Caveman: Introduction

[caveman]

Hello SA,

I've been lurking this board for about a month now for advice, and figured I might as well make an account as you've all been super helpful to me so far. So first off, thanks for this community

Here's my brief history over the last few months:
 

Tried 3 various ADs in different classes for my long-term anxiety and depression, which I've had for about 7 years. All of them immediately produced awful side effects at very low doses,  so these were non-starters.
On Mirtazapine for ~6 weeks starting in January @ 15 mg,  1 week at 30 mg, and another week at 15 mg. I wasn't really tolerating the drug at 30 so I went back down to 15. Though I was able to tolerate the mirt pretty decently, I didn't notice any benefit from the drug besides an easier time getting to sleep.

Quit the mirt cold turkey on the advice of my psychiatrist, who said I had been on it for such a short time at a low dose that I could stop taking it no problem.
 

Intense w/d symptoms appeared about 3-4 days after stopping mirt, at which point I found this site and reinstated at half dose (7.5) based on the advice I read on some of the threads here. I felt much better in a couple days.

Since I was feeling better, I thought I could continue with my usual life activities; A few days after recovering from the initial w/d symptoms I went to a concert with some friends and had a few drinks. The next day I woke up feeling ok, but quickly developed nausea and flu-like symptoms. Since that episode, I have been feeling some level of w/d symptoms for the last 5 weeks or so until present, while continuing to take mirt at 7.5 mg.

I'm currently debating if I should try updosing to see if it will relieve some of the daily w/d symptoms I have, which are mainly increased anxiety, fatigue, increased depression, and hypersensitivity to light, sound, and life in general. I can just barely tolerate where I'm at right now, but I'm still prevented from doing many things I enjoy and being active in my life.

Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!

[Altostrata]

Welcome, caveman.

 

No drinks for you! Your nervous system is still stressed out from the shock of withdrawal.

 

It may slowly recover from that upset, give it a few days and see if you're feeling a bit better. Let us know how you're doing.

[caveman]

Thanks Alto reading your (and others) success stories has been really helpful for me so far.

 

I did try very gradually increasing my dose for a few days but it seems like that made it worse, so now I'm back to 7.5. But of course, now I'm wondering if decreasing would help at all. Something tells me I'm just looking for a quick solution where there may not be one though.

 

In general, would SA say the best practice is to wait out w/d symptoms and stabilize on my current reinstated dose before trying anything else?

[caveman]

Also, do you happen to know any doctors in the SF Bay Area who specialize in this condition?

 

Thanks!

[Altostrata]

Your nervous system may still be rocky from the alcohol. Be patient, it should settle down.