Mirtazapine withdrawal

I'm following as trying to reduce from 3.75mg but just had to reinstate and try to get back on an even keel.

I'm taking magnesium and Omega 3/6/9 as I read elsewhere that it can help.

I did join a facebook support group but promptly left as it was all a bit scary.

Hope someone can offer some support x

Hi Mimi,

Im really sorry youre having a bad time with mirtazapine. I was on 45mg for about a year, and after therapy for 10 months I was happy enough to taper off. My doctor gave me a weeks supply of 30mg, and then a weeks supply of 15mg, and then 3 days of 15mg to take every other day for a week. The 30mg was fine, although it made sleeping difficult, and so was the 15mg. I meditated, drank green tea (the mint kind, its amazing for nausea even though it doesnt taste the best), when the depersonalisation and derealisation kicks in I hold ice cubes to bring me back a little bit to the real world. Or hold something frozen to your chest and take deeps breaths. Me being impatient as I am didnt taper the final 2 tablets and went cold turkey on 15mg, big mistake. After 5 days of taking nothing, that night I repeatedly fainted and awoke half conscious to vomit, fainted again, awoke and threw up again, fainted another time. It was such a shock to my system that my body couldn't cope with such a quick withdrawal. My doctor prescribed me Cyclizine which has helped enormously, but the dizziness is still there. What is helping me is laying down with my feet elevated, taking cyclizine every 6 hours, and holding something extremely cold, or standing out in the rain when the derealisation becomes too much. I'm sorry I can't give you any life changing advice but all I can say is listen to your body and theres no one direct way for everybody to come off this tablet, its all about how your individual body can cope. I would say get to the lowest dose youre comfortable with and then take one every other day until thats settled and then see how you. Ive been on a number of medications for mental health and this has by far been the worst one ive ever dealt with, so you just have to learn to be really gentle with yourself and show yourself a lot of compassion and youll get through it. Take natural sleeping tablets, and do what you can at night that comforts you, i personally go to bed with a hot water bottle as a comfort now, it relaxes me and in turn relaxes the mind enough to get to sleep. If drinking something warm helps before then by all means do it, do whatever you can to self-soothe, it will help enormously. It does get better though, mirtazapine has an extremely long half life so it stays in your body a hell of a lot longer than others, you just have to power through and be gentle with yourself, its a horrible situation to be in and I can fully empathise with you but you will get there! Sending good luck and empathy your way.

i finished my mirtazapine taper and have been off two weeks now and it has been miserable. nausea, anxiety, insomnia, stomach issues, hip and back pain are the main symptoms. anyone with idea of how long all this will last.

So sorry to read that you are having a hard go with your WD symptoms.

The things I do to help help myself are through WD are:

• walk at least 30 minutes a day, especially when the agitation is the worst. Getting fresh air and moving my body are helpful.
• I meditate for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening and try to notice the sensations that I am experiencing, let them be there, without getting too caught up in them. Even when I am at my worst, like shaking on the floor.
• I reach out to a friend or post on a forum. It helps to normalize what's going on.
• I try to remind myself that this (the bad day or days) will pass.
• I keep a symptom journal to remind myself that I have had really bad days, yes, but also good ones.

  Hang in there. You are not alone.

Hi Mimi,

I wanted to reach out and give you my story of coming off of Mirtazapine in July of last year after going on this medication in december 2020.

I was prescribed 15mg off-label to help me with a short sharp stint of insomnia that hit me out of the blue; i had never struggled to sleep before this point and i didn't know what to do. I'd tried everything, but i just couldn't switch off and was almost having panic attacks about going to bed in the end.

The first night i took them, i fell into a deep sleep, the kind you hope for each night where you don't even notice yourself drifting off, it just happens. It was bliss, i was much calmer and i didn't suffer with any of the feeling groggy/out of sorts that a lot of people mention in reviews of this medication. The only reason i chose to start trying to come off the medication was because i felt myself again, and i was putting on weight. I didn't have depression, i was suffering from stress i realise and burnout at the time of my insomnia but after a week of barely any sleep, for the first time in my life i couldn't cope and started to think i couldn't go on. So sleeping like a baby for 3 months, i decided i wanted to stop and it sounded straight forward, just reduce over a couple of weeks and then stop my GP told me.

