9 mg Effexor My intro: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/9313-squirrellygirl-effexor-withdrawal-etc/page-2#entry196679 This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted March 7, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hi Unlucky, Welcome to SA. SG beat me to it but I thought I'd say hi anyway. CC * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management Link to comment
Unlucky Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 Hi thanks for the replies,tried all the fish oils and vitamins none have helped,its like my brain is mis firing all day long, such weird feelings in my head, of hot and cold and like an electrical current running through out my head, its the worst. 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus SquirrellyGirl Posted March 7, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 7, 2016 So, since about August you've been off the Mirt, from 3.75 mg? It is a long time ago to consider reinstatement for symptom relief but it might be worth a shot. Reinstatement means taking a very tiny amount of the offending drug to alleviate symptoms if they are unbearable. If reinstatement works, you would take that amount for 6-8 weeks to stabilize, and then commence a very slow taper off. There is a chance this far out that reinstatement won't work. You would need to give it at least four days to reach a steady state in the blood before determining whether or not it is helpful. I know most folks are aghast at the idea of taking the drug again since that is the last thing they want to do, but if the symptoms are so horrible as to interfere with living your day to day, then it is a harm reduction approach. The drug you are in withdrawal from is the only thing that can stop withdrawal symptoms. I will leave it to a moderator to determine whether reinstatement is worth considering and how much, but it would certainly be much less than 3.75 mg. You would want to check with your doctor to see about getting a liquid version of Mirt, since that is the best way to measure such small dosages. You can read about reinstatement here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/ SG Started ADs back around 1995 after bad break-up, starting with Prozac. Switched to Wellbutrin, and then to Effexor in 2002 Effexor XR 2002-2014 up to 225 mg at one point, down to 37.5 mg towards end but back up to 75 mg in 2014; now realize I had W/D as I dropped down, memory very poor about history. Extreme emotions, poor concentration as I stepped back down, didn't connect the dots! Summer 2014 reduced to 0 very quickly, was sick of anhedonia/sexual dysfunction due to meds, depression never controlled if not worse. Didn't recognize WD since symptoms built slowly (thought I had ADD! and menopausal on top of it), starting with severe sweats, very bad cog-fog and memory issues, culminating in weight loss, severe anxiety and depression, panic, severe apathy and insomnia by eight months off. Saw p-doc who put me on Remeron, increased from 7.5 mg/day to 37.5 mg by May 22, 2015; still doing very badly though able to sleep. June 1. 2015 Reinstated Effexor XR 37.5 mg, Remeron dropped to 30 mg PM. Immediate relief of symptoms, like nothing had ever happened! Joined SA and began on advice of friend who recognized it was WD all along! Began tapering in July 2015. Been tapering both meds ever since, focusing on one more than the other or doing no more than 5% of each per month. 12 mg Effexor and 5.8 mg Remeron (mirtazapine SolTabs to make a solution with OraPlus) as of 5/4/2017 Update 3/14/18: 2.9 mg Remeron and 6 mg Effexor; 6/10/18: 2.6 mg Remeron and 4.9 mg Effexor My intro: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/9313-squirrellygirl-effexor-withdrawal-etc/page-2#entry196679 This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. Link to comment
Unlucky Posted March 7, 2016 Author Share Posted March 7, 2016 My main concern is that coming of and while being on it changed my tinnitus, its way worse now than it was,if I go on and it doesn't stop the symptoms but makes my tinnitus worse again I don't think I could cope. 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
Unlucky Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hi,can anyone help me on this? Do I have to carry on suffering and hoping my brain will correct itself? Has anyone had these symptoms? Thanks in advance 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Fresh Posted March 8, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hi Unlucky , welcome to the site. It sounds like the tinnitus developed after you started mirtazapine last year , is that correct? The risk of trying to reinstate is that it will trigger more symptoms , or aggravate current ones. However if it's successful , you'll get symptom relief , which is everything to you at the moment. Your brain will recover over time , it will correct itself. There is no correct answer here , just options for you to consider. Please read the link the SqirrellyGirl provided about reinstating. Best wishes , Fresh 1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg 2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months. July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months. Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg. October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive. March 2016 , 21mg Link to comment
Unlucky Posted March 8, 2016 Author Share Posted March 8, 2016 Hi,thanks for the reply,i already had tinnitus for a couple of months before mirtazapine,thats why I ended up on it as was struggling to sleep so my doctor put me on that,it made it worse so tapered of and now its way worse on tip of all the other horrible side effects stuck between a rock and a hard place. 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
nz11 Posted March 8, 2016 Share Posted March 8, 2016 In my opinion i like the idea of keeping well away from any psychotropic drug. Give it time. It appears you had tinnitus prior to drug use, so are you saying your doctor gave you remeron for tinnitus/and or sleep thats off label use. Many people would be very envious to be off remeron for 6 months. Why would you want to take something that made your tinnitus worse and has that for a side and or withdrawal effect. If sleep issues are your concern a great option is to consider non drug ways of dealing with this. My sleep is dreadful and full of irregularity (i never had that before drug use) but even if hell froze over i still would not swallow a drug from a doctor for it, that's just me ...cos i know thinks could be galaxies worse. Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Unlucky Posted March 9, 2016 Author Share Posted March 9, 2016 Hi,sleep is fine now,its about the only thing that is,i dont want to go back on I just want these horrible head symptoms to stop,but I cant risk tinnitus getting worse either 3 weeks of mirtazapine in july 2015 last does 3.75mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Fresh Posted March 9, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 9, 2016 They will , you can try different things to help deal with them in the meantime. See the thread on tinnitus here http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1736-tinnitus-what-does-all-that-noise-mean/?hl=tinnitus White noise machines , cognitive behavioural therapy , mindfulness. All worth looking into. 1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg 2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months. July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months. Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg. October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive. March 2016 , 21mg Link to comment
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