tezza: risperdal withdrawal

[Skyler]

Simply alot of time to Google.

 

That, you are good with Google, and you care.

[tezza]

Tinnitus has quieted down to almost nothing for the last three days,thank God!

[Skyler]

Tinnitus has quieted down to almost nothing for the last three days,thank God!

 

Tezza, what great news. Mine is sloooowly quieting, so I know how relieved you must feel.

[meistersinger]

<br />

<br />Tinnitus has quieted down to almost nothing for the last three days,thank God!  <img src='http://survivingantidepressants.org/public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /><br />

<br />Tezza, what great news.  Mine is sloooowly quieting, so I know how relieved you must feel.<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Lucky you. Mine seems to come and go. I've had it on and off since i was a child, so I can usually filter it out.

[vaseadude]

Really cool! I hope it stays away!

I also have it but rarely like 5 seconds every two days or so.

[tezza]

Thanks, you guys.... It's back today but only at 1 on my scale of 0-10. It's been being 0-.5 the last few days. I hope you all get relief from it soon, also. Vaseadude, I'm glad yours is rarely, I hope it doesn't get any more frequent than that.

 

If someone has never dealt with it, they don't realize how blessed they are. I couldn't have imagined how maddening it was before I experienced it. Hopefully, it will fade away and never come again, for all of us.

 

Love you all,

 

Tezza

[Skyler]

 

If someone has never dealt with it, they don't realize how blessed they are. I couldn't have imagined how maddening it was before I experienced it. Hopefully, it will fade away and never come again, for all of us.

 

Tezza

 

Hmmm, I just realized mine is increasing, so will be further slowing my diazepam taper. Sigh.. Tinnitus surely is the PITS!

[tezza]

I've been waiting to post this, but here goes:

 

Last Friday night, the. 20th, I took only 15 mg of mirtazipine. I'd read that it was more sedating at the lower dosages. Saturday morning, I took the other 15 mg...no sedation. It usually doesn't take long for me to become immune to sedatives.

 

I had been reading about the Prozac switch, tricking the brain and the element of surprise. I remembered how I stopped taking Citalopram by switching to bupropion and did a little research. Mirtazipine and bupropion are both atypical ADs. I said a prayer and decided to give it a try. I already knew the bupropion could cause anxiety, thus, I was prepared to expect that. Mirtazipine WD could also cause anxiety.

 

I've had some anxiety but nothing horrendous. I haven't had any insomnia, thank God! (sleep hasnt been normal since September but its very tolerable now. I wake two or three times during the night but average 7 or 8 hours). So far it seems to be working, although I'm not out of the woods yet but am very hopeful since it did work before with DC of Citalopram. As for the anxiety issue, I've cut back on the caffeine and that has helped a lot. In addition to anxiety the only other symptom has been a little nasal congestion. (mirtazipine is also an anti-histamine)

 

I will expect to hold a little longer than two weeks before tapering the Risperdal; however, I did,this week, taper the Lamictal down to 12.5 since it can be activating, as well. I don't want to speak too soon but Lamictal cuts haven't been bothersome, in fact, tapering it has seemed to improve mood. I'm not ready to come completely off the Lamictal because it is supposed to help balance neurotransmitters. I can only hope that's true.

 

As anxious as I am to get off Soma and Xanax, those will have to wait. I will be content with eliminating mirtazipine and continuing the Risperdal taper.

 

I would not recommend anyone to try this!

 

Tezza

[Altostrata]

tezza, I'm confused. You substituted buspirone for mirtazapine? How much buspirone? Did you drop the mirtazapine?

 

Why did you choose to do this rather than continuing to taper mirtazapine? It seems that was going well for you.

[tezza]

Not buspirone but bupropion (Wellbutrin) 150 mg twice daily. But I only took one yesterday and have taken 75 mg twice today. It worked when I stopped taking Celexa last year and it seems to be working now.

 

I had only just started the taper of Remeron and I knew from past experiences that I could easily come off the Wellbutrin.

[Altostrata]

Oh, sorry for misreading. So you're completely off mirtazapine now? When was your last dose?

[tezza]

I took 15mg last Saturday morning. I hope this works like it did before when I stopped the Citalopram and switched to Wellbutrin. That was during the three weeks my brother was here to die. I asked my doc if he would give me something that wasn't sedating, he prescribed Wellbutrin and I switched with no problem. It's been almost a week since I switched.

[tezza]

I'm fearful about this. It's because I know about withdrawals from CT of the Risperdal. It worked last year switching from celexa.

 

Thoughts, anyone? It's been one week since I took mirtazipine. I'm just scared because I know what withdrawals are like.

[Barbarannamated]

Tezza,

 

It *seems* that the bupropion may be doing the job again. I suspect you would have felt some type of withdrawal from mirtazapine in a week without. Risperdal is a whole different beast.