It all went well for 2 weeks, i took 15mg every over night and my problems began in the 3rd week when i went to 1 every 3 nights. This was just one of the ways my GP explained i could taper. I went straight back to anxiety from poor sleep, and in the end i felt worse than first breakdown, because it was happening again - it felt like it wasn't just a one off and in my mind i had just forgotten how to sleep. It sounds crazy, but it obviously feels very real doesn't it after a week of bad sleep.

I went back on them April 2021, and the same thing happened, i felt fine again and in 2 months time, i decided to try again. I was determined to get back to feeling like i could cope on my own without tablets as i felt the only reason i couldn't was due to being hooked on them, not that i perhaps had some mental health problems i wasn't aware of. If i had been diagnosed with depression or anxiety, i would have accepted that they were there to help me, but i felt mad that my work had broken me and i wanted to get back to my old self. This time round, for some reason almost expecting it might be tough made all the difference. It was tough, but it didn't feel impossible. I tapered over 2 months. The longer the better, you don't need to keep changing the dosage and regularly decreasing perhaps (although all different). I sent two months at one 15mg tablet every other night. effectively halving my dosage, and i slept absolutely fine during this period. i perhaps recall feeling a little jittery the first week, maybe a bit restless/hot but it seemed to have very little effect on me. I thought to myself, if i try to finish altogether and it doesn't work, i'll just go back to every other night. Around 2 months in, i spent a hell of a lot of time researching reviews of others' stories as to how they found their withdrawals, and how they did it. I pondered over reducing my doage further in terms of going to 7.5mg or just stopping from here. I heard that the lower the dose, the more sedating and groggy/off it you can feel. 15 always suited me, and 7.5 sounded hard work, not necessarily a nice way to feel so i just decided to stop. I wish i had kept a lot as i cant fully remember all the details, just key bits such as feeling nauseous for 3 weeks atleast. i couldn't travel by car very well and i felt hot again. I felt a little flat, but nothing too bad in terms of mood. I did have the odd emotional day early doors and was able to cry/get emotional again which had felt a little blunted before. the worst bit was the nausea. My sleep certainly took a hit, but it didn't go back to almost sleepless nights. I might wake early, say 4:30/5 and feel wide awake, so instead of stressing like i used to, i just got up and did something nice - read a book, listen to a podcast and watch the sun rise. If i couldn't sleep when i got into bed (my particular fear - not switching off), i would get up after 25/30 mins and go downstairs for atleast 30 mins and read a book on something relaxing and slightly boring. I found this the most helpful thing, as i swear i would be asleep within 10-15 mins after getting back in bed - it just helps to reset you i think.

I would wear ear plugs, eyemasks initially and that definitely helped. I would say that withdrawal for me started when i stopped taking the meds fully after a slow 2 month taper and lasted for around 4 weeks. I developed eye twitching during my withdrawal, i'm not sure if it's related or not but that made the whole thing worse as it frustrated me no end, it wasn't just once a day, for a couple days, it felt like an almost regular twitch every day for nearly 6 months which finally stopped at xmas time just gone! But, i'd say it has all been worth it, i've learned so many coping strategies along the way and it's such a comfort knowing i can rely on something to help if life turns upside down again. Sometimes just knowing the tablets are stored away can be all the help you need without having to take them after a while.

Apologies for how long this ended up being, i just wanted to say how i found things and a bit of background. You need to be at your best before tapering and then i would say know you may struggle but do not stress (it sounds impossible i know but it can be done) and take it slow. Give yourself grace and you'll get there.

take care x

Hi ... on day 18 of complete withdrawal from Mirtazapine. Originally on 45mg approx 5 months ago. Went to 30mg then to 15mg....then stopped. Mirtazapine had a terrible effect on me from day one of taking it. My withdrawal symptoms are the same as yours Mimi. Getting at most 4hrs sleep at night and this is only with 7.5mg Zopiclone....some nights only an hour. Waking with extreme nausea, panic, sweating. Once up cannot lie down again because of the nausea. Really struggling badly in every way at the moment. Agitation and restlessness seem to have come down a tiny notch in last two days but only mildly. I have had Akathisia too as a result of Mirtazapine....Still struggling badly with that too. Finding it impossible to function because of sleep deprivation on top of everything else. Wishing everyone going through the same good vibes this Friday. We sure need all we can get. Hard to envisage an end to this suffering.

i am one month off now and many things are getting better but sleep is still awful. i barely sleep at all most nights and some nights not at all. doc prescribed me ambien cr to try for the sleep but i havent tried it yet but probably will soon as i cant go on like this.