Mirtazapine withdrawal

The anxiety has lessoned a little since starting to taper the rispiradone although I am having side effects from that now.

It can be normal to feel rebound feelings of depression etc when tapering AD's. It does not neccessarily mean that the depression is coming back its just your bodys way of dealing with the changes, and it WILL pass! I think that maybe slowing down the tapering is one way. I didn't slow it down, I did it in 2.5 weeks. It has taken this long since my first post (which I posted in desperation coz I felt so bad) to feel any better. Its better but not 100%.

Time is the key, my psychiatrist said there are two schools of thought - taper slowly, but sometimes some people still get the worst withdrawals even doing that once they have been off the drug completely for a few days. The other is to reduce it and go for it and weather the storm...3 or 4 weeks of feeling crap. I have to say I felt the worst 7 days after I completely stopped and that lasted a week and then I began to feel a bit better each day.

I have to remain positive that it WILL end.

I know everyone will get through it, keep strong

Well if you have become a bit of a loner (which i have been since coming off the mirt) and feel you have no one to talk too, then it maybe a good idea to contact you're local access and assessment team which is run by the NHS, who have helped by just simply listening to me and giving me some so/so helpful advice. I have not left my house (bed room infact) much since the mirt nightmare. Easier said than done though as my confidence and self esteem have taken a right battering due to the mirt withdrawal.

The AA team maybe right, i need to get out and get my social cogs back into gear which has no doubt added to the reason for my prolonged situation and maybe sharing my recent experience with peeps i can trust. I dont mind my own company but 7 weeks of isolation aint good at all really. Yes I need to get my cogs into gear but like i said earlier its easier said than done, what with not feeling too good mentally. Its times like this that i wish i had a partner...

Any input would be welcome...

Anyway just trying to bounce a few things here as to share some of my feelings about this recovery and yes we will recover. Stay strong all : )

pjdme,

I'm sorry you feel so alone. The withdrawals when they are at there peak is the worst thing ever to go through. If you feel anything like I did there is NO WAY to leave the house or socialise. When my withdrawal anxiety was at its worst all I could do was pace the room back and forward trying to put some of the anxiety into energy to distract myself. It was the worst type of anxiety ever, and I have had anxiety naturally twice before - but that was nothing compared to withdrawals.

Do you have any family who would understand if you really sat down and talked to them about it (sorry if i'm presuming you haven't when you already have)?

I had my parents over to look after my kids whilst I was pacing up and down. There were periods of the odd half hour here and there where it eased enough for me to sit down and have a drink or just lie down and close my eyes for a short time.

I break things down into small tasks. I couldn't even empty and refill my dishwasher...I had to break it into 3 jobs...empty it and put dishes on the side(when that was completed, pat on the back and sit down as even that tired me out), put clean dishes away (followed by another break), then refill with dirty dishes (followed by another break). See how things can be broken down?

Same with getting out of the room. When you say you don't leave your room what about eating and drinking??? How would you feel about just putting your coat on and going outside counting to 30 take some deep breaths and go straight back inside again? You could increase it by a few seconds each time and even walk for 30 seconds in one direction and then 30 seconds back and straight back into the house when you feel more confident. Sorry if I am stating the obvious but I found breaking things down into smaller doable tasks worked much better and increased my confidence little by little. Or even just start by sticking your head out of the window and taking a few deep breaths and then gradually work up to actually getting out of the house for a while???

set a goal each day and each acheivement will increase your confidence, makie you feel better about yourself and motivate you to do more next time. One small goal each day x

mini,

Ive been getting out of the house to do the usual things like shopping and the like but no way as much as i use to. Its the social things that im stuck with, its hard to socialize when my motivation is so low. I have just moved into this property and do not know anybody as i am miles away from my hometown. 3 weeks after moving here i came off the mirt and have felt quite isolated, so this has made it more difficult for me which is usually not a problem at all, as i do tend to move around.

Talking to the AA team has put things into light as they could tell that i am depressed which in its self can lead to negative thoughts and feed the anxiety which has been the case. The anxiey that i get from time to time is no way as bad as the time i first came off the mirt, like yourself i was walking up the walls as well as pacing up and down, truly horrific. I have been left with this lowness which has given me low motivation and have lost interest in most things that i like doing. I have not felt this low before. So it maybe a combination of things but its the mirt withdrawal at the end of the day that kick started it all.

I have mentioned it to my family but only lightly and have put on a brave face as not to distress them too much. Will be seeing them all on Christmas day which i am dreading to be honest as i know i will be nowhere near 100% but will try my best : )

Aw how awful for you. How long have you been off the mirt now? I don't know what you have tried and what you haven't tried. I have a friend who was really depressed and refused to take meds - she had cognitive behaviour therapy which really helped, but she kept on with it for well over a year and it totally turned her life around.

