Mirtazapine withdrawal, how long does it last?

Hi Vikki

Sorry you too are fighting the good fight against Mirtz w/d.  I agree with you about the physical side effects, but I also think the mental/emotional ones are pretty sucky too.

You wrote you’re 15 mos in mirtz w/d. May I ask how long you were on mirtz and at what dose?  Also, how did you taper off it, what increments?

Vikki, i hear you on that sleep issue! I go to the*&#@ who prescribe this on Thursday.

Be sure and let the #%^& know how many people suffer because of their egregious lack of knowledge of drugs they peddle.

Its very interestng to hear you are so long off this yet still not well. 

For us who are titrating down to ultimately come off, what is the main problem getting rid of this drug? I feel so sorry for you that you still dont feel better after all this time.  Did your dr not try to prescribe you something to help? 

My blissful life is also over since this affected me, i tried many a/ds but ended up,on this and now suffering after three years, only managed low dose.  Now trying to get off.  I always feel bad when i wake but then can feel a little,better as day progresses.  Never feel ‘normal’ like i was.

when you say physical sides are the worst, can you explain what they are?

your experience may help the rest of us.

sending you wishes to full return of health.

I have the same questions for Vikki too, Ann. 

Hi Ann, can you remind me where you’re at with your taper? Are you on 3.75mg or less than that now?

Hi Jo, i held for three months at 3.75 then have cut a bit off recently, about 2 now.  How about you?

Thank you.

I’m at 10.5mg and moving down to 9mg this week (1/10th reduction). Gulp.

As you weaned down did you have woorsening side effects or was it the same, or was it hard to tell?

Sorry your still suffering 15months after,did you taper?and from what dose?what withdrawels are you suffering?

Im a couple of months off and not great.  Did you get stomach problems as well as sleep?

 

Congrats on week 15!!!  You’re nearing the 4 Month mark. 

What do you have planned for first day on your own?  How about some crocheting? 

Do you think it might be helpful to journal your waves and windows? Maybe that way when you read back you can see the great progress you’re making.

Hey jo I've written a list of jobs that need doing, also will use the Facebook group as a kind of journal, will be setting that up tomorrow 

That is brilliant, Toria!  How is your day today?

Mine has been full of crying and anxiety. Some things are changing and they’re really causing me great angst and panic.  My GI tract is also not happy.

Jo all that is completely normal for withdrawal, my stomach is starting to settle a little now but had a hell of a day today 😐 Going to message you regarding support group x

Toria,

My psych is dealing with My stomach issues first

But I’m not even in withdrawal, I’m still weaning (currently at 10.5mg). 

I’ve had a hysterical day of crying and anxiety.

First, the only family member ( my Niece) living close by in same State is moving to the State where all the other family members live, very far away. Leaves me with no one. I recently moved here to be near her and her family.  I know no one in this town.

Then my therapist told me she will be leaving her practice end of Feb.  I just changed to her in November and I love her, she was really helping me. 

There’s more but too long. I didn’t sleep at all last night because of the news from Niece. Lots of tremors and intrusive thoughts that would jolt me up when I’d start to nod off. How painful.

I am beyond worn out. Three years of this is by far enough, thank you very much.  I’m just so raw today.

Aw jo sending hugs ❤️ My first day alone today so feeling terrible, lets battle this together x

Is part of this terrible weaning / withdrawal off mirtz that you feel completely and utterly hopeless? That’s how I feel, like I’m going to be like this or worse forever.

After 3 years and things getting worse each and every day, I feel so overwhelmed and without any hope.  I’m sure this is depression, but who wouldn’t be depressed knowing I took something to help me with sleep and ended up addicted to a drug that not only didn’t help me with that sleep but is harming me terribly.  I want out of this nightmare!

Oh how you sound like me.  Everything you have said is so true for me just now.  A little glimmer would help. I dont know how we get through all this.   The words, overwhelmed and without hope are so relevant. Surely we can see some progress in withdrawal one day.

Hi Ann. I’m so sorry you’re in the same boat. 

