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Mirtazapine withdrawal hell

Posted , 15 users are following.

granto
granto

Hello, my name is grant, I just want to tell the people who are on mirtazapine how I got off the drug and the fact that I am drug free and feeling myself again shows it can be done.

I had general anxiety for a good few years and never thought too much about it until I started getting panic attacks and kept having to go to hospital because I thought I was dying. Anybody that hasn't had panic attacks will not understand how they make you feel...and the worry of having another panic attack at an in opertune time would usually bring 1 on anyway. My life was literally turned upside down and I went on a roller coaster of different tablets and some of them made me feel very ill and I just got worse and worse. My doctor finally put me on mirtazapine and it definitely helped me for a few months. It then it seemed to stop working so I upped my dose and was eventually on the highest dose you could take. I put on nearly 2 stone and I felt like half the man I used to be... no emotion just feeling very flat and getting through each day was a struggle. I decided to have a go at coming off the drug only to become very ill and go back on them just a week later. COLD TURKEY IS NOT THE WAY TO GO OFF THESE TABLETS.i carried on taking the tablets as I didn't think I could cope without them for about a year and a half. My life was just going downhill and I felt lost and alone and sometimes asked myself if I really wanted to be alive!

I just thought to myself that before I went on these tablets I was fine and that I could be fine again if I could only come off them. So I tried again but this time slowly, I did it by just keep missing a tablet for 1 day for a week then 2 days then 3 and so on until I was just on 15 mg every 4 days. I won't lie because the withdrawal I was having was sometimes unbearable and I was so close to going back to my full dose, but I didn't and after the three week mark of having no tablet I finally started to feel just a bIt better... wow! There was light at the end of the tunnel! My emotions started coming back and I felt human again which made me determined to never go back on the tablets.the withdrawals I got were horrible l, I had the runs for at least 4 weeks and felt sick to my stomach, I was getting headaches loss of appatite severe anxiety spikes and quite a few panic attacks thrown in. I just kept telling myself that it was withdrawal and being positive was a big part of my recovery. I started going back to the gym and running when I had the time and eating healthy. I finally felt like the person I knew was still in there somewhere was back and I was enjoying the little things in life again. The biggest thing that helped my through was DEEP BREATHING whenever I felt an attack coming on, I could literally stop an attack coming on by controlling my breaths. Life is a wonderful thing if your brain will let it be, and now that I am off the drug I feel amazing. I just want to tell anybody that feels lost and scared and that this will be them for the rest of their lives that it is not the case, I didn't want to live at 1 point and now I feel on top of the world. Your mind is the most powerful tool at your disposal and if you think positive that's what the outcome will be!!!! We can get over anything if we put our minds to it .??

3 likes, 52 replies

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  • jimmy16197
    jimmy16197 granto

    Posted

    Hi granto,

    This is so relieving to read this.

    I've only been on them 6 weeks and I'm thinking they are robbing me of my life. ( see my post mirtazapine help. For calmer).

    I've only been on 30mg for a week and plan to reduce tonight.

    Any advice you could share would be apriciated.

    Jimmy.

    • granto
      granto jimmy16197

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply jimmy. Good man for trying to come off them that's the first step done. You will be able to drop to 15 mg straight away as the bigger drops don't seem too bad to deal with. Then I would start to take 15 mg for alternate days until you level out a bit then try missing 2 days and so on. 6 weeks is. It so bad really pal and I think you can be withdrawal free in about 2 to 3 weeks. Keep positive and you will get through it!

  • sharon07214
    sharon07214 granto

    Posted

    Thank you for this reassuring post. Makes me believe that I may one day come off AD's. Been on them 10 years though...Citraplan (so?), then Sertraline and now Mitrazapine). But good to have hope!

