Mirtazapine Withdrawal success story

I took Mirtazapine for five years (since 2017). Originally on 7.5mg, then increased to 15mg since 2020. I also tried 30mg and 45mg for several months.

It worked very well for sleep and appetite, I have GAD and the most bothering symptom for me is the nausea and the complete loss of appetite, without medications, I basically would vomit even when I had a glass of water. With Mirtazapine, I can eat like a "normal" person.

However, I don't think Mirtazapine is doing anything for my depression and anxiety, I was on Amitriptyline bofore Miratazapine and I had the most wonderful year in my life with only 25mg of Amitriptyline. Unfortunately, I became very short-tempered and irritable with Amitriptyline and I had to stop it and switch to Mirtazapine as I couldn't tolerate any SSRIs and SNRIs. But I definitely felt the difference, Mirtazapine has no effet on my mental health other than allowing me to sleep and eat.

My psychiatrist suggested increasing the dose to 30mg and then 45mg, I tried for several months but I still felt nothing other than getting extremely hungry before sleep and I started to put on weight. So I decided to stay on 15mg even if it's not helpful for my depression and anxiety (at least I can eat and live a normal life).

Then, out of the blue, it pooped out at the beginning of this year. I started to get insomnia and I felt very nauseous through out the day. The shrink thought it was the stress because I got a job after my PhD and I have never worked in my life. After several months of adding different medications to enhance Mirtazapine, I finally figured out that it was the Mirtazapine who stopped working.

Then I started to taper Mirtazapine, I actually have tried to stop Mirtazapine two years ago but I failed as the withdrawal symptoms were unbearable. But this time, I succeeded.

I cut my 15mg dose to 7.5, I was miserable for 3 days and I had to sign off from work because I felt extremely anxious and there was a creepy trembling inside my body, like the organs were having seizures constantly. My doctor suggested taking Pregabalin or Gabapentin, they did help, I felt less miserable and I could finally fonction at the end of the first week.

Then I stopped the 7.5mg two weeks later, as the GAD and depression are still there, the doctor put me on Amitriptyline again as it worked very well last time. So I was on Amitriptyline 50mg and Gabapentin 300mg tid, when I completely stopped Mirtazapine, and for someone who's very sensitive to meds, I didn't feel any withdrawal from Mirtazapine, the nausea is gone, I get at least 8 hours of sleep without interruption(probably because I was an alcoholic and I stopped drinking when I stopped taking Mirtazapine). I actually felt better.

I noticed that Gabapentin is very addictive, so I started tapering off Gabapentin one week ago, now I'm on 100mg bid and I didn't notice any difference. I might stop Gabapentin in one week since I feel pretty stable these days, I do eat less but that actually suits me because I have put on weight while on Mirtazapine and I desperately need to get lean again.

So, for conclusion, I think quitting Mirtazapine is possible, probably because it already pooped out when I decided to quit taking it. I did use Gabapentin to help me through the most difficult time, and at the meantime, I successfully stopped drinking alcohol when I was taking Gabapentin. I felt relieved and kind of happy because I replaced Mirtazapine (who was not effective for me) with Amitriptyline (very effective for depression and anxiety) and I finally stopped drinking after so many years of struggling to quit alcohol without success.

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