You’re the one that seems the closest in similarities to my situation and timeline.  Did you titatrate slowly? I can’t remember. Also, did mirtz ever help you with any of the reasons you took it in the first place?  Or did it make you feel worse?

When I took it it made me feel worse (racing heart, anxiety, panic) and also gave me night terrors.  That is until I took a Chinese herb my naturopath gave me and then things calmed down. But when I tried to wean off mirtz in 2015 (1 month of weaning) things got really bad and I never recovered from that and had to go back on it and the Chinese herb lost it’s effect. 

Jo, I wasn't anxious or depressed before the mirtazapine the anxiety I had was caused by steriods in the hospital, the depression/anxiety is all part of getting off mirtazapine x

Hello,

I need some help with negative/worry intrusive thoughts. I battle them everyday. They are currently beating me down, especially since my sleep is minimal. I need to keep it together...especially til my dr appt on Thursday. I need to be in a position of strength not of desperation when i see my a**#@!% of a dr. Thanks guys.

Hi gretel, in my opinion the racing/intrusive thoughts are worse than anxiety, are you taking anything to help with sleep at all? The only thing I find that helps is distraction but it's so hard when you're so tired, the Facebook page is up by the way x

Toria,

Great! Whats the page name?

Mirtazapine withdrawal support group x

I don’t have an answer for the racing intrusive thoughts either. They are so bloody strong and relentless, esp when one is sleep deprived.  It’s hard to ignore them and they try to make you think you need to act on them when they call out something you should be afraid of, which is non-stop. 

Those very type thoughts are why I started exhibiting OCD symptoms. Out of irrational fears concocted by my brain. It goes from thoughts to action to anxiety to panic.  And if I don’t act on them, it goes from thought to anxiety to panic. 

What Toria mentioned about distraction is the only thing I can suggest, but it doesn’t always help me.

Hi again Gretel

What my therapist told me to do was try and replace the negative racing thoughts with a positive one. I agree that would probably help but the operative word here is “racing”.  

I don’t know about you guys but my racing negative intrusive thoughts are many, one after another.  If I logically explain away one, there’s one right behind it tee’d up and ready to pounce. 

So if I tried to counter every negative thought with a positive one, which I have, I would need to have a huge list of positive thoughts ready and waiting. 

Thanks jo

I agree! May be a good idea to come up with preordained positive thoughts. They do come on fast! But that method has been the most effective for me.

Do you guys also have back to back negative thoughts? One after another type thing?

Here’s an example.

Your brain starts the cycle by starting negative thoughts and keeps at it by providing evidence why it’s to be feared or felt negatively. 

You respond out loud with “I am a good person.”  Then again with “I am a REALLY good person”. 

So basically Gretel, your positive thought response doesn’t have to address the specific negative thought, it can be anything at all as long as it’s positive. And what I’ve found is if my positive thought responses are about me they seem to be much more effective. 

Here’s some I use:

✅ I’m a good person

✅ I’m a caring person

✅ I’m a kind person

✅ I deserve happiness

✅ I’m a lovable person

CBT would help but the problem is now in the U.K. It's only group therapy 😑 X

All day long.

Are you saying a person in the UK can now only get group therapy, there’s no individual therapy?

I wouldn’t survive that because I can’t hear other’s stories because my mind takes their stories and uses that info against me.  I start thinking I have their symptoms. 

Yes i think we are in similar situations here.   Its horrible this titrating down and i get the same side effects you have.

i think the same side effects have been with me at every drop which is why ive taken it slowly.  Dont think it has made much difference really though.  Still going through the insomnia, anxiety, stomach issues etc.  So hard to live a life during all this.  To top it all ive got toothache today, root canal last week feels like an abscess starting. Great. As if we dont have enough to deal with.

i think its helpful to keep in touch to see how were doing, please feel free to get in touch any time and good luck.

Forgot, you asked me if it ever did any good, well yes it worked in 2000 and i got better, then off it, when i started again no it didnt help, made me feel much worseand ive been trying to get off since.  Wish id never seen it.

Thanks Ann. So sorry about the tooth ache. Maybe place a wet tea bag on it to help with the swelling?

