SlowVeil: Vraylar / cariprazine withdrawal

[SlowVeil]

quite concerning that my cold/inflammation still has lingering symptoms: excessive mucus in both nose and throat.

started 300mg omega-3 fish oil / day for since last monday (08/22)

[SlowVeil]

started doing Baduanjin （八段锦）every morning since 9/1 instead of walking because of too much bugs in the neighborhood.

[SlowVeil]

on monday(09/05) checked up with the doctor again. He showed concerns that my remaining physical symptoms do not experience any window and still believes that I should go as natural and as gentle as possible. However he also suggested that I can go slowly with some Xylaria nigripes extract capsules. He told me gingko biloba extract are more about blood microcirculation and some sort of Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP), but Xylaria nigripes extract may have some nerve healing ability with its Polysaccharide component. since i'm on 300mg fish oil I asked if it's ok to take it with fish oil and he said it would be fine.

 

Since Xylaria nigripes is mainly a traditional chinese medicine herb I doubt I would find many research paper other than those conducted by chinese or taiwanese:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059131115000849

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3931588/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5806776/

 

the first one interest me the most as it mentioned its interaction with glutamate decarboxylase and GABA receptors.

 

it's 0.33g per capsule and the suggested amount is 3 capsules per day. inside the capsules are Xylaria nigripes powders. after taking 300mg/day fish oil for 3 weeks i think i can add 1 Xylaria nigripes capsule/day in.

[SlowVeil]

checking back. i consulted with a hbot specialist in a hospital near me and he agreed that i can try it at low ata for recovery. they do 1.4 ata for children and i have completed 10 sessions of 1.3 ata. not seeing any improvements but not experiencing any negative effects either. will try another 10 sessions of 1.4 ata and take a break.

[SlowVeil]

i start to doubt that the numbing/tingling in my limbs is not only a withdrawal symptom, but also the result of taking vitamin b6 100mg/day for around 10 days back in april. (might be longer, according to my brief journal it started on 4/6 and stopped sometime around 4/17)

large dose of vitamin b6 can cause neuropathy and especially, stocking-glove distribution of those numbing/tingling sensation. This is what I've been feeling since mid-April.

 

@Shep I think I should go to a neurologist to have neuropathy ruled out, but I do not know what kind of tests can be done to rule out neuropathy, any thoughts?

 

edit:

looks like I started to experience tingling/numbing in limbs around 4/11 but at that time I was in severe akathisia wave and thought it was akathisia, the numbing went away for a short while. they returned after akathisia attack was gone (it was recorded that on 4/18 the tingling were still present and it was severe to the point that i felt as if no blood was flowing). They slightly subsided around 4/26 and slowly returned to previous situation around 5/17. tinnitus also appeared around 4/11, few days after i start to introduce vitamin b6 100mg.

[Kostas]

EMG  ,Electromyogram test ,I think is the recommended one..

[SlowVeil]

13 hours ago, Kostas said:

EMG  ,Electromyogram test ,I think is the recommended one..

thank you kostas! I was a bit scared of emg since it's an intrusive method and the result really depends on where the needle is inserted.

the last hospital did not add emg to my exams because they found no abnormalities in mri, which they believe is a sign of no acute situation, and they think i can just request emg anytime after discharge. my doctor specifically warned me about emg because its intrusive and my trigger my body's defense system again.

but i think this time it's necessary to do emg to sort things out. if it's peripheral neuropathy caused by vitamin b6 (either too much or too little) then i can have a clear image of what i should do next.

[SlowVeil]

started researching about gaba supplements. my current psychiatrist told me it's worth trying after i have a stable and simple routine of recovery. he and his research team did iv gaba supplement into patients but found out only few amount of them actually passed blood brain barrier so he believed that if i do the oral supplement it won't be violent to my neural system: in theory oral gaba supplement has even less amount that can pass into blood brain barrier.

 

he also warned me to keep my recovery as simple as possible so if any change in symptoms happened i can easily identify what would be the source.

 

regarding hbot, he worried that doing hbot would actually blunt my neural system with the excessive oxidative stress as he has read about hbot for children caused higher cataracts rate, but he also stated that he has no idea of hbot at lower pressure, for example the 1.4 ata children chamber.

