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Mirtazapine withdrawal, how long does it last?

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rachael42781
rachael42781

Hi, Just looking for some reassurance/support. I was on mirtazapine for about 6months. I went up to 45mg and decided to taper down as I felt they were making me worse and the weight gain was nasty. I felt fab tapering down and generally, its been better than I anticipated however, I'm approaching the 3rd week off of mirtazapine and have started to feel a bit anxious the last few days. I've read withdrawal peaks around the 3/4week mark, so I'm trying to stay positive that it will pass.

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  • paul_260874
    paul_260874 rachael42781

    Edited

    Keep going it seems to get to a stage and passes quickly after peaks so well done and keep going your better than any drug. Keep positive is the answer don’t slip in to thinking u can’t do life with out it u can. I was a addict for 20 years and the last prescription drug I come off was metazapine and life has been something I dreamed of for years I didn’t think I could live a normal life without meds how wrong I was life is so much better now that’s not saying I don’t have bad day but everyone does. My thinking used to tell me no one felt the way I did but how my head lies to me keep smiling your life is worth enjoying put things in place that u always wanted to do because u can do them make plans for your future but if they don’t all happen it’s only because when one dream passes it’s leaving space for a better one take care u will get there one day at a time.
    • toria_07298
      toria_07298 paul_260874

      Posted

      How long did the withdrawal last? I'm 3 months off on Monday and feel awful.

    • Tracejane
      Tracejane toria_07298

      Posted

      I am off matazipine 3 months now it does go away the withdrawal, i had muscle aches and pains and threw up anything i eaten. Get vitamin D checked if you have been takeing mataz and you have muscle pain or aches herd that it can cause deficiency. Amitriptaline is better for sleeping and depression, anxiety, pain.
    • toria_07298
      toria_07298 Tracejane

      Posted

      I'm already on amit I'm 3 months off tomorrow and feel worse than ever, all my bloods came back normal 😩

    • Guest
      Guest Tracejane

      Posted

      Can I ask how long you were on mirtazapine?what dosage?and did you taper? If so by how much each time.very encouraging to feel you are now fine.gives us all hope.
    • Morning_Rain
      Morning_Rain Tracejane

      Posted

      Hi TraceJane, 

      Have some questions, hope that’s okay. 

      We’re you on Amit throughout your mirtz withdrawal? Did you take Amit specifically for helping with the weaning down of mirtz?

      If it’s okay to ask, how much Amit (dosage) are you taking? And what was your mirtz dosage?

      What are side effects of Amit? Is it also hard to wean off of? 

    • toria_07298
      toria_07298 Morning_Rain

      Posted

      I've been on amitriptyline for a long time, in lower doses it's a pain blocker in higher doses it's an antidepressant it also contains antihistamine like mirtazapine so makes you drowsy, not sure if doctors prescribe it for help with mirtazapine withdrawal I could be wrong though as I was already on it.

  • Morning_Rain
    Morning_Rain rachael42781

    Posted

    Hi All,

    Been on 15mg Mirtazapine for 4 years.  After one failed attempt at weaning off, I’m again trying to rid myself of this horrifically evil drug. 

    Back in 2015 following my then-providers instructions for weaning, I reduced down .25 (quarter) of the drug ever 10d.  Was on 15mg for 2 years. Thought I was good, felt great and was so happy to be off it since it never really helped me but made me feel worse. 

    2 weeks after my last dose, the side effects started; full body rash, welts all over my face, pounding racing heart 24/7, back to back panic attacks, severe constipation, insomnia/night mares/ sympathetic hyper arousal, anxiety on steroids, rage/anger, full body tremors, shaking, profuse sweating and chills ALL DAY/NIGHT LONG.  I had no idea what was wrong with me since it was two weeks after my last dose but finally figured it out. Turns out those two weeks of feeling great were the last remanence of mirtz being processed by my liver. For 4 agonizing long weeks I tried everything (with my ND & MD) to fix the very acute withdrawal symptoms with no luck. I ended up going back on it, 15mg.

    In November of 2017 I started again to titrate off the 15mg Mirtz. This time, after reading & researching, I am weaning down 1/10th the current dose every 30-45d.  I’m currently in my 3rd month and at 10.5mg. It has been very hard, I have all the same side effects as before but to a much lessor degree, but this time I also have severe diarrhea. I’m using a specialty lab to re-compound the drug reductions by 1/10th the dose.  My p-doc calls them in. 

