Mirtazapine withdrawal timeline - help!
Posted , 76 users are following.
Hi, just wondering if anyone can give me some guidance of what to expect during withdrawal from Mirtazapine.
I have been taking 15 mg for about 8 months then tapered to 7.5 for a month and 3.75 for another month. I stopped taking it completely 3 weeks ago. Mirtazapine has helped me with sleep and anxiety to some extent but the weight gain (17 pounds) is more than I was willing to put up with.
I had no withdrawal symptoms during tapering or for the first 10 days after stopping. Since then my sleep has been getting gradually worse and right now can barely sleep at all without sleeping pill. I'm also feeling very tearful and having lots of negative thoughts. My appetite has reduced slightly although haven't lost any weight yet (unfortunately)
So questions for anyone has been through it... When did your withdrawal symptoms 'peak' and then start to get better? How quickly did your ability to sleep come back? And how long did it take you to lose weight gained?
I appreciate that everyone has a different experience, but it would be helpful just to have some idea of what's to come! Starting to feel a bit desperate especially with the insomnia. Thanks
2 likes, 213 replies
colette57512 helenj289
Posted
Hi everyone! im 2 weeks back on 30 mg after going down to 15mg. Had terrible w/d symptoms so went back up after 2 weeks. I felt great before going down and now that im back up, i feel so anxious practically all day. So mixed up and dont know if i should go back on benzos or wait it out though it seems to be getting worse not better. What should i do cos its getting me down and thinking that im back to the beginning again all over. Advice or help needed please.
lindarivendell colette57512
Posted
Please go to Surviving Antidepressants support forum. They are acknowledge by some psychiatrists and give expert advice and support. I was on 15mg of Mirtazapine and went cold turkey and had horrible withdrawal after 6 weeks of withdrawal I went back on them. I got much worse and ended up in hospital. The forum experts told me if I was worse going back to the full dose of 15mg my body had become sensitized to the drug and that was what made me much worse. They adviced if off for about several weeks that a small dose should be introduced to stop the withdrawal as taking the full dose can make things much worse. It's like a heroin addict going cold turkey and then later going straight back on his original dose. In this way lots of addicts have overdosed. I didn't take their advice and doctors just kept putting my dose up in hospital. from 15mg to 30mg then to 45mg. I just got worse and worse. Finally I was put on Amitrytyline and taken off the Mirtazapine. The Amitryptyline saved my life. It was discovered though that I can't take SSRI'S or new generation anti depressants like Mirtazapine so the sensitization of going back straight on the 15mg was very much worse for me because my body can't deal well with these types of antidepressants. Please get advice from this forum I wish I had taken their advice at the time. Taking any antidepressant once you feel well and been on for a reasonable time you should wean off it very very slowly. they will give you loads of advice on this. God bless you, you will get there I am now back to my normal happy self. I am also now weaning off my Amitryptyline. from 75mg I am now down to 15mg. I was cutting down 5mg every 3 weeks xx
ann55375 lindarivendell
Posted
i titrated off mirtazapine slowly last year. dr left me on valium for anxiety. i am now feeling depression has returned and wonder if i should ask for amitriptylene, does it help depression well, i never really got on with mirtazapine or any other ssri.
colette57512 helenj289
Posted
hi! been back up at 30mg for 3 weeks now after going down to 15mg on docs advice. Was great for 10 days then w/d hit so went back up to original dose. i dont seem to be stabilising and have acute anxiety. Dont know what to do now. Advice really necessary. Should i take a tranquilliser or will it stabilize? Why is it taking so long to do so? what to do?
