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How to withdraw from Mirtazapine?

Posted , 6 users are following.

Jingyd36
Jingyd36

After speaking to my GP today he wants me after 4 years to start weaning down off Mirtazapine as we both agree it's causing me worsening fatigue and it's bad enough with my thyroid. 

I am only on 15mg, I have been on that dose for just over 3 years and I started on 7.5mg 8 months prior to that. He said to just break it in half and take 7,5mg. I explained that I've read and been told it's a VERY hard drug to wean off from and tht dropping to half the dose will cause me serious withdrawals which I cannot cope with, having a chronic illness on top it won't be good for me. He said it's fine and hes' never had anyone find it hard to wean off Mirtazapine. I asked for liquid and he said I didn't need to wean off it with liquid slowly.

He said to just drop to 7,5mg for now and see how I feel for a few months. As I have SADS he said next year we will then drop from 7.5mg to 0 slowly.

Mirtazapine has been a helpful drug. I was attacked 5 years ago and I was an anxious wreck, PTSD, agoraphobic etc.. but then since my ill health a year ago it's not helped at all when all the anxiety and agoraphobia returned. Yes it still helps me sleep and eat but other than that I feel no real benefit and I am sure it's actually adding to my faitgue and lack of motivation. I want off all medication but of course to do this very slowly.

Any advice appreciated please as I don't want to just drop to 7,5mg over night and he won't give me the liquid to do it very slowly.

Thank you

Ju

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0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • maurice_67042
    maurice_67042 Jingyd36

    Posted

    Hi Ju, GP's or orther so called specialists or whatever, they all , or don't know about, or just ignore the "Withdrawal" problem, just because it has not been teached them in school, and is still not in their books. 

    I would recommend FB groep "Remeron (Mirtazapine) Should Be Illegal".

    Some people have more problems , some have less problems with the taper.

    So who knows , meabe you cann be just a lucky one, and have no problems with it. But it is enpleasant and DANGEROUS to test it out the hard way. 

    I would suggest, to test lower a bit for a month or at least 2 weeks and see how you feel. 

    The usual rule is 10% lowering /month ( some even do only 5% because they have to many problems with the 10% )

    I would just get a 15ml or 20ml seringe. Put your tablet in the seringe , and draw 15ml in it. That gives you 15ml=15mg easy calc.. Then drop out 1,5ml leaving you 13,5ml=13,5mg... Do this at least 2 weeks, or a month. 

    If you feel the withdrawal.. eg worsening of your symptoms can indeed be withdrawal symptoms to :-(. 

    If you feel bad/worse you know you have to taper slowly.

    If you feel fine/no change you know you can try bigger drop downs !! without exagerations, a 1/4 or go half dose is a heck of a jump !!! 

    • Jingyd36
      Jingyd36 maurice_67042

      Posted

      Thank you Maurice.

      How would putting my tablet in the syringe work? My GP won't give me liquid.

      I want to do this very slowly.

      Thank you

      Julie

    • maurice_67042
      maurice_67042 Jingyd36

      Posted

      Hy Julie, I am not English native speaking , but will try to explain anyway... 

      When you have a seringe, is consists of 2 parts, the outer shell, and the stalk that you can push in or pull out ... to be correct there's a 3th part , being the black rubber on the end of the stalk.

      Well , that stalk you can just pull it back so far that is just pops out. 

      No big deal, nothing difficult, nothing that goes broken. In fact its just the black rubber that keeps the stalk IN the seringe.

      So when the seringe is open... you drop your pil in it , and then put the stalk back on it. 

      Draw 15ml water in it ... the maths are not really correct, because the pil is also taking up some place.... 

      What you can do if you really want the correct maths, is draw 15ml in the seringe, put the 15ml in a glass, then put the pil in the seringe, and then draw the 15ml from the glas and look at your seringe at what indicator line you end at , can be at 15,2  or so , because the volume the pil had in the beginning. 

       

    • Jingyd36
      Jingyd36 maurice_67042

      Posted

      Thank you Maurice

      Would I crush the mirtazapine first? not put it in whole tablet form?

    • maurice_67042
      maurice_67042 Jingyd36

      Posted

      If you crush it, you will end up with some sticking everywhere.

      And what sticks in or on your crusher will make you lose some and trow out your calculations. 

      Especially if you have the "Soltabs" , better just keep it whole, it disolvers SUPER quickly directly when in contact with water. 

      ( Soltabs are the tablets who melt in your mouth) 

      If you do NOT have "Soltabs" , but hard pill's, I have no experience with dose, you'll have to test how easy they disolve. 

  • plainden
    plainden Jingyd36

    Posted

    Hi,you have my sympathy with your GP.Fortunately I have a great GP and has given me liquid mirt.He knows its expensive and says so but if its the best thing for me then he doesn't mind.It has taken me 10 months to get from 15mg to 7.5mg as I am very sensitive to the drug(reduce by only 2ml at a time).I am now just under 7.5mg .However a friend is also on Mirt and he can change antidepressants as if he is eating sweets !!! Lucky man that he is.Ask your GP for soltabs possibly.These dissolve in water but I am unsure of the cost .A user on this this called ' Calmer' put wrote up the method for dissolving solid pills and using a syringe to draw up the liquid.I have tried to find it but cannot.Perhaps someone else has the link.She quite often posts on here and is very knqledgable.Good luck.Lastly try changing your GP as without the liquid Mirt I would be lost.

  • robert68588
    robert68588 Jingyd36

    Posted

    Hi Ju.In response to your comment  about tapering off slowly. I am tapering off of Paxil (20Mg twice a Day for 20years) and going on Mirt starting with 15mg 7 weeks ago and going up to 30mg about 2 1/2 weeks ago.It sounds like you've been going to your doctor for awhile so you need to sit down with him and be firm and remind him he's there to help you not vice versa.If he's relatively a new doc for you,you might want to find another one or a psy. to help you with your meds.I'm in the US so it's not hard to change docs,but in the UK(if that's where your at) i don't know if that's possible.Just remember you know what's best for you and they should respond to what helps you best.Good luck and God Bless You,Bob

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