It has now been ten days, the last 7 of it cold turkey from 30 mg mirtazapine. Was on it for 2 years for insomnia from Parkinson's, but it does not help anymore. I was planning on doing it by tapering off, but by day 4 that plan went out the window. I am always a spur of the moment kind of guy. At day 4, I just decided to get it out of my system. so jumped in with both feet
The list of possible side effects from going cold turkey is quite large. I was not sure if it was the right thing to do, but I wanted it out. I never realized until I came on this site that it was addictive, and that scared me. My doctor never told me about that little point. If I had known I never would have started it. Guess I should have done some research.
I have always had a very high tolerance to any kind of drug. I have never had any side effects to any drug that I have ever taken. So I wondered if the reverse would be true. Would I have any withdrawal symptoms? I was willing to test the theory.
Day 1: reduced to 15 mg. No effect.
Day 2: 15 mg. No effect.
Day 3: 15 mg. No effect.
Day 4: cold turkey. No effect.
Day 5: cold turkey. No effect.
Day 6: cold turkey. No effect.
Day 7: cold turkey. I feel behind my eyes like my sinuses are acting up. Minor effects.
Day 8: cold turkey. Feel blah. Tired and my head is stuffy. Minor effects. After all I have Parkinson's. I always feel blah, now I just feel a little bit more blah.. Minor.
Day 9: cold turkey. This night had the first real symptom to note. I had the night sweats. Not that bad, was not totally soaked, only a little damp. One weird thing. I usually wake on average 5-7 times a night because of my Parkinson's. This night I only woke up 2 times, and felt like I had a real sound sleep. That is different. I always feel like I am on the edge of sleep/awake. Never sound. So it was a pleasant change.
Day 10: yesterday. cold turkey. Back to waking up 5-7 times. No night sweats. Minor effects.
Day 11: today. Regular bad sleep again last night. No night sweats. Minor effects.
I do not know if there is going to be more to this story or not. Maybe I am not out of the clear. I will update this in another 10 days. One thing to note. I do not dream any more. I have not had a dream in like 4 years. Maybe Parkinson's killed that part of my brain.