help to stop Mirtazapine

Hi Marge

Have you tried Glucosamine for your body aches? It's very good for strengthening muscle tissues, which in turn reduces aches and pains. I've had an op on my spine (I'm 36) and it helps in that department. I take 1000mg a day (the brandname is Nature's Best).

I'm a carer for my father who is bipolar and has been severely depressed for the last 15 months and had 4 months in hospital last year. We're tapering him off lithium and he's on 45mg/day of mirtazapine. We're going to taper him off mirtazapine once the lithium is finished with since he's still very depressed. I had a depressive illness last year (it's affected the last 4 generations in my family) and I used escitalopram very successfully (just 5mg a day worked for me and I was pretty bad) so maybe worth asking your doctor about. It's one of the newer SSRIs and gets to work much quicker than the older ones. Don't confuse it with citalopram which is a very different antidepressent, requiring much higher doses.

I now feel really well and am coping well with my father's illness. I hope my story can give you some encouragement. I'm now nearly off my antidepressents and have had no side effects from withdrawal (reducing from 5mg to zero over a seven week period by dropping one tablet a week).

Good luck!

Matthew

Tues (day12) This seems to be the worst up to now. Feelings of anxiety, depressed, aching legs, stomach discomfort. I dont feel sick though .My head is a lot clearer since stopping them and I don't feel drowsy all day. Keep thinking are the original symptoms returning or are the withdrawal symptoms peaking and things will start to settle down in a few days. Going to try and tough it out for another week and see how it goes. Been sleeping ok but waking about 5 oclock and then not able to relax. I hope I recognise feeling normal if it happens.

I think this is my Day 12 without Mirt too, still got the bad headache and dizziness, made the mistake of eating a slice of toast for breakfast and now feel really, really sick and I have to go out later to take my daughters to the hairdressers :roll:

Feeling really down actually,(been in tears) even considering going back on a quarter tablet of Mirt, I just cannot see any end to these awful physical symptoms, but I know if I go back on, I will NEVER get off, I cannot bear to go through life feeling like this, my head feel like it is about to explode, I have had a banging headache for over a week now, painkillers don't do anything for it

I am thinking of making a drs appointment.................

I feel a bit better today (day 13) I'm sorry that you're struggling with withdrawal for that is what it is. I know what you're going through. Things will get better, it's all a matter of time and it's a slow snail like process. Each day needs to be taken at a time. I may or may not be bad again tomorrow. It's mainly depression and anxiety with me. I know it's not easy but try and eat little and often because not eating causes headaches and nausea as well as withdrawal symptoms and drink plenty of water. I drink a lot of boiled water and drink it while it's warm. If you can just hang in there it'll be worth it in the end. Dont expect too much too soon. I'm feeling more relaxed today but I know it's going to take weeks before I arrive in the real world. Feeling ok will be measured in hours at the moment and when I feel ok for a whole day that will be progress. Not just withdrawal but every day things that affect other people will still affect us. Yesterday I was talking of thinking of going back on mirt but today I'm coping. get over today and tomorrow may be different. Good luck

Well, I felt sooo bad yesterday, I took a quarter tab of Mirt and I feel a bit better today, BUT I have just been to see the doc :oops:

He said that as I have been on them so long (3 years) that I had come off way too fast. He has put me back on one 15mg tab at night for one month, to get stabilised again, and then I am going on to a liquid version and then can start reducing VERY slowly in 0.5mg increments, and it will take quite a while to come off. There is no reason to suffer these dreadful withdrawal effects, he said.

I feel bit better now, even though I felt such a failure when I made the appointment. :oops:

I have lost half a stone but oviously that will go back on now, once my appetite comes back, but its a small price to pay for feeling well, I guess. Better go and buy loads of biscuits for the weekend then :D

Looks like I am here to stay :o

ooo, I now have a job interview for Monday so I want to be feeling well for that, fingers crossed, something to look forward to :lol:

Hi Marge, I cut down to half a 15mg tablet about three weeks ago, generally I feel better, I managed to get the doc to give me some Diazepam which I take when I first wake up, I am also taking Omega 3-6-& 9 plus some Glucosamine from Holland & Barrett, this combination seems to help with the aches, I still get the weird dreams but not so intense,

Jimmyf is right, getting over this illness is a very slow process, four years three months for me now.

