Samira: introduction

[Samira]

Ever since I had my first child in 1997 I started to have sleep disturbances, anxiety and constant worrying. In 2005 I was admitted to a psychiatry clinic. I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder, given 30 grams of mirtazapine (Remeron) and 0.5 grams clonazepam (rivotril) ,now 1 gram, to control my condition. I was treated with medication such as fluvoxamine, quetiapine, cipralex, and seroxat but the only effective combination was mirtazapine and clonazepan. I also take cholesterol medication. I have been on this situation ever since. I want to try and lower the dosage and don’t know how I should go about is there a doctor recommended?

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Samira.

 

To start:

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  The information about the Mirtazapine and Clonazepam is sufficient.  Please include the date you started the drugs.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Regarding doctors, the vast majority of doctors know nothing about safely tapering off or lowering drug dosages.  Here is a link to our list of recommended doctors.  I suggest you start at the most recent additions.

 

Recommended doctors, therapists, and clinics - Tapering ...

 

The following clinic has been mentioned by a couple of SA site members. I personally know nothing about them.  You could contact them and see what you think.

Free Range Psychiatry: Home

We are a site for tapering psychiatric drugs and can help you lower your dose(s), if you wish.  Here is some basic information:

 

We recommend tapering only one drug at a time.  Otherwise, if problems arise you won't know the cause.  Our general advice is to taper the most activating (stimulating) drug first, leaving the more sedating drug in place to help with sleep to be tapered later.   Since Mirtazapine and Clonazepam are both sedating drugs, you would need to choose which drug to taper first.

 

We recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose every four weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Since, according to your post, the two drugs work in combination, a possibility is to taper one drug down to a certain point, wait a month, then taper the other drug down to a certain point and continue until you've reached the dosages that work for you.

 

The following link is about tapering Mirtazapine and includes how to get to non-standard dosages you would need for a 10% taper.

 

Tips for tapering off mirtazapine (Remeron)

 

We don't have a link for tapering Clonazepam, but the same recommendations would apply regarding the 10% rate of taper.  To get your doses, you could use a digital scale such as the Gemini-20, available on Amazon.  In terms of making your own liquid, Clonazepam is poorly soluble in water but it's possible you could make a suspension and taper that way.

How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules - Tapering ...

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. Get supplements that are single ingredient (not mixed with other types of supplements).

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2021 by Gridley

[Phoenixmama]

welcome 🌞 @Samira