All Mirtazapine Withdrawal Sufferers
Posted , 5 users are following.
Most of you will have been told there are NO withdrawal side effects when stopping mirtazapine. Most of you will have been told antidepressants are NOT addictive.
The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have a system to monitor the effects and safety of medicines and their side effects. This system is called the Yellow Card. They receive thousands of reports submitted by the general public every year.
I have submitted a yellow card report detailing the very nasty withdrawal side effects mirtazapine has left me with. The more of us that report this drug, the more likely drugs such as these will investigated more seriously.
This is an easy process.
The Yellow Card website is www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard
1 like, 6 replies
vikki87350 christine15542
Posted
I'm going to report this awful drug straight away. Thanks for the link.
christine15542 vikki87350
Posted
Thanks Vikki for your support. It's an easy form to fill in or you can visit mhra website and phone in your report. I did my report. I only found out about the yellow card scheme today. It was part of a health discussion on the radio regarding the serious side effects concerning ADs despite what certain doctors tell you.
I stopped mirtazapine 9 months ago and am still struggling with the side effects, so I know what I'm talking about and I feel very strongly about it
Best wishes
ann55375 christine15542
Posted
christine15542 ann55375
Posted
Hi Ann
It is quite clear to me that the doctors have very little knowledge of the dangers of mirtazapine and other ADs. That's is what the yellow card system if there for. To flag up serious concerns regarding withdrawal side effects of antidepressants. The more people that report their side effects mean that the Medical Healthcare and Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are obligated to investigate and take action.
Mirtazapine is renowned for its protracted withdrawals. I had migraines, stomach trouble, lack of appetite, nausea, anxiety and chronic insomnia. This would continue for about 12 weeks. Some days were better than others. Worst of my withdrawals was and still is crippling insomnia and I have not taken it for 9 months. That's why I'm reporting it to the regulatory body. My sleep has been completely damaged by this drug
vikki87350 christine15542
Posted
The awful withdrawal from Mirtazapine has taken all my strength and I'm half the person I was.
I started with w/d's October 16 after taking 15mg for a short 3 months and I couldn't believe what I was going through.
I'd never experienced Anxiety before Mirt and I strongly believed there was something wrong with the drug and that it needed to be made known to the FDA because I thought it must of been a bad batch of some sort because no Gp in the right mind would prescribe such a thing.
I went through months of panic because not one health professional new what I was talking about. They left me crying out for help because they wouldn't prescribe me a sleeping tablet but I'd been without sleep for 5 months and I was ready for taking my life when I went running into our mental health hospital and they couldn't turn me away because I became psychosis and I was crazy anxious.
It's been 17 months and I'm getting there very slowly but my sleep isn't.
The hardest part is the lack of support from our NHS. There happy to prescribe it so they need to understand that the w/d are worst than any addiction w/d and should prescribe accordingly and support us because the Insomnia is the worst.
This forum has been the only support I could rely on throughout having to work this madness out.
I've reported this thro the Yellow Card because I personally believe it should be investigated.
Best wishes to you, vikki.
christine15542 vikki87350
Posted
Vicki, my heart goes out to you. Thank you for your post.
what you have gone through is very similar to my own withdrawals. And the lack of support from your GP and their refusal to administer sleeping pills to help you is exactly what I went through. I have been driven to despair through lack of sleep, experiencing dark thoughts of self harm as I have been awake all night. In some cases managing only 2 or 3 hours at around 6am. That's why I have highlighted this report system. It's not good enough for doctors to point blank refuse the side effects of ADs. If they issue mirtazapine and after six months a patient returns saying that dose does not work, they give out a stronger dose. If the same scenario occurred with a sleeping tablet they would say it's addiction and stop issuing the drug. Antidepressants such as mirtazapine lose their effectiveness the same way as sleeping pills but the medical professionals deny they are addictive. They are addictive because they are very difficult to stop.
I have yellow carded my GP surgery, this drug and posted this here for as many sufferers to have this information and then it's up to them to act should they wish to.