PeteP: Mirtazapine / Opipramol WD

[PeteP]

Hello! I have an anxiety disorder. I took Opipramol for a few month, on average 100mg/day. Many would say that isn't much but I react very sensitive to drugs and I clearly felt the effects. I went cold  turkey after a few month and 2-3 weeks later I had flu-like symptoms, hot, cold, sweating, anxiety, then started again with 50mg and it gradually went away. I then continued to take Opipramol 50mg/day for about 2 month. About  7 weeks ago I stopped taking it and replaced it with Mirtazpine. I would only take mirtazapine 7.5mg before sleep as I felt very anxious and couldnt sleep and my doctor told me it wouldnt have sideeffects. After a week of Mirtazapine I was having several sideeffects: Felt shaky inside, had joint aches, had stiff limps, gait uncertainty, inner tremor, tired all day and a lot of muscle twitches all over the body. At the same time most of the anxiety had been gone, which was strange because symtpoms really scare me and now I had tons of them.

 

After 3 weeks of Mirtazapine (so about 4 weeks ago) I decided to go cold turkey and never touch ADs again. I've been taking 200mg 5-HTP/day (4x50mg) since and I felt its been helping a bit. I dont feel shaky inside anymore, I have no inner tremor anymore, I'm not tired during the day anymore, I had much less joint aches, my limps are sometimes still stiff but it comes and goes and its nowhere near as bad anymore, I still ahve a bit of gait uncertainty but it also got much better. What still worries me is the muscle twitching. It's not as bad anymore but it reduces very slowly. I have only taken Mirtazapine for 3 weeks and on a very small dosage but I reacted very sensitive to it and all these things appeared within a week after I started taking it, so by my logic I would say, chances these symptoms were induced by the drug are huge, right?

 

How long can it last for my brain chemistry to normalize and these symptoms to fully go away? Is there anything I can do to help stabilzing my brain chemistry, for example with natural supplements? Thanks for any advice!

[PeteP]

On 5/21/2018 at 1:07 PM, brassmonkey said:

But I only took it for a Week

(6)

 

I think that some of the most unfortunate members we have are the ones who only took the drug for a short time and had an Adverse Reaction. Over the years I’ve seen a good number of members join who have taken their drugs for one day to a week and then stopped.  Yet they are suffering very acute symptoms.  This is an Adverse Reaction, acute symptoms that hit immediately and hard.  Some people’s chemical makeup just isn’t compatible with psych drugs and their body immediately tries to reject them, but in doing so throws itself into chaos.

 

The good news is that their body will sort itself out and they will return to normal.  The bad news is, it’s going to take a long time and there is nothing that will speed up the process.  There are a lot of coping strategies and tools that will help soften the experience, but time is the only thing that will cure it.  By time, we are looking at a minimum of eighteen months, but more than likely two to three years for a full recovery

.

That may sound very bleak, but it’s not going to all be pain and suffering.  These people tend to have a more liner recovery. The first several months will be acute.  Then things start to improve is a noticeable manner, with life starting to resume and get back on track.  All the members I have known have made full recoveries.  They then go on to graduate college, attend med school, and start successful careers in a variety of fields.

 

There is a variation to this theme and that is the ones who have taken the drug for a month or two.  They didn’t have the immediate Adverse Reaction, but the drug is not treating them well and they decide to stop taking it because of the way it makes them feel. Because they have only been on the drug for a short time and with their doctor’s encouragement they stop the drug cold turkey. After a “honeymoon period” this throws them into withdrawal and a whole carousel of doctor’s visits and new drugs typically follows. But that’s a different topic.

 

Psych drugs work by making physical changes to the body, affecting every system and every cell.  They start to make these changes from the first dose and by the end of the first month they have been quite successful in doing so. By the end of two months the changes have been significant. The upshot being that even after only two months a proper, slow 10% taper is required.  Yes, that means that you will be on the drug for several years longer than you took them originally.  But those changes, that were quick to happen, require a lot of time to sort out and undo without causing undo symptoms.

 

For those people who are at the one month mark it’s sometimes possible to do a quick taper lasting only a few months.  This is a very iffy proposition though, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t it will take many months to find out it hasn’t, many months to stabilize from an updose/reinstatement and then the long slow 10% taper.

Hello! This sounds horrible I took  7.5mg/day Mirtazapine for 3 weeks and had several sideeffects: Stiffness in Hands and legs, gait uncertainty, muscle twitches, inner shakes, tiredness, joint / muscle aches...

 

I went CT and have been off it for  5 weeks now. The stiffness in my hands disappeared, my gait is almost back to normal, innershakes and tiredness disappeared. Still having muscle twitches and feeling some muscle / joint aches from time to time.

Is it a good sign that half of the symptoms are gone? If you say it may take up to over a year do you mean that symptoms may last this long or that I'm going to feel anxious / depressed regularly over that period of time?

 

I guess you've also seen cases where they took it only for a few weeks, went CT and got out of it within a shorter time span, right? I mean just so theres  hope?

Edited April 29, 2020 by manymoretodays
moved from S and S care, Are we there yet topic

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, PeteP.

 

On 4/18/2020 at 3:31 AM, PeteP said:

I went cold  turkey after a few month and 2-3 weeks later I had flu-like symptoms, hot, cold, sweating, anxiety,

 

These are typical withdrawal symptoms.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list.

 

When we take psychiatric medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  

 

On 4/18/2020 at 3:31 AM, PeteP said:

I have only taken Mirtazapine for 3 weeks and on a very small dosage but I reacted very sensitive to it and all these things appeared within a week after I started taking it, so by my logic I would say, chances these symptoms were induced by the drug are huge, right?

 

Yes, it sound like you had an adverse reaction to the mirtazapine, which means it is basically poison to your system.  No permanent damage has been done, and you will heal.  Unfortunately, there is no way to predict how long it will take.

 

On 4/18/2020 at 3:31 AM, PeteP said:

How long can it last for my brain chemistry to normalize and these symptoms to fully go away?

 

As I said, there is no way to predict how long it will take.

 

Regarding supplements, we don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium 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) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

[manymoretodays]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:00 AM, PeteP said:

Is it a good sign that half of the symptoms are gone? If you say it may take up to over a year do you mean that symptoms may last this long or that I'm going to feel anxious / depressed regularly over that period of time?

 

Hi PeteP, @PeteP

Yes, that is a very good sign that half your symptoms are gone.  It can be variable, the recovery times that we see.

Please put your withdrawal history into your signature

You'll see these under other members posts, just follow the instructions in the link

 

How are you feeling now?

Are you still taking 5HTP?  Any other drugs or supplements?

 

I went ahead and moved your second post here, so that we could keep your information all in one place.

 

Thanks, Best,

L, P, H, and G,

mmt