Tbruno helenj289
Posted
i too am having sleep problems after about 2 weeks off mirt i took 7.5 for about 5 months and cut pills in half for a week i now sleep every other daywondering when this will stop! am also taking magnesium and Gaba
katy68823 helenj289
Posted
heyyy i'm wondering how you're getting on now? i've been taking 15mg per night for around 12 months, having dropped from 30mg. I stopped taking my mirtazipine 8 days ago, my mood is fine so far.
some side effects i'm having are:
my main reason for quitting was the weight gain, i have gained 3 stone in the 2 years ive been taking it! i didnt taper my dose, i just stopped. if anyone can tell me what i've got coming i'd be grateful!
tammy011872 katy68823
Posted
Katie how are you doing I just found this link and I too want to just cut it off I am having adverse effects and is very scary I want to know what is going to happen if I was to just stop I’ve only been on it for three months I dose was up to 45 and that’s when everything just plummeted
vivienne09149 tammy011872
Posted
Tammy, please dont just stop. this drug is terrible, you have to go really slow, I tapered over 6 months the first time, and still had withdrawals, the second time I tapered really quick and it's been a bad experience, still suffering after 2 months off.
tammy011872 helenj289
Edited
Hi I have been on mirtazapine for three months now I started at 15 was increased to 30 then 45. I was showing severe adverse signs and signs of developing serotonin syndrome so I have been quickly administered a two week does down process then I am to go one more week with nothing.
In my case I was showing every sign add an adverse and magnified adverse effect.
it is sort of hard to explain I was put on mirtazapine for anxiety and once the dose was increased to 45 my symptoms of adverse were exactly the symptoms of depression which were not evident four Months ago so by me taking Murtaza pan and it adverse thing on me it created symptoms of depression. It was horrible those symptoms of depression that it was giving me was so real busy I’m not it was horrible those symptoms of depression that it was giving me was so real busy I’m not a depressed type person so I was like wow what is really going on here. I have never contemplated a suicidal thought and I’m telling you I looked at that as being the easiest way out and that was my greatest red flag because I know better than that so for me to contemplate that I was like yeah and I am totally having an adverse effects hear something is not right so on the fourth month it was discussed that I am being pulled off on a two week process Sorry there a lot of typos but I hope that helps a little.
Brighterday helenj289
Posted
I was prescribed 7.5 mg 10 days ago for insomnia. I have really high anxiety. any advice on how to get off it? I know it's only been 10 days but 10 days too long. I know my insomnia will return and my anxiety will be crazy.
danuta90335 helenj289
Posted
It is going to be very hard and the doctors won't tell you this. It took me more than 6 months to get back to be myself again. It is going to get better but with a time. There will be times when you want to go back to meds so you can sleep but when you go back you are in this vicious cycle. What helped me with insomnia was tylenol pm. Your sleep will come back but gradually. There is a light at the end if the tunnel but each person is different.
sara28814 danuta90335
Posted
how long have you been on it
ilona89257 helenj289
Posted
Hi all,
I have been on Mirtazapine 45mg for nearly two years for my OCD. Last month I have decided to come off as I didn't feel the benefit of it and also it killed my sex drive. After talking to my GP who lowered my dose to 30mg. I was expecting bad side effects, however I never felt better even though I have mood changes, but overall I would say I have proper feelings apart from anxiety which was so confusing at the beginning of lowering my does. I do know that my OCD is not gone, it took the huge amount edge of which felt so scary. In the last couple of days I woke up feeling nause and with very dry mouth (but that maybe due to the antibiotics I am taking too). I was just wondering has anyone experienced like this effect?
Thanks for any reply
karel57258 helenj289
Posted
Hi all, I am just taking Mirtazapine for less than a months, 10 days for 15 mg and before 7,5 mg. Do you think I am already used to it and would have withdrawl symptoms? I suffered from insomnia and that was the reason I started this drug and It helped, but I don't want to get addicted. I am just 30 years old. I am thinking about tapering slowly in a matter of months. Is there somebody withdrawing, whose main reason for starting this drug was insomnia?
danuta90335 karel57258
Posted
If you can find alternatives, you should try it because this drug is so too hard to come off. you will end up regretting it that you started in the first place. No doctor will tell you that. When you will stop the drug your insomnia will be ten times worse for a long time, but eventually you will be fine. I have been there!!!
vivienne09149 danuta90335
Posted
Agree with you totally. Worst thing I ever did taking this horrendous drug. struggling 7 months later.