Mirtazapine withdrawal

Hi Doug,

Really sorry to hear your having a hard time,

I have to ask... Is your doctor a physiatrist or a GP?

Sounds like you need to change doctors to me, and are you on any other meds?

You said your suffering bad with the withdrawal and the doctor needs to help you more,clearly mirtazipine is not helping you at all, and there's no way you should be on it, you need a different med and a new doctor,

I went through about 5 different physiatrists and tried so many different meds before actually feeling better, I was put on Effexor and mirtazipine and the combination really helped, but now I'm reduced to 7.5mg mirt at night as it's time to come off it, but I'm still on the Effexor,

Hope you ok mate

Hi Doug it doesn't sound like you are having good effects from the tablets. However I would strongly suggest that if you are going to stop taking not that you do it with the support of a dr who will not only support you but will listen to you and take you seriously. If you look at previous posts there is a lot of advice on how to cut down gradually and don't let any dr tell you that you can do it quicker or ct. You cut down when your body is ready not when your dr may push you to. I hope that you feel better soon

Hi Kenny and Mini,

Thanks for your kind replies. I've had to drag myself to the computer....feeling so tired.

My doctor is a GP. I have seen a few GPs at the same surgery,and they all sing from the same hymn sheet. My tiredness is,they tell me,due to the Mirtazapine.And reading through this website,I can see that my doctors may well be right,because many others suffer from the same symptoms as I do by taking these tablets. The doctors also told me that my feelings of sickness are also psychological,and that I shouldn't be blaming the Mirtazapine entirely. My mum also suffers with depression,so maybe I have inherited it from her.

Things that would never worry me in the past worry me nowadays. I found a lump on my head a few days ago,and I mentioned it to the doctor,and he checked it out (he also made an appointment for me to have more blood tests,and I'm awaiting their results) and told me what it was. He couldn't convince me,hence the reason why he said I should have the blood tests to ease my mind. He then asked me "do you think it's cancer,the lump? It isn't cancer". Of course he read my mind. Every problem I get and I think cancer. It killed my brother. I found him dead. This is why I worry.

Before I was prescribed Mirtazapine three years ago,I was on Citalopram for a short time,and before that,Prozac. I was taken off them due to the nasty side effects.

I have tried before to come off Mirtazapine.The first time I did what I am doing now,cutting down from 45 to 30mg,but I had to give up and go back on 45mg,because of the lower dose symptoms,which I am experiencing now. Another time I went cold turkey. Big mistake,but it took 8 weeks before I felt ill due to the withdrawal. The doctor at the time,annoyed at what I had I had done,put me back on Mirtazapine, "to get it back into your system",he told me.

My big problem with Mirtazapine is the tiredness,the lethargy,the horrible Zombie-like feelings,which I have tolerated for three years. This is why I am trying to come off the medication.

And finally,the other medication I am on is a daily 20mg Simvastatin,to control my cholesterol,and a vitamin B12 tablet,which I was told to take by my doctor a couple of years ago due to low B12 blood readings due to being a vegetarian.

Again,thank you for taking the time to reply,Kenny and Mini. Appreciated.

Hi guys

I went to my doctors last night and told him I wAnted to come off mirt. I didn't tell him I took my last one a week ago, thought I'd be in trouble. I was shocked when he said 'just stop taking them' I expressed concern about this, having followed threads on here re withdrawal his reply was ' you've only been on them since November and you weren't put on them for depression' I had no idea the reason for being put on them would have such a big difference on the effects of coming off. I wish you all the very best of luck in coming off mirt xx

Normally, withdrawel would start at about 5 days due to the long half tome of remeron. It peaks at 3 t 4 weeks. Let us now how you are doing the coming days. Wish you strength!

I was prescribed Pristiq 50mg for anxiety due to workplace issues. I had to stop myself during a talk with the boss as I began to fell quite dreamy and disembodied-and all of a sudden wanted to sleep right there, on the spot. An irresistible drowsiness! Imagine if I had ben driving a car. In any other circumstance this would have been quite pleasurable!! Then I found an itch that turned into a huge rash - it felt similar to a description I heard about shingles. Needless to say that was it for me, and all this only after two or three days.

Hi bung,

I was prescribed pristque a few years back and absolutely hated it, it made me worse but I continued for about 2 weeks then through the bottle in the garbage, then went back to my dr.

But everyone is different

Hi kennybhoy

I hope you are better now.

Thanks for responding - this forum is very good. It;s good to not be isolated, at least.

I read about the Pristiq side effects on the same company website and it said if you get rashes to discontinue immediately! Lucky I read that as my dr did not warn me!

You're right-everyone is different.

