Withdrawal

[raggamuffin]

6th day off Remeron. Tapered off over the course of 3 weeks. Medication did nothing to help my anxiety but coming off it has made my anxiety aches and pains and my depression reach one of the highest it's ever reached. Side effects to note are severe insomnia, severe nightmares and night terrors (both of which i've never experienced before), severe nausea and stomach pains.

GP said I came off too quick as did a pharmacist. Seems nightmares and insomnia have plagued quite a few people who've come off this drug. Apparently one of the less severe drugs to taper off but my GP has noted that I seem to be getting hit with nearly all the side effects and hit hard. No surprise there given how much anxiety pains tend to beat the crap out of me every waking minute for the past 4 years.

Reading more into it, it can take up to 6-12 weeks for side effects to pass. I hope it's sooner, this difficulty getting to sleep and waking up every 1-2 hours because of terrifying, evil and demonic nightmares is a challenge. I wish I had never gone on an anxiety medication and i'm never going to go on another one. If this is one of the easiest to come off, i'd crumble under anything else.

Ed

[aprilmoon]

Hi Ed
Sorry this has been so difficult for you.
Would you not consider tapering even more gently? Three weeks does seem to be asking a lot of yourself

---------- Post added at 09:22 ---------- Previous post was at 08:50 ----------

Sorry I pressed the send button too early lol!
I was going to say that I had a major op a few months ago,and had severe withdrawal because I'd been on lots of morphine the weeks before to get me through he day.
The doctor gave me some 2ml diazapan to help me through he worst of it and it helped take the edge off it.
The most I ever took was 2 a day,but it stopped the patterns in the curtains from dancing around!
Good luck and take care

[pulisa]

When these drugs don't work it can be a living hell. It would be good if there were some non-addictive med to counteract the unbearable withdrawal side effects. I don't think that the medical profession truly appreciates the horrors of "discontinuation" of these drugs-certainly the pharmaceutical companies prefer not to share some of the bad stuff with the general public.

[hanshan]

Hi Ragamuffin,

Sorry to hear that the withdrawal side effects are continuing. I think the figure of 6 - 12 weeks probably relates to people who have been on mirtazapine long-term (months to years). Hopefully for you it will be sooner. Good luck, and keep us posted.

[pulisa]

Like aprilmoon I think that the only way to treat severe symptoms is with benzos. Yes they are addictive but only when over-used and certainly not in the short term.

[xrachykinsx]

I think it depends on your personality. I personally won't be choosing to use benzos during my withdrawal. Before I got into this mess when I just had severe insomnia...the doctor gave me a few sleeping tabs for 'short term use'....its what created my anxiety... Not being able to sleep without them. I must have an addictive personality and benzos would just be another stepping stone to more anxiety unless I continue to use them. Xx

[raggamuffin]

Had a sheet of 10 benzos. Used 8 of them over the course of 2.5 weeks or so. Only when aches get severe and most of the time they only have a limited effect which doesn't last long at all as my metabolism is quite high. Just going to have to ride it out. The nausea is pretty persistent.

Ed

[raggamuffin]

Appetite has returned slowly but surely. Nausea comes and goes as well as dizziness but it's not been as intense as it was. Aches and pains still hang around daily. Overall anxiety doesn't feel as high as it was but depression has been on the up. I'm sleeping for longer now but still waking up every morning feeling like I got very little sleep so I guess my quality of sleep isn't very good.

Ed

[raggamuffin]

Eleven days now. The appetite isn't returning properly. Sleeping has got easier. Aches and pains remain just as bad.

Hopefully things will improve more

Ed

[xrachykinsx]

Glad the sleep is improving. It will all come along I'm time. I'm going down to 7.5mg tonight. So nearly off them myself. I've done a week at each dose coming down from 45mg but 2 weeks at 30mg to test the water. Have actually felt better since coming down.