    My heart goes out to everyone on here trying to get off this drug. My original provider of this drug promised me it would be easy to get off. I had no idea my body would become addicted to it. 

    I’ll keep updating everyone on my progress here hoping it may help someone. Also, it’s important to know that even when you’re at 1mg of Mirtazapine, you have to go just as slow if not slower in your reduction. At a minimum it should be 1/10 of the current dose (not original dose) reductions if not more. The reason is that even at 1mg there is still 20% occupancy of Mirtazapine stored In your brain receptors.

    • gina01020
      gina01020 Morning_Rain

      Posted

      Thank you Jo.r

      I had exactly those symptoms when I came off them.

      Unfortunately, the doc had changed me from( 7 years ) of Mirt one day to Lexapro the next so I had no idea which was causing the problem..

      I know it was months of hell and I never want to go back through that again.

      I'm waiting on a psychiatrist app now to try and sort it out as after 12 months of this, I want a specialist opinion of what's going on.

      The doc wants me to up my dose of Lexapro but my symptoms get worse again when I do so I'm going to wait til I see the psyic if I can next month to see what he says.

      I didn't know about tapering etc when I was swapped but the chemist was horrified and rang the doc...he being g the arrogant type, gave her what for so the poor thing isn't game to say much now.

      I stuck with the Lexapro for so long as they say they have the least side effects and wanted to give it a chance but although they work really well for panic attacks and phobias. The constant dizzy head and lack of remembering anything is driving me crazy..

      I hope you have great success with the tapering . I really think it's the best way to go now I know about it too..I did it with oxazepam a few months back and succeeded... unfortunately, I'm probably going to have to rely on it again for a while to get through another change..

      Thank you again...as much as I hate to know you are suffering this aweful withdrawal,it is good to know I'm not going mad...then docsseem to think I'm making it up

    • Morning_Rain
      Morning_Rain

      Posted

      I also forgot to add that I have very loud swishing in my ears, never had this before Mirtazapine. This isn’t tinnitus either. The worse the anxiety, the louder the swishing. 

      I’ve also noticed that several folks have reported getting a cold, sore throat or flu like symptoms in withdrawal.  It’s important to know that mirtazapine has analgesic properties so I would guess it’s probably related. 

      This POS toxic drug has stolen so many years of my life not to mention other things like my health, etc., I can’t tell you the regret I have for ever taking it. 

    • Gretel
      Gretel Morning_Rain

      Posted

      Yes, Jo, I get the feeling my ears are under water, cant hear over the swishing and affects my balance. I am glad everyone is here, being surrounded by like kind is really helping.
    • Morning_Rain
      Morning_Rain gina01020

      Posted

      Hi Gina

      I’m so sorry you’re going thru this.

      Unfortunately, most Psychiatrist are completely cluelessly ignorant about AD/SSRI/etc. withdrawal. They only know how to prescribe pharmaceuticals, they don’t know how to get you off them. They recite what the text books from big pharma tell them, which is NOT by any stretch of the imagination accurate.  

      They’ll ignorantly tell you it only takes a few weeks or a couple mos max to wean down. And when you tell them the egregious acute withdrawal symptoms you’re having, they respond with they’ve never heard that before or that you’re unique or it’s your anxiety coming back, blah blah blah.  For me, I took mirtazapine to help with sleep. I never had any of the side effects I listed in my original post before Mirtazapine.

      I had to do the research to find out how to get off this drug. And then I had to find the right Psych that would help me. It has been anything but easy. 

      I’l post a link to the sight that shows the correct way to titrate off an AD.  I have to locate it. I hope this helps you. I wish you the very best of luck. 

