Posted by Molybdenum on March 16, 2008, at 22:01:54
In reply to Re: Experiences with Remeron? » Molybdenum, posted by yxibow on March 16, 2008, at 20:24:30
Yes I;m a bit of a "horse" when it comes to certain meds. Other's I am quite sensitive to. And I also can't help having this stupid belief that "more is better". The theory has always worked with toys, chocolate, hifi amplifiers, money, sex.....right?????? :)
Apart from the 225mg mirtazapine, I take 600mg venlafaxine, 6mg melatonin, 500mcg clonazapine, 12.5mg Stilnox CR and 32mg of Atacand (for the hypertension we blame on the venlafaxine).
I'd really like to wean myself down to a more reasonable mirtazapine dose but I'm in a bit of a stressful situation at the moment - divorcing, custody battle, poor, no job - need I go on? And guns are impossible to get in my country (Aust) so there's no quick way out if I ever can't stand it anymore. And I can't just run down to Tijuana & pickup some Nembutal like US people can. The Northern Territory (aka state) gov't here was leading the world in "assisted suicide" legislation a few years back. Then the federal gov't chickened out & wound us back to the dark ages. I think you have to be a VET to get Nembutal here nowadays.
Hence I'll just keep on the current combo & try to reduce it back when I'm settled in 6 months or so (unless I'm dead by then of course ;:)
My p-doc is very senior in his field. Has been practicing for yrs & is a senior whatever at 2 Universities, blah, blah, blah. So I don't think he's a bad doc.
I think his belief is that different people need different amounts and that there's a limit to how much effect the drug can have (at least over time gradually increasing it) on a given brain. He also believes that some ADs do poop out over time. And honestly, I'm not getting any new side effects at these doses.
One bad thing happened the other night though - instead of taking 5 x 45mg, I just took 3. I was already sleepy & I thought maybe it wouldn't be so hard to bring down the dose rapidly.
Well......I woke up at 3am in a state of DREAD bordering on physical PANIC - really WEIRD & BAD feeling. I've never felt so bad in my life. So I popped the other 2 x 45mg tabs plus 1mg of Xanax.
When I woke up in the morning I felt "normal" again. But I'm sure not going to try such a drastic reduction ever again...!
The p-doc says my combo is the most he's ever had anyone on & he won't be upping it any more. He says "there's no scientific evidence that supports increasing it further".
Lastly, I recall when he agreed to the "California rocket fuel" (venlafaxine & mirtazapine combo) for me years ago, he used some medical service he subscribes to to send him the "latest medical data". I read what he got back. He got back two lots of articles from two different drug companies, as I believe they're each manufactured by different orgs. Neither company claimed there was any conclusive evidence that the 2 drugs worked well together. ie neither company has any interest in paying for or even promoting a study involving a competitor's product...!
What a load of b*llsh*t.. ;)
So all that aside, I know it's a common combo & it DOES seem to be still working for me. At least here it doesn't cost any more to be on higher doses. So as I'm currently unemployed, I get one month's worth of venlafaxine for $5. Same for mirtazapine $5/mth, etc - no matter how many actual mgs of tabs he says I need per day.
All I know about the US (are you in the US?) health-care system is from watching that Michael Moore movie "Sicko". I sure hope it was fiction, 'cos if it's 1/2 true, then I think it's really time you need to either have another revolution or else move to Canada...!
Thanks for caring :)
Good Luck with your meds ;)
poster:Molybdenum
thread:806302
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080316/msgs/818385.html