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Been off mirtazapine 5 weeks and my life has been like hell!

Posted , 5 users are following.

WullieC1
WullieC1

hi there,

so i started taking mirtazapine about 5/6 months for sleeping. 15mg for the first 5 months and then 30mg for the last.

About 5/6 weeks ago i decided to come off them, Stupidly i've done it cold turkey.

Since then ive been too my doctors around about 20 times and been in A&E twice because i thought i was taking a heart attack, But recently i've started to get symptoms like vertigo and a feeling of my head being squeezed, ive also had numbness down my neck into my shoulder and arms and fingers, and pain and cramping in my calf and weakiness down my left leg. its been absolute hell to death with this and im wondering if anyone else has had similar things like this and how they managed it.

.

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • lu30214
    lu30214 WullieC1

    Edited

    Hi there, I'm wondering how you're feeling now? I'm on my 3rd week of withdrawal symptoms.... headaches that don't improve with pain killers, nausea and body aches, anxiety. I'm trying my hardest to push through it and not going back on Mirtazapine.

    • WullieC1
      WullieC1 lu30214

      Posted

      hi there, ive been feeling a bit better recently so it does get better eventually. The doctors had me trying allsorts of different things, propranolol, amitriptyline , you name it, its scary as hell to experience. Sorry to hear that your are going through a lot of the same things but stick in there 😃.

  • siobhan60787
    siobhan60787 WullieC1

    Edited

    Hi Wullie, you have my sympathies, I did a sort of taper per my Dr's advice but it was just snap the Mirt pills on the score line every month and jump off at 7.5 mg but 9 weeks on I'm still struggling with so many bodily pains and like you I'm embarrassed at how many times I've had to go to my GP, I hate even calling now - since tapering I've also had horrendous night nausea with bile reflux, I sleep with a bowl alongside my bed - I hope this will end soon and i hope you start to make improvements soon - kind regards

    • WullieC1
      WullieC1 siobhan60787

      Posted

      Hi siobhan, i wish i had tapered off mine and maybe things wouldn't have as bad. its horrible cos you constantly feel ill and like theirs no end in sight. this now about 9 weeks for me now and its only recently started to get better for myself after two a&e visits, upteen visits to the doctors, and allsorts of blood tests , pills and trial and error. they did however find that my red blood cells were low and have given me folic to take for a while. It maybe worth getting things like that checked as well.

    • siobhan60787
      siobhan60787 WullieC1

      Posted

      Hi Wullie - thanks for getting in touch, nit sure but think I'm through worst of Mirt withdrawal but started a Diazepam taper 4 weeks later, i had been on 10mg for nearly a year, so its diffucult to say what is still truggering my symptoms, like you i ended up in A&E and they said my taper was too quick but i was only following Drs orders !

      I'm now down to 3.5, doing a cut and hold taper at either .5 or 1mg whatever I can endure and see what's left of the old me the other sude if coming off all these mental health meds - I hope you are doing OK, do keep in touch and let me know we may both make it to the winning line at the same time regards Shiz

    • siobhan60787
      siobhan60787

      Posted

      hi Wullie, I hope you are getting better, sorry about all the spelling mistakes in my last reply, I should have checked it before pressing send - did any of your alternative meds help?

      I hope you have found something that has helped with the Mirt withdrawals and the reason why you took it in the first place, I'm still tapering Diaz, my next drop is on Monday next week, so I'm expecting another tough week, even .5 of a mg is hard to take - take care and good luck my dear

  • carol19439
    carol19439 WullieC1

    Posted

    Hi,

    I had terrible problems too. Mine included some very weird involuntary actions. My head would turn to the left and stay stuck for about a minute. It then did it to the right side. After a while it made my arms stretch out and stay stuck. At this point my husband spoke to my GP and she thought it was a brain malfunction and called an ambulance. On the way to the hospital an eye would close, stuck again, then my mouth opened so wide it hurt. I was worried that the withdrawal was affecting my muscles one by one and it could do the same to my heart. I went straight back on to Mertazapine and after a few days things went back to normal. I think you should start taking them again and gradually cut down. For medication that should make us feel better, I've found the withdrawal symptoms much worse than what I took them for in the first place. I hope you have a good GP who will make sure you cut down and not stop abruptly. I also hope you feel much better very soon.

    Carol

    • siobhan60787
      siobhan60787 carol19439

      Posted

      Hi Carol,

      wow it does sound like you had a frightening experience, if only we knew when we first started taking these meds what they can do to us. Are you sticking with the Mirt or have you started a new taper now. Do you take any other mental health meds, my Physc Dr gave me Diazepam to help whilst I was coming off Duloxetine, which didn't work and then the Mirt because both affected my Atrial Fibrillation but now I'm stuck going through Diaz withdrawals, which is worse than both of the others and I'm not even off it yet - the worst withdrawals start when I'm fully off it and can last weeks - some days I feel a bit hopeless but keep pushing on with the help of my husband like you - good luck my dear Shiz x

  • Gareth666
    Gareth666 WullieC1

    Posted

    Its causing me joint issues and pain so i've got to taper quickly. So ive gone from 30mg to 15mg and after a month ive been fine barring 2 days of depression at the beginning. Ive dropped to 7.5mg, its been 5 days and i still feel completely fine. I dont drink alcohol at all but i do smoke cannabis and im wondering if thats why im not getting any withdrawals?

  • WullieC1
    WullieC1

    Edited

    hi folks, sorry to hear that yous are still having issues, i have also still been having issues also, from varicose veins in my legs to heart palpitations, extreme health anxiety, a tremor, muscle spasms, memory issues, fatigue, the list is very long , I've had several mri scans etc and now diagnosed with FND which is functional neurological disorder. i hope yous all get better soon ❤️

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