Feeling very weird with a reduction in dose
Posted , 7 users are following.
Hi
I'm in the process of coming off Mirtazapine and will then be starting on Venlafaxine.
I was taking 45mg Mirtazapine each night. So I've been prescribed 15mg tablets of mirtazapine and the venlafaxine. I am to take 2x 15mg for one week. Then on the second week I am to take one of the 15mg mirtazapine and one of the venlafaxine. Then on the third week I am to take two of the venlafaxine and no mirtazapine.
This first week started last Wednesday, so I'm just at the first stage where I am taking less mirtazapine to begin with. The next day, I had physical symptoms of anxiety although I didn't really have any anxious thoughts. Just shaking hands and a shaking/panicked feeling inside my chest. I've also been prescribed propanolol for anxiety so I decided to take some and it seemed to help.
Since then though I have been more and more tired, and feeling very weird. I can't really explain it, everything just seems very strange. I've got no energy to do anything. I can just lay in bed and time seems to vanish in no time. I don't think I've been falling asleep in the day time, I think I just lay there with my eyes closed. I feel like I don't know what's going on.
Ele
0 likes, 32 replies
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
Hi Ele,
I know nothing about venlafaxine but it seems you're coming off mirt very quickly. No surprise you're feeling weired. I would have thought you would have come off mirt before starting something else. I'm still on 45mg, liquid form, and coming off very slowly. I think my mental issues are managed now and the sooner I come off mirt the better. I came down on mirt last week but the feelings of dread and anxiety made me go back up again. My suggestion would be to speak to your doc and ask to come off mirt much slower, may be 10% every 2 weeks. Regards the other stuff I don't know.
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
I myself don't have any idea how it works. This is the first time I've come off anything. I've been taking mirtazapine for 6 years.
david46414 Ele123
Posted
I agree with the earlier reply. Much too quick! I am on day 150 of coming down from 7.5 mg of Mirtazapine and, believe me, it's not been easy to get to 2 mg per day without anxiety. Still working on it. From what you say the Venlafaxine does not seem to be helping as much as your doctor hoped. Another consultation needed?
Ele123 david46414
Posted
I haven't started the Venlafaxine yet. That will be the second week which starts Wednesday (tomorrow). Which I'm supposed to take 15mg mirtazapine and one venlafaxine.
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
You will see from posts on here regarding withdrawing from mirtazerpine that it can be a very slow process if you don't want the harsh side effects that many experience, not all, but most. I am expecting to take at least 4 months to completely come off mirt, from 45mg to nothing. Until then I am trapped on them and even coming off slowly I expect to suffer some side effects like anxiety for no reason and even feelings of dread. The mirt at the moment definately makes me tired, causes irritating leg or restless leg syndrome for an hour after taking it as well as painful muscles. I can only speak for myself but the reason I went onto these in the first place is now under control, but now I have to deal with all these physical and mental problems brought on chemically by these drugs. Wish I had left well alone. My only advice to you is go see your doc again and ask if you should be coming off a little slower. You may be the lucky one where you can come off quick with few issues and I hope you are. Good luck
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
I can't. I can't do it. I've been struggling to sleep. I've been feeling so weird. A constant pressing on my head and a weird feeling in my eyes. I have ended up taking 45mg again because I woke up at 1am and haven't been able to go back to sleep since. I decided to try an extra 15mg thinking it might help, as I'd taken 30mg as I was supposed to. It hasn't helped though.
I'm feeling worse than ever. I really do feel like giving up.
