Stopping mirtazapine

[Benjammin69]

I need your help so I stoped my meds over 8 days and started a new med
. Anyway my mood has crashed I am in dark deep depression, I can’t drive, I’m dizzy, I’m sick, I got no energy. What the hell is going on ? Last week I was absolutely fine how quick has this escalated


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[nomorepanic]

side-effects from the medication - they are nasty things to be honest

[Benjammin69]

So I’m finding myself back in that dark place with ruminating thoughts and my mind going at 200mph! I reduced my meds too quickly so I have reinstated but please someone tell me this goes away soon! I can’t bare the mind whirling around so fast and not letting me focus!


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[Benjammin69]

So after a too fast taper and a crash in my mental health I find myself back in that deep dark depression which I managed to beat last year! I have reinstated my medication and I am 25 days on Wellbutrin and I am waiting to ‘stabilise’ but at the moment my head is going at 200mph and fixing on to things which I never normally would ... I see bleach my brain says drink it.... I see scissors ... my mind said cut it... it’s just awful - I do not want to hurt myself or commit suicide at all but these thoughts I can’t stop and I’m trying to remember how I stopped them last time but it’s all a blur.... I’m in therapy for the last year, I have made myself leave the house when I don’t have the energy to , I am spending time with family and trying not to stay alone but please if anyone knows how to get out my head please let me know! I can’t have any more meds than I am on already (quetiapine, buspar, mirtazapine and Wellbutrin)... my psych has suggested using benzos to calm my mind when it’s too fast...

[nadosa]

You can get out of your head if you are present. Be. Focus on your breath. Your senses. Focus on the now. Dont think about what if or what will be or what was.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I have been on it since August 2016, I was on 30mg and reduced to 15mg for a week then 0mg and I have only got in to trouble yesterday really and today’s been a rough ride with pure adrenaline and anxiety. I’m going back up to 15mg and still going to cross taper with bupropion.

Do you know how quick withdrawal symptoms go away? I need this adrenaline gone as it’s impacting my driving and everything

Sorry I didn't get back to you, I don't pop on the Meds board as much these days.

This med has a half life of 20-40 hours so it's harder to determine how long it is going to take to be eliminated (as a guide) as this is across gender groups. But men do eliminate it quicker than women, average 26 hours for men vs 37 for women. With that in mind it may come out completely around a week and less for clinically insignificant.

The trouble is not only what the drug does on a consistent basis but any changes they make e.g. down regulation in SSRI's prevents reuptake by plugin holes where it would be absorbed through. Mirt works by blockers binding to nerve cells therefore as you remove the Mirt more of that blocking is no longer happening and the body may need some time to adjust to that as it does with the down regulation of SSRI/SNRI's.

I'm not sure how long that will take, it's one Ian would know I bet. There may be some studies out there but I've never been on Mirt so I've not looked at it as much.

Perhaps something else to consider is how Mirt works in a different way dependant on dose? Low doses up to 15mg tend to give the antihistamine effect so make you tired but these are said to alter to it's Serotogenic activity once you move up a dose. So, I wonder whether reinstating to 15mg is doing little in that respect and it's still a form of withdrawal? A question for the psychiatrist but why is there a need to withdraw so quickly in the first place?

[Benjammin69]

Alot had happened since then I have reinstated at 30mg approx 10 days ago and I’m still waiting for my mood to stabilise - I am finding myself back in the grips of depression which is awful seeing as I have been in remission since April! The withdrawal symptoms have all but stopped except low mood and energy, depressive rumination and a bit of anxiety. I had 3 weeks off reducing mirt so I’m not sure how long it will take to re stabilise I was hoping by now I would be much further forward. I can’t work with my thoughts and mood the way it currently is :-(


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[MyNameIsTerry]

Sorry to hear this, it must feel like a soul crusher right now. The med itself will have stabilised by now at that dose but I think something major like this is just a big shock and it takes a bit of time to subside. Take it day by day and see what happens, hopefully any day now you might get some relief from it.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It sounds to me like your anxiety has ramped up and your mind is overstimulated. Are you finding it really hard to concentrate? Are your thoughts racing? This can be very tiring if so.

You are getting intrusive thoughts and these are always more intense and more frequent when overall anxiety levels go up. I've spoken to many OCDers who say this and also say the opposite is true in that as those levels subside the thoughts decrease.

Whilst these thoughts can be very scary, they are literally just the subconscious blurting stuff out that normally would be catered for by some other process or ignored because they are meaningless. So, try not to panic as they come and don't analyse them negatively i.e. obsess over what they mean, because they mean nothing, its just a hyperactive self protection system. Try to acknowledge them as simply thoughts, no more important than a thought popping in to buy some milk when walking around the supermarket.

With this being a drug withdrawal issue, I don't know if that will be possible and it may mean riding this out first but if so, it's something to try.

Try to calm your nervous system with anything relaxing, an exercise or activity, breathing work, etc. Again, this may not work for you right now but it may help with adrenaline levels. Too much adrenaline ramps up these thoughts too so a bit of gentle exercise or breathing work can help with this.

If you can, resist any urges to protect yourself from these scenarios in the thoughts e.g. don't hide knives or lock the bleach away, because as you already know this is not something you would do and reacting this way can keep them going.

It's good to know you have your family to support you. When things are really bad, feeling some safety from their presence can be very important.

[Elen]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your thread was merged with another of your threads.

Please when posting on similar topics add it onto your previous post rather than starting a new one.

It is nothing personal it is just to make it easier for people to follow your story and to give you advice as a whole.

Elen