Can I ask, did mirtz ever help you for purposes of why you took it in the first place?

Okay, thank you. 

For me it never helped but made me feel worse too. Effin POS drug.

P.S.  We’re on Toria’s FB page (Mirtazapine withdrawal support Group) and we miss you there. ❤️

Ann

P.S.  We’re on Toria’s FB page (Mirtazapine withdrawal support Group) and we miss you there. ❤️

Was thinking about you Ann and wanted to ask if you’ve tried Buspar?  I ask because I tried it but it didn’t work on me. I was on it for eight weeks (oct & nov 2017). 

It’s an anti-anxiety Med. It had very little w/d effects when I quit it. It’s not a Benzo so suppose to be non-addictive.

It’s an odd drug in that some people it works on and some it doesn’t (50/50). Some people have to take high doses for it to work and some only works on low dose, so you have to play with it. 

The down side is you have to take it a couple times a day because it has a short half life. 

Maybe ask your Psych about it if you haven’t already?

Jo,

Funny i was going to ask the same thing. Same here i tried, didnt work. Thinking of trying again, my options are limited.

I too think you should try it again Gretel. Out of those eight weeks I tried it I had 3 days (a couple hours in each day) where I felt normal again. But it didn’t last.

It took a lot for me to even try another pharmaceutical.  But this mirtz drug makes one feel so desperate. 

Im afraid of anything that has to build into your system before working. Makes me suspicious. But i already stopped benzos and sleep pills. I may try it again

CBT is group now I'm booked in but not going as they put me in a trauma one, and counselling they normally only give if you're suicidal x

I feel the same way, Gretel. That’s how I ended up on mirtz, kept being told “wait for it to get to a therapeutic level” when I complained it gave me symptoms I never had before (racing heart, anxiety, panic) and didn’t help with sleep which was the reason I was taking it in the first place. 

I suspect there are very few, if any, doctors or psychiatrists that really know exactly what these drugs do to our brains and body.  

Again on your tooth thing, please remember that any kind of trauma (root canal) to your body can at times be amplified because of the mirtz withdrawal effects you’re having. 

What typically would feel like expected normal pain from a root canal might be magnified by what you’re going thru. 

Hugs, and hang in there.

I hope that’s the case and not an abscess. 

Thanks for that info about Buspar,  they havent tried it on me yet, is it in uk?

today i feel more depressed than anxious.  Spoke to an old friend on phone, theyre off to Oz fir six weeks, holiday and see family.  She gets out with friends and has coffee, does all normal,things.  I felt so flat this morning that conversation running round my head.  Why am i so unable to do these things.  Cpn tells me to be happy with what ive got. I cant see it that way.  Is buspar an anti dep?

I hope today isnt too bad for you.

i notice you came off benzos, can you tell,me what level you managed to get down from and if it took a long time?

i am fighting this mirtazapine just now and need benzos but will have to come off them at some point.  Any helpful experience?

Hey ann,

I took benzos for many years. Atleast 10. I detoxed off them in june. Ive been fine. Hard not to have a pill to reach for. At the same time this mirt stuff started so maybe it got overshadowed. The last one i was takinv was valium 10 mg 3x/day. I just stopped cold turkey.

Hi Ann,

For some reason I thought you were already taking a Benzo, diazepam?

I am, its Gretel who has stopped it

Gotcha, hope your experience of getting off them is similar to Gretels where it’s fairly easy.

Ann,

i was taking valium 10 mg 3 times daily for years. I just stopped under suervision of my dr. I didnt find it bad. I also detoxed from alcohol at the same time. That was a pain in the a**.

When you say dr supervised you, i think mine will too, just wondered if you did it a bit at a time.

Sorry to but in Ann,but what a crap cpn you have,I would ask to change,as he or she definatley has NO comprehension of depression and anxiety,and if you were not unwell from suffering this,I pretty sure you would be 100% happy.that comment is totally unacceptable.really feel for you.

I reduce in a weeks time to 18.75mg,(been titration get down from 45mg since last May).and every reduction hit with withdrawels.just try and distract myself and keep busy.walking and swimming when able.