lesley90944 comebacklife
Posted
Totally agree with you. I was on Mertazerpine 45mg for 16 months, i was having panic attacks prior to commencing this drug, my panic attacks were prob happening once a month, for 3 months in a row .I also had anxiety now and then. I saw my local gp who suggested mertazerpine, i wanted an easy way out at the time, so i agreed. Stupid me !! . As of July this year i have been Mertazerpine free, the first 2 months were horrific, i was trapped inside my house with my mother sitting next to me, helping through the withdrawel symptoms, i dropped form 45mg to 30mg to 15mg then nothing this was done over 4 weeks. Since july i have been mentally and physically suffering from GAD, i have been to hell and back, i am now working again and going on with daily life things and now taking serequal 50mg, oxazepam 15mg when necessary. Everyday is so hard trying to get my life back to what i was before taking Mertazepine, anxiety physically and mentally is so cruel !! i would of prefered a panic attack here or there. Like you said the" problems brought on chemically by this drug" !!! i could not agree more
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
One thing to remember, it is a drug that everyone is able to get off, off completely, but it will be more of a challenge for some than others. I am not a doctor, I am just somebody who is on this drug, trying to get off. My advice is try not to take a lot more of mirt when you feel mentally unwell, it could make things worse. I'm staying on the 45mg until I feel my mind is stable enough to begin going down again. If possible try to get the liquid mirtazapin. This is the best option because you can withdraw much more slowly. As desperate as you are to come off this crap drug you must come off it slowly, whatever it is doing. We will be a bit of a slave to it for a while, but work with it, try to manage the amount you take, may be staying at 45 for now until your physical side effects have settled, and then begin again to cut down but much slower. This weekend I plan to go down to 42mg, see how I get on for a couple of weeks and then down again by another 2mg........
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
I think maybe I should go back to taking 45mg each night. I am meant to be coming off it to give something else a try because we were unsure if it was working for me any more. I don't think I can cope with this at the moment though. It is all just adding to my feelings of despair. I wonder if maybe there is something that I could take alongside the mirtazapine for now, and then start to come off the mirtazapine at another time when I am not feeling so bad.
kh1985 Ele123
Posted
Have you considered alternating? So rather than just reducing the dose, for a few weeks/months (maybe months if you've been on it for that long), you take 45 one day, 30 the other. Then when you feel ready, you can try lowering it. Even use smaller increments than that, some people lower it by using a pill cutter or something to split the tablets. Do 45/40 for a few weeks, then 40/35, etc until you're much lower.
Ele123 kh1985
Posted
I have been to the doctors again today. They have said that I just need to stick with it. Maybe take up to six of the propanolol that I have a day instead of just 2 or 3. To get me through. They said it is going to be difficult and I am going to feel awful but I need to stick with it.
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
Have you considered holistic meds, I can't suggest anything but worth looking at alternative meds to help you through withdrawal on the mirt. Worth a Google. Don't go onto Diazapam as some docs suggest. They were part responsible for a my mental breakdown in Feb of this year.
comebacklife kh1985
Posted
Hi. I've heard before this can work then others say it doesn't. I really think it has to be a gradual, really gradual, cut down on dose. I'm going to try, beginning this weekend, reducing from 45. I'm lucky I have the liquid. I just want my life and me back, but I know now it will take some time.... I hope!
comebacklife lesley90944
Posted
Wow, that was a big drop in mirt in a short time. Don't think I've got the courage to do that. I have to accept to myself that I'm a prisoner to this drug for at least the next 4 months. I live from day to day.......
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
I asked a pharmacist tonight if there is anything I could try to help with sleep. I explained how I was coming off mirtazapine and starting venlafaxine, and that I was also taking propanolol. He told me that he suggests that thats something I would need to talk to my doctor about and he wasn't willing to suggest anything over the counter because there could be interactions, but said there are things that could be prescribed to me. It's just frustrating really, I should have remembered to ask when I had my doctors appointment, but I got in to quite a state, and I don't feel I was really given time to discuss everything, and I wasn't asked about if I was sleeping or anything like that else I'd have remembered. I feel like it's often a waste of time and like I have just been fobbed off with more pills.
Mental health help in the uk really is sh*t. I do feel like I've just been passed around in circles and still haven't received any proper help.
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
Hmm, we've got to stick with or we'll never get off it but I would just say go as slow as possible. If you're side effects worsen then go up a tiny bit the next day. It's like a roller coaster. Get there in the end!
comebacklife Ele123
Posted
Do you start ven when you finish mirt? Ven sounds alot like the mirtazerpin when I googled both. Hope the ven helps when you start it. Personally, I won't be taking antidepressants again. Too many bad side effects and then trapped on them. I'll look for other ways to help my mind. Hope you sleep well tonight. I have chamomile tea to help drop off. Life in the fast lane!
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
I start it tomorrow. I am to lower the mirtazapine to 15mg and take one venlafaxine as well. So I feel I will have more struggles to come.
Thats a good idea I should have had some, I think I have chamomile and honey.
Ele123 comebacklife
Posted
My doctor hasn't given me the option to go any slower though. I just have the old 45mg tablets and 15mg tablets, which I've been taking two of and now one of from tonight.