greyed: mirtazapine disaster

[greyed]

Hi everyone,

 

I had been on 15 mg of mirtazapine for about ten days that I started a month ago. I had an increase in appetite, a return of emotions, felt interest in doing things. I felt I was back to normal. I was taking several cups of chamomile tea with it one night and found myself unable to sleep. I got out of bed and freaked when I learned that I had to be wary about herbal interactions. I went to the ER only to be sent home after no concern was shown. I decided to quit the mirtazapine in the following days. I experienced restlessness, tiny brain zaps, poorer sense of time, memory impairment, inability to sneeze. It never occurred to me to reinstate the drug. And now, 3 weeks later, I'm considering trying half the dose tonight (7.5 mg). I don't know if it's better to do that or to continue to tough it out, but my sleep has been poor. I'm very anxious of my nervous system damage and my mind has been preoccupied with it. This led me to be house-ridden and constant googling on the subject. I need some guidance and reassurance.

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by ChessieCat
removed topic title

[greyed]

Sorry, I made the signature.

[greyed]

I went ahead to take half dosage after waking up in the middle of the night. Experienced morning grogginess so I'm assuming I'm responding to the med.

[Erell]

Hello Greyed

 

And welcome on SA  🤗

 

Thank you for your signature, this will help to see all your history at a glance.

 

Few questions to make sure we understand your situation :

 

1. what brought you to take Mirtazapine in July ?

 

2. Was Mirtazapine your first psych drug, or did you take others before July 2020 ?

 

3. "unable to sleep" : did it happen only one night or was it regular since you started Mirtazapine?

 

4. What are your symptoms since you reinstated 7.5mg ?

 

5. Currently, is Mirtazapine your only drug? Are you taking supplements?

 

[ChessieCat]

2020 July 2X - August 9: 15 mg Mirtazapine

 

What does 2X mean?  Is it a typing mistake?

 

Or does it mean that you took it in July sometime between 20th and 29th but you can't remember exactly?

 

If you can't remember exactly it would be better to put "about 22" or roughly when you think you took it.  Between 20th and 29th there are 10 days so it can make a difference to the suggestion we give you.

[greyed]

greyed: sexual dysfunction & emotionless, need help

Hi,

 

Since reinstatement, my sleep recovered and I can function, but my emotions never returned. Soon after, I'm finding myself sexually compromised. I'm at a loss on what to do and cannot expect doctors in my area to be of help. I looked up Wellbutrin and find that it might help, but it can cause significant hair loss so I will not consider it. I'm contemplating between quitting cold turkey again and tapering. See my signature for details on my med duration.

 

Edited September 12, 2020 by ChessieCat
added topic title

[ChessieCat]

I've merged your new topic with your original Introduction topic.  Only 1 Introduction topic per member.  This keeps your history in one place.

 

 

[ChessieCat]

On 9/4/2020 at 10:19 AM, ChessieCat said:

2020 July 2X - August 9: 15 mg Mirtazapine

 

What does 2X mean?  Is it a typing mistake?

 

Please answer my question about the 2X in your drug signature.  Thank you.

 

 

[ChessieCat]

On 9/4/2020 at 5:22 AM, Erell said:

Hello Greyed

 

And welcome on SA  🤗

 

Thank you for your signature, this will help to see all your history at a glance.

 

Few questions to make sure we understand your situation :

 

1. what brought you to take Mirtazapine in July ?

 

2. Was Mirtazapine your first psych drug, or did you take others before July 2020 ?

 

3. "unable to sleep" : did it happen only one night or was it regular since you started Mirtazapine?

 

4. What are your symptoms since you reinstated 7.5mg ?

 

5. Currently, is Mirtazapine your only drug? Are you taking supplements?

 

 

Please answer Erell's questions.

[greyed]

On 9/3/2020 at 4:52 PM, Erell said:

Hello Greyed

 

And welcome on SA  🤗

 

Thank you for your signature, this will help to see all your history at a glance.

 

Few questions to make sure we understand your situation :

 

1. what brought you to take Mirtazapine in July ?

 

2. Was Mirtazapine your first psych drug, or did you take others before July 2020 ?

 

3. "unable to sleep" : did it happen only one night or was it regular since you started Mirtazapine?

 

4. What are your symptoms since you reinstated 7.5mg ?

 

5. Currently, is Mirtazapine your only drug? Are you taking supplements?

 

1. Depression.

 

2. No, I took citalopram in 2017 for about a month before quitting cold turkey. I don't remember the dosage and I experienced no withdrawals.

 

3. It started before and after quitting the mirtazapine cold turkey. I was getting mostly 3-4 hours a night.

 

4. Some drowsiness.

 

5. My only psych drug. I take fish oil, vitamin supplements, black seed oil.

 

On 9/3/2020 at 9:49 PM, ChessieCat said:

2020 July 2X - August 9: 15 mg Mirtazapine

 

What does 2X mean?  Is it a typing mistake?

 

Or does it mean that you took it in July sometime between 20th and 29th but you can't remember exactly?

 

If you can't remember exactly it would be better to put "about 22" or roughly when you think you took it.  Between 20th and 29th there are 10 days so it can make a difference to the suggestion we give you.

 

Yes, it means I can't remember the exact day. I think it was in the 25-30 range.

 

Sorry for not checking back this thread. My signature has been updated.

[ChessieCat]

48 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

 

Please answer my question about the 2X in your drug signature.  Thank you.

 

 

 

[greyed]

Done.

 

I'm wondering if a fast taper is feasible, considering that I'm not on it a considerably long time. I'm going to try 7.5 mg for a few nights.

[ChessieCat]

It's up to you.  But if you start getting withdrawal symptoms it would be better to hold.

 

The brain likes consistency and does not like it when you keep yo-yoing your doses.

[greyed]

Yes, the brain likes consistency. Been okay since Sunday night going with the 7.5 mg. I can function and getting out of bed isn't a chore, but my working memory isn't great and my emotions never recovered since cold turkey. Did any of you have emotional numbness and did it heal with time?

[ChessieCat]

apathy-anhedonia-emotional-numbness-emotional-anesthesia

 

This is the search results for anhedonia in the Success Stories forum:

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/search/?q=anhedonia&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=28

[greyed]

It's been almost a couple weeks now since I last updated. The 7.5 mg I had been on was sloppily done with a butter knife, cutting the 15 in half. A couple days ago I could get myself to really cry so that was something. I've tried pleasuring myself that I was putting off for weeks and, while I could function, found that the arousal feeling was lacking. I'm scared of the possibility with the permanency of this. I'm suspecting that the haphazard reinstatement had done it because I could feel normal arousal during three weeks of cold turkey. I'm at a loss on whether to get off the drug properly to avoid any more damage.

[greyed]

I took an Advil for a headache almost a week ago and found that my sleep changed. I woke up at least once before my alarm time but could go back to sleep fine. When it was time to get up, I was excessively too tired to and got out of bed 2-3 hours later than my set wake-up time. At least the dreaming was nice.

 

I'm going to the doctor tomorrow for the 7.5 mg tablets. I hate that I'm in uncharted waters with this. My life is going to be at a standstill with this garbage.

[greyed]

I'm feeling like my pre-CT state today, with the added benefit of being on 7.5 mg instead of the 15. I thought my working memory was too poor to do any gaming that needed memorization to be fun and I surprised myself tonight with how well I did. It wasn't very long ago when my mind was too hazy to enjoy it.