Iv never been a social person whether depressed or not, I don't like being in groups of people and tend to keep to 2 or 3 closish friends plus family so I can't really help there. I would really recommend opening up to your family though, you never know they might be more supportive than you expect them to be. I didn't tell my family at first and they thought I was just being ignorant when I didn't have anything to do with them. They didn't understand my mood swings and thought that I was being deliberately horrible and moody. They didn't understand why I liked things being done a certain way with my first son and they thought I was purposfully trying to shut them out of his life.

After my second son I was a lot more open and let them in to help a lot more which benefited both me and the boys.

Hopefully having people you know around you will help you to feel more positive. Good luck over christmas and I hope you have a lovely day.

Happy christmas everyone I hope its a good one

Too long, coming up to my 8th week now. How are you feeling these days?? Im feeling a bit down at the mo so its hard to be too positive while all else are having a good time, im sure you understand : (

Yes would like to get myself interactive with cbt but our local I Talk (CBT service) is busy at the moment but will contact them soon if not tomorrow to see what they can do. I have a visitor from the AA team coming to check up on me tomorrow and am talking to my gp to let him know that i have started tapering the escitalopram if he likes it or not as its done nothing to lift my spirit...

My folks know that i was taken this mirt and told them that i was having some issues coming off them but didnt want to give them too much to worry about as i do not want them to distressed too much. they are at an age now where they just dont need this im sure...

Not meaning to bring the festive times too down all, Have a good one none the less and stay strong as you can...

Yes and have a good Christmas mini all the best : )

Hope everyone had a good christmas day. Mine was crap. I was at work for 12 hours. My husband and elder son have had food poisening for 5 days as well.

I am just into week 4 of having stopped my mirtazipine...I thought things were getting easier but yesterday and the day before I was so snappy and felt so moody. I am having extreme mood swings. They dont change day by day they change hour by hour. I can literally be happy happy then within an hour I'm irritable and snappy. Today I woke up with an uncontrollable urge to cry...for absolutely no reason whatsoever. As the morning has gone on its got better though.

I have the shakes again though like I did when I started to withdraw initially. I though being into week 4 some of these things had disappeared and now they seem to be making a comeback.

I am feeling so fed up today. I'm sure its just time. Most things I have read say around 4 weeks for things to improve so hopefully by new year there will be more improvement. I am not having the anxiety and weepiness everyday like I was but when it does happen its as severe as it ever was.

So fed up now, and my husband in bed ill and I have to kids to enetertain, so I better go entertain and paint a smile on my face.

I see the psychiatrist on the 24th Jan...only a month to go

Sorry to hear about your hard time, Christmas is not my fav time of year these days, families, stress, too much booze and flue viruses can make this recovery hell for us. Theres a lot of viruses going about at the moment, which are not nice. My mum and dad have just recovered from one which was really bad, in which my younger brother has just caught and he was not in a good way at all, his illness started today and hes had the shakes really bad and is now also in bed. I just pray to god that i have not picked it up now, but now i feel ive now been left open to it in the passed two days, as i spent christmas round my folks. : ( In which it was quite testing for me as they were all having a good time, drinking too much though as i stayed sober as not to complicate my situation. Ive only just got back, so i am glad I've made it through to this other side...

Don't let it get to you too much, i still get the fed up feelings at times to this day and i came off the mert way too quickly, so you should not be as bad. Ive been told that drinking plenty of water PLENTY!! helps with the recovery which ive just started to do and has helped some what...

Stay strong you will get there : )

I've been withdrawing from Mirtrazipine, I have been on it for 5 years together with Venlafaxine but 18 months ago I had a set back and was taken off the Venlafaxine to try something else, it wasn't till I saw a new Mental health doc that he said I should come off the Mirtrazipine too as I had gained 7 stone in weight in five years on them, so I was to cut them in half for five days nothing for three days, so this meant I was on no anti ds, I'vetried 4 different ones in the last 6 months but none have agreed with me, you can imagine how my body is feeling after this!

Well after the 3 days with nothing I started feeling bad which I expected, brain jerks, sweating, no sleep, itching, vertigo so bad I fell down the stairs, and feeling sick constantly, I then caught a cough which was awful as I couldn't catch my breath, then on top of that I got the flu, so knowing how bad I feel on new tablets I've held off taking them hoping I would feel better, now the flus gone which has left me drained, I feel even worse with the withdrawal, it's been 18 days with no anti ds so thinking it could be lack of them not helping, so I've taken half a one to slowly get back to it, I'm very sensitive to them and know a 20 mg will be too much.

It's a shame doctors don't treat you as a individual they just dish out the same tablets to whoever what the books say to do, but everyone's different. So I'm now on Paroxetine which having read up on is another brain zapper but hey ho, must work for some people! I'm taking a 2mg of Valium some days to help but don't want to get hooked on them!

