1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Mirtazapine

Coming off mirtazapine

Posted , 11 users are following.

evergreen
evergreen

I thought I would start a new thread to give people tips for coming off this drug. I have gained so much advice and support from people on here and I owe my (so far) painless withdrawal to them. People like Calmer and Betsy, and plenty others too. I have been on 30mg mirtazapine for four years. I tried to come off them a couple of years ago and failed miserably, returning to my full dose after 10 days of awful anxiety and insomnia, as well as migraines and nausea. I had cut my dose to 15mg for a week and then dropped to zero.

This time I read every thread on here about mirtazapine withdrawal and started off really slowly, cutting down by just 3.75mg for two weeks. Then by a further 3.75 mg. At the same time I started taking a lot of inositol. I take a huge heaped teaspoon in my tea every morning. I had only slight nausea when I first started dropping my dose but I think that was me getting used to the inositol. Once I was down to 22.5mg of mirt, with no withdrawal symptoms, I figured I could go a bit faster and dropped my dose down to 15mg. I had no withdrawal symptoms after ten days and so have now dropped my dose to 11.25mg. I use a simple pill cutter from ebay to cut my tablets. So I am now on three quarters of a 15mg tablet. Mirtazapine had pooped out on me and so I already have terrible insomnia. I take temazepam some nights and benadryl on others to help me with that.

I will post my progress here. Who knows, I may fail miserably, but whatever the outcome, I hope it will help others. I was terrified of coming off mirtazapine, but now I am excited by it. I think the key is to take it really slowly and work out the pace your body can cope with. The smaller your dose goes, thee smaller the decrease in your dose should be. Good luck everyone, and please post your own experiences here. I know some people have really suffered despite coming off mirt very slowly. Everyone is different and I think everyone's experience can be a real help to others.

3 likes, 291 replies

291 Replies

Prev Next
  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    Day four and often my worst day after a drop, but today I feel good. I had a slightly better night's sleep on the two valarian pills (one is a Kalms night and the other a mix of valarian and hawthorne from uksleep) and only half a temazepam (5mg). Again I found it very difficult to get up. I am still right off alcohol. I really don't understand it. I had a couple of glasses last Saturday night and it did nothing for me. I just felt 'meh'. I haaven't drunk all week but tonight my dad is getting my son from work so I am going to have a drink. I think if it doesn't do anything for me this time I just won't bother again. But I do miss the nice tipsie feeling I used to get and I used to always really look forward to a glass or two of wine. It's just so odd. I feel like one of life's pleasures has gone.
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Hi Evergreen

      I wonder if you sleep better & find it hard to get up due to not drinking alcohol ... just a thought.

      I hope you enjoy your drink tonight, be a shame to lose that pleasure indeed (!).

      I havn't had a drink all week, not sure how I'll feel tomorrow after the 2 planned G&T's, sometimes I can get away without any bother and sometimes I feel absolutely shattered drinking with the Mirt.  

       

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Well so far so good! I am actually really enjoying my first glass and can really feel the effect. Yay! Just a movie night in with hubby but feel really relaxed. Hope you enjoy your G&Ts x
  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    Day 6 and so far all is well. I have been in good spirits since taking my last drop of 50% from 3.75mg to 1.875mg. My sleep has also improved and I have managed on only half a temazepam for the past 3 nights, along with two herbal sleeping pills. I wanted to try without the temazepam last night but chickened out last minute and took the half pill because I was feeling stable and well and didn't want to push it. Hopefully, once I am off the mirt, I can start to try without the temazepam.

    So... only two more doses left to go on this current level of mirt. Next step is to drop a dose every other day, and then if I am still okay after a week - ten days, drop the mirt all together.

    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Yayyyyy ... all sounds good. What herbal sleep aid are you taking ? Is it Kalms? You must have a pretty smart pill cutter. I'm not looking forward to switching to the liquid Mirt at my next drop, but all in all I'm lucky to get it so not complaining.

