tuxg Posted October 10, 2016 Share Posted October 10, 2016 Hello! I would like to request help to withdraw from an antidepressant (Mirtazapine 15mg). I was taking this medicine for 8 weeks (imsonmia and anxiety) and now I would like to reduce and suspend it. Also I would like to switch to 5-HTP. Can you give us some idea on how to to this? Thank you very much! 2016-10-11 I was taken mirtazapine 15mg for 8 weeks. Meanwhile clonazepam in various doses controlled by the doctor. He said to descontinue the use of clonazepam and now I'm only with mirtazapine. Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted October 10, 2016 Administrator Share Posted October 10, 2016 Welcome, tuxg. I've moved your topic to the Introductions forum. Please bookmark it or follow it; you can post your questions and updates in this topic. Please read Why taper by 10% of my dosage? Tips for tapering off Remeron (mirtazapine) 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) and l-tryptophan This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus KarenB Posted October 11, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 11, 2016 Hello Tuxg and welcome to SA, Happily you have taken Remeron for a relatively short period of time. That will make tapering so much easier. Is this the only drug you have taken? Would you mind filling out a signature so we can see your situation easily each time you post, and also help you more accurately? Have a read of those links Alto posted and then come back to this thread to ask any further questions. It's good to have you here, Karen 2010 Fluoxetine 20mg. 2011 Escitalopram 20mg. 2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS. Effexor 150mg. 2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants. Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms). 8 month hold. 2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent). 2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well. Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea. 2023 December - Now on 5 micro-beads Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops. Symptoms begin to increase. 2024 April - Updosed to 6 microbeads - immediate increase in symptoms for 4 days. Decreased to 5 microbeads. 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.' Dr Gabor Mate. Link to comment
tuxg Posted October 11, 2016 Author Share Posted October 11, 2016 Thank you very much for your responses. I've read the posts but I'm not sure how to do the tapering because I only have the mirtazapine in 15mg tablets. I know I can split it in two (7.5mg) but I don't fully understand the 10% method. Thanks for your patience. 2016-10-11 I was taken mirtazapine 15mg for 8 weeks. Meanwhile clonazepam in various doses controlled by the doctor. He said to descontinue the use of clonazepam and now I'm only with mirtazapine. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Santino Posted October 11, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 11, 2016 Tuxg Welcome to the forum. I think you are in a similar situation to mine. You can read the details of my meds on my signature. I strongly advice the 10% rule. You can mix the Remeron with water on a 1mg to 1ml density, that means a 15 Mg pill crushed and mixed with 15 Ml of water. That means that every 1Ml is equal to 1Mg of Remeron. After that draw with a syringe 10% of it out and drink the rest. Make sure to shake well before drawing with the syringe. you can reduce by 10% of the current dose every 3-4 weeks. IN my case it has been possible to go lower even faster but need to tell you it has not been easy. July and August were terrible for me because i was experiencing benzo withdrawal as well. Nowadays things seem a bit better but still difficult as i have to work, care for the family and have a lot of situational problems as well. Do not get scared it might take some time but it is worth it.... i swear you are going to have your life back. You are not sick buddy and you are a hero for not going up with the Remeron dosage. It might take some time but you will reach to 0. In July i would never believe i would reach to 8.1Mg and here I am... :-) Good luck. 2015 - 2016 Xanax only rescue doses of 0.125 mg 1-2 times per month March 2016 0.125Mg * 2 Xanax for 10 days. 20 March 2016 0.25 Mg * 2 Xanax for one week. 1 April 2016 Tranxene 5 mg and Fevarin but bad reaction for 5 days.4 April 2016 25 Mg Amitryptiline + 6 MG bromazepam at night Started tapering Bromazepam 6 days later reached up to 3 MG in 10 days and withdrawal. Pdoc asked to go 6 MG again. 