Hi there. I was surprised at the lack of posts about Remeron withdrawal. I know it's supposed to be one of the easiest ADs to come off so perhaps that's why, but as we all know, everyone's different, so here's a brief outline of my experience with it:

Was prescribed it for Glandular Fever. Not depressed at the time but the Dr said it might help. It didn't, but I'd always been a poor sleeper, and suddenly I was falling asleep almost as soon as I took the pill and sleeping straight through the night. So I carried on taking it.

I'd always been slightly overweight but nothing major at all. I took Remeron for 4 years and HAVE BEEN TRYING TO COME OFF IT FOR THE PAST THREE!!! In those 4 years I went from mildly overweight to clinically obese to the point where I developed fatty liver disease and the Gastro told me I was so dangerously obese that I was a candidate for gastric bypass surgery on the NHS (I'm in the UK).

I know weight-gain has been a huge (excuse the pun) problem for most of us on this med, but has anyone had weight gain this bad? And more importantly, has anyone had really bad trouble getting off this med?? Unlike some people, I found the higher dose made me more drowsy and not the other way round and I tapered so, so, so slowly. But even on 3mg (therapeutic dose being 30mg) the carb cravings are still as strong as ever, as is the daytime drowsiness - and I just can't get it off completely. Although on this incredibly low dose I find I sleep around 9 hours instead of 14 (!) as soon as I stop it completely I either don't sleep all night, or I get 2 hours max. The scary thing is that I'm not on any other med (so no stimulant side-effects), don't go near caffeine, and I'm wondering if this is actually withdrawal because it has gone on so long and has not improved one bit. I've been off Remeron for 2 months now and the insomnia is as bad as the first day I stopped! Could Remeron have done something to my brain? Is this going to be permanent? Has anyone experienced anything similar with this med?

Please help. With virtually no sleep for 2 months I feel like I'm going crazy and I've helpfully been told by my Pdoc that I have to choose between my physical health (developing cirrhosis of the liver which is where I'm heading with my liver disease, not to mention the other 101 medical problems brought about by severe obesity) and my mental health!!!

Tsva

Tsva, I was hoping a more knowledgeable person might respond to your post but I don't see that you mentioned trying any other sleep aids such as something as simple as over the counter Benadryl to a prescribed med such as Ambien. Have you done so?

Hi TSVA,

It is the anti-histaminic effect that causes the sedation and the carbohydrate (more specifically sugar) cravings. And in most people, either at 30 mg. but even more likely at 45 mg. does the nor-epinepherine effect start to counter act these SE's. Especially the sedating effect. And in actuality, mirtazapine does not cause weight gain, what you eat does. But I know all too well how hard it is to ignore those cravings. Fortunately for me, at 45 mg. and subsequently at 60 mg. these craving were diminished enough to start losing weight with a bit of impulse control and some increase in my normal exercise routine. And after a short time I started to shed pounds as easily as they went on.

As far as your current insomnia is concerned, nothing will keep you awake more than your thinking about it. One gets so obsessed with the difficulty they have falling asleep, that it becomes almost impossible to do so. What I found myself doing in the past is to read or do some activity that keeps you mind off sleeping. Usually, most people will then get so sleepy they will fall asleep in situ. But when you find yourself so drowsy you can hardly keep your eyes open, go immediately to bed and think of something soothing. If you immediately start wondering if you will finally get to sleep, you probably won't.

As you stated, mirtazapine is rarely associated with severe discontinuance syndrome. But certainly, that doesn't mean that no one has ever had a hard time discontinuing them. So keep us posted, the members here on DF and care although they may not post. But they might very well be watching and if you stimulate a thought from then, they will respond.

Peace and Love.... wayne

Wayne,

I always wondered whether it was the Remeron that made me put on weight or just the extra food that Remeron made me eat !!!!!!

Like the OP, I also put on a fair bit of weight.....

Like you though, I found that the sedation thing did lessen at a higher dose.

Also, unlike the unfortunate OP, I had no problems like hes having withdrawing from it.

