Hello, I have been struggling with anxiety and with depressions since I was 14 yrs old.
For over 50 years I have used diazepam, managed to come off them 30 months ago.
The last 7 years I have been taking mirtazapine and I try to come off those as well but for some reason I can’t quit mirtazapine.
Hi I also suffered with anxiety since 17 years old was put on many different antidepressants the longest one being mitazipine thats when I was diagnosed with panic disorder I found if I missed doses id have really bad panic attacks, for me personally I befan to feel mitazipine wasnt the answer for me the foctor pescribed diazepam to help so I slowly reduced mitazipine, I no longer take ut but do have diazepam 2mg for when needed.. I have done courses online which has helped me alot. My daughter now has anxiety disorder an when I notice shes not herself she talks to me, she told me other day when she was at home and was having an attack she heard my voice in her head saying "Stop living in the past an the future" you live for today now breath an she said it helped. There is lots of breathing exercises you can find on youtube they help alot 5 4 3 2 1 helps ground you an you begin to do it naturally after practice, I hope this helps its only my personal experience take care.
Hello and thank you so much for your reaction!
I do use breathing techniques to help calm my body down but my mind often is racing too fast. With mirtazapine my mood is lighter and less down but every more or less 10 days I have to stop taking them to calm down a bit. This is for 2 days ans then back on them again.
I miss the calming effect of diazepam.
How wonderful that your advice helps your daughter so well!
For the coming time in my life my goal is to try to live without any medications like antidepressants and tranquillizers. 54 years of using them is more than enough. I hope I will be able to to it. Currently I watch a lot of videos about CBD oil and I wonder if that will help to withdraw from mirtazapine..?
Does diazepam help you better than mirtazapine or other ADs?
Hi yes I do find diazepam is more helpful for me, I dont take antidepressants anymore, an I only use diazepam when needed, some days my mind is racing an I cant even do the grouding exercise thats when it helps calm me, before I was pescribed diazepam I was using cbd oil tinctures they did help me alot but was unable to keep buying as expensive for me. Everytime id go doctors over anxiety theyd pescribe me a different AD tryed time an time again telling them they weren't the answer for me, 20+years later I made the choice to tapper myself off them an for 6 years now now ive felt so much better, eating better an taking melatonin for sleep no longer waking up at night with anxiety an just feeling alot more calm in myself wish I done it years ago, but like I always say now you cant like in the past 😂, sombody told me all the thoughts all the doubts is your anxiety so if it was a person saying those things to you what would you say to them, I took that on board an the next time my head was racing i got angry with my anxiety and said out loud listen youve had an hour now just sod off then laughed because id said it, I started seeing my anxiety as someone trying to put me down so thoughts go less an less the more I did it, now wether that was a breakthrough for me ill never know, ill still have days when i get anxiety but no were near like I had an I can like with that, I hope you find sending my best an hoping you do.
How did you manage to come off the benzos and can you share your tapering methods or did you take another drug to help get off? Thanks
For the tapering methods I followed the guidelines in the Ashton Manual. It was a very slow taper but a good one. I took mirtazapine while on tapering and that helped me to stay in balance. Quite some time after I completely stopped with benzos I tapered down mirtazapine with quite a few setbacks coming from 3 mg.
our nervous system needs a long time to rest and to heal. Now being free of benzos and antidepressants, when I feel overwhelmed with stress I take one capsule of Ashwagandha 300 mg to calm my body and it does help and my mind stays clear. And then I move on again free from any meds and supplements.
Never take Ashwagandha with pills though!
So good to read that you are healing!
Hi and welcome to this community. I'm on a medication that I can't get off of for the life of me. We've tried weaning me off 4 different times to no avail. It's interesting how our bodies react so differently to medicines. My mom knew the troubles I was having, so asked others about it. They had had the same issue! Apparently, Lexapro (the medicine I can't seem to get off of) needs to be weaned off of incredibly slowly -- more slowly than doctors realize.
as slowly as possible Norw. Take all the time you need!
Hello it is such a relief to find likeminded people. Depression and anxiety run in my family too, from father's side. He took his meds until the very end of his life.Yes the secret is to taper very slowly. I have this experience with benzos. I am off them for 30 months but before I made the final step to zero benzo I had been tapering for over 2 years, possibly longer for I failed a couple of times too. I still have withdrawal symptoms but very mild ones lately. I think that this makes mirtazapine withdrawal more difficult.
Antidepressants are very tricky.
Hi there, I think you have done remarkably well coming off Diazepan, I tried 3 times and failed the withdrawal effects were so horrendous. The 4th time I managed it because I was hospitalised after I had a manic episode(I am bipolar). Now I am on Lorazapan which I believe is equally addictive - I have halved my dosage but don’t quite know how to come off it for good…I guess tapering is the best solution, take 1 every other day for a couple of weeks, then 1 every 3 days and so on…is this the right way or should I just stay on a token maintenance dose for a while? Like you I also take Mirtazapine 15 mg at night only but it does help me sleep and I don’t think lowering the dosage to 7.5 would be advisable until I am off Lorazapan. I just really dread crashing, I have suffered from severe depression and anxiety since adolescence. Since I am over 70 I don’t think I will grow out of it! but at best will just have to accept it and get on with it…being on this forum with like-minded people definitely helps!
Have you ever heard of The Ashton Manual? It is a manual that has helped over a million people already to come off benzos.. Without it I could not have done it either. Professor doctor Heather Ashton has done intensive research on why people struggled so much with benzodiazepines, what they do to the mind and body and why it is so complicated to stop taking them. You can find it on the internet and download it for free. A lot will become clear and understandable once you read it!
P.s.: You can find more about it on benzofree.org
Thank you so much for this information, I am about to Google it now…
is Mertazepine similar to Valium? I’ve been looking for a substitute because diazepam kept me in work, got married & had children. I was on Valium for 40 years & I was happy using it. I could mix with groups of people & I passed a Law Degree with my wife doing it part time whilst still working full time. The dr took me off Valium around 2 years ago & I can’t communicate verbally to anyone. I’m a completely different man than the one my wife got married to 34 years ago. Hey but..Valium is a dangerous drug (that kept me & my family happy)
Konspiracy, mirtazapine was for me a good medication to take while I weaned of Valium/diazepam. It is an antidepressant that both calms as well as lifts up. For me it was the best choice for I was hypersensitive and nervous weaning of diazepam, and maybe also depressed but that I am not sure of. I hope you were given the opportunity to slowly stop with Valium for that is really important.
Coming off Sertraline 
Trying to find some meaning in my "Golden Years"
Needing a solution for depression
Citalopram to Mirtazapine 
Solution to my symptoms