    • ann55375
      ann55375 Morning_Rain

      Posted

      You sound like me.   Was on mirtazapine in 2000 for a couple of years at 15mg. Tailed off it slowly and never took another until had severe anxiety and depression after a surgery in 2014.  Dr put me on this, tried to titrate up,but i couldnt manage more than 15and still felt awful.  He tried several other ssris, tricyclic, pregabalin, trazadone, etc.  All made me worse so i have ended up trying now to titrate down the mirtaz.   Got to 3.75 and still feel hungover in mornings and lack of energy in day.  Now will try to get down lower but its a real awful med to lower.  I have isolated myself from friends and that makes me feel terrible.  I just want to get back to normal.  Is it going to take years to get off this dose? GP said half it then two weeks later half it again, then stop.   I think i would die if i did that.   She wont give me liquid, says too expensive.

      feel really stuck but i see you are managing to titrate slowly, are the side effects terrible whilst going slow? Did your dr put you on another anti dep? I am trying to avoid that.

    • gina01020
      gina01020 Morning_Rain

      Posted

      Thanks heaps Jo.

      I was fine on Mirt except it wasn't working anymore so the option was to increase the dose but my weight had gone up 20kg on it already so not a good option.

      I can't believe the doc thought changing me from 30mg Mirt one day to 20mg lexapro the next e a good option..nuts.

      He also has me on Valdoxam to help with sleep as I'm only getting an hour or 2 a night.

      One of them is eating my stomach away...i had this before with Aropax which is why I was on Mirt. Kindest on the stomach.

      I need to take something for my HAD and panic disorder so hoping the psych can tell me which one will work without killing my stomach.

      I will definitely not just be doing what they say this time without looking into it first.. they don't care, just hand out some more pills.

      At the moment I feel like my life revolves around pills. ADs x 2, stomach x 4 and then there's the blood pressure, cholesterol etc..

      Im no fan of taking drugs at the best of times and usually take natural stuff so this is doing my head in.

      My Dad is 96 and takes absolutely nothing except natural herbs etc. His mantra is...if you want to live, stay away from doctors.

      I need to get myself sorted so i can get back to my life as I've had non for over 12 months.. My poor partner wants his life back too.

      This site has helped me enormously to know what's going on and know I'm not alone.

      Ginaxo

    • Morning_Rain
      Morning_Rain ann55375

      Posted

      Yes Ann, the side effects are barely tolerable, I feel so bad and can hardly function in every day life. The anxiety and panic attacks alone keep me from leaving my house. I keep telling myself that it’s the drug that’s making me feel this way, so afraid of everything, but it rarely helps. 

      And nope, I’m not taking anything else, I refuse to. I don’t want to work so hard to get off one drug only to be in the same situation with another one.  

      My body does not like or do well on pharms. They just don’t work on me but, moreover theymake me feel worse.

      I have always been ultra sensitive to any drugs, even OTC stuff.  I can’t take things like melatonin or Benadryl because it has the opposite effect and completely wires me. 

      I agreed to take mirtz to help with sleep but it instead made me super jittery and gave me severe anxiety & panic attacks, and made me aggravated and angry. POS drug. 

    • gina01020
      gina01020 Morning_Rain

      Posted

      Thank you Jo, Toria , Ann and others.

      This has been the best help in them while 12 months I've been on this forum trying to find answers. Even though I feel for everyone of you going through this nightmare, it has helped to know I'm not just making this up like the doc would have me believe.

      He said I just googled the symptoms....I said I googled after I had them because I thought I was going mad.

      I'm sure I had seratonin overload too.

      I can relate to everyone's symptoms as I was a very capable independant artist before this. I also had 5 ballet schools when I was younger so I know I'm capable. Then went to someone who couldn't even work out what I was doing in the kitchen, couldn't drive, still can't paint properly as making decisions is super hard. And my creative passion seems to have died.

      Doing any job is hard as I can't seem to keep my mind on one thing. If I pass something else, I start doing that and then realise I haven't done what I started...the only good thing is i've lost the 22 kg I'd put on while I was on Mirt.

      I hope you all get peace and normality back in your lives asap.

      I know just want to feel normal again. Preferably without the anxiety and panic i've had my whole life.

      Much love and compassion for you all.

      Gina

    • Morning_Rain
      Morning_Rain gina01020

      Posted

      I did the same thing, Gina. I had all these terrible acute side effects and didn’t know what was wrong with me, that’s when I googled (Mayo Clinic) and found out what was causing them, I was in withdrawal, I was horrified. 
    • toria_07298
      toria_07298 gina01020

      Posted

      It's good we all have each other here as other people understanding is awesome ??

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