"Hell" is the right word for it. I have been on 30 mg Remeron for the past ten years, I took it initially to help with sleep and pain (I have myofascial pain, a cousin of fibromyalgia). My withdrawal symptoms have been worse, I suffer "disconnections", seizure-like but not really seizures ( I had EEGs and were normal), my head feels light and confuse, then I drop for a few seconds. Insomia is terrible, I don't even get the two hours. Every time I try to get off it, it is worse, as if my body is telling me "hey, that is already part of my brain chemistry, don't remove it!". Is there a way out?

I am 2 years off, from this terrible drug.
It causes rage, obesity, resstless leg syndrome, CFS.

Its not easy to gett off it.

There are special forums to get over this terrible drugs that cause more harm than good and is prescribed for problems that can be solved in another way.

They are prescribed for Insomnia, for Pre menustration pain, and so on, causing life long problems.

Please go to the web pages for withdrawal.
They are not allowed to be mention here.

Good luck !

That's nice Roy that you are off drugs. Can you describe briefly how you are doing without drugs? How did you manage to come off them and do you have relapses?

I am on Mirtazapine 45 mg thrice/day. The reason is for tension headache and insomnia.

Honestly, after a while, Mirtazapine's hypnotic effect does not work for me anymore. That is why I am also on Seroquel ( anti psychotics ) before bed.

If anyone is having problem with the liver function, it is best, to my opinion, is to buy a bottle of Benadryl ( the red original bottle, that contains Diphenhydramine, an antihistamine).

You can take 10 mg of it, or maybe 20 mg of it, if it works for you, as opposed to buying Unisom sleep tablet which contains 50 mg of it. I think it's too strong.

Best if you discuss with your doctor. But I think, Diphenhydramine is the oldest and safest antihistamine, and that's where PROZAC is synthesized from.

That's nice Roy that you are off drugs. Can you describe briefly how you are doing without drugs? How did you manage to come off them and do you have relapses?


It takes a lot of will to get over it.
In my case I did it cold turkey, because he ( the DR ) was changing my AD ( remeron ) , and I have had such bad experience with others ADS , that I told to myself, its better to be depress that to feel this bad.

If I had to do it all over again, I would do it very small dosages, it lowers the time of WD.

But with so little knowledge, and the mind in such distress, I had to do it that way. Again the answer is in the WD sites in internet, not in those that praises the AD, which needed to be sued.

Mos depressionn would go away in the course of 12 weeks if left untreated.

With the damage of AD it takes 2 Plus years to get over the unbalance left by the AD.
Good Luck

This post has been edited by roy100: Oct 3 2008, 06:33 PM

I have to disagree. You may be talking about very mild cases. I went for years when I was younger with untreated bipolar depression and all that did was worsen it. I now wish I had just taken the treatment. Each depressive episode left untreated increases your chances of having another episode.

Tsva -
I feel for you, that is really awful. I really think you need to somehow get another opinion - I don't know how feasible that is on the NHS? How can your Pdoc say something as unhelpful as that to you?

Anti-psychotics are very sedating and may work for your insomnia, they're really strong, but unfortunately they're also notorious for weight gain. Benadryl (diphenhydramine) was like water off a duck's back to me, even at 100mg, and it doesn't sound as if an over-the-counter remedy is going to dent your severe insomnia. But you deserve a Pdoc who will work with you to solve this problem. Are you able to pay for a private consultation, with someone who has more knowledge of this specific problem?

Wish you all the best.

Hi tvsa,

I weaned myself off Avanza (which I'm assuming is the name of Remeron in Australia) 2 months ago too and am having similar problems with insomnia and was starting to question whether i would ever sleep normally again. I had really bad insomnia with my depression when I started on the AD and was really scared that i was getting ill again. Good to know I"m not alone in this. I've had alot of trouble finding info on the withdrawal side effects of this drug and this is the first forum I've found dealing withis issue. I have been taking a combination of different sleeping tablets both herbal and chemist - not at the same time though. I think the post about the anti-histamine component is a good point as I was thinking along similar lines.

i can't believe your doctor put you on this drug. As for me I think it saved my life as I was way ill and probably wouldn't be here today. that said I'm currently very well and I think I will persevere with the sleeplessness as i would rather be AD free and it scares me to think of the long term effects.

let me know how you're getting on

Imkowalski