I've been on Mirtazapine for just over a year now, started at 30mg then increased to 45mg. It took a while but the effects for me were brilliant - my depression lifted immensely (helped along with CBT and Counselling) and allowed me to sleep without nightmares for the first time in 12 years. Only downside was the weight gain, which I didn't know was a side effect, but put on 2 stone - not great! As I've been stable for several months now my GP has suggested reducing and ultimately stopping. So I'm on day 4 of reducing to 30mg. The first thing I noticed was my sleep becoming problematic again, and now a few thoughts popping into my head that I've not had for a long time, around self-harm and just low thoughts about people I love dying. I was so happy to finally start reducing the medication, and I'm hoping these thoughts and poor sleep are just a blip and I'll get through it ok, but having read about all your problems with reducing I'm now quite frankly terrified of coming off. I'm lucky that Mirtazapine worked so well for me with few side effects, but I'm worried I'm relapsing already and it's only been 4 days. Thankfully my GP is amazing, a real expert in this field, and very understanding, but I'd really hoped I was recovered and ready to reduce, but now I'm not so sure. I don't think it's realistic to stay on the meds for the rest of my life (I'm in my twenties), and my waistline is not appreciating it, but has anyone had any good experience of coming off Mirt without horrid side effects and without relapsing? I don't want to be the girl I was before Mirtazapine...

Hi Nicola. coming off this med for some can be a hard, but for others it can be quite straight forward. myself, i had a torrid time, but got better. in the past ive not had problems coming off meds such as citalopram and escitalopram, infact on those meds i could just stop no problems. mirtazapine is like a cocktail, it has two active ingredients which no doubt makes it harder to come off. so do take youre time coming off them. i didnt and came off cold turkey, not a good idea i can tell you and so can mini who helped me out here no end. you have a good gp so thats a great start. support from a gp is much needed, keep him/her informed and dont be scared to ask for help with the gp or even here. this thread helped me out thanks to mini and the rest of the good folk here. you will find yourself again : )

once off the med, i do think its important to look after you're body and try to exercise if you can. plenty of good foods like veg, fruit, bananas especially for me they have been great, full of vits and mins. oily fish, chicken as protein but not too much : ) our bodies were designed for these foods, and not the junk they manufacture these days, also sugar aint good for us, keep it simple. you're body will thank you for it and you're mind will follow..

hope this was of some help, all the best : )

Sorry, i meant while coming off the med do try and get into a good diet and there after my memories always been a bit crap : )

2 weeks today and everything is fine.

Well it's been a month since reducing my mirt dosage from 30 to 15 to 7.5mg, while I need to say that this med in my opinion is one of the best meds on the market, trust me I've been on them all, anyways just I quick update, I've been on 7.5mg for the last 4weeks and yes there has been a little unwanted effects but as a whole it has been not so bad,I must admit my dr gave me some benzodiazepines for the bad days which help phenomenally well if your having a bad episode, I'm not recommending them that you start taking benzodiazepines but they have helped me with my mirt withdrawal,I would however recommend inderal to anyone with anxiety issues as this drug really helps with withdrawals also.

But I'm reading constantly that it's the 4th and 5th week of withdrawal Is when it's the worst, so fingers crossed and touch wood,

Cheers everyone

Hi, first time on here. Been on anti d's for most of my adult life (I'm now 55). Managed to wean myself off

Seroxat (Paroxetine) a couple of yrs ago because I was feeling ok-ish. I had the most horrific withdrawal

symptoms in the process; the worst occurring about 2 months after my last tablet. I would wake up through

the night with the most horrific feeling; utter panic; disconnection, sweating etc. It's really difficult to explain

the feeling unless one has experienced it. I've never felt anything like it in my life. Anyway, due to being

bullied at work, I had to go back to my GP. I said I did not wana go back on Paroxetine because of the

withdrawal effects.Been on Mirt for approx 2.5 yrs. and have now 'weaned' myself to 7.5. from 15.0. I am

gona stay on this dosage until I get my 'new teeth' in 5 mths time (I'm having molar implants because I've lost my back teeth). Once I have my 'new teeth' I am going on a detox regime, which involves a 'raw diet'.

Hopefully, by bombarding my body and mind with nutrient dense foods, it will help my mind and body

heal itself. I wana be off these mind altering drugs once and for all and I think the best way to tackle it is

through nutrition and generally a very healthy life-style.

Thanks pjdme for the advice, really helpful, and good to know not everyone has a hard time coming off it. Think those few days of feeling rubbish were just coincidence, been feeling fine since I last posted. Just going to weather the storm and see hope for the best. And samdenison and kennybhoy also thanks for sharing. Maybe I can relax a bit now. Think it was just a couple of bad days, coupled with reading a lot of bad stuff about withdrawing = slight panic and paranoia. Will keep coming on here to see how you guys are getting on and hopefully keep you posted about my progress. I'm pretty good at healthy eating and exercise and have a good group of friends so fingers crossed will be fairly smooth