I have been writing on this forum for some time and I have been tapering from 7,5 mg since the end of June. The end of July I went to 3,75 mg and every time i had soms bad nights after a little less than two weeks. The end of September I started taking 3,75 every other day and had soms bad nights aswell. End of Oktober went to 1,875 every other day and quit everything on 14th of November. I'm almost three weeks post now, and feel relatively good, but my sleeping is still very light and I have trouble falling asleep. Also I have muscle tightness and tension. Ringing in my ears too, but this is probably the muscle tension.
I am curious if anyone can comment on this, is this last stap (quiting) harder than all the tapering before? And when should I consider going back on a tiny dose? i really want to see it through, but I also don't want to be irresponsible. Last night I had to take a Xanax to sleep because 03:00 o' clock I was still not sleeping.
HI WHOSTHATGIRL..just read ur post ..when did u first start on mirt and what mgs did u take then ..u say that end july went to 3.75..to end sept .then 3.75 every other day .oct 1.875 ?? then stopped 14 nov WHY..if u re turn to 3.75 for a few weeks it may all level out..up and downing mirt is not a good thing ..i myself am going through hell [read my posts] been on mirt 2 weeks.1;st night 7.5 mg 3 hrs sleep. like a zombie next day ..2nd night 3.75 mg no sleep ..been on 3.75 for 13 days no sleep just doze off 4 a few mins..BUT I FEEL A LOT BETTER NOT SO IRRETATED OR DEPRESSED ECT i think the sleep will come soon..just going to persist untill i see dr in 2 weeks..im new to patient so trying to help.good luck ........BLUESY
Insomnia is always the worst symptom of WD, along with nausea, stomach cramps, itching ...there seems to be an endless list. It sounds to me like you have done well. Some people take Benadryl or Phenergen as a sleep aid before trying another med, or if you are in doubt take xanax one night and either of those two the next - alternate - that way you might not then have difficulty stopping Xanax.
It may take a few weeks for sleep to return to normal - after doing 50% drops each time your central nervous system hasn't had time to readjust yet. So I would say if youu can manage without too much distress, sleep 4 or 5 hours each night, youu will see a return to 5 hours, and then 6 etc ... its how long it takes and how well you feel which will be your guide.
I hope you soon feel well again - should you ever feel the need to reinstate, I would go back to either 1.8 or 3.7, and stay on the same dose until you feel stable again. Alternating days (taking one night then missing a night etc) isn't for the faint hearted, it seems to confuse the nervous system.
Tnx for your quick reply Calmer. I did feel a bit down a week ago, but luckily this has past. I probably should give it a few more weeks, but I am probably moving up. I guess you feel 100% withdrawal after a day or 12 and after that it should go up. If I should reinstate I would def. try a liquid taper. I will see. How are you doing today? You seem to be the person giving the most advice, but how are you?
Thank you, I am OK, I have been tapering slowly and now at 1 mg, I go liquid Mirt from my doc, but not all docs will give it as its expensive (UK, not available USA I think).
I still get the odd upset tum and fatigue, fatigue has been the worst part of the taper, so if I can I rest more than norm, but really don't have much time for resting. Hey ho, thats me anyways.
I had to leave work early today, I was very dizzy. Hope this passes too. I know this could be related to withdrawal, but it reminds me of my original symptoms which is scary. Slept like a baby though, last night. I suppose that's something!
I am not sure if you are still responding to this discussion, but I am now almost 6 weeks post. I still feel bad, not the whole time, but still enough to not move on. I still have occasional bad nights where I sleep 2 to 3 hours. Made a doctors appointment today, to discuss reinstating a small dose. Like 3,75 mg. I feel myself slipping away, and I don't want to go there again. Other options are prescription melatonin or benzo's. Hope you are doing fine though. This time of year is a very hard time for me. It's so dark everywhere, makes me feel down.
Hi, yes I'm still here. What did you decide with your doctor? Its hard to get prescribed a benzo, but just a month or so would really help, but of course they can be so addictive.
3.75 should be alright to get some sleep ... only you know how bad you feel. If only it were available in 3,2, or 1 mg it would be so much easier to taper, or even stay on it at that very last dose.
If you do reinstate, maybe see if you can get liquid Mirt if in UK, or make your own liquid, see how to on here.
My visit to the doc went really well yesterday. We both agreed it might be too soon to start Mirta again, and I am going to try to ride it out with benzo's and melatonin. Took 1,8 mg melatonin yesterday and I was soo tired that I slept like a log yesterday. Didn't even need the benzo.
He even surprised me by taking a very refreshing stand about anti-depressive medication and agreed this was probably still withdrawal, even though I stopped 6 weeks ago after a real gradual taper.
I also realise my sleeping problems in this dark weather could be exarbated by the dark mornings and light evenings. Especially blue light in the evening is problematic so I started wearing orange glasses yesterday to block the blue light from t.v., LED-lighting etc.
I am not feeling my old self again, but I do feel much better than yesterday. As long as I am sleeping, I can start to feel better.
Oh your doc sounds great . Sounds very empathetic, just what you need right now.
Yes I try to practice good sleep hygiene, no blue light, electronic devices, dim the lights at night ... getting into daylight mode as soon as is poss / I walk my dog early so that helps.