    • granto
      granto sharon07214

      Posted

      Thankyou for your reply Sharon, you will 1 day be off the tablets I promise. It doesn't matter how long or how many tablets you have been on your body is amazing and it can get over a lot more than we give it credit for. It's just small steps over time and we climb out of this dark cellar into the daylight

  • Whosthatgirl
    Whosthatgirl granto

    Posted

    Thanks for sharing Grant, I tapered to 1,875 mg every other day and took my last dose 4 days ago. Your story gives me hope. Tnx for sharing!! 😁

    • granto
      granto Whosthatgirl

      Posted

      You are very welcome. Well done for tapering down and coming off, you have done most of the hard work it's just a case of being strong mentally and knowing that you are nearly there, give it a few weeks and I promise you'll get little glimmers of your old self back

    • Whosthatgirl
      Whosthatgirl granto

      Posted

      I felt like myself the past week. Right now, I've not taken it for 8 days. Usually this is when the withdrawal starts. I am still sleeping though, so that's a plus. Usually the second week the withdrawal hits, third week is still kinda hard, but the week after that I'm usually doing much better. Time is on my side I guess. ;-)

    • granto
      granto Whosthatgirl

      Posted

      Your definitely going the right way then flower. A few more week and you've cracked it! Just don't get down when you have a rubbish day because they are inevitable and you will have less and less of them

  • kelly8973
    kelly8973 granto

    Posted

    What a lovely reassuring post. My worry is the depression coming back as having just reduced 2 weeks ago to 7.5mg i feel it returning i wasnt in a very good place but even on just 7.5mg i feel like ive been robbed of a normal life. Like you said cold turkey is not the way i did that and thought i was fine then week later boom i ended up in hospital for a week!

    Its so nice to hear that there is light at the end of the tunnel x

    • granto
      granto kelly8973

      Posted

      Thanks for your reply Kelly. It's funny because the lower dose you get to the worse you can feel. I found that when I got to 7.5 that I felt like I needed the tablet more than when I was at 15. The best way that worked for me was rather than keep dropping my dose I just missed a day altogether and when I felt ok again I would drop another day and so on.. when I finally dropped the tablets all together I actually felt good for about 3 days and then all the withdrawals came.. but speaking from experience I know that anybody can get through them( I am really sensitive to meds and was an absolute wreck at times but channeling all your thoughts to the day that you will be better helps so much) you can definitely get through it!

  • robert47886
    robert47886 granto

    Posted

    A really positive story, FairPlay to you.

    I'm thinking of coming off Mirt in the new year. Not really sure how much they have helped but they've certainly given me some side effects.

    I think you're right - the mind is indeed very powerful and if it isn't working right, you can really feel just terrible. To think positive is the key and better still, medication free.

    Best wishes,

    Rob.

    • granto
      granto robert47886

      Posted

      Good man rob, you can train your mind to think however you want it to it just takes time. The mirtazapine just took away all my human qualities even though it helped with the anxiety it ended up stripping me of my real happiness, you don't want to just plod through life feeling generally rubbish and scrapping by each day, you want to live life for the amazing thing that it is. Keep strong pal and you will get back to normal just don't beat yourself up on a time scale!

  • Laserbeam
    Laserbeam granto

    Posted

    You sound much better and have to agree that the mind is powerful. I don't quite understand the part about how you were fine before you were on Mertz becasue if you were fine than you wouldn't have started them in the first place. Anyway, I have been on them for about 3 weeks and it has helped with my sleep and depression a bit but now I don't even want to get out of bed until like 11am. I was laid off 3 months ago at 57 and forced into early retiremant.  I don't like the new me and I am only on 3/4 of a 15mg pill. I want off this now and last night I only took a 1/2 pill. I slept less but had some strange dreams which means I did sleep. I am going to continue with a 1/2 and see if I can cope with this and then in a week going to 1/4 if I can. Stopping completely doesn't sound like the correct method from everything I have read. Glad you are pill free and I agree that excercise and putting your mind to it is a big way to get your life back without meds. Thanks for sharing.  Al

    • granto
      granto Laserbeam

      Posted

      Thanks for your post,

      Sorry for the wording on my bio, I meant before I started having anxiety I was fine, and that's what I wanted to get back to. I went on the mirt because of continual panic attacks. Keep going on the reductions and think about the end product as much as you can, this will help when your at your shirts end

    • granto
      granto

      Posted

      Whits end sorry🙃

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