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      It's just one I got off ebay. Pretty accurate to one quarter of a tablet, but now I'm down to one eighth, I guess it will not be. However, If you divide just one pill at a time, the amount you take will average out over the eight days, enough I think that the body doesn't register it. For example, you may take 2mg one day and 1.75 the next if you see what I mean. Maybe not so good for those who are super sensitive to any changes though.

      The herbal pills are Kalms one a night and one I bought from sleepuk which is valarian, hops and hawthorne. Good luck with your next cut, Calmer x

    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 evergreen

      Posted

      That is great news, Evergreen!  I think you're going to get away with it!  Interesting that your sleep has actually improved!  Maybe the mirt was somehow the cause of your insomnia even at the higher doses, paradoxical to most peoples' experiences!  Wouldn't that be amazing if, once off, you got back to normal sleep - woohoo!
    • evergreen
      evergreen betsy0603

      Posted

      It would, yes. However, my 'normal' sleep has always been poor even as a baby and I have relied on temazepam some nights, probablly about half of the nights. It would be amazing if I could do better than that once I come off thee mirt. I think the next thing is to make sure my son gets his finger out and gets his driving lessons sorted out. That would remove a major pressure on me.
  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    Oay, so this is the morning after my first dropped dose of mirtazapine. I have been on 1.8mg for one week. Last night I felt quite nervous about completely missing my dose of the drug that had served me so well for four years. After being really excited about it, when it actually came to it I felt very scared. Anyhow, I had to wait until after I had fetched my son from work before taking my herbal sleeping pills, and then half a temazepam. I had been sleeping very well the past few days with this combo so told myself I would be fine.

    At 12.30 am I was still wide awake so took another quarter of a temazepam and then another quarter half an hour later. Then fell asleep around 1.30 am. Unfortunately I awoke at 4.30 am with crawling skin on my head, headache, racing heart and restless legs. After an hour, I was still lying there knowing I needed to be up in an hour and a half. I decided to try paracetamol and that must have worked as my restless legs calmed down (I guess it IS a type of pain and so pain killers should logically work). I managed to get to sleep shortly before my alarm went off. I have a full schedule today of mucking out, farrier coming, giving a riding lesson to a client, pallet deliveries of horse feed, taxi-ing my son around (two shifts so four trips out for me, the last one being after 11 pm), so no chance of any rest. Now I have chest pain. Oh well, better crack on!

    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Hi Evergreen

      Exhausted just reading your diary, I would definitely have nervous syndrome doing all that, pity you have the late drive, goes against your natural wind down time & therefore good sleep.

      You're so determined, you'll do it & have more energy once clear of the Mirt' - keep up the strong will & hard work, you're doing great X

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Thanks for the encouragement, Calmer. How are you doing today? I have just got in. Not had time for lunch so have sat down with chocolate and crisps, LOL x
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      Hi

      I'm good, mighty fine, keeping busy, and also the meditation ... for the middle of the night support it works wonders.

      Nothings' changed for a few weeks for me, still at 7.5, so doing another baby cut tonight ... I started taking quite a combo' of supplements, I wanted any signs symptoms from them to be clear before doing another drop so that I knew where it was coming from.  So now I'm good to go again!!

      Oooooooo, hope that late drive goes well, I know you said you live in the country, pity you don't have a P.A., sounds like you need one ... wait until he retires ... that'll makes things easier (or not hahaha).  Mine has retired recently, the jury's still out !!  No it's been great since the wd having help, I can rest some afternoons, if I please to, can you get an apprentice ?

      Hope you sleep ok when you get home, there seems to be a little pattern sometimes with this wd malarky, which is simply good night, bad night, in between I say I don't care coz' the next night will be good.  Although I have been sleeping ok really.  Just day 4/5 with the fatigue is my down side.

       

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      It all sounds really positive, Calmer. Reaally pleased you are doing well and still managing to sleep.