I really do feel as if I am now getting the better of it, I think some of what you feel will be withdrawal symptoms but some will be getting used to how you were before it all went wrong for you, I used to have real bursts of adrenalin which used to give me a real buzz, but this illness made me scared of them because they turned into intense anxiety, I am now more in control and don’t get the adrenalin bursts so much but when I do I know I will go down that slippery slope after, but knowing helps me to cope, try not to feel disappointed if you have had a setback but try to compare how you are now to how you were when you fist had your problems and you will see it’s all a gradual process, but as long as over time there is improvement we are all going in the right direction.

All the best with the interview.

Thanx for that :D

I took a full 15mg tab last night, I feel really sedated this morning, a bit sick and bit of a headache. I fell asleep at 9.30 last night but had to force myself to get up at 6am as I had an early hairdressers appointment. I have to go shopping yet, something I am dreading, then I am going to come back, have a bath, and CHILL OUT

Hope I feel better tomorrow, still not got my appetite back properly yet. Hope I am ok for Monday

Sorry you are back on the Mirt but dont look on it as a failure, just a bit of a setback because you have gained valuable experience that will tell you what to expect when you try it again. Always remember that there is no limit to the number of times you can try discontinuation. It wont be easy after 3 years but it is certainly achievable. Take it slowly and let your body get used to each reduction before reducing further. I was only on them for 3 month 15mg and reduced to half a tablet for 3 weeks but when I stopped them I felt terrible for the first 13 days. A real struggle not to go back on them. Yesterday and today have been ok but not entirely free of withdrawal symptoms but I feel that I am getting the better of it. Like Colin says I'll have to also deal with some of the reasons why I needed Mirt in the first place but it's all a matter of priorities. One slow step at a time, it's not a race. And if I can do it, anybody can do it. Keep busy and dont ever give up trying. Good luck to all

ty, its great knowing I am not alone in all this

I feel a bit better today, nausea has gone, still a bit dizzy and a bit of a headache but better than yesterday.

I am STARVING, even though I have eaten today :D must definitely be because of the Mirt back in my system :lol:

I'll just take it a lot slower next time I try to reduce :lol:

Hi Marge, how did the interview go, well I hope, I have had a couple of bad days, I had to do a presentation to the managers and directors and wound myself up a bit, however that was today and as always it was not as bad as I had built it up to be, hopefully I can start to feel more relaxed now it past, I am still on the half 15mg and am going to try to manage without the Diazepam for a few days, I think it does help but I don’t want to become dependent on it, it may be worth asking your doctor for some 2mg Diazepam when you next try to reduce down.

Hi, interview went ok I think, but I won't find out the outcome until the end of the week. I have now got another job interview for next week! I have heard nothing for ages and now they are all coming at once :shock: Not sure what to do if I am offered both :lol:

I still feel bit a bit strange, headachey, dizzy. I had my B12 injection yesterday for my anaemia, maybe I just need to wait until that has been absorbed before I start to perk up. I have now also pulled a muscle in my back so am moving around like an old woman, honestly, I am sick of being ill :?What a nuisance. Maybe its cos of the Mirt, since I started back on it, I am stiff and achey again.

I am now taking vitamins, iron, extra vitamin B complex, cod liver oil, glucosamine, and now painkillers for my back, I will rattling soon.

:oops:

Well done for staying on the half Mirt, I must admit, I was ok on that dose, I think I should have stayed on it for longer.Like you, I am a bit wary of asking for any other drug, might get dependent on it.

Just a bit of an update:

I feel fine now, still on 15 mg of Mirt, it took about 10 days back on it before I started to feel better and \"normal\"

I now have no headaches, dizziness or nausea, but still eating like a pig though and the bit of weight that I lost has gone straight back on :roll: oops

I did not hear back about the job, so obviously not got it, I just find it really annoying when people say they will ring you and then they don't.

I have, however, found out I need a hysterectomy and that is booked for 2 weeks time :shock: so, I am due at the docs on Friday with a view to start reducing the Mirt again but not sure if now is such a good time, with the op and everything so I will see what the doc says about that, I might have to be on the 15mgs of Mirt for a while longer :?

As I expected the Dr thinks I should stay on the 15 mgs of Mirt until after my op and I have recovered, so I have to go back around August/September to start the reducing dose.(dread to think what I will weigh by then) :roll:

I feel ok, although the vivid/disturbing dreams have started again and I cannot lose any weight, I am always eating :oops:

I have another job interview on Friday, typical, the timing is terrible as I have to go into hospital for my op on Monday, I rang the job to explain and did they still want to interview me? and they are keen to interview me and said they are concerned about getting the right person for the job and if that means waiting if I am the right person, so be it, so fingers crossed for that one :lol: