Mirtazapine withdrawal

hi i have been on lyrica and mirtazapine for about 2 years now. Psychiatrist diagnosed me with GAD (Generalized anxiety disorder and head injury trauma) get migraines also but they have got better since doing resolution magic (see internet). i have been thinking about coming of mirtazapine and lyrica just due to the weight gain. I feel fantastic in myself...although a bit spacey at atimes but i can soon pull myself back...i dont know what the withdrawals wil be like. do i stop both or just try reducing the dose right down? I think what i might do as i only take one 30mg mirtazapin a night and one 50mg lyrica, i am only on a small dose anyway.. i dont really want a nightmare of a withdrawal..the head sweats are not nice and the other stuff that returns...but as i am actually feeling ok, i might just start doing more exercise and stay on them and just reduce the dose down to 10mg mirtazapine and 25mg lyrica...will speak to my gp....thanks for your time xxx i get a lot of thrush etc but apart from that am really quite together! was never really not together but my psychiatrist advised me to go on them to settle myself as i was very anxious and GAD symptoms etc but nothign obsessive. xx :oops:

Hi I have read this page a couple of times now,and its helped me understand to a point the hell I've been going through. Stopped mirtazapine a week ago now after reducing over a mouth,and I too have gone through hell with withdraw symptons. Bad anxiety,sweating, shaking,feeling sick,I feel just as bad as I did before I went on them 7 mouths ago. I came off them because I was getting a dizzy head most of the time but I was feeling well. NOT going to take this stuff again or anything like it. GOOD LUCK TOO ALL COMING OFF.

Hi I have been on Mirtazapine now for 2 years and if I ever miss a few pills bcos I haven't put my prescription in on time I have gone through the most agonising hell of withdrawel symptoms. I can't sleep. I feel anxious. I have panic attacks. I have a weird feeling like I'm going to have some kind of a fit. My head feels like it's got a clamp around the back of it. My head pricks. I feel wired like after you've taken crack. I feel sick. I can't eat. My stomach gets upset. I'm shaky. All of those sytmptoms. I was given mirtazapine when I detoxed off methadone when I came off heroin! That's how strong mirtazapine REALLY is. Substance misuse doctors give ex addicts mirtazapine. I feel cheated by the doctors bcos tbh I wasn't depressed, I only took the damn pills bcos the doctor thought it would help me stay clean. It's given me a whole new drug addiciton! I'm really angry. They say it isn't a benzodiazapine but it sure as hell does the same thing when you don't take them. .

hello, thanks all of you for posting experiences.I,ve been trying to reduce from 30mg a few times now, and always give in after a couple of days as i feel lethargic and 'flat' when i reduceI'm putting it off now as im under such pressure at work and its no time lose my head or feel bad.But i hope to wean myself off when things seem calmer, as i do feel disconnected from myself on this drug, even though it is far better than the ssri's ive taken in the past and, in my opinion, the most effective ad i've used.

So sorry to read many tough experiences, and thanks to you all again.I just feel a bit trapped i suppose, knowing theres no space at this time to go through a weaning off process.

The withdrawal from mirtazipine depends on how long you have been taking it. Someone who has been on it for 12 months or over is going to have much more severe withdrawal symptoms than someone who has been taking them for a few weeks or months. It also depends on what type of person you are. If you are able to bear intense suffering for a month- then a cold turkey method will suit you (but you run the risk of developing serotonin syndrome where you need to be admitted to hospital because your body has gone into shock and you could die). I have chosen a slow tapering method using a solution form of mirtazapine. I went from 30mg to 15mg to 15/7.5mg using the tablet form then from 7.5mg to 6mg using the solution and a syringe. I dont advocate dropping your dosage more than 2mg once you get past the 10mg dosage. The lower the dose gets the more sensitive you are to the drop. And all this rubbish about the drug having a short half life so all the withdrawal symptoms are really your own illness is RUBBISH. Thats what psychiatrists want you to believe because they dont understand the drugs they prescribe. If you drop your dose slowly it takes 2-3 weeks for the withdrawal symptoms to gain their full whack. My own withdrawal is at its worse at 3-4 weeks but this of course depends on the person. It has little to do with the half life because you are topping up your levels every night when you take your meds. I found that after 4 weeks everything just got better and better. Its called a slow withdrawal for a reason, the symptoms take longer to materialize and last longer but they are not as severe. If you can cope with the cold turkey without killing yourself i take my hat off to you! Another thing: why start taking a dangerous drug like valium to combat the withdrawal from mirtazipine? Its like out of the frying pan and into the fire. You then have to do the whole shibang again cutting up pills like a junkie. However, coming from a person who has withdrawed from mirtazipine AND valium, mirtazipine is indescribably worse. So think about that when you want to go necking more pills and prolong your pain. Some helpful tips for withdrawers- Ranitidine is great for nausea. Peppermint oil (called Colpermin in the UK) helps constipation or general digestive discomfort. Piriton or drowsy anti-histamines calms itchy skin and relieves insomnia. As for the anxiety and depression and paranoia, youre on your own but im guessing from reading most of these forums on the subjects we are all fairly used to those.