Hey all,

Went to see the psychiatrist today and have been diagnosed with depression, I have had mild depression in the passed but nothing like this. Was hoping that this was part of the withdrawal and it would get better for me soon. She wants me to start taking 50mg of sertraline once i have tapered off the escitalopram in a weeks time. I would like to have come off AD's for good but it looks like thats not the case as i will not function at all if i carry on like this. So as you can imagine i am feeling even lower now because of this. Could put on a brave face and say things arnt that bad but the fact remains they are not great what with hearing this crap today...

Has anyone tried sertraline?? i was told by the consultant that they are stronger than escitalopram, i am not looking forward to this at all after the mirt experience, infact i do not wish to take them but my mood is so low that i feel i must try something. From what i have heard the side effects are much the same as the dreaded mirt itself but less the sedative side...

debbie1,

I have heard so many stories here of weight gain, i would rather be a jolly rounded person than a very sad stick of a one. The first two weeks seem to be the worst, but after that things should get better in an up and down way, hope you get through this easier none the less.

As far as docs handing out prescriptions for AD's, i totally agree. I just hope this pshrink i have seen today has not done the same even though she is more qualified in this field than the GP's i hope...

Still trying to be positive though after all that, all the best all...

Pjdme

Sorry to here you've been diagnosed with depression having read on here a lot of people have said its part of the withdrawal, it's a shame you couldn't of rode it out just to see, but it's scary and worrying isn't it you don't want to go back on anti ds but the low feelings are real, I think you start to over think then your focussing on yourself which in turn makes it worse.

I too thought after coming off Venlafaxine then the Mirtrazipine that I wasn't going to take my we anti ds that I would sweat it out and see if I needed to be on them, but after 19 days I started taking them, but I think it was the withdrawal, I just felt terrible so started thinking maybe I need the anti ds.

I'm on day 3 of Paroxetine (Seroxat) they are 20mg so I broke it in half to ease into them otherwise I find they make me feel awful...again!

My daughter takes Sertraline for post natal depression they have suited her she feels 'normal' on them, she's been on them for about 2 years, I think she's on 40 mg, the only side effect she's had is her hands are slightly shakey. So I hope they work for you, we could see a big difference after a few days with my daughter.

I'm sure looking back that the several different anti ds I've tried haven't agreed with me cos there wasn't a big enough gap left between the old ones and starting the new, so the new tabs were blamed, which if I'd done what my doc had said this time would of happened again, but i managed to wait then started them, but will have to see!

Good luck!

pjdme,

I was on sertraline for approx 15 months, they didn't suit me at all...awful side effects when first starting them. The first 3 months I had anxiety exactly like I had when I withdrew from the sert and mirt.

They made my mood very up and down.

I wouldn't go off other peoples experiences though because thats exactly what those experiences are....other peoples. I know a few people on sert that have been on them for years with absolutley no problems whatsoever. You have to try and see but give it at least 3 months before you decide if they are for you or not.

I am sorry for the diagnosis of depression, I was hoping for you that it was the effects of coming off the mirt.

Good luck with the sert.

Debbie,

I hope you start to feel better soon. Good luck with the paroxetine

I feel a little better today. I was in a+e boxing day night with my youngest as he had breathing difficulties...he has croup, as does my other boy plus 7 days of d+v for my hubby and the 2 boys so no time for myself to feel ill. Saying that because I was in hospital til 4:30am my rispiradone was taken late and I have had 2 days of withdrawal symtoms even though it was only a late dose and not a missed dose. Dreading coming off that one

Well if I don't post again before new year....A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE! Have a good one people

Hello,

A few thoughts after reading all the posts on this subject:

I have been on medication for about 9 years and by trial and error found out that Venlafaxine 150mg combined with Mirtazapine 30mg worked really well for me. about 5 years ago my psychiatrist tried to change me to other "less harmful" meds. after 18 months of trial and many errors we came back to Ven and Mirt.

A lot of negative comments have been made about Mirt. but from my perspective it has been my life saver. I can increase it to 45mg when I am really bad and then reduce to 30mg as I feel better.

Recently I reduced to 22.5mg and have not really had any bad side effects. I told my doctor that I had reduced to 22.5 and she encouraged me to go further to 15mg. I did so 6 days ago and have felt as though I have Flu symptoms for the 5 or 6 hours before I take my tablet and for about an hour afterwards. I take Mirt at midday or early afternoon because I also get "restless Legs Symdrome" soon after taking it! (I was pleased to see someone else post that they get the same - I thought it was just me!!).

I plan to do 2 weeks at 15

2 weeks at 7.5

2 weeks of 7.5 every other day

Then Stop.

I have to say that if I then had a future turn for the worse having got off Mirt completely I would not hesitate to go back on it because I KNOW that the alternative is much worse for me.

I will post how I get on.

Many thanks to all those who have posted already. It is comforting to know others are going through the same pain.