 

[Shep]

@SlowVeil Be careful with GABA supplements - they can cause dependency like a benzo. They will also need to be slowly tapered. 

[SlowVeil]

4 hours ago, Shep said:

@SlowVeil Be careful with GABA supplements - they can cause dependency like a benzo. They will also need to be slowly tapered. 

I see! looks like basically everything that acts on GABA receptors, be it GABA itself or receptor-binding meds that mimics GABA can cause dependency. I will try GABA supplement at low dose after I finish my current HBOT and slowly build up, possibly 3 weeks per dose. I think benzo and AD and AP are more likely to cause dependency because they have a higher blood-brain barrier cross rate than GABA supplement, but I agree I should be careful.

[Shep]

1 hour ago, SlowVeil said:

I see! looks like basically everything that acts on GABA receptors, be it GABA itself or receptor-binding meds that mimics GABA can cause dependency. I will try GABA supplement at low dose after I finish my current HBOT and slowly build up, possibly 3 weeks per dose. I think benzo and AD and AP are more likely to cause dependency because they have a higher blood-brain barrier cross rate than GABA supplement, but I agree I should be careful.

 

I would avoid GABA supplements.- they aren't a magic fix to withdrawal from your other drugs. You may want to read this post on benzos and GABA:

 

What is happening in your brain?

 

Many people find that going from one supplement to the next or trying this treatment or that treatment only causes more trauma to the nervous system than simply using non-drug coping skills  and letting your nervous system rest and heal on its own.

[SlowVeil]

23 hours ago, Shep said:

 

I would avoid GABA supplements.- they aren't a magic fix to withdrawal from your other drugs. You may want to read this post on benzos and GABA:

 

What is happening in your brain?

 

Many people find that going from one supplement to the next or trying this treatment or that treatment only causes more trauma to the nervous system than simply using non-drug coping skills  and letting your nervous system rest and heal on its own.

Thank you Shep for the links.

 

What I take from that helpful link: looks like even adding GABA supplements would alter the receptors and how they regulate those neurotransmitters when some self-healing is underway.

 

All of my symptoms are physical and have not changed for 8 months. Mentally I believe I am ok, but doing very hard to shift focus away from the physical symptoms. unrelenting physical symptoms are what bothered me the most and I have tried so many coping skills both learned from here and from my therapist, but I can't just sit and spend all of my time just to cope. I feel if I don't do something about these physical symptoms it's going to slowly become irreversible, although I also know if I do something it can become traumatic as well.

 

I need to be at least functional and financially support myself as my family has never been supportive like a family supposed to be. All of these physical symptoms are what stops me from getting what I need, and waiting for them to go away on their own seem to be more and more hopeless as they have not changed for 8 months, so I still think intervention is necessary and I need to do it slow and carefully.

 

In the whole month of June I had no intervention and nothing positive has appeared, and even some days in June there are way worse numbing/tingling symptoms especially after I woke up- I felt as if my limbs were hydropressed and completely lose blood and sensations.

 

I notice that my tinnitus would be loudest when I am tired or exhausted and its lowest volume appear right after I just wake up. The volume would go up to baseline once I am fully awake. Such change made me think maybe the glutamate and GABA balance is the culprit.

[SlowVeil]

i think it's time to do some intervention update:

 

supplements I'm taking daily for at least 3 weeks:

• 2 capsules of 300mg omega-3 fish oil
• 2 times a day customized chinese herbal soup

supplements I initiated within 2 weeks:

• 3 cups of mulberry + goji berry tea per day
• 3 cups of sour date tea
• (i tried them back in May for 2 weeks and did not feel anything wrong so i am slowly adding them back)

supplements I am planning to take:

• b12 0.5mg/day
• b1 10mg/day
• I may eventually end up not taking them. I am waiting for EMG and vitamin results. If I have no significant deficiencies or abnormalities I will keep them for future use. the current traditional medicine doctor told me it's safe to take b vitamin in massive dose but I still plan to start with the minimal.
• GABA supplement gummy. again may eventually end up not taking it but keep it for future use. Need to observe my body after mhbot and need to give it a break

recovery protocol I'm following daily for at least 3 weeks:

• 1 set of Baduanjin per day
• avoiding beef, lamb, dairy product

recovery protocol I initiated within 2 weeks:

• mhbot, first at 1.3 ata, 60 minutes per day for 10 days then right now at 1.4 ata, 60 minutes per day for 10 days.
• 90 minutes of dance therapy per week. looks like I can tolerate some dancing without worsening any physical symptoms.

recovery protocol I am planning to do:

• slowly lose weight
• I just plan to take a break from mhbot after completing the 10 days of 1.4 ata

my diet is pretty clean rn and most food I consume are home made.