Hope that helps some worried soul out there who is sick of reading the same confusing and incorrect rubbish from people who dont know what they are on about.

If you do try cold turkey (like i did a bit ago) and you go seriously mental (like i did a bit ago) dont let the GPs whack you back up to 15mg. All you have to do is go back to the dose you were one before you went cold turkey and wait a week or two and then drop it down less dramatically. Remember: YOU know what your body can take and the doctors have no idea so do it your way. These rubbish antidepressants affect everyone differently so do it intuitively.

POWER TO THE WITHDRAWERS!

thank you for the last post i got a lot from that i am getting of mirt but i did that a few weeks a go went from 30g of mirt to 75g a ven

what a mess

now taking 75g of ven and 30 mg of mirt

it always seem to be 1 step forward 10 back with me

cheers

stefen

[quote:83ff980a73=\"MichaelG \"]hey

I found this post, because i also have been getting some bad side effects coming off the Mirtazapine, Mainly Anxiety, and panic attacks, I even experinced some heart palpitations, which i mentioned to my doctor. Thats when my panic attacks would start, as soon is i felt a heart palpitations or just a pain which was nothing, thats it i find my self pacing the house, not being able to sit down, Just basically thinking am dieing

i was on the 30mg tablets then was put on 15mg and now i just taking half of a 15mg tablet daily. iiv been on them years, and just want of them![/quote:83ff980a73]

I too have just recently stopped taking mitrazapine 7.5mg, I run low over the bank holidays & forgot to get a repeat so I decided to stop them completly ( not sure this was a good idea without my doctors advice ) I too have felt extremly anxious over the last wk or so feeling a little panicky although I must say I have felt mentally better & am not concerned about having struggled to sleep & my appetite has gone awol , I too felt nauseous of a morning & sometimes groggy while takin Mitrazapine but that passed after my morning rountine kicked in. I will go the doctor's if by the end of this wk I feel no better but at the moment I am bearing with withdrawals,having had withdrawal experience in the past from other drugs. hope you feel better soon

Quit Mirtazapine 15mg (after coming down from 30mg about 2 months ago becaquse i wasn't sleeping on such a high dose) on pychiatrists recommendation a week ago and absolutely dying. Doesnt help that the girl i was seeing dumped me yesterday (wasn't thats erious) and my \"pal\" told me my ex who i really liked has a new bloke and hes a \"nice guy\".

Not sure if its the situation or coming off the pills thats making me cry uncontrolably (sp?) for three hours.

Still on venlafaxin and have taken some valium to calm myself down - was feeling better as well until last week. aaaaargh!

will this ever end!!!!!!! not even sure why I'm writing this - just wish someone would understand this hell.

I just spent 2 months slowly coming off 45mg of Mirtazapine, and i can honestly say they were the worst two months. But once i was off completely i felt so much better because i was rid of all the nasty side effects. i put on alot of weight and i would get trembling fits.

like alot of other people for me the worst thing was insominia and to be honest that hasnt improved and iv been on and off sleeping tablets in an effort to establish a new sleep pattern. i was also getting really viloent and long lasting panic attacks as well as deep depression, to the point where i couldnt function. but as i said eventually it got back to my normal state.