I slept pretty decent the last three nights, although last night I was awake between 2 and 5 am. But I haven't taken anything to aid my sleep, besides melatonin. And my orange glasses seem to help as well. So I'm still hanging in there.
I'm not sure if it's improvement, I still feel my mood fluctuates, but I am glad I slept well without the benzo's, because I really don't want to be addicted, and benzo's have a slight negative effect on mood as well I believe. So I'm hanging in there, hoping to see some improvement.
I'm still not really sure about when the time comes to reinstate, because next week I have to be back at work again, and I really don't want to call in sick.
Sometimes I think just fearing we won't sleep well makes us not sleep well, I mean when we wake in the middle of the night and then start to worry, which leads us to a place of fear and then the anx kicks in ... so we have to then practice concentrating (not too hard) on the breath and trying to push away (gently) those negative thoughts ...
Right back in the beginning of my insomnia days and when first taking Mirt', I had some CBT sessions, I ended up paying privately because otherwise I would have had to wait up to 8 weeks - I was in such a dark place due to the insomnia that I couldn't afford to wait 8 weeks so I bit the bullet and paid.
If you slept well the last 3 nights that's a really good sign; Mirt WD of course comes in windows and waves. I think my CBT therapist would say to me "so what if I don't sleep well for one night, the following night is sure to be better" - so this little tool he introduced works for me, not easy, but I keep on trying.
I have some Benadryl tablets, and also Phenergen, but (touch wood) as yet I havn't tried it - just knowing its there helps. Crazy as that sounds.
Hi Calmer,I've been reading the posts between you and whosthatgirl for some weeks now,
I'm at week10 with my w/d's,
I'm having very similar w/d's, early evening blue sky and tv,phone screens don't seem to help with headaches,
The spikes of Anxiety are getting too much and I hoped the w/d's would be better by now
Hhen the Anxiety happens it makes me panic about the future,
it's as if I've realised there isn't much future left and I get frightened that life is running out,it's like I'm going to fall over the edge 😟 there's no more forward and I'm only 41.
I can only talk about it now my Anxiety subsided
I've not experienced anything like this before and I've got to go back to my Gp asap
Did you suffer with anxiety before Mirt' or do you think your anxiety is part of the WD? Either way anxiety disorder can be terrifying can't it. Have you tried any meditation or breathing exercises at all? The thing about anxiety, it just accelerates if we go into panic mode doersn't it, and then yes ... we feel like we're going to go over the edge ~ the very best thing is to try and stop going into this panic, and they only way I know it by using a relaxation tecnique or meditation ... practice daily, strengthen the nervous system, nervous mind.
I havn't suffered with anxiety through my tapering, mainly fatigue and the odd stomach flu. I am almost at the lowest dose possible 0.02 mg (!!!) just a matter of letting go and seeing what arises ! I do have a little fatique still, just hoping I don't get hit with symptoms when I'm at zero.
You mention feeling frightened and falling off the edge ... I don't know if this helps you at all, but that "feeling as if" is probably as bad as it can possibly get - a therapist once said to me that there is no such thing as a break down, just an accumulation of symptoms, mainly driven by fear. So its the learning to remain "in the moment" with Mindfulness practice, that may help long term.
Hope your WD symptoms ease soon Vikki, I know 10 weeks seems a long long time.
Thnx for your reply Calmer. Seems I am through the worst of withdrawal (I think) because I am sleeping like a baby again. Not sleeping well starts for me with not really being tired before I go to bed. But you are right. Each night you sleep bad, the next night you almost always sleep well.
I have also been using my blue blocking glasses, which is actually a very cheap one they use on a construction site for example, but I fall asleep on the couch now every night around 23:15 which is really new to me. My boyfriends then wakes me before I am in a deep sleep and I walk to my bed to fall into a deep sleep. To bad I fall asleep so soon because I am watching the darts game and I keep missing the most exciting games. ;-) Oh, and in the morning I use my light therapy box.
Mood is better as well. Let's hope it stays this way.
We've had some pretty dark weather here the last days, with a lot of fog, but it didn't seem to mind me at all. Today is a bit worse, but not at all bad. I am hopefull I can keep feeling better.
So sorry for what you are going through. Quick question, did you ever try to learn diafragma breathing, or belly-breathing? It helps me when I feel low and start to panic. What was your dose of Mirt' before you quit? Did you taper slowly?
Hey,I've not heard of those breathing techniques but il will look it up! Thanks
I didn't take my AD responsibly which was arrogant of me, hence why I have this problem
I went from 15mgs sporriodicly to 2 15mgs sporriodicly when the 1 tab didnt work as well and I did this for 3 months,I took my last Mirt on October 22nd after Night Sweats and insomnia,the Anxiety kicked in 2 weeks after that and by that time I knew my brain was remodifying and that it would take some time
I only took it for help with sleep and now I know I didn't need help with sleep...arrg
What a way to lesson to learn!
I read Mental Health Daily on (Remeron) Mirt + how long it lasts,it really helped me understand and gave me reassurance
So you where taking 30 mg sporadically before you quit? You might benefit from doing a slow taper if your symptoms don't go away. A lot of people on this forum have done that. If you are in the UK you can even get Mirtazapine in liquid form, and this will make tapering much easier.
Hope you feel better soon!