I also got diagnosed with hyperinsulinism, the best way to deal with it is losing weight and slowly add more exercise. I went to get this checked because tinnitus can also be a symptom of hyperinsulinsm. insulin level was pretty high.

 

Let this adverse reaction & withdrawal syndrome be a warning for me that I need to take care of my overall physical health first before everything.

[SlowVeil]

in addition to the intervention above:

lithium mineral water 250ml - 535ml a day, mix it with regular filtered drinking water. it contains 0.2 - 0.5 mg/L lithium.

[ChessieCat]

When trying anything new SA suggests only trying a small amount first to see how you react.  Only make one change at a time.  It is better to try a single supplements/substance, not a complex.

 

the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by ChessieCat

[SlowVeil]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

When trying anything new SA suggests only trying a small amount first to see how you react.  Only make one change at a time.  It is better to try a single supplements/substance, not a complex.

 

the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable

 

 

thanks for the reminder!

yes i plan to slowly add things one by one. especially the b vitamin. the doctor originally suggested taking 3 pills per day but i told him i really want to see how i react first and he agreed that taking small amount first would be better. sometimes the doctors really get way too busy to remember each patient's detail 😅 so it's really up to me to advocate for myself.

[SlowVeil]

update

 

I think there is a very small change in my symptoms: the numbness in limbs. I think I mentioned earlier that when I lie down the numbness would spread from palm to whole lower limb / from feet to whole leg. Now when I lie down the numbness only spread to 1/3 of the lower arms and calves. The intensity stays the same but the area of effect is slightly smaller.

 

All other symptoms remain the same, and I feel my right ear is somewhat muffled for 3 days. just checked with an ENT and looks like inflammation. He suggested cipro drops and I told him about my psych med injuries and how its advised not to use antibiotics unless absolute necessary, and fortunately he respected that and prescribed red light physical therapy. He also suggested semi-conductor laser therapy but I told him to try with red light physical therapy first because I want to learn more about the semi-conductor laser therapy.

 

It's easier to fall asleep and my current issue is that I wake up earlier than I expected: If I fall asleep around 10:30pm I'd find myself naturally awake around 5 am.

 

Instead of doing EMG , my treating doctors did a neuro-conduction exam on me (the one that put an electrode on skin and send electrowave through neurons and measure the conduction length). They told me if my neuro-conduction exam returns normal there's no need to do EMG, and it returned normal.

 

I recently got covid and all I got are a fever that lasted 4 hours at 37.5°C , coughing up yellowish mucus, stuffy nose, clear mucus in nose, weakness, sore throat and chest pain (these 2 lasted for 7 days and disappeared by now).  The most concerning part is the long covid, which is full of neurological symptoms. Very worried that acquiring covid would give me huge setbacks. I had 3 shots of MRNA vax but I am not optimistic about them.

 

my menstrual period is back! my menstrual period was messed up in 2021 and i was on contraceptive for a few months and stopped. From 8/2021 to 3/2022 never had any period. On 4/16 had period, then the next one was 7/2022. Now it's back again(started on 12/18), and it's not insane amount of flow and it does not last more than a week!

 

Intervention update

 

With the new outbreak of covid in where I live, the mhbot department had to close down. I only get to finish 29 sessions but I do think it's time to take a break anyway.

