359 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

That is weird about your symptomks getting worse between late morning and early evening due to the effects of your reduced dose wearing off. But then to go away even before you take your next dose, strange. One never knows what these meds will do.

[mimi10]

10 days after dose reduction and again while some withdrawal effects seem to be settling sleep is getting worse, last night only slept from 10 to midnight then just lie there tired wondering why I just don’t sleep.  I am going to try to hold for a bit longer to see if sleep can stabilize.  It’s so frustrating because insomnia is why I went in this drug and I can’t tell if the sleep is withdrawal or return to what  I was taking it for.  My sleep started in late December with broken sleep, then went to broken and waking up very early, like 3 or 4 and then go to a point where I was only sleep from 10 to 1130 or midnight.  After a month of that I sought help from my pcp.  I’m hoping this is withdrawal and will settle down while I stay at the dose of 5.7.  

[mimi10]

Still holding at 5.7 dose, thankfully sleep has been ok the past 3 nights.  Been on 5.7 for about 2 weeks now, thinking maybe I should stay there for at least one more week to see if things can remain stable.

[fishinghat]

I also bevieve that would be a good idea.

[mimi10]

A little over two weeks at 5.7 dose and sleep went last night.  Had been up since 3am so took 5.7 at  9 and fell asleep about 930 but woke up at 10 and was unable to fall back asleep.  After a few hours got up and went and sat in my recliner, fell asleep there about 4 but woke up at 430.  I guess I should keep holding and see if sleep improves.  If it continues like this, I guess it will be back to 7.5.  Last night was the same type sleep I was having for over a month when I saw my pcp, it is just not sustainable.

[fishinghat]

This all indicaes that it was too fast a drop. Unluckily you have no idea ahead of time you just have to try. I would suggest maybe going from 5.7 to 6 mg and if no help after a day or two go to say 6.3 mg, etc. You probably don't need to go all the way back to 7.5 and start again.

[mimi10]

Thanks, hat, appreciate the advice.

[mimi10]

Hat, I think I messed myself up, somehow didn’t take my marijuana gummie for two nights, think that’s what screwed up the sleep that night.  Restarted it two nights ago along with holding the mirtazapine dose at 5.7 and the past two nights things have been ok.  Going to continue at 5.7 for a few more days to see if sleep remains stable and then maybe trying a 5.0 dose for a few weeks.  Keep your fingers crossed for me and I’ll let you know how things go.  Thanks for being there.

[fishinghat]

Good catch mimi. Hang in there.

[mimi10]

3 weeks at 5.7; things seem to be ok so I reduced my dose to 5.0 thursday night.  Time to hold on cause it’ll all start soon again.

[frog]

Way to go Mimi. Every successful drop is worth celebrating

[mimi10]

Thanks frog.

it’s been a week at 5.0 and what a week, this cut has been throwing everything at me, headache, nausea, tinnitus, anxiety, and lousy sleep.  After 3 nights in a row of only 3 hours sleep last night improved some, slept 10 to 4.  I am hoping this is a sign that things are beginning to stabilize.  For now my plan is to hold at this dose for at least another week and see how things go and maybe a smaller cut next time.  

[fishinghat]

A smaller cut for sure. 

[mimi10]

I don’t know what to do at this time, been at 5.0 dose for 2 weeks.  Most withdrawal affects have greatly lessened with the exception of the insomnia which again is deteriorating.  Past few nights sleep has gone down to asleep about 10 and up between 1 and 2 with no more sleep and no naps.  I don’t know how long I can continue with only 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night.  Sleep got rocky days 4 to 7 and then started to improve some, maybe 5 or 6 broken hours and then started getting worse.  I am unsure if I should try holding another week and see is sleep gets better or give up and just go back on 7.5.

[fishinghat]

You might consider going up to 6. That may get you some release.

[mimi10]

Thanks hat.  Sleep actually got better last night, 6 hours broken sleep which is good for me with withdrawal.  I’m going to try to hold at 5.0 dose and see if things stabilize but if not I will try that 6.0 dose.  

[mimi10]

The past couple nights sleep has been holding at 6 broken hours which is pretty good for during withdrawal.  Other things, tinnitus, headache, nausea, jitteriness and back and hip pain have settled down considerably.  I take the mirtazapine about 9, fall asleep by 10 and am usually up for good about 4.  Withdrawal effects start up around 8 and have pretty much gone by early afternoon which makes me wonder if this is withdrawal or the drug itself causing these issues.  I still have a long way to go with this taper and am considering another reduction tomorrow evening from 5 to 4.5 dose, a 10 percent reduction.  First cut I made was big, 7.5 to 5.7 so about 25 percent, next cut was 5.7 to 5 so not quite 15 percent.  Not sure I felt like there was much of a difference between those cuts, so guess I’ll see if a 10 percent makes things any better.  

