Mirtazapine withdrawal

Hi. I was on 30mgs for a long time (over a year). Cut to 15mgs then stopped taking them. Didn't sleep for 3 nights and went mad. This time I did a 2mg a week reduction till I was down to 4mgs, at that point I stopped. That was a week ago and so far I am fine. I bought a micro scale for £10 on Amazon and just cut the pill with a kitchen knife till it was at that's weeks weight. No doc I have ever met (and with my seriously complex health I meet dozens) has any idea of how to titrate off anti-D's, Z drugs or benzo's. If I followed my doctors advice I honestly believe I would be dead.

I recommend raking whatever titration your GP recommends then stretching that out by about 80%!! Seriously, if you wanna get off these things and don't want to feel like death then slow is the key, REALLY slow.

Hey, I have already replied to this a week or so ago but thought I would reply. I came from 30mgs (approx a year on mirt) down to 15mgs then reduced by 2mgs a week. I used a micro scale I bought on Amazon and just cut the pills down. When I got to 4mgs I stopped.

This titration took me a few months and any UK GP would have viewed it as excessive and over cautious.

I am now 2 weeks into no mirt whatsoever and things are tough. Not so tough I can't cope but still pretty rough. Due to the half last of the drug I still had mirt in my system for probably the full first week, thus I felt OK. About 7-10 days in though I started to get the insomnia (by far my worst withdrawal symptom) and in the days a very nasty cloudy nausea. I feel that if I cough hard a few times I will throw up.

I would really encourage people who are doing this detox of this terrible drug to continue. I am a type 1 diabetic who suffers from severe ongoing chronic pain (allodynia and back pain) and I have found that one of the most upsetting parts of trying to cope with living in pain is the constant side effects and withdrawals to the pharma meds I have been put on.

After 4 years of non stop pain and many many pills I have decided to totally detox. I am now only on zopiclone 7.5mgs and codeine 30mgs. Both of which I will start to titrate off when my mirtrazapine withdrawal has subsided.

I fully understand the pressures of trying to cope with zero sleep and pain and the fear of the story we tell ourselves of 'I'm never going to live again off this drug.' BUT you can do it, this isn't some Hollywood pep talk, this is a very honest reality. Your body and mind can return to a state of calm with the right tools and attitude.

I am presently journaling all my symptoms and feelings, have EMDR therapy, talking therapy, eating very very clean with probiotics, kefir and other good gut foods. I am taking Valeria to sleep and most of all I am trying to allow the process to happen. If I feel nausea then that's fine, that's just the way it is and I'm doing my best to visualise the nasty pharma junk being expelled from my poor body. This stuff is literally a poison, in 100 years we will look back in disbelief at what we allowed GP's to do to us.

Stay strong, forgive yourself and be very very present. One second at a time you will get off this drug.

And lastly things seem SO much worse at 4:30am when you haven't slept and you are fearing another day of nausea and headaches that don't even seem explainable. I understand that, others are in EXACTLY the same boat. We are all in it together so next time you are awake at 4:30 with that fear remember that others are out there lying in their beds fearing and feeling sick with nausea and lack of sleep. I don't mean that pessimistically, I mean it that collectively you are not alone.

Stay strong, be brave, listen to your authentic gut, not what your GP/legal pharma drug dealer tells you.

Hello, yes I have had hearing issues about the same amount of time I had been on the drug, 15mg for 3 weeks, in that time I have had about 3 common 9 not as common and one rare side effect, the drug basically crippled me for a week, unable to weight bare and stand, basically bed bound being waited on by family because I simply couldn't move, I stopped taking this evil pill on Friday last week after confirming all these side effects, I stopped instantly and a week later I can now walk limited distance but the pain is sometimes so bad. Good luck on your journey

Hello Everyone,

I am really sorry to hear of all your withdrawal issues. I was put on 30mg Mirtazapine and have been on them about 8 months now! I didn't want to take them, but the Drs in the hospital insisted that they would help with serotonin levels. The reason they put me on them in the first place was because I severely broke my back in a motor bike accident while having advanced training to better my skills, but was given the wrong instruction so broke T4 to T9 and I smashed 4 ribs and ended up with a deflated lung an a large hematoma in it!

I want to stop taking these tablets as I am gaining far too much weight an feel like my legs are going to burst an breathing difficulties, which at first I thought was because of my deflated lung, but found out it is a side effect of a few of the drugs they put me on while I was in hospital. I was in hospital nearly four months. I would dearly love to get off all meds starting with the Mirtazapine! I have already reduced the clonidine they put me on, by half!

Well here goes tonight I will cut the Mirtazapine in half and then half again, so I end up taking 3/4 of the tablet and reduce that way! I know if I go to the Drs they shall insist I stay on them! I do not have depression nor did I when I broke my back, so cannot for the life of me figure out why they really gave them to me!! I will report back, if I have any withdrawal symptoms, I hope not, but know you usually do!!

Cheers for now Susie

Hi, you have tried to describe the weird, disconnected feelings you have experienced with Mirtazapine and I totally know what you are describing as I am currently going through the same nightmare. I have been having some freaky dreams and have felt like I am coming down off some kind of trip. I have found it really difficult to shake off the strange dreams I have been having during the night, the feeling of the dream has stayed with me all day and I have felt incredibly drowsy. I am just going to stop this drug as I don't think it is safe. It could seriously make you think you are losing your mind. It definitely does not agree with me.

I've been on Mirtazapine 15mg 22 days, but was the nightmare. I had alot of problems.

NEVER Again.

I felt the same side effects like you... owful feeling

I did the cold turkey... and after 1 week I feel better.

I have 5 weeks back stopped 7.5 mg cold turkey taken for 7 months . Feeling my depression is back

And crying with Heavy head and eyes and I feel shaking from inside . Can you tell me if u also faced can same

I am from india .

I'm on 15 mg but I'm going to stop it Cold Turkey tonight- I'll let you know how it goes.

This thread is getting old but I am sure people will still be reading it, As you would expect most of the posts are from people who have had problems with stopping taking mirtazipine. Just a word from someone who was on 15 mg a day for about four years.

I was due fior a 'review' with my GP which made me wonder why I was still more or less automatically taking mirt every day without thinking about it, so I decided to stop and if I felt it was the wrong thing to do, to keep the appointment. I was also a little concerned by what felt like an unaturally deep sleep I was having - taking me ages to wake up properly in the morning, as well as some subtle hard to describe effects - perhaps a damping down of emotions. Nothing serious or distressing by I figured I would see how I would cope.

I tapered over about three weeks - half the dose, then leaving it a bit longer between doses. My last dose was five days ago.

The impact: Well waking at 5.00 a.m. and not being able to go back to sleep. Loss of appetite. An alertness verging on mild anxiety.

That's about it. Nothing unmanageable and all I am assuming emporary. All listed too as common side effects. Oh - a friend of mine says I am talking a lot! Maybe that is because I feel more alert!

All the best.