 

I discussed with my current psychiatrist again. He told me the vitamins prescribed by my neuro doctor is relatively high and he advised that if I really want to try supplement, try the ones that's designed for babies/children. I understand multivitamin may add more stress to human body but some vitamins have to work with others in order to be properly utilized by human body:

 

I am trying out centrum for children, components: 144mg calcium, 45mg magnesium, 3mg iron, 2mg zinc, 0.12mg copper, 143.3μg VA, 2.5μg VD3, 0.22mg VB1, 0.22mg VB2, 0.15mg VB6, 0.3 μg VB12, 2.1825mg Nicotinamide, 60μg Folic acid, 3.9 μg D-Biotin, 19mg VC, 0.95mg D-Biotin, and 1.6mg VE per capsule. I am trying 1-2 capsules per day.

I am aware that multivitamin adds up the complexity but I do want to see if centrum at baby dose would do anything after 2 weeks, and if it does not, I just slowly withdraw from them. This is the biggest intervention I have and I do not plan to stay on it.

 

Other interventions:

250ml - 1500ml lithium mineral water a day.

3 cups of goji berry, daisy, and dendrobe tea.

I paused the custom chinese herbal soup for a week due to covid. I turned negative 12/20 so I resumed it this week. The doctor adjusted some herbal in the list.

2 capsules of 300mg omega-3 fish oil

Start on a diet plan under a dietitian instruction. Already lost 1kg in the last 2 weeks. I don't feel hungry on this dietary plan.

 

Some thoughts:

Again I do not plan to try the centrum for more than 2 weeks. I am still waiting for the mhbot to resume. The dance therapy paused due to covid restriction. Not gonna add anymore intervention. However, I have discussed about histamine intolerance with another person who got in severe withdrawal syndromes after a month of Wellbutrin and start recovering after she goes on a histamine intolerance protocol. (she took many amount of different supplements which is something I'm not gonna do) she also tried a h1/h2 receptor antagonist to help alleviate her symptoms.

 

I am thinking if I need to check histamine intolerance and see what I can do from that.

I have promethazine  as a backup plan but I don't really plan to use it.

 

Again don't plan to do too much changes or interventions other than addressing issues unrelated to this ordeal of adverse reactions and withdrawal syndromes, avoiding antibiotics, steroids, any meds that would touch the entire neural system, and maintaining the current plans.

 

Anyway happy holidays everyone! Hope yall have a nice xmas or lunar new year! I have set up a schedule with friends to meet and chill out online and it has been heartwarming so far.

[Shep]

Thanks for such a thorough update, @SlowVeilGlad you're finding alternatives to antibiotics and using diet as a way to heal. 

[SlowVeil]

6 hours ago, Shep said:

Thanks for such a thorough update, @SlowVeilGlad you're finding alternatives to antibiotics and using diet as a way to heal. 

 

thank you for checking back with me!

i always thought that i should write my posts as much thorough/detailed as possible to help others without putting my own information at risk.

 

In my previous cold I already sought antibiotic alternatives like chinese patented medicine or herbal soup and they worked well on me. I am still researching about the semi-conductor laser but I do heard something good about red light therapy. I'm glad most doctors I've met respected my concern about antibiotics and steroids. Although sometimes they start "educate" me that only oral and IV antibiotics would affect entire body and ointment or partial numb won't.

 

I was doing a Mediterranean diet prior to seeing a dietitian and I already cut out as many additives as possible. I started to check on some other undiagnosed/untreated conditions, such as hyperinsulism(confirmed with a endocrinologist and he recommended the dietitian to handle my situation), and thought that I can work on these conditions naturally to give my neural system an environment as optimal as possible. Fasting sounds risky so I decided to find a dietitian to help me slowly lose weight and address the hyperinsulism.

 

I am still researching about the histamine intolerance. Seems like whatever food materials I eat don't really make me feel worse or better. Is there any exams or tests that I can ask my doctors to do to check histamine intolerance?

 

Again, happy holidays!

[Shep]

13 hours ago, SlowVeil said:

I am still researching about the histamine intolerance. Seems like whatever food materials I eat don't really make me feel worse or better. Is there any exams or tests that I can ask my doctors to do to check histamine intolerance?

 

I'm not familiar with this particular diet. You may want to read and post questions on this thread, as it contains information from members who how are on low histamine diets and are posting links to resources: 

 

Histamine food intolerance

[SlowVeil]

looks like i have upper respiratory infection. i want to avoid antibiotics but i also fear that if i do not apply antibiotics it will develop into things more serious that would land me in complex medical procedure or polydrugging.

