3 replies to this topic

[YoungSchizo]

I've been trying getting off the Mirtazapine and I did for 4 days. Those 4 days were great, finally my mental energy rose, I could function properly in social situations after years and came to the conclusion that I'm not depressed at all anymore but it is the Mirtazapine that makes me feel depressed and down.
Anyway, what I forgot was that without Mirtazapine I have those annoying pop-up thoughts that keep coming up when trying to sleep which eventually causes sleep deprivation which in turn makes me prone to have my positive symptoms triggered. Not only the pop-up thoughts causes the sleep deprivation but also, without Mirtazapine I'm so energetic (and that feels awesome), however mentally and physically I don't get tired at all. Well, at least, going without sleep makes me mentally tired but not to the point I can have a good night sleep.

I really want to go without the Mirtazapine, any thoughts on how to overcome my issues is appreciated.

[Sleepdealer]

1. I know you've been around here for a while but I don't remember if you are doing any exercising. Any long distance running, hiking or biking for example? Soccer? It should be able to tire you a bit for the evenings.

2. You could try melatonin: Melatonin improves sleep quality of patients with chronic schizophrenia

And/or you could do with something GABAergic, like Skullcap or nigella sativa purrhaps.

 

3. I also know that what works for me when I need to get to sleep is opening up the window to let some chill air in while I lie on top of the blanket to get cooled down. It's really easier to relax when you are a little cool than hot IMO, but some people like the opposite. Write important stuff that you need to remember down so you don't have to think about it.

[YoungSchizo]

1. I know you've been around here for a while but I don't remember if you are doing any exercising. Any long distance running, hiking or biking for example? Soccer? It should be able to tire you a bit for the evenings.

2. You could try melatonin: Melatonin improves sleep quality of patients with chronic schizophrenia

And/or you could do with something GABAergic, like Skullcap or nigella sativa purrhaps.

 

3. I also know that what works for me when I need to get to sleep is opening up the window to let some chill air in while I lie on top of the blanket to get cooled down. It's really easier to relax when you are a little cool than hot IMO, but some people like the opposite. Write important stuff that you need to remember down so you don't have to think about it.

 

I exercise hard (fitness, running, kickboks), 5 days a week, but it just doesn't make me mentally/physically tired, instead, it makes me more active mentally. I tried the antidepressant Agomelatine which didn't do shit for my sleep. GABAergic like Clonazepam which I'm taking doesn't make me tired either. I didn't try Skullcap or nigella, tried regular GABA though, same story, does nothing for me. I also sleep with the window open even though it's winter, it's indeed more relaxing for sleeping. I thought about writing stuff down, but my mind just throws bullshit at me (no worries, just plain popping up bullshit that shouldn't cause me to stay awake), it just goes on and on waring me off but doesn't let me sleep.

 

This sleeping issue is something from my childhood, although back then it wasn't daily, just some periods. Somewhere in my late teenage early adult years this issue disappeared completely, although in my adult years I was almost stoned daily so sleeping wasn't an issue at all but ever since having schizophrenia my sleep totally depends on chemicals like Zyprexa and Mirtazapine. Luckily I've been off the zombiefying Zyprexa, now I've got the issue that Mirtazapine and Latuda don't mix well together. And now that I've found out that Mirtazapine is causing some nasty effects on my mental well being I want to get off of it but how?! 

[jonathanrace]

I struggle to sleep well without mirtazapine. I was on 30mg for a year then had a panic attack, went cold turkey and dropped down from 9-10 hours to 3-4 hours a night. This built up gradually to 6 hours till I couldn't take it anymore and went back on to 15mg so I could get 8-9 hours.

 

Fast forward a bit and I now live in China. To prepare for it I tapered off over 1 month (still very quick compared to what I hear) during this time I used Reishi, L-Theanine, Magnesium and drank chamomile and liquorice before bed. This helped a bit but I would still have bad days.

 

I've experimented with a few difference things and currently have a stack of:- ZMA (450mg of magnesium and another 225mg for midnight awakenings), Tryptophan (which I alternate with melatonin), Ashwagandha, GABA (occasionally) & Glycine.

 

The thing is it helps but it doesn't touch what I had on mirtazapine, I think it's to do with the antihistaminic properties. This is because I had some flu medicine a few weeks ago which had a antihistamine in it (I forget the name) and the sleep was incredible, almost so that I was thinking about just buying more of this medicine and macrodosing it.

 

Let me know how you get on and if any other mirtazapine users have any ideas for improving sleep without needing to take mirt