 

Hugs and continued healing, my friend!

[tezza]

Thank you so much, Barb, I was beginning to let panic overcome me. I needed someone to give me a word of encouragement. I was so afraid I had done the wrong thing and that it wouldn't work this time. I was getting very nervous about it. {{{hugs}}}}

 

Love you my friend,

 

Tezza

[tezza]

So far I haven't gotten depressed but the anxiety is what's getting to me. This is causing me to question my decision to make the switch.

[tezza]

My son just told me that I do seem to be a little down. The anxiety is bad. I think I'm gonna have to reinstate the mirtazipine. Alto, would you advise whether I should reinstate at 30 mg or could I try less?

 

This has been trial and error. I'm afraid it was indeed error but I felt I had to at least try it.

 

Love,

 

Tezza

[tezza]

I'm so confused right now, second guessing what I've done. Do I need to start back or try to continue the Wellbutrin? Gosh, I wish I knew what is best.

[tezza]

I feel somewhat better since taking my second dose of Wellbutrin today.( not so low) Perhaps I tried to taper it too soon the past two days.

[Barbarannamated]

Is it following a pattern, worse in morning, for example? How does it feel... thinking alot, physical anxiety/agitation, worry, etc? It seems people experience anxiety and depression so differently. I like to ask what's beneath the label, so to speak. Also, there's overlap, imho. Anxiety can cause "depression" and vice versa.

 

Bupropion is activating for most people, so that's not surprising. I'm sure Alto will have good ideas for you.

[tezza]

It seems to be more anxiety caused by the Wellbutrin. It would be hard to differentiate now from last year. My brother was here and the phone was constantly ringing as well as visitors daily.

 

I want this to work so badly and then come off the Wellbutrin. I think I may be getting myself worked up about it. The Risperdal withdrawal has made me very cautious, gun shy.

 

I truly hope for Alto to offer her expert opinion.

 

Thank you for always replying to me Barb, I know things are going rough for you now. I so wish I could somehow help you.

[tezza]

I'd rather stay on Remeron forever than go into depression like I've been in before.

[Barbarannamated]

I understand that, Tezza. If I had ever responded positively to any "antidepressants", I would feel that way. All I got were side effects, drugs for side effects and then REAL depression.

 

Hugs!

[tezza]

I got scared and took the Remeron.

[tezza]

I don't know why I thought I could do that, except that it worked last year. well, that was last year

[Barbarannamated]

Maybe it takes time, more than a dose..? I tried a small piece of Pristiq after I'd been off for several months and it was very different than when I took it previously.

Hugs, Tezza.

B

[tezza]

Hey Barb,

 

I'm definitely having WD from the Remeron, depression and early wake ups. I wonder if I could go back on just half the dose and pull back out of this. I didn't take Wellbutrin this morning and didn't have the horrible anxiety.

 

Do you think I could get by with half the regular dose. I was on 30 mg until last weekend, I took 30 mg last night but still woke at 4:00 this morning. Maybe I would be alright to take 15 mg?

 

Hugs back to you Barb, love you

[Barbarannamated]

Tezza,

 

I dont want to comment on tapering/reinstating, but im sure Alto will have some advice for you. What you propose sounds reasonable, but wait for the official word!

[tezza]

Thank you for replying, it helps just knowing you're here for me. You are a very special friend.

[Altostrata]

Anxiety can be a side effect of Wellbutrin.

 

Good try, tezza. Wellbutrin is a lot closer in effect to Remeron than it is to Risperdal.

 

If you've determined you have Remeron withdrawal, it's the usual -- try a fractional dose and see if that works, stabilize, plan to taper off that.

[tezza]

Thank you , Alto, I was hoping for your advice. So I will try reinstating at 15 mg tonight. Hopefully, I won't have to go up to the full dose of 30mg.

 

Thank you, again, I appreciate all the help you've given to me and all the others you've helped. {{{hugs}}}

[Altostrata]

Try even 7.5mg.

 

You probably know this as well as I do by now, tezza. You're getting to be a tapering pro!

[tezza]

Thank you, Alto! I was wondering about trying 7.5

[vaseadude]

Sorry to here about your withdrawal symptoms, Tezza... I hope you get back on track as soon as possible, and that the small dose increase will help! stay strong and GOOD LUCK!

[tezza]

Thank you Vaseadude,

 

How are you? I hope you are doing well.

[dalsaan]

Hi Tezza,

 

Im on remeron and its not sedating for me at any level. I think it pooped out a long time ago

I hope the reinstatement goes ok for you. It is possible to convert remeron to a liquid through

a compound chemist to make very small decreases from 7.5. I have done that.

 

Also, your system has been through a lot in terms of starting/stopping drugs so you might want to give it

time to settle before making judgments about how high you have to go with the remeron.

 

good luck to you. I hope things work out

 

Dalsaan