10 of May started Remeron 15 MG and started tapering Bromazepam again. SINCE 09/06/2016 BENZO FREE - Started Tapering Remeron 04/07/2016 04/Jul/16 12.8 Mg, 11/Aug/16 12 Mg, 20/Aug/16 11Mg, 3/Sept/16 10Mg, 11/Sept/16 9 Mg, 30/Sept/16 8.1 Mg, 14/Oct/16 7.25 Mg, 17/Nov/16 6.7, 23/Nov/16 6.5, 2/Dec/16 6.25, 9/Dec/16 6Mg, 25/Dec/16 5.7Mg, 4/Jan/17 5.4Mg, 20/Jan/17 5.2Mg, 07/Feb/17 5 Mg, 15/Feb/17 4.8Mg, 27/Feb/17 4.5Mg, 15/Mar/17 4.2Mg, 23/Mar/17 4Mg, 1/Apr/17 3.7Mg, 14/Apr/17 3.4Mg, 27/Apr/17 3.1Mg, 06/May/17 2.8Mg, 22/May/17 2.6Mg, 31/May/17 2.3Mg 09/Jun/17 2Mg, 20/Jun/17 1.7Mg, 29/Jun/17 1.4Mg, 11/Jul/17 1.2Mg, 20/Jul/17 1Mg, 31/Jul/17 0.8Mg, 11/Aug/17 0.6Mg, 23/Aug/17 0.5Mg, 05/Sept/17 0.4Mg, 13/Sept/17 0.3Mg. 22/Sept/17 0.2Mg, 03/Oct/17 0.15Mg, 10/Oct/17 0.1Mg, 23/Oct/17 0.05Mg, 22/Nov/17 0.025Mg, 06/DECEMBER/2017 MIRT FREEE. Link to comment
tuxg Posted October 11, 2016 Author Share Posted October 11, 2016 This book: http://www.citap.org.uk/BackToLife.pdf recommends to alternate days to reduce dosage (page 95 and 96). What do you think about that? 2016-10-11 I was taken mirtazapine 15mg for 8 weeks. Meanwhile clonazepam in various doses controlled by the doctor. He said to descontinue the use of clonazepam and now I'm only with mirtazapine. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus scallywag Posted October 11, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 11, 2016 We strongly recommend AGAINST alternating doses because it increases the risk of sensitizing your CNS (central nervous system). Please read the first post of either of the topics Altostrata posted: Why taper by 10% of my dosage? Tips for tapering off Remeron (mirtazapine) This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to 0.0 mg Aug. 12; details here scallywag's IntroductionOnline spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet Link to comment
tuxg Posted October 12, 2016 Author Share Posted October 12, 2016 The 10% method will take me 30 weeks or more, and I cannot start taking 5-htp concurrently. I only take mirtazapine for 8 weeks. I have to taper for 30 weeks? I don't know if my calculations are ok. Thank you. 2016-10-11 I was taken mirtazapine 15mg for 8 weeks. Meanwhile clonazepam in various doses controlled by the doctor. He said to descontinue the use of clonazepam and now I'm only with mirtazapine. Link to comment
whatshappening Posted October 12, 2016 Share Posted October 12, 2016 hi I am in a similar situation. Been on about 3 mg. of mirtazipine for about 6 weeks now for sleep and to help taper off clonazepam which I am now done with as of 2 weeks ago. I am also on 45 mg. effexor which makes this a little more difficult. I know the best route of what has been advised is to taper off effexor first then mirtazapine. When i tried a 1 year taper off effexor I ended up getting nerve issue withdrawal symptoms this pass June when i got down to 3 mg. Therefore I'm back on effexor hoping to reverse some of the nerve issues and stabilize before attempting to taper again. I'm only using Mirtazapine currently to help sleep pass the nerve issues. It would seem like the more logical route would be to taper mirtazapine first since I have been on that less time and at a lower dose. And since I am still trying to stabalize nerve issues with effexor I would need to stay on that versus mirtazapine. But any advise or thoughts would be greatly appreciated please. I really would only like to be on one pill. Effexor XR 37.5mg (1st time 2003-2004 / 2nd time 2007-2008 / 3rd time 2010-current) Attempted to get off again in July of 2015 and did a year long taper only to reinstate by June 2016 due to failed taper. By July 2017 started to give this another try. 7.01.17 - 37.5mg fast forward to 3.25.18 - 26 mg / 4.27.18 - 23.4 mg / 5.20.18 - 21 mg / 6.24.18 - 18.9 mg / 9.7.18 - 17 mg / 10.13.18 - 15 mg / 11.10.18 - 13.5 mg / 12.24.18 - 12 mg / 2.10.19 - 11 mg / 3.6.19 - Updose to 13 mg and was better only for a month so decided to continue with tapering process. / 5.18.19 - 12 mg / 6.12.19 - 11 mg / 7.7.19 - 11 mg / 8.22.19 - 10 mg / 10.4.19 - 9 mg / 11.29.19 - 8.5mg / 12.16.19 - 8 mg / 1.24.20 - 7.5mg / 3.15.20 - 6.5mg / 3.29.20 - 6 mgs / 5.9.20 - 5.5 mgs / 5.23.20 - 5 mgs / 6.29.20 - 4.5 mgs / 7.10.20 - 4.25mgs / 7.24.20 - 4 mgs / 8.18.20 - 3.75mg / 9.1.20 - 3.5 mgs / 9.29.20 - 3 mgs but Horrendous insomnia suddenly appear preventing further tapering. 10.9.20 - Effexor Updose to 3.5mg 10.18.20 - Effexor Updose to 4 - 4.5 mg but no relief and insomnia got worse so..... 11.04.20 Effexor jump! with direct switch to Prozac 10mg. 12.4 - prozac 7.5mg 12.20 - prozac 4mg Link to comment
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