Mirtazapine withdrawal -weight gain/loss!

Hi Rob 

I have only just started mirtazipine I had driression and insomnia my problem is on going probably causing insomnia so I am was hoping Mirt would help me sleep but I took one and didn’t sleep the next night I did sleep s bit . I had lost a lot of weight do gaining a bit would be  ok . 

My depression has changed my whole personality I am in five weeks going to Florida with my son and grandchildren 

But I am doubting if I can go as the Mirt is just kicking in and feel so tired in mornings I am upset to think I may not be able to cope with the holiday which the year before when I was ok I was the one who booked it no problem then , 

As I only just started mirtazipine was just wondering how it affected your sleep I oniy started it as being sleep deprived was awful . 

Reading other reports wondering if this is s mistake to start them 😗

I am currently weaning and going slow. 1mg a week for 15 weeks and if I notice WD my doc said to take it slower. I was up to 22.5 mg at one point and am now down to 13mg with minimal withdrawals. I am hoping that the clean eating and exercise will help stabilize things a bit, but I will be monitoring how I’m feeling closely I also need to remind myself that before I took mirt my anxiety was the worst it’s ever been, so it’s possible for it to creep back without medication. 

Thank you for sharing your experience, I’m sorry it wasn’t a good one for you. Here’s to hoping there’s light at the end of the tunnel! 

I'm on mirt for 1 month, started on 7.5 for 1 week then 15 mg for 3 weeks. 1st couple of days hardly could stay awake and hungry like crazy. but that was just for 2 days. I felt better but not great for 2 weeks but after that its hell. Now i hear ringing in my ears but the doc says its not related. Take 15 mg with half a ambien at bedtime and sleep is good. Have energy during the day and get lots done but my mood is awful. lost 5 lbs and today I'm not hungry at all. I want to get off it but I'm terrified. I have an appointment with the psych in a week, I'll ask her to help me get off and hopefully I will find a way to sleep.

oh.. I used to take naps during the days.. they were restful and energized me. After trying 2 other antide. over the past 7 months, within that time I can't nap. How I wish I could go back to waking too early and taking naps with some evening blues. Now I'm nearly a basket case, no personality and can't enjoy anything, not even spending time with my kids. Maybe someone will find this useful.

Hi Rob

I had been on 45mg Mirtazapine per day for over 10 years as it was great for helping my diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder. I decided to stop now due to always being tired and mainly the weight gain, so I wanted to see if I get some weight loss by stopping. I am a 54 year old male, my weight is about 13 stone, and I am 6'1 tall. I don't look over weight but the belly fat is just too annoying and does not help when breathing while sitting down. So I thought enough is enough and no diets had worked due to powerful cravings for cake, sweets and junk.

I felt good and ready to stop the Mirtazapine ie I felt ready! I looked into it and read other peoples experiences and I got to be honest it scared the life out of me from what I was reading with regards to Mirtazapine withdrawal. My advice DON'T! As it will only put the unnecessary fear into you Yes of course everyone is different, but go by how you feel and not by how others feel as you know your own body feelings!

I went for the tapering off method but the method was mine that I think has worked for me well fingers crossed.

This is what I done if you can call it tapering:

January 30th 2019

I dropped the dose from 45mg to 30mg. This gave me stomach upset diarrhea that lasted 24 hours then all was good, Could not sleep and also vivid dreams but also more energy lasted only about 3 days the sleep problems that is.

February 23rd 2019

I dropped the dose from 30mg down to 22.5mg per day. My sleep was normal but I did notice a bit of anxiety and internal tremors but I knew what the cause was so I just enjoyed the ride so to speak and within a few days the tremors stopped but still had some anxiety and to be honest I have anxiety anyway which Ive just got used to over the years. I also had a feeling of being proud of myself for coming off Mirtazapine.

March 4th 2019

I dropped from 22.5mg down to 7.5mg per day. I had a moment of anxiety and detachment so I took half of dose of 5mg Diazepam and I was fine. Things generally improved....

March 15th and 16th 2019 I took NO Mirtazapine and felt great well normal.

March 17th 2019 Stopped completely and the date of writing this is the 23rd March 2019 and I feel fine slightly anxious but I am anyway but its manageable because I feel uplifted being able to stop Mirtazapine. Yes still early days but the withdrawals did not seem as bad as people have written which is why I said earlier go by your own accounts / feelings and not what others have experienced. Just follow and listen to your own body as your the expert of your feelings. For me using Mirtazapine for well over 10 years on highest dose 45mg per day' I don't think Ive done to bad coming off!