 

rn i have amoxicilin and cephaloporos. and i would not take any cipro.

[SlowVeil]

additional note: i have cefixime and  amoxicillin & clavulanate potassium.

[Shep]

Sorry to read you're dealing with an upper respiratory infection. You may have already seen this thread, but just in case: 

 

Cipro, Levaquin, Azithromycin (Z-Pack), and other antibiotics

 

Hope this passes quickly and you're on the mend soon. 

[SlowVeil]

thanks shep.

 

After discussing with other patients who suffered akathisia, I decide to not take any antibiotics.  Seems like both options will have chances triggering akathisia and frankly speaking I'd die instead of having akathisia again. My traditional Chinese medicine herbalist added herbs that has antibiotic effects. I cough less now.

[Shep]

Thanks for the update, SlowVeil. Glad you're getting good results from the herbalist. 

[SlowVeil]

Looks like my infection is near the end and slowly dissipating.

And I think another problem starts to emerge in the recent 3 months: early-wakeups. I go to bed around 10-11pm and usually find myself waking up around 4-5am. In Feb to April 2022 I went through early wakeups around 2-3am but usually I was able to go back to sleep after waking up around 2-3am. However in recent 3 months whenever I wake up around 4-5am I cannot go back to sleep again. There are 3 days where I could go back to sleep and wake up around 8am, and there was 1 day I slept from 11pm all the way to 7am.

 

I talked about this with my herbalist, he changed some ingredients.

 

No significant change regarding my physical symptoms. Mentally I am fine, there are still moments I fear this damage is permanent and I feel hopeless. Especially the numbness might be a combined result from VitB6 100mg for 10 days and withdrawal from all the psych meds. The tinnitus has gone worse from April 2022. The muscle twitches do not have any significant change. I do not know how to deal with these physical symptoms other than distraction.

 

This morning (1/22/2023) I do notice that when my stomach rumbles, it does not always come with that squeaky noise and feeling in the back of my head.

 

also I think the herbal soup is somewhat working? My period is back, and seems like it's been regular, like monthly.

Lost 2 kg in a month under the dietitian's instruction.

Stopped centrum's multivitamin for children, but occasionally would take a tab of Swisse's Vitamin C effervescent with 450mg of VitC.

 

I am also thinking about checking if I have histamine intolerance. I think the quetiapine in 2018 created some histamine issue that got intensified in this time. But I do not know what kind of test or exam I should do.

[SlowVeil]

I feel hopeless.

I find out that one situation where my numbness in limbs/extremities decrease for around 30minutes in the morning when I just wake up, is not likely a sign of recovery or "window", but a sign that my body is very restless when I'm sleeping. I found out recently that I tend to put my arms below my body when I'm asleep (not when I try to fall a sleep I lie on my back in normal posture when I fall asleep), and the pressure that my arm received might attribute to the decrease in the numbness when I just wake up.

No other substantial signs of recovery. In fact, I found that my limbs would spasm crazily every time I fall asleep. This has gone around for at least 1 week. Sometimes it's legs only, and sometimes it's both legs and arms.

Early wake-ups as usual.

Last night had insomnia due to hopless feeling. I wasn't able to sleep until 3AM and woke up around 7AM.

[Shep]

5 hours ago, SlowVeil said:

Last night had insomnia due to hopless feeling. I wasn't able to sleep until 3AM and woke up around 7AM.

 

You may find guided sleep meditations to be helpful, especially ones designed for helping with negative thinking. You can find tons of these types of guided sleep meditations on YouTube and on mindfulness apps. They really help. 

[SlowVeil]

hello.

im doing another update. i discovered something i should be aware of.

 

i paused mhbot. i've done 40 dives. i decide to give my body a long rest.

