I am a 2 time kidney transplant person. I had been taking 150mg of Imipramine for 21 years (the reason for stopping the imipramine is I have glaucoma, and heard it raises occular pressure), and am on 1mg Klonpin 3 time per day now for 15 years. It worked pretty well for me. After this 2nd x-plant I was quite depressed, so I decided to seek help from a phsyco. We waited for 2 months after I stopped the Imipramine, then he put me on Remeron 45mgs. I took it for roughly 3 months. I found it would put me to sleep, but didn't do much for depression. So he put me on Lexapro 10mgs to augment the remeron. I took the first dose, and noticed the next day I felt a little anxious (I have agoraphobia as well), I then took the next dose, and woke up in the night in full blown Serotonin Syndrome all I can say is OUCH!!! I discontinued the lexapro naturally. I noticed a few weeks later, I had another little rebound of that SS. So I started dropping myself off the Remeron, I was angry, and wanted to go back on my former treatment (it worked fairly well) and the physco is 200 miles away, and will not call me back. He has a rule: No Patient Call Backs. Needless to say, I trashed that piece of work. I've learned all about this syndrome from the internet. I titrated down over about a month by myself. I should have done it over 6. I noticed every couple weeks I would get hit hard with alot of the withdrawal symtoms. When I finally took my last pill, all hell broke lose. It was a terrible frightening experience to go to bed. I would lose myself, and the dreams were terrible, my stomach felt like I had the stomach flu, insomnia, extreme anxiousness, 15lb weight loss, and etc. I didn't get any brain zaps however. I guess were all different. To make a long story shorter. I have been off remeron for a little over 6 weeks now. It's like one day I feel fairly good, and the next is hell. I feel so bad, I just stare at the wall all day. My wife has had to take FMLA leave from work to be with me, Its just to rought to handle alone, as I am agoraphobic, and have big trouble with panic attacks. Would someone please tell me this is withdrawal from remeron, and it will go away? I'm getting worn out here, and feel like I'll never ever be the same, expecially on the bad day's. On a good day, I feel pretty good, but I know the beast is waiting for me around the corner. This crap is driving me Crazy!!! I need it to Stop!!! The symptoms have subsided somewhat, expecially the depersonalization. I force feed myself, as not to waste away. I drink alot of water to keep my transplanted kidney hydrated. I'm not thirsty like I was before this, so I force that down to. I am a bodybuilder, and haven't been able to touch a weight for months now. I'm a different person, and I want me back. Any comment would be greatly appreciated...

I'm Sorry I have bunched everything into one paragraph. I hope you can make sense of it.

Yours in Misery, Tom

P.S. How long can I expect this to go on?

Hi The T

You have got a lot going on for you right now. I will say that yes this could be a side affect but at the same time being on for 3 months and off of it for 6 weeks now I would think the withdraws would have stopped by now but as we know everybody reacts differently. You may also have other things going on. You may want to check with your pdoc and if you can not get a call back then call your pharmacist and talk with them about all the meds your are on, and they should be able to help you out with understanding your meds and the side effects and withdraws better. We also have other med rooms that you may want to check into to see how they may have an effect on you as well. All though we are not professionals here, we share information and our experiences on how we have dealt with our meds.