Has anyone else had problems with body fat redistribution?

Eight years is a long time to be on this drug, and it is known to elevate cholesterol and cause diabetes (did the former in me).  I have had the increase in belly fat, too.

The therapeutic effect is likely no longer in play after 8 years because the nervous system adapts to the action of the drug by remodeling, upregulating and downregulating serotonin production to bring about homeostasis.  Probelm is, the drug is now built into your nervous system's operation so you can't just get off it.  Coming off must be done in a very slow tapering process, and after eight years that process would need to be no more than 10% per month, something that no psychiatrist or physician would help with.  They simply don't know how to get people off these drugs in a successful way, and the drugs don't typically come in increments that help us do so.  In the UK, people can get the liquid version which allows you to do the titration down.  The option I am using is the SolTabs which dissolve in water, and then I can measure my doses.  Otherwise, Mirt pills are not soluble in water.

You will find a lot of information on this forum from people who have done this kind of taper successfully.  Calmer is one of them.  She's not all the way off, I don't believe, but pretty darn close.

If you are interested, this link will take you to more info about using the 10% method:

https://patient.info/forums/discuss/depression-resources-298570

I'm in the US and am able to get compounded liquid Mirt at a local compounding pharmacy which has allowed me to do a slow taper. You just need to call around to see who can do it. Some places even ship so it doesn't have to be in your own city.

Hi Callie,

I have been on 30 mgs of Mirtazapine for a year (was on 15 mgs for two-three years before that, and 7.5 mgs for two-three years before that). I have gained seven pounds/half a stone over the past year, and I have DEFINITELY noticed a real increase in fat around my abdomen since being on 30 mgs; I haven't noticed any increase in appetite since being on 30 mgs.

My fat distribution elsewhere has remained the same, but the belly fat is really getting me down.

I really sympathise, and I know only too well how the weight affects your self-esteem. Whenever I go to the GP, I am taken to task about being quite overweight, but I now genuinely think that it's the 30 mgs of Mirt that is behind it. I am extremely careful about everything I eat: a small cake will usually put on one-two pounds on its own. I am quite active, and i eat healthily.

I think the

only solution is to try to drop the Mirt, and Betsy and Calmer are right: no more than 10 per cent per month. I have used this method to reduce the Pregabalin I was put on at the beginning of this year and I have dropped from 150 mgs of Preg daily to 50 mgs of Preg daily since July. I won't attempt to drop the Mirt until I have completely come off the Pregabalin, and I won't come off the Pregabalin completely until early next year, as I find the run-up to Christmas, and Christmas itself, hard going, so I think I would be asking for trouble.

I am currently also on 220 mgs of Venlafaxine and 50 mgs of Trazodone.

Good luck!