      I am counting the seconds to when I get back from fetching my son tonight so I can have my 1.8mg 'fix' of mirt. I feel thoroughly dreadful. Every part of my body feels wierd. You woulldn't think such a tiny amount could have such an effect. This really is a very powerful drug. I've therefore had a rethink. I will take the 1.8 tonight as planned and then try to halve the fragments and take a tiny bit daily rather than alternate days.

  • evergreen
    evergreen

    Posted

    So after the moible withdrawal symptoms yesterday which included almost constant heart pain radiating down my arm with every beed, palpitations, restless legs syndrome in my entire body, I finally too my 1.8mg fragment of mirtazapine and within 30 minutes felt absolutely fine again. It just shows how powerful this drug is, and especially that last small amount. So don't be fooled, folks, if like me you had a relatively easy time with the rest of your taper, that last step is PAINFUL. I have decided therefore that even alternating days on 1.8mg is too much for my body to take so I am going to break the tiny fragments in half and take those daily instead. Obviously, this will not be accurate, but it must be better than what I was doing yesterday. Fingers crossed, I will do better on this new planned regime.
    • evergreen
      evergreen

      Posted

      Terrible not moible!
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 evergreen

      Posted

      Wow, I didn't realize you'd had such an awful day yesterday, must have missed something!  I'm glad the crumb aleviated the symptoms!  I've heard that last part of the taper truly is the hardest part, and you have proven that!  You may end up having to get the liquid to micro taper the last part of this.
    • betsy0603
      betsy0603

      Posted

      Oh, I'll add that I just ordered a suspension liquid called Ora-Plus that is used for suspending powdered drugs.  Mirt is not soluble in water, so a thick liquid that can keep the particles evenly dispersed can be useful.  This product and similar ones have a bit of preservative in them so that your mixes can last for about 4 days.  Just a thought.
    • evergreen
      evergreen betsy0603

      Posted

      Thanks, Betsy. I have made up a suspension with water and maple syrup but have to give it a good vigorous shake each time. I am going to look up Ora-plus, thanks. After yesterday I have realised I need to be far more accurate with my dosing and to slow down a little bit with my taper. Very frustrating, but at least my body tells me right away if I get it wrong.
    • Calmer
      Calmer evergreen

      Posted

      WOW EVERGREEN, those wd symptoms sound pretty damn awful, you shouldn't have to go through this at this stage.

      If I were you I'd write out a full report detailing all this pain and suffering and give your GP 2 copies, one for her/him and one for the GP's AD advisor who is advised by the Maudsley hospital, and tell the doc you're in a terrible place and NEED the liquid.  I would do that anyway, get that appointment booked.  Print off copies of advice from surviving AD's web site and chuck that at the doc too (I did that) ... you really need this liquid.  And if that fails, ask for a private prescription and buy it yourself, I've heard it is £80, once opened it lasts 6 weeks and then is supposed to be disposed of.  

      So Betsys plan is to pound the half tablet and make up say 4 doses of 1.8, is that right?  I'm noting all this for the future !!  Ora-Plus noted, in case the liquid supplies dry up!  

      I've heard of people staying at this low dose for a few months, actually one of them was a moderator from this forum!  All's well, not lost the battle, just doing a diversion, nice and slow.

      Best wishes  xx

    • evergreen
      evergreen Calmer

      Posted

      Thanks, Calmer. I feel absolutely fine again right now. Mind you, I was so washed out by the time I took my fragment of pill last night, I now realise I probably took a large fragment (probably around 3mg). The problem with my GPs at the minute is they have been a doctor down now for almost a year and I don't like either of the doctors there at the minute. I always end up seeing a locum. Also, it takes around two weeks to see anyone. I'm just so peed off with them right now so am doing this without their support. I will see how my homemade suspension works out and if I don't get on with it, I will have to go back on the pill fragments and book an appointment. I'm amazed at the sudden severity and immediatesy of my symptoms once a skipped a dose. This drug is a strange one all right!
Back to top
Prev Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.