Mirtazapine and Tripping Conundrum

[AzzyMazzy]

Hello Bluelight,

Here's my situation:
I've suffered with depression since I was a teenager. Doctors threw pretty much every antidepressant at me, and none worked. I became disillusioned and thought all antidepressant drugs were BS, but the doctor insisted I try one last drug, Mirtazapine.

I was very sceptical, but, figured fuck it, what have I got to lose. I started taking them and the sedation was bliss to my insomnia. I then stopped eating benzos like candy because Mirtazapine really knocked me out just as well as benzos did. After a few months my mood started to improve dramatically.

Sooo.... here's the conundrum: I can't trip anymore. I get little to no visuals from psychedelics, but still feel the stimmy body highs, and still get the psych introspective headspace. I want to have a full psychedelic experience like I used to get before Mirtazapine, but as explained above it's really helped me.

I'm wondering if anyone has similar experience with Mirtazapine and psychedelics? Is it safe to push doses higher and will that even achieve visuals? Or alternatively, I'm prepared to stop taking Mirtazapine briefly in time for shroom season, but how long before it completely leaves my system and I'm able to trip properly again?

Thanks for reading.

 

[St3ve]

You'd need about 5-7 days to get rid of the vast majority of the mirtazapine in your system. It blocks the 5HT2A receptor which is important in getting the visual aspect from psychedelics. It's unlikely that upping the dose will help you out much in terms of visuals. I'd recommend waiting until your treatment with mirtazapine is over...

 

[jammin83]

As steve said, it's probably best if you get off of it appropriately before indulging in pyschedelics. You should be aware that for some people, mirtazapine is a real bitch to get off of. If you waited 5-7 days to dose, you would most likely be in withdrawal and you are not gonna have a good time. I can relate, I was on zyprexa for a while, and a couple of times I waited a few days so I could indulge. I was in AP withdrawal and one time I almost overheated as APs mess with the way that your body regulates heat. In some ways mirtazapine acts similar to an AAP, so I would be really cautious. Of course dosage, length of treatment and individual biochemistry will dictate how difficult it will be to get off for you. Unfortunately, many psych drugs and psychedelics just don't mix. If you want to get off of it, you really need to go about it the right way and taper it really slow. Remeron is one of the worst offenders for seriously involved withdrawals. If you taper the right way, you can minimize the withdrawal. Never go cold turkey off of that stuff. Let me know if you need anything, best of luck, and welcome to BL.

 

[AzzyMazzy]

Thanks for the replies guys, appreciated.

I stopped taking Mirtazapine for 7 days about a month ago because I'd bought some 1P-LSD and really wanted to see if it was as good as real acid. I did experience some withdrawal, but it wasn't too bad, just suffered a bit for that week.

It seems 7 days wasn't enough for it to leave my system. I dosed 200ug of 1P-LSD, and don't get me wrong, it was an intense experience, but only mentally and physically, still got very little visuals.

Do you think it's possible for antidepressant drugs to permanently fry your 5HT2A receptors? I really hope not.