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I would like to say hello and thank this website for giving me hope. I have spent the last few days reading a lot of the posts and have found them to be full of information and great advice. The success stories are wonderful to read. I have never been in a medical situation like this and I was feeling lost and alone until I found Surviving Antidepressants. I was put on Zoloft (50 mg then upped to 100mg) in February 2016 due to depression over a long-term illness that at that time was still un-diagnosed. I got a diagnosis for my illness in April of 2016. I was hospitalized for that illness both in April and March and it was eventually brought under control. Once I got home from the hospital (both times) I was very weak and I had very confused thinking. I had multiple at-home treatments and medications to keep track of. Somewhere in there I messed up my Zoloft and either went cold turkey or was only taking it intermittently, but did not realize it at the time. Starting in May and ramping up in June I had all sorts of symptoms, which nobody in the medical field could figure out, including me. I was put on Gabapentin (600mg then upped to 900mg) to help with the symptoms. My symptoms included headaches, nausea, feeling hot and sweating but having a low body temperature, as well as the feeling of internal tremors in arms and legs, and actual external tremors. I also had jerky arm movements. I had what I call “vertigo light”, the whole room didn’t spin, just the floor moved when I tried to walk; I felt like I was drunk. I had brain zaps, motion sickness, insomnia, dizziness, nausea, and pressure in the ears like when flying on a plane. My memory was also bad. After endless nights of searching the Internet with my symptoms I realized I had withdrawal. Counting the actual amount of pills in the bottle and looking at the day it was prescribed confirmed that I had not been taking my medication. Once I realized what was going on I contacted my psychiatrist and I went back on at 50mg, which was twelve days ago. A dosage that high might be a mistake after reading about “reinstating” here on this sight, I don’t know yet. Since reinstating the brain zaps and vertigo have disappeared, and the other symptoms have gone down in intensity, however I am getting them more frequently. I’m now getting them every day, for at least a few hours and sometimes all day. Before going back on Zoloft they were really brutal but only for a few hours at a time, none of this all day stuff. Klonopin seems to help however my psychiatrist has suggested that I use it sparingly, he said that the Gabapentin should be helping with the symptoms. By the way, I feel I have an excellent psychiatrist. He did warn me when he put me on Zoloft not to go off of it without talking to him first and that there was tapering involved. He also responds to my frequent and desperate e-mails on a timely basis. I do recognize though that I need to be proactive when it comes to my health. This is my first time with a drug in the SSRI class. At this moment my goal is to stabilize. Eventually I would like to get off, but right now I just want the physical symptoms to go away. By the way, the depression, which was acute in February, seems to have disappeared, both while on and off the Zoloft. I am open to opinions, questions, and suggestions. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I'll keep this brief, and thank you to anyone who offers some support and guidance. The truth is, I'm in dire straits. I've been on Lex (10mg) for 5 years, and decided it was time to get off at the end of last year. I took it slow, or so I thought, but I realise now I've really done a number on my nervous system. I went through the usual modes of withdrawal: anger/irritability, some anxiety, returning OCD/intrusive thoughts, but there were also waves of pleasant emotions - some that I hadn't experienced for years. Fast forward to a week or so ago, and it all came crashing down. Horrible despair, wanting to die etc. Now, I have looked at the restabilisation thread, and there seems to be mixed results. I reinstated 5mg of lexapro, which immediately relieved a fair amount of symptoms for a few days (I read this is a good sign), but the despair began again after day 3. At day 5 (yesterday) I bumped up my lex dosage to 7.5mg and am planning to stay here until my nervous system can gain traction. The re-onboarding process is really, really rough - lots of waves of anxiety and panic, and I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that I need to stay the path and wait for my brain and body to recalibrate. I'm also looking for success stories of restabilisation on lexapro after around a month off the drug. I've noticed the dread has gone, but the panic/anxiety remains. I guess that's progress? I'll add my drug history signature now. Please help - thank you...

Hi. I’m after some advice/support. I have been taking Mirtazapine prescribed for anxiety and insomnia for a total of 4 months. I started on 15gm and stayed on that dose for 6 weeks. I then increased my dosage to 22.5mg do to a stressful life event. I stayed on that dose for another 6weeks and then increased again to 30mg which I only took for 4 nights as I started getting heart palpitations. I assumed it was a side effect from the Mirtazapine but later realised it may be from the Valium that I had taken once or twice which coincided with when the palpitations started. Over the course of the next 3 weeks I tapered back to 7.5mg and then stopped completely for total of a week. the palpitations kept happening and the doctors said it’s most likely not the Mirtazapine so I reinstated at 7.5mg. Is that ok As I was only off it for a week? during the week off my sleep wasn’t great and my doctor prescribed me Belsomra which I took for 5 nights. My anxiety crept back in and sleep suffered so decided to reinstate Mirtazapine at 7.5mg. id like to go back to 15mg as that was helping my anxiety and sleep. At 7.5mg my sleep is not bad but anxiety is still there. I’m wanting to know if I should go straight back to 15mg from 7.5 or if I should increase slowly or not at all? Anxiety is quite high at times and low mood/energy. Not sure if increasing the dosage will help me feel better or make things worse. Do I need to stabilise first on this dose before increasing? thanks

Stopped and started Zoloft twice this year after taking it 9 years. First time I stopped for 2 months because a naturopath told me to and take Sam-e instead. I didn’t feel better and restarted it around March. In withdrawals now and bad insomnia plus fatigue and lots others. I have a history of pots, Epstein Barr and RMSF. Was being treated heavily with antibiotics this past year and tons of supplements and in Aug I had a seratonin syndrome like episode. Took megadose cbd for sleep and it started that. So dr said to stay off everything except Valium and I did but 2.5 months off the second time I started not sleeping, tremors, adrenaline rushes, chills, weakness, muscle spasms, muscle tightness and more. My dr suggested reinstating Zoloft so I did. Been on half dose 3 weeks then full dose 12 days now. So far my sleep still not returning unless I take ambien and I’m so fatigued with muscle aches and tightness. Can’t get out of bed for a month now Having a few better days but still exhausted and scared I won’t sleep on my own again. My psychiatrist gave me hydroxyzine to sleep but it barely gives me sleep so he wants me on Mirtazapine and I don’t want to. I didn’t know how severe stopping an antidepressant could be. Will I continue to get better with reinstating? My hopes are to get stabilized then later slow taper. Any experiences with reinstating anyone? Please help. Drs do not help with this

Hi all, I am new here and found this site through a FB group. I feel like I need some help or insight because I'm currently lost and feel really hopeless. I tapered too quickly over the course of 5 months off of remeron/mirtazapine, I was on 15mg and got down to 7.5mg but I took a big jump in order to get to 7.5mg. I was crying everyday, vomiting, having two to three anxiety attacks per day, lost my appetite, had headaches, nausea, among other symptoms. I was a complete mess. I decided to reinstate after speaking to my doctor, I've been back on 15mg for three months now and I just feel so numb. No motivation to do anything. The nausea is gone and randomly crying but my nausea and anxiety is still there. It's gotten to the point I haven't left my bed for a week because I feel short of breath and have muscle aches. So after 3 months of being back on 15mg remeron I don't know if I should continue taking it at this dose because I can't go on feeling like this, or if I should try cutting down again? I am scared to cut down due to my fragile mental state of mind right now, but I also want to get better so I don't know if staying on this will help me?