My last comment is my belly fat is feeling softer so I guess its a sign of starting to loose the weight 😃

Yay HAPPY DAYS with a dose of Anxiety lol.

Billy.. Thanks for that detailed response. It should be easier for me since I;m only at 15 mg. I guess being still depressed will create some difficulty for me though..

thanks so much

Hey Rob,

same here! It's been exactly 6 days since I've stopped Mirtaz. I was on it for the last 8 months and unfortunately I put on around 22 pounds while being on it. Along with Mirtaz I've been on Brentillix and Etizolam (sos med for anxiety). This weight gain really stressed me out. I'm really hoping to lose it since I've been training pretty hard for the last 7 years and eating clean and suddenly I became heavy. As for withdrawal is concerned I too haven't had such a bad time so far. Fingers crossed. Glad you're doing well off Mirtaz 😃

do you think i will be able to see weight loss if i went down to 15mg? im on 30mg now.

I've been on Mirtazapine for approximately 7 years and gained about 30 pounds. I felt like I was at a place where I didn’t really need it anymore so I decided to start to wean myself off of it. I have found I’m much more emotional since I stopped taking it. Is that normal? I took my last dose about one week ago. I haven’t had the nausea or dizziness or anything like that. I’m not sleeping as well. That’s for sure. And I haven’t noticed any weight loss yet.

I have been on mirtazqpine for 1 to 2 years since my mum died. I had intensive insomnia and was self medicating on dia zapam I ordered online. the doctor found out and put me on mirtazapine. i put on 3 stone. and what I noticed is aching ankles aching knees and bloated stomach neck and arms. I have finally decided to stop as the aches in knees and feet is not right for me at my age I am quite youthful and bouncy. I am taking zopiclone which I get myself and taking veniflaxine that the doctor gave me ages ago. I'm already feelings better no aching ankles. metazapine is not good I also was getting thoughts regularly to cut my wrists I have Never experience anything like this since coming off those thoughts are subsiding and I believe with positive arrangements I am going to over come and go from strength to strength. I was crying alot yesterday. now on day 5 coming off and zopiclone is better for sleeping without constant hunger at night and feeling huge. it's not good but it helped at first as I was so ill after my mum died

been on Mitazipine for 12-13 years first time i tried to come off them cold turkey was the worse mistake of my life and the worse thing you can do i was on cloud 9 for a week then all of a sudden it hit me suicidle thoughts etc so went back on them then last year my pharmasist explained to me that i was on the worse anti depressant you can be on and the side affects are bad on Mitazipine unfortunately something that was meant to help me was causing me more pain than helping so I hot to a point where i was ready to finally be strong enough to come off them properly i wanted full control of my mind again I didnt want to keep living like a emotionless zombie anymore constantly living on edge and forgetting things so I went to my doctor and we made a plan and I started the process of coming off them lowering the dose one month at a time from 45mg down to 30 for a month then from 30mg to 15mg took 2 months but was so worth it I started to feel the difference I no longer kept thinking about food which was my crutch for many years, I no longer had panic attacks when I left my flat to go outside, my crippling IBS which I suffered with for years started to disappear & my mind was no longer doing 100mph so could remember more now I'm not saying it all sunshine and rainbows coming off them as it's caused me to now have insomnia and sometime i do have my down days like all human beings but trust me the positives far outweigh the negatives Ive lost weight which I havent been able to do in hears but because I eat far less than I did before I'm dehydrated cause I don't drink enough water but it's a process take things one day at a time one step at a time for me it was the best decision of my life I know for some people it's a miracle medicine, but for me it didn’t work. I’m glad to have full control of my future. I hope and pray that so many others have the strength to get off them. But please don’t do it cold turkey.

Hi Rob,

its such a relief to be able to talk to someone regarding this god awful withdrawal symptoms i am going through. i was prescribed 15mg Mirtazapine about 18months ago due to not coping with having several symptoms of Long Covid. I was then told about 5 months ago by a GP that 15mg was really for children and i would do better with 30mg, After no improvements i decided that maybe the tabs were causing me more harm than good, i also put on around 8lbs in such a short time. I then decided i would come off this toxic drug. i started by cutting the 30mg in half for around a week then a half every alternate night for another week, now not taken anything for about a week . I think i have probably tried to come off to quickly, I'm now in a dilemma wether to keep going without or do i go back on and try to come off more gradual? My symptoms are god awful nausea on a daily basis, feeling i need the toilet all the time, anxious thinking i'm very ill, panic attacks, barely sleeping at night, napping through the day, Its a nightmare. i would be so grateful for any advice?