 

• previously ive mentioned i've been playing VR to distract. i guess playing VR while looking at my phone and playing VR for too long everyday can be a big pressure on my face.

after the covid i discovered my mouth has some canker sore looking pimples, but they only hurt on a scale of 0.5/10, and they did not hurt all the times. So I thought they'd slowly resolve themselves. however they didn't, and 2 weeks later I felt more vibration in my left ear when im playing music on speakers at loud volume, so i went to ent and have my ears checked but they appeared normal. and a week later i found the left part of my face felt somewhat stiff especially around the mouth, and i thought it was facial nerve paralysis, and i went to checked with a neurologist. they scheduled mri, but i have read multiple patient reports regarding how the strong magnets in mri would affect neural system so i was really hesitant. then one day when i played VR again, with the face cushion pressed against my face, I realize that my left mouth felt pressured and when i looked at my cellphone(on my right hand) while having the vr headset on, I realize the muscle around the back of my left ear felt pressured. It was never a facial paralysis or any serious underlying condition, it's just my face becomes way more sensitive to pressure now.

 

I discussed what I discovered with the neurologist who's been taking care of my weird "facial paralysis" case. he told me if my neural system is sensitive like old people, then it is very likely that all the weird feelings on my face and the stiffness I feel can all caused by the VR headset pressure.

 

He prescribed me Methylcobalamin(a form of vitb 12), 0.5mg, vitb complex(contains 3mg vitb1, 1.5mg vitb2, 0.2mg vitb6, Niacinamide 10mg, Pantothenic acid in calcium pantothenate form 1mg), and vitb1 10mg. all of them were initially 3 times a day. and he told me if some symptoms alleviated i can do 2 times a day, and then 1 time a day as final maintenance. he told me it's better to give my neurons enough healing, energy and nutrient because having all these odd feelings just because of being pressured by VR headset is a sign that my neurons are fragile and very oversensitive.

 

I followed his advice. the white canker sore looking pimples in my mouth were gone. then no more face stiffness. now there's only stiff muscles around left ear with somewhat extra vibration. now I'm taking the vitamin bs 2 times a day.

 

So i guess I should stay away from anything that gives extra physical pressure on my body for a long period of time or for way too often. I reduced the time and frequency I use VR.

 

• the numbness rarely spreads to my arms/legs now

this is actually good. i checked my symptoms change journal. sometimes when i am sitting (still figuring out what posture), the numbness can spread from feet all the way to my knees, but the numbness rarely spread from my hands to my arms now.

 

• hot spring or water with moderate heat may help in numbness and possibly akathisia

I went to hot spring resort with friends last weekend. I was very scared of springs with high temperature because I've heard people's aka got triggered by high heat. but after an entire afternoon in hot springs, on my way to home, the numbness in hands reduced to a point i barely feel it unless i focus, and the area in feet reduced as well. sadly all of them returned to previous level, and i just had a mild akathisia attack out of nowhere today. i spent my time in bathtub. sadly this time the numbness did not reduce. but akathisia is gone.

• stomach flu would trigger and intensify all symptoms

learned this the hard way. i still do not know what gave me stomach flu but i will avoid all known factors of getting a stomach flu as best as i can. when i was hospitalized i discussed with in-patient doc about how people change diet and their symptoms alleviated, he agreed with me and told me digestive system is strongly related to CNS.

 

again my neural system is not sensitive to the point i react to food or supplements. but it seems like stress and pressure can make symptoms worse. i received some stress(altho i did not realize i was having stress) from internship earlier this week, and the numbness intensified. had some interpersonal relationship dramas in march, so that got add on as well. i think i regulated them as best as i can, and they don't really affect me emotionally, but i guess with all these things happening one after another, stress accumulates.

 

i stopped goji berry, daisy, and dendrobe tea under the herbalist's instruction. he told me to stay away from beef and lamb and don't consume things that will give me "extra energy". the centrum vitamin for children is also stopped in feb 2023.

 

no other substantial intervention change.

 

i just keep track of how my body feel and do things i wanna do since the last update.

[SlowVeil]

i looked up symptoms and compared them with the timeline of my med history again.

i found remeronhell and i share many similar symptoms, according to their post:

however the only symptom that somewhat improved at a very slow pace is just tingling in hands and feet for me. muscle twitching, sleep,squeezing noises in brain, tinnitus are still very present.

actually, my sleep is finally improving as well. im sleeping a bit over 5+ hours per night now. last week had 2 nights where i slept from 11pm all the way to nearly 7am. usually it's 11pm to 4 or 5 am. 

i need to stick to a more fixed sleep schedule, there are still days i stayed up until near 12am to sleep and wake up around 6am.

but im  glad i can sleep more.

