Remeron is primarily used to counteract major depressive disorder while it has also been prescribed to treat other mental disorders, including a number of ones that are related to anxiety. However, it has also caused some users to become either addicted to it, which is rare as it is viewed by medical professionals as a nonaddictive substance, or dependent on it.
Fortunately, Remeron addiction treatment centers in New York can help those who have become addicted to or dependent on the substance so that they can move past this and start handling what Remeron had been intended to treat in a different way, one that is more effective for them.
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Understanding Remeron
Remeron was initially synthesized in 1989 and then approved for the treatment of clinical depression in the Netherlands in 1994 before the United States followed suit two years later.
Note that Remeron is the most common brand name for this antidepressant, which is more generally known as mirtazapine. It is also referred to by numerous other names throughout the world.
Mianserin, commonly known as Tolvon and predominantly prescribed in Europe, is similar.
Antidepressants and Other Uses
The primary mental state that Remeron treats is major depressive disorder.
It is also regularly prescribed to treat conditions not related to depression. Common ones include anxiety, both generalized and social, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia, schizophrenia, sleep apnea and loss of appetite.
In fact, one of its off-label uses is treating drug addiction, and it is effective in doing so for many. It has often been prescribed to counteract addictions to substances such as marijuana, opioids, benzos, cocaine and alcohol.
Remeron partially does those things by making adjustments to the brain’s neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and norepinephrine, to make them more balanced. It also has a similar effect on the body’s central nervous system.
Benefits of use can include improved mood and well-being, a sense of feeling relaxed and not as nervous as had previously been experienced, improved sleep and, only a positive if this is desired, an increase in appetite.
However, benefits experienced as a result of taking Remeron can result in a user becoming addicted to or dependent on it.
Possible Side Effects
Conversely, side effects are possible as well. These can include difficulty concentrating, bizarre dreams, aches and pains, indigestion, excessive sleepiness and unwanted weight gain. Some particularly serious possible side effects include, paradoxically, an increase in suicide ideation and depression as well as irritability, even hostility, and behavioral changes.
Do keep in mind that side effects tend to be more common in the early going of treatment. Regardless, if you are experiencing any, particularly more serious ones, reach out to your doctor.
Individuals who are addicted to or dependent on Remeron will usually experience more pronounced side effects, both in number and severity, because they are likely taking more than they had been prescribed or any at all with no prescription or advisement. More severe side effects are also possible when prescribed Remeron use is combined with alcohol, cocaine or similar substances.
Also make sure to not combine the use of different antidepressants unless you have the approval of a medical professional as doing so will often result in greatly increased sedation and other side effects.
Although an overdose of Remeron is usually not as dangerous as an overdose of other similar substances, side effects related to that do still have the potential of being significant and dangerous. Examples of that include extremely low blood pressure, respiratory depression, seizures, cardiac arrest and hallucinations.
Withdrawal Effects
Withdrawing from Remeron can cause uncomfortable experiences, especially if use is stopped suddenly, particularly if the doses had been larger ones. Withdrawal symptoms on their own can result in users continuing to take it despite wanting to cease doing so.
One of the most common effects of stopping use is rebound depression while nausea and experiencing nightmares and irritability are possible as well. As a result, some will go through a seemingly never-ending cycle of using Remeron, stopping use, using it again and so on.
It is important to cease use safely and under the direction of a physician. A gradual reduction in use will usually be recommended.
Prescription Options
This treatment method is usually undergone for around nine months or 40 weeks. The dosage that is normally prescribed, particularly early on, is 15 mg/day. Other common dosages include 30 and 45 mg while smaller and larger ones are possible as well. Since Remeron usually calms the person taking it, it is normally recommended that it be taken closer to when they will be heading to sleep.
The effects of taking Remeron are usually experienced quickly while its half-life is normally around 30 hours. However, it can take about four weeks to experience the maximum benefits.
Identifying Addiction or Dependence
Those who have become addicted to or dependent on Remeron are usually wanting to increase its ability to calm them or boost their mood. This medication does not, however, produce a euphoric high as is the case for many drugs that people are addicted to, but what it does offer can still cause an addiction or dependence.
What is the difference between addiction and dependence?
Addiction results when something is compulsively repeated despite doing so resulting in negative consequences. Some common substances that people are addicted to include alcohol and opioids. However, just about anything can be the source of an addiction. Less common examples include shopping, playing video games, getting tattoos, cleaning and exercising.
Dependence occurs when someone is physically reliant on a substance. This often results when a drug that has been used causes a high, but increasing amounts of it must be consumed in the future to achieve that same high. Regardless of how the substance affects them, when someone is dependent on it, they will continue taking more and more of it as they chase that past experience.
Although not common in either case, an addiction to or dependence on Remeron is possible with a dependence being the more likely of the two.
Keep in mind that one of the ways that Remeron can be abused is by someone using it with the primary intent of counteracting the side effects of other substances. A common example of the latter type of substance is cocaine since a desire to calm down from how that drug has affected them is often wanted.
Asking for Assistance
If you want to stop using Remeron but have been unable to, you should get assistance to help you do so. A couple of common signs of an addiction or dependence include thinking about it for much of your day and communicating that you have symptoms that you do not in order to receive continued prescriptions of it.
If you would like assistance with an addiction to or dependence on Remeron, reach out to Long Island Interventions. We will provide you with information and help to the best of our ability. Also, our interventionists understand how to best assist those who are struggling with a situation like this, including how to tailor their treatment methods to fit it.
We also know that recovery is not linear and how to help you through the dips that will usually occur as you head towards your new life and reduce the frequency of those.
Also keep in mind that the best way to reduce the possibility of being addicted to or dependent on Remeron is to combine using it as prescribed with taking advantage of counseling and support.
