Posted , 19 users are following.
Hi all,
Having some real withdrawl problems once off mirtazapine. Tapering was ok but now am off feel terrible. Can anyone help and let me know how long the hell lasts?
Thanks
0 likes, 41 replies
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Guest andy46832
Posted
Withdrawal symptoms, severity and length of time depend on the dosage, the length of time on the medication and the individual. Speaking as a health care professional and someone's who's titrated successfully off Mirtazepine I suggest the following:
Get in the mindset right now that you will get through this and symptoms related to withdrawal will go away. Once you're truly motivated:
Think of everything in 2's. If you're taking 15mg then reduce the dose by cutting in 2 for 2 weeks. So reduce to 7.5mg for 2 weeks.
After 2 weeks buy yourself a pill splitter from Amy local pharmacy and split the dose in 2. Now you're taking 3.75mg for 2 weeks.
Finally, using the pill splitter cut your dose in 2 down to 1.87mg for 2 weeks. Following this stop the Mirtazepine.
You will have insomnia the first 10 days or so after first reduction. But you'll then get back to sleep after two weeks as your body adjusts to the lower dosages. This will be a cycle until you're off the Mirtazepine. You may also experience:
Headaches
Decreased Appetite
Weight Loss
Fatigue from Insomnia
Anxiety
My absolute best recommendation is to keep your mind & body busy through out the entire titrating process. Exercise, work, but do not sit around watching tv etc. This will result in increased anxiety and in some people panick attacks due to a misunderstanding of their withdrawal symptoms.
Folks, you can all do this. Yes you're going to feel the above symptoms but remember this:
THE WITHDRAWAL WILL RESOLVE.
aga02916 andy46832
Posted
Hi all , my gp stopped my mirtazapine 2 weeks ago without tappering(I was on it for over 3 months) and put me on fluoxetine 10mg for 7 days and after that increased it to 20mg , since stopping mirtazapine I feel constant nasuea , but yesterday on day 13th without mirtazapine and day 12th of fluoxetine Ive been sick , woke up with extreme anxiety and sickness , tremors, cant keep anything down , went to see gp to ask if its side effects of fluoxetine or withdrawl from mirtazapine .he said its neither that is my condition 😳 ive told him I know my body and I know when something is wrong but he just thought I was being drama queen and he wasnt supportive . Prescribed me antisickness tablets and sick note for work. I was on mirtzapine for anxiety but noticed it was making me a diffirent person and I felt numb and more depressed . So now I dont know whats happening , is it fluoxetine or withdrawl or both ??
aga02916 andy46832
Posted
Hi all , my gp stopped my mirtazapine 2 weeks ago without tappering(I was on it for over 3 months) and put me on fluoxetine 10mg for 7 days and after that increased it to 20mg , since stopping mirtazapine I feel constant nasuea , but yesterday on day 13th without mirtazapine and day 12th of fluoxetine Ive been sick , woke up with extreme anxiety and sickness , tremors, cant keep anything down , went to see gp to ask if its side effects of fluoxetine or withdrawl from mirtazapine .he said its neither that is my condition 😳 ive told him I know my body and I know when something is wrong but he just thought I was being drama queen and he wasnt supportive . Prescribed me antisickness tablets and sick note for work. I was on mirtzapine for anxiety but noticed it was making me a diffirent person and I felt numb and more depressed . So now I dont know whats happening , is it fluoxetine or withdrawl or both ??
Calmer aga02916
Posted
Hi Aga
Sorry to read of your suffering. I am wondering if you might be better starting a new discussion as you might get more answers (this is an old thread and some of the folk may have left the forum).
I would say most certainly, that the symptoms you describe are withdrawal (or call it discontinuation if you like) from Mirtazapine. You might have to excuse your doctor for not knowing that AD's should NEVER be stopped abruptly like that, although in my opinion if your doc is going to prescribe them for you, they should at least do research when you return with this suffering.
If you can, if it is possible, I wonder if there is a more AD competent doctor within the practice you attend who understands about AD's. Mirt' is one of the more difficult AD's to taper (let alone cold turkey). My advice would be to reinstate the Mirt' with the fluoxetine, they can be taken together ... then slowly taper off the Mirt' ~ you don't say what dose you were on ? It may be possible to take less if you can reinstate, so if you were on 15 mg take 11.25 mg ( half a tablet plus 1/4 of a tablet ~ USE A PILL CUTTERwait for stabilisation - could be a day/week or a little more - but after just 2 weeks you should stabilise.
Everyone is different, I appreciate that DitchDoctor in the post above was able to quit quite easily, but our DNA is not his DNA, we might be able to overcome a life threatening disease and him not ... its all in our genes.
If you prefer you could try and ride it out, no knowing how long but it doesn't help that you looked for a cure and got made sick by the meds' and have now lost some confidence. Keep a journal of the med ride, don't let the docs add any more - they're good at that sometimes.
I hope this helps a liittle. Wishing youu well.