Printable View
Hi
So time has come that it is time for me to reduce this med, I have reduced from 350mg to 300mg successfully... and I have held for 4 weeks. The next drop is to reduce by 100mg to 200mg XR...
Has anyone had any experiences on reducing this drug? What to expect? I have 45mg mirtazapine, 160mg propranolol and various benzo to help me get through it...
Cheers
Ben,
I have no experience of this med but would say listen to your body. They tell us to go down slowly, especially if we've been on them a long time, and there is the concern about what they may be covering up.
If you feel confident, go for it, but if you struggle you can always reinstate a higher dose and try coming down more slowly.
And don't let them fob you off about reductions based on only what drug manufacturers produce. They know they can prescribe more than one so you can add them together. And there is whether you can split the med too.
It may be that it's harder as you get lower? Some of the guys on here who were on Olanzapine found that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsTerry
Cheers mate - I reduced to 200mg about a week ago and I have been ok other than today. I feel a bit low but that could be cause I was up late and had a few too many beers :whistles: so My mood can obviously be more influenced so I’ll keep an eye on that. Im going to take it much slower from now on thou as I have done 2 Big cuts. I don’t really have any joy when it comes to withdrawing my psych says mirtazapine has no withdrawals but when I withdrew from that I was a suicidal mess and had to reinstate higher. So I want to take the quetiapine slow and steady.
Yeah, it's crazy how that's two psychiatrists at least on here now that seem to not understand the medical literature surrounding Mirt. They should try it for themselves :biggrin:
The one you are withdrawing from is a powerful med so it makes total sense to be very sensible with it.
As you withdraw you may also see what is lurking underneath and maybe that will need it's own adjustment period?
Yeah, you will have to keep an eye on the alcohol. You may even find your tolerances to it change so it's worth watching. But if you can drink without problems, that's a good sign you will still be able to. I guess it's a matter of seeing if the following days get worse after drinking or if your reaction to those rough days spirals more into anxiety than before?
So I have reduced to 200mg XR and I actually feel better much more energy, less sedated and actually less mind traffic. Maybe the seroquel was dampening me down way too much? I reduced on the 3 May and I haven’t had any withdrawals. I’m thinking of holding for a month then reducing to 150 or 100mg what does everyone think should I take it slow and low?? Is it possible because mirtazapine and quetiapine work on the same receptors that is why I have not had any withdrawals??
Cheers
It does sound like it was doping you too much. I often wonder about this as we get so much fatigue and some people have said they just feel fogged when taking too much of some meds.
What I find strange is the reduced thoughts. You would have thought the med was slowing that down as opposed to stimulating it? But then that's probably more about the adrenaline & glutamine side and if your med has been working on the noradrenaline receptors then maybe that's the stimulation element but I don't know what this meds affinity is for those? Some SSRI's seem to do that.
If two meds are working on the same receptors then they are combining in some way. Just like a switch there is some overlapping effects.
I would do what you think is right. If you try larger drops then you know the risks are the potential for a harder hit if the withdrawal comes and some time needed to rebalance yourself on a higher dose to come back down more gradually. Coming down more gradually brings less risk of this but takes much longer. But it may even be that you won't feel withdrawal as much until you get into the lower doses, like benzo users report, and I remember coming off Cit years ago the final reduction was where I felt it more pronounced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsTerry
Cheers for your response Terry,
I know I have read everywhere that seroquel really stops racing thoughts and repetitive thinking etc so I always thought I needed to go higher on the dosage as I still had ‘pop’ thoughts... like impulse thinking. Jumping on tracks infront of a train, popping pills etc so it was like my mind would pop in a thought then obsess about it. Since reducing I have also needed less benzo so going form 2/3 times a week to 1 time in 2 weeks and that was 2mg lorazepam for a meeting at work. I never realised how much these meds were dampening me down and dulling me down...
I can’t reduce the mirtazapine as I done that and turned me in to a suicidal depressed wreck! But this reduction in seroquel has been well received and very welcomed..
I think as I have had no withdrawals what so ever I am getting over confident and thinking well maybe I can just stop but that’s where it all goes wrong....
I think I’ll complete 4 weeks of 200mg then go to 150mg.... rather than taking too big of a jump then paying for it later when I crash.
Yeah, you would expect it to stop a racing mind considering the origin of the med (dose ranges may mean differences in effect though).
But that's great news! Dropping the need for benzo's shows this med is making you worse. It's a shame we have to try them, spend ages on them, and then find they are doing more harm than good.
Intrusive thoughts, something I know you've been struggling with for a while, can get worse when we feel more "activated". Ramp up my anxiety and my OCD goes up with it. I'm yet to come across as OCDer on here say the opposite to that. But it makes sense when you consider how raising overall anxiety levels just brings more intense, and even new, symptoms of anxiety in general.
Really pleased to hear you have some success with this, Ben. That Mirt episode was a crusher.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MyNameIsTerry
Cheers terry! Thanks for your support too. It’s hard when you have been ‘better’ for a few months then you find yourself back down that hole with those thoughts it’s so annoying! But I’m out the other side and things are good again and I am very stable which is brilliant. I have a few wobbly days with anxiety but that’s it!
I would also think that with what it is actually intended to treat it would reduce those thoughts but maybe the dosage was inadequate and I didn’t really want to get higher. It’s a horrible sedating feeling it’s not a benzo feeling it’s a sluggish clinical exhaustion feeling - I think it is easy to think we have been treated well when we are actually just sedated. There is a difference between cure and sedation.
Yeah I do think I have slight OCD tendencies over silly things like car doors shit and handbrake up, I take pictures so I don’t have to check over and over... so this may explain the thoughts but never really told anyone thy or a doctor.
My diagnosis is MDD with gad and panic... so didn’t want to really add another one on! lol
Ah dear....
I have reduced from 200 to 150mg XR about 3/4 days ago and my anxiety has raised slightly... didn’t feel the drop at all from 350 to 200mg. That’s a pain I thought I would be able to rapid reduce this med and be off it soon but I think I may need to slow this down...
Anyone have any views on reducing? Should I just hold and take some Ativan for the surplus anxiety for a few weeks??
Hi
I have been on quetiapine (off label) for sleep and unipolar depression/ptsd.
I have tried so hard to get off it but anything below 25 MG and I am climbing up the wall and resorting to benzos !
Anyone actually got off it?
(Also pregabalin 100-Diaz 17-Mirtazipine 15
Housebound most days, anxious and phobic.
Help welcome
Dick -habari