What Is the Safest Way to Quit an SSRI (Remeron — Mirtazapine)?

[Beste]

Hi all,

As some of you know that I have my tinnitus from glutamate storm which was caused by quitting a benzo so now I'm afraid of quitting Remeron (Mirtazapine) if I may worsen my tinnitus which is already severe.

I know many of you think mirtazapine is safe for us tinnitus sufferers but I know a couple of cases where their tinnitus were caused by this drug. I have been taking it for 4 1/2 months and I want to stop taking it when I finish my last box of it. I will taper this time but I'm still afraid of getting withdrawal symptoms. So how can I hinder glutamate storm while tapering an SSRI?

Thank you for listening to me
Take care

 

[hartje5]

I'm still on Mirtazapine. I'm tapering Xanax first and than see where I get with tapering Mirtazapine. I guess this has to be done very slowly. You should ask your doctor. How much are your on now? Mirtazapine is not a SSRI.

 

[Beste]

I'm still on Mirtazapine. I'm tapering Xanax first and than see where I get with tapering Mirtazapine. I guess this has to be done very slowly. You should ask your doctor. How much are your on now? Mirtazapine is not a SSRI.

I think it is a SSRI when you use it 30 mg like I use. If you use it 15 or less it is more like a sleeping pill. I know I have to take it sooooo slow but I many people got w/d sxs even they are tapering very slowly. So I'm asking if I need to take any supplements or drugs to wean off it.

 

[hartje5]

I don't think there is any kind of drug to make tapering Mirtazapine easier. Maybe you could use some, natural sleep remedies. For me Mirtazapine started being a sleeping pill at 30mg. 15 mg wasn't enough.

 

[Beste]

Hi there @Cityjohn

Do you have any idea if taking vitamin C when tapering an SSRI would be good for prevent glutamate storm?

 

[Cityjohn]

Hi there @Cityjohn

Do you have any idea if taking vitamin C when tapering an SSRI would be good for prevent glutamate storm?

Vitamin C seems to protect against all glutamate excess in the neurons so yes. But it has to be a lot every day. About 250mg, 4 times a day. Your body quickly gets rid of it. Whenever someone would feel withdrawal effects taking more would be wise.
However I don't seem to be able to find any clear connection between SSRI's and glutamate per say, so I don't know if it damages the auditory system through glutamate excess or some other way.

 

[JasonP]

Vitamin C seems to protect against all glutamate excess in the neurons so yes. But it has to be a lot every day. About 250mg, 4 times a day. Your body quickly gets rid of it. Whenever someone would feel withdrawal effects taking more would be wise.
However I don't seem to be able to find any clear connection between SSRI's and glutamate per say, so I don't know if it damages the auditory system through glutamate excess or some other way.

Do you have a source for this information? I would like to look into it more. Thanks!

 

[Cityjohn]

@JasonP

The hair cells may be more resilient than the first auditory synapses in the cochlear nucleus, in other words the synapses can diminish through apoptosis before the cochlear epithelial cells or hair cells are damaged.
http://journals.lww.com/neuroreport...icity_and_repair_of_cochlear_synapses.37.aspx
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/29/45/14077.full
The synapses of mammals being very basic and small things are all quite similar in their functioning, they have to be to function. For this reason the cases of studies on micro structures can be accurately representative in humans. It has been clinically proven in animals that vitamin C protects neurons from glutamate excesses in the central nervous system.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378595504003478
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X09017811
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00016480701387132
http://journals.lww.com/otology-neu...Review_of_Hair_Cell_Synapse_Defects_in.5.aspx
It is important to note that MSG and synaptic glutamate are both treated exactly the same by the human body. This following study tested if vitamin C would also work in case of MSG induced excitotoxicity.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802046/
Important to understand is that prolonged sound exposure compounds glutamate levels in the synaptic connections. Normally the glial cells will clean this up but the ability to release more glutamate can exceed the ability of the glia to clean it up. Whether the glia are helped by vitamin C, I do not know.

 

[volsung37]

I took 15mg mirtazapine daily for about 10 days. For the first two days it sent me to sleep well, then it stopped working. I stopped taking them without tapering. A day or two later I noticed mucscle spasms in my left leg and in other areas of my body. I'm still having them some 4 days after stopping mirtazapine. One confusing factor is that I started taking a herbal concoction with black cohosh in it. at the same time I stopped mirtazapine.
Was I taking mirtazapine long enough for it to cause withdrawal symptoms going cold turkey?

 

[Bert67]

I am trying to get off after starting at 30 mg for 2 weeks. Already strange side effects, muscle spams in head and neck as well as full body tremors. Will let you know how it goes