[fishinghat]

Don't rush the drop mimi. Give your body a chance to get ome strength back before goinf on. Right now things are still very sensative and vulnerable.

[mimi10]

Things had improved the past week although it is difficult to differentiate withdrawal effects from side effects of the drug itself.  After feeling somewhat stable, I have reduced my dose to 4.3mg of mirtazapine on Tuesday night. I guess we will see how this goes.  I am hoping to be over the worst of the cut by the upcoming weekend, my birthday is Friday and we are going to my son’s house Friday evening and my daughter’s on Saturday.  Sleep has pretty much been the worst, stable for me is sleep about 10 and up between 3 and 4, I hate it but isn’t much I can do about it, trying to accept it for what it is and keep going.  Even on mirtazapine it seemed like sleep was good the first few weeks on it and then was gradually deteriorating to what it is now.  Cuts in dose usually drop it down to 2 or 3 hours of sleep for a few days usually starting on about day 3 or 4 after the cut.

How are all my support peeps doing, hat, IUN, frog and mxpro.  I’ll try to look through some other posts later and see if I can catch up with you all.  As always, thanks for your encouragement and support.

[mimi10]

No sleep at all last night, day 6 seems to always be a tough one.  Hoping things improve tonight.  Hat, I have a question for you because I have been told different things, can I crush the mirtazapine and put the crumbles and/or powder into a gel capsule to take it, does it change the effectiveness of the drug.  So far I have been taking the small pieces out of the capsule before taking them but am getting to the point where the small pieces are getting to be crumbles.  

[fishinghat]

The best answer I can fins is that the timed release version shoukld not be crushed as it woukld allow the medicine to all enter the body at one time. The oral dissolving ta blets can be crushed as it is designed for rapid absorption. I hope this helps.

[mimi10]

Pharmacist said the 7.5 tablets are not timed release, but would the gel capsule I put the crumbles in cause any issues?

[fishinghat]

A gel capsule should be fine. They are designed to dissolve in the stomach and if these  are not time release then they would dissolve in the stomach anyway. Gel should be fine.

[mimi10]

Hat, thanks for the help, appreciated.  I am still holding at the 4.3 dose, been a week now at that dose, things have been pretty nasty, especially sleep.  Hoping holding for another week will start to settle things down.  Spoke with a pharmacist to see if he could add anything that might be helpful and he said these drugs are nasty to come off of and you just have to tough it out, and then mentioned I might want to speak with my doc about bridging with Prozac, said he has had some patients have success with that but was uncertain if it was mirtazapine they bridged from.  I am unsure about that plan and think maybe I should try to keep going by trimming a little every few weeks, especially since insomnia is my worst withdrawal problem and seems like all those other ads usually cause start up insomnia and I’m not sure if tapering Prozac would be any easier for me.  Ideas?

[fishinghat]

Prozac is a completely different type of medicine than mirtazapine. I believe your pharmacist was thinking about how drs often use Prozac to bridge the withdrawal from ssri/snri. Prozac carries its own Cymbalta type withdrawal.

[mimi10]

It’s been 10 days at the reduced dose of 4.3 and things have not settled down much, sleep is pretty bad, only slept about 2 hours last night in very short increments of 10 to 20 minutes here and there.  Things are usually starting to settle by this point on previous cuts.  I guess I will continue to hold at this dose and hope things settle soon.  This cut has been an unusually rough one.  I’ve got to get through today and it’s my bday.  I have to spend the afternoon at the senior center with the group I volunteer with and then to my sons house for dinner and back home and hopefully a better night sleep for me tonight.  For me sleep is the driver, I can cope with the day if I get some sleep even though it’s never very much sleep.  It’s hard to remain functional on these days that follow virtually no sleep.  I bought a product called sleep 3 by nature’s bounty at Costco but have not tried it yet, reviews on it were mixed.  Sorry for the venting and rambling, guess I’m just disappointed I was hoping things would be getting better by now.

[fishinghat]

First of all happy birthday Mimi.

 

Just hang in there a little while longer. Your next drop should be a lot smaller for sure.

[fishinghat]

I just looked at the sleep 3 and it looks pretty good.

[frog]

happy birthday Mimi! 

[mimi10]

Hat and frog, thanks for the bday wishes, was a nice couple of days.  Things maybe starting to settle down a bit, sleep is still rocky but getting closer to withdrawal sleep, 10 to about 4 with a few awakenings here and there.  Going to hold for a few more nights to see if things can stabilize some more.  I hope you’re all doing well and I’ll keep posting on how things are going.