shayla: Mirtazipine & dispersable tablets to taper

[shayla]

Recently had to reinstate after a long 6 months cutting up tablets month by month.

 

Made the stupid decision to jump off at 3.5 as couldn't cut them any lower. Big mistake, severe withdrawal, depression. Couldnt fuction, dark thoughts. I reinstated at approx 5mg (don't have a scale), slowly feeling better & sleeping again. 

 

Clearly I need to stay put now a stabilise, I can't go through that again for a long time. But does any one use dispersable tablets to taper mirtaz and how do you work out the math? 

 

Thanks 😊 

 

Edited December 12, 2024 by Emonda
Name to title

[Jane318]

Greetings @shayla and welcome to SA.

 

Thank you for completing your drug signature.  If you take any other medications (OTC or prescription) or supplements, please add them also.

 

On 12/12/2024 at 12:20 AM, shayla said:

Clearly I need to stay put now a stabilise, I can't go through that again for a long time

I am sorry to hear of your suffering due to severe withdrawal from a too fast taper / sudden stop of Mirtazapine.  You were wise to reinstate and decide to hold here until you stabilize.

 

Here at SA, we recommend a slow, hyperbolic taper method, which you can read about here:  Why taper by 10% of my dosage?  With a hyperbolic taper, the reductions are based on the prior dose and so get smaller and smaller each month, for example: 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg etc. Importantly, if you develop unpleasant side effects from tapering, halt the taper, give yourself time to settle, and once stable, taper more slowly and by smaller amounts moving forward. The experience of others suggests that the lower you go in dose, the more slowly you need to go with tapering.

 

This method is slower than many people expect.  However, as you and many others here (myself included) have learned, tapering too quickly often leads to very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. This Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) is a helpful summary of what many experience.  Our experience also indicates that the more prior cold-turkeys / too-fast tapers, the more difficult it becomes to taper off the next time.  With your history of multiple cold turkeys and fast tapers, it will be very important to your success that you taper slowly enough this time to keep your symptoms in check, even more so now that you are at a low dose.

 

On 12/12/2024 at 12:20 AM, shayla said:

But does any one use dispersable tablets to taper mirtaz and how do you work out the math? 

We can help with this.  Please carefully read this:  Tips for tapering off mirtazapine (Remeron).  Accuracy is so important, especially at low doses.  You will see a UK source for purchasing the liquid form as well as information on how to make your own liquid.

 

This page:  Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ includes links to information and tools that will help you with the math to calculate doses.

 

As you continue to hold at 5 mg, there are a few things you can do to help your nervous system heal.   Eat a balanced, whole foods diet, stay well hydrated, engage in gentle exercise, and get adequate rest/sleep.  Avoid all neurologically active substances, like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and recreational drugs- these are like pouring gasoline on a fire for your symptoms.  Avoid adding any further psychiatric medications to deal with your withdrawal from psych meds- the effects of these meds on a destabilized nervous system is unpredictable, and taking something else could make you worse.

 

 

We recommend only two supplements here - magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system.

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

This is your introduction topic.  Each member gets one intro topic- please post updates and questions here, in this thread.

 

Again, welcome to SA.   I look forward to following your journey, and helping out in any way I can.