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Mirtazipine withdrawal - weight loss?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Aquarium
Aquarium

This is my first post on the forums so I'm hoping you can help me.

I've been on 30mg mirtazipine for about 3-4 months and the weight gain is making me very depressed. I have an eating disorder - EDNOS but with a real problem with bingeing and purging. The mirtazipine has increased my appetite - it gives me the munchies at night which leads to horrible bingeing, and it's also made it impossible to lose weight. It's making me feel horrible. I'm going to ask my consultant to reduce the dose because I desperately want to be off it.

My question is - how bad is the withdrawal, and how much weight did you lose when you came off it (in kgs if possible)? I'm also on 225mg venlafaxine, 450 pregabilin and 200 lamotrigine, so I'm wondering whether the withdrawal symptoms will be easier because of all the other meds?

Thanks in advance!

1 like, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • sharon12462
    sharon12462 Aquarium

    Posted

    Hi this is the most common with us all.I found i had to cut all carbs out to luse weight but thats what the cravings seem to be.. drove me mental i came off them after 4months.I didn't taper either .. went onto venlafaxine 8 days later .. . did you not no that mirtazapine is given to anorexics to make them eat . Cnt believe your doc has given you them to you with your eating history ..
  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 Aquarium

    Posted

    Ah you poor thing, rather irresponsible for your doc to put you on any meds that cause weight gain when you have a history of eating disorders.  I had the same thing happen; history of bulimia and the doc put me on mirt!  

    I would think the other meds would temper the withdrawal, though mirt is known for it's horrid withdrawal.  I recommend tapering it very slowly.  You have been on it long enough for it to get it's hooks in you, so you'll still want to go slow.  You could try a 15% reduction and see how you feel within four weeks.  It can take a week or so for withdrawal symptoms to rise up, a week of them, and another week to be stable before challenging yourself with another cut.

    Why were you put on mirt in addition to the others to begin with?  You are on quite a cocktail.  People usually end up on such cocktails because the doctor is chasing side effects of current meds with new ones.  

     

    • Aquarium
      Aquarium betsy0603

      Posted

      I was an inpatient at a psychiatric institution for 2 and a half months. My old consultant put me on mirtazipine because I was still so low after being on the other meds. However I've left a seriously abusive relationship since then and am feeling much stronger. My consultant has said she won't consider reducing my dose for another 4 weeks but I'm really struggling and I'm thinking of just taking matters into my own hands.
  • Forestfire
    Forestfire Aquarium

    Posted

    Hi, i'd been on mirtazapine  30 or 45 mg for 9 years. I've tapered off since January and stopped altogether 30 days ago. I've lost just over 3 kg the past 30 days in that time 71.6kg down to 68.2kg. I must stress though, i have to force myself to eat, i rarely feel hungry at all and if i do feel hungry its gone within a couple of bites. If i wasn't prepared to force myself through discomfort everyday i would have lost more. My loss of appetite has been the biggest worry for me as i've always eaten a lot.

     Other symptoms

    Fatigue

    Insomnia

    Racing thoughts

    Hopelessness

    Sweating

    Switiching between hot and cold for no reason

    Anxiety

    Muscle tensing/spasming (not painful thankfully)

    I genrally look terrible lol

     

    Positives

    I don't feel like a zombie (although im more aware of how rubbish i feel because of this)​​

    I quit tobacco this morning. I would normally have smoked 5 or 6 by now but i've had none so far and i've not noticed any change in how i feel since yesterday. I'm crawling the walls still but quitting fags hasn't made that worse so i guess that can be a positive.  

  • sem2175
    sem2175 Aquarium

    Posted

    I'd been on 30mg since December and didn't really notice the weight creeping up as had abdo surgery in mid-Feb and was quite sedentary for 6 weeks after.  Only really realised the role of mirtazapine ten days ago and, as I also realised it might be the reason for my aching left hip, I stopped them straight away.  Hip pain went within 24 hours and I lost 4.5lb in a week.  Other than a migraine last night I have felt absolutely fine since and much more full of energy.  I too have a history of eating disorder and was terrified I would resort to that if I couldn't get control of my weight back.  I wouldn't advocate going cold turkey, just commenting that it's gone alright for me ... this time.  I used to be on & off sertraline for years, the earlier "offs" we're fine but the later "offs" we're awful.
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