I had alot of support from family and i dont think i could have done it if it wasnt for that. the thing is it that eventually it gets better, and sticking it out is hard, but it does happen. Mirtzapine, its great when it works, but getting rid of it is hell.

[quote:5957a07eff=\"Foxie27 \"]I just spent 2 months slowly coming off 45mg of Mirtazapine, and i can honestly say they were the worst two months. But once i was off completely i felt so much better because i was rid of all the nasty side effects. i put on alot of weight and i would get trembling fits.

like alot of other people for me the worst thing was insominia and to be honest that hasnt improved and iv been on and off sleeping tablets in an effort to establish a new sleep pattern. i was also getting really viloent and long lasting panic attacks as well as deep depression, to the point where i couldnt function. but as i said eventually it got back to my normal state.

I had alot of support from family and i dont think i could have done it if it wasnt for that. the thing is it that eventually it gets better, and sticking it out is hard, but it does happen. Mirtzapine, its great when it works, but getting rid of it is hell.[/quote:5957a07eff]

Congratulations on coming of the mirt! If you don't mind me asking - how long were you on them for? I want be of it but am so scared of what I have in store!!

I was on it for a relatively short period. i had been on 30mg for about a year, and 45 for about 6 months before i started rejecting them completely.

if you want to be off them id say go for it, because no matter how bad it feels going through it, its over soon, and in the long run, i at least, felt better.

Hi,

I am seriously considering coming off mirt too. be on it for about 3 1/2 months at 15 mg first then have been on 30 mg for about 2.5 weeks. the change up was horrible, and even tho things have settled down a bit, mirt does not really seem to be doing anything for me, i get snappy and irritable very quickly, emotions withdrawn, like a blanket over reality. its just not me really. so i am thinking about tapering off and just dealing with my issues myself. i am also a bit drowsy, forgetful (more than usual!). the most worrying thing is the terrible mornings tho, I have had the most vivid and scary 'ending it all thoughts' which altho i know i wont carry out, are horrible nonetheless. ideally i want to do this without any meds.

i think its great that forums like this exist, because you do feel like its just you out there, and really it isn't. its important that people know about others experiences. if i do come off i will keep you posted on how it pans out

L

[quote:8ebacaefe3=\"lol9731\"]Hi,

I am seriously considering coming off mirt too. be on it for about 3 1/2 months at 15 mg first then have been on 30 mg for about 2.5 weeks. the change up was horrible, and even tho things have settled down a bit, mirt does not really seem to be doing anything for me, i get snappy and irritable very quickly, emotions withdrawn, like a blanket over reality. its just not me really. so i am thinking about tapering off and just dealing with my issues myself. i am also a bit drowsy, forgetful (more than usual!). the most worrying thing is the terrible mornings tho, I have had the most vivid and scary 'ending it all thoughts' which altho i know i wont carry out, are horrible nonetheless. ideally i want to do this without any meds.

i think its great that forums like this exist, because you do feel like its just you out there, and really it isn't. its important that people know about others experiences. if i do come off i will keep you posted on how it pans out

L[/quote:8ebacaefe3]Can i ask did you get these horrible morning thoughts before the mirt? I am convinced my depression and mood swings have got worse while being on these meds! Got rid of the panic and major anxiety but am more forgetful and thought distortion.

\"Can i ask did you get these horrible morning thoughts before the mirt? I am convinced my depression and mood swings have got worse while being on these meds! Got rid of the panic and major anxiety but am more forgetful and thought distortion?\"

funny you should say that, but no not really! yes these thoughts have crossed my mind for years, ever since i was a teenager, but its just fantasising really, what i noticed was how much more solid and depressing and hopeless these thoughts had made me feel. it happened for a good two weeks, and i had never expierienced these at such an intensity before.

I think that what happens is that mirt (for me anyway) can do everything to your feelings, amplify, supress, enhance, deaden, maybe its about how we as individuals 'drive' or 'use' the drug? I agree with you tho, mirt has given me a huge emotional rollercoaster to ride, and this is why i am questioning continuing using them.