 

[Chompoo]

@SlowVeil like you, I also had an immediate adverse reaction to Mirtazapine. One of my worst symptoms is insomnia.

How is your sleep quality these days? Do you wake up in between? Do you feel rested in the morning? 

My sleep is very unstable right now. It ranges from 3-4 hours a night to 6-7 on others. But I keep waking up, sometimes as much as 4-5 times a night when I sleep 6-7 hours. I also sleep very lightly, like I am drifting in and out of consciousness. I often wake up feeling tired.

I hope you are sleeping better than me.

[SlowVeil]

@Chompoo

yes, last year and i believe in jan and feb this year, my sleep was pretty bad. some days i have early wake-ups sometimes around 4am when i sleep at 11pm in the night before. sometimes i woke up around 2-3am and return to sleep again. that barely happened this year ngl.

 

i'd say my sleep quality is improving at a very slow pace. besides i really need to keep a more stable sleep schedule: i go to bed from 10 to 12pm. need to get range narrower to better monitor my sleep. but i start to have a few amazing nights where i sleep around 11:30pm and wake up around 7 am without any wake-ups in between. so i start to get 8 hours of continuous sleep this year now.

 

my most concerning symptoms rn are muscle twitches, tinnitus, and numbness/tingling in extremities. i found out remeronhell had same symptoms but they resolved sooner than me.

 

i guess everyone is really different. insomnia was a problem for me but not anymore and it's not severe. i don't react to any natural substances or supplements. i don't take any medications. maybe just some topical ones to treat my carpal tunnel and acne. and i do not react to them.

[Chompoo]

@SlowVeil I am so happy for you that you are getting 8 hours of continuous sleep now. I was getting worried when I read that some people are still sleeping as badly as me more than 1 year after their last pill.

Like you, I suffer from muscle twitches, not only on my body but also my face and stomach. I have numbness and tingling in my extremities as well. I get mild tinnitus - it comes, lasts for a minute (or less), then goes away before returning very infrequently. It is interesting how Mirtazapine gave us the same problems.

It's great you have no food or supplement sensitivities. This health issue is really making my life miserable.

Thank you for sharing your experiences and I wish you a quick recovery!

[SlowVeil]

@Chompoo

I see! my muscle twitches developed in a pattern very similar to Remeronhell's: it has gone all the way to the muscles in inner ear. it started i think right after i took mirtazapine.

my tinnitus is 24/7 constant and it started with just 1 noise in right ear, then it developed to both ears and there are 2 noises in right ears.

however i notice my tinnitus pitch and volume gets more severe when i am exhausted or tired. and it's often the quietest when i just woke up. so i think sleep is very crucial.

i also wish u a quick recovery. but seems like remeron/mirtazapine hits so many neurotransmitters it's taking a long time to recover.

[Chompoo]

@SlowVeil your tinnitus sounds bad. I'm so sorry you are still suffering so much. I've heard that tinnitus goes down with time, and disappear completely eventually. I hope this will happen soon for you.
I find my muscle twitches disturbing, especially when they're on my face and I'm out in public. Like you, I sometimes refer to other people with immediate adverse reactions and hope that my symptoms will disappear on the same timeline as theirs. But I've discovered from asking a lot of people that everyone heals on different timelines and sometimes, even in different patterns.
Please take care SlowVeil. I had hoped for a fast recovery because I only took ONE pill. But it does seem that recovery for immediate adverse reaction folks like us can be slow and frustrating. Nonetheless, I still hope recovery can happen soon for the both of us!

[SlowVeil]

@Chompoo it's very hard to find success stories for people with adverse reactions due to some people getting well and just never updating, and some adr people write success stories while still having symptoms: they just claim that they are "functional" again.

 

i think the time to recover from adr can be just as long as recovering from wd or paws, but i rarely see any adr going with windows & waves pattern.

 

look on the bright side, i just had another near 8 hrs sleep again. i only had mirtazapine for 3 days. so definitely the longer you are in this recovery the easier it gets.