New here

Hi Chipmunk, welcome to the TC! You're in good company with tapering mirtazapine. It's an extremely popular drug to taper off lol Here's an article from the TC DB you should read: https://taper.community/resources/blog/mirtazapine-withdrawal-symptoms But it sounds like you're doing the drop right, just hold when those symptoms get ugly. Then maybe go a little slower on your next drop. Expect some symptoms. There's no magic wand but keeping positive and going as slow as your brain needs will minimize them. Btw, hows it going with the Ativan? You thinking about tapering it after the mirtz?

"How long do I wait before attempting another reduction?" — @Chipmunk

Hi, and welcome! It's recommended to wait four weeks between reductions. If you're currently experiencing bothersome symptoms, it's best to hold until they resolve. Your body will let you know when it's time to reduce again. Slower is faster on this crazy journey. Take your time. Unfortunately this process can't be rushed. You're doing great, just slow things down a bit. Keep us updated with how things are going. 🩷

Yes that is the plan to start my Ativan taper once I’m done tapering mirtazapine. Of course that means a longer amount of time on the Ativan which is frustrating.

I feel your pain. I'm stuck on Trazodone until I can taper Effexor (sigh).

I would go as fast as you feel comfortable with. Your body will let you know if it's too fast or the drops too big and you'll just need to back track a bit and take it slower.

The general rule of thumb, as established on the very important and influential Surviving Antidepressants site, is that most people can taper in a tolerable way, reducing 10% every 4 weeks. There are individual variations, but it is strongly recommended there not to go any faster/higher than that - and for very good reason; it's simply too high risk. To complicate matters, withdrawals can take some time to kick in (though often it's pretty fast), so dropping and feeling okay for a week or two is not an indication that your nervous system is truly ready for another reduction, hence the 4 week hold tradition. Even for a given individual, what you can manage can vary throughout your taper for multiple reasons; e.g., I've done most of my 3+ year taper with 10% monthly reductions, but there were times when there were other big stressors in play where I had to go slower and lower or hold for longer. Also, bear in mind that the lower the dose, the harder it usually gets and many people have to slow down or reduce % of drops once they get below 1mg.

It's also the unpredictability of it, I'm at 0.2 and acutely aware of the signs of going too fast. I've also been lucky (so far of having pretty much linear WD, eg not much waves and windows) and I'm a bloke only on Mirtz. That's not a sexist statement, just that women have it much harder due to hormone fluctuations and us blokes don't and people on poly drugs will have it harder. I'm prepared to push it a little, but any sign that WD is getting too much I'll back track a little, for example I'm on 0.2 for the last 8 weeks and I plan on dropping to 0.15 soon, but my plan B is to switch to 0.18 if it gets too much. It's a fine balancing act between speed of taper versus WD symptoms