weaning off antidepressants

Posted , 4 users are following.

Need help ladies

In my eighth year of peri.

No period for last three months.

Im sure a lot of you already know me from other threads.

Im currently weaning of mirtazapine but feel so down. Im on half a dose now for six weeks.

Dont like the weight gain and tremors I get from the medication.

Has anyone managed to come off AD in perimenopause?

I don't know if im doing the right thing.

So exhausted from all thses symptoms.

What should I do x

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Michelle,I ve had experience with mirtizapine,I found the withdrawal from it very hard,I came off as it didn't suit me.You may need to drop the dose by a very small percent,then wait at least 14 days before you drop again as the withdrawal sympotoms often don't appear until 10 days after lowering the dose.x

     

  • Posted

    im not on HRT, but would it be better to wait to stop it until your post, which is going without a period for a full year, your symptoms drop then anyway, so i would have thought dropping you HRT during this time, will not be as bad for you, whereas if you do it whilst stillin peri, your symptoms may be worse, but im not sure, with not being on it.  
    • Posted

      Hi

      Im not on hrt. Im on an antidepressant. But I hear what you are saying about waiting till im without periods for a year.

      Thanks x

    • Posted

      sorry thought it was HRT you were on, not AD, miss read your thread.

      I weened off my sertaline ad, once i was post, again think it would be best to do it then,  if you feel your still in  peri, and still gettting all your symptoms, and you drop your AD your depression may flare, as your peri symptoms will not have died down enough, you say you havent had period for 3 mnths, which is good, but you have to go full year before you can say your post, so its up to you entirely if you do it now, it depends on how you feel,  it sounds like you are in post, have any of your peri symptoms died down at all?? a sign of post is a decline in symptoms, but a return of hot flashes and this can last for a further 5 years after post for some, but all your other symptoms should decline.  

      I was only on 50mg one a day, You have to cut one tablet dose by half, have full tablet one one day, half the next, you do this for 5 weeks, then half the full one thats left, so your then taking half a tablet a day of your dosage, you half it again for a further 3 weeks after this, so then your taking half of one tablet, and quarter of the other, i couldnt half the one already cut down, as it crushed, so, i just dropped this one off then, didnt think a dosage  of 12.5 would have worked anyway, so, then i was was only taking half pill per day for remain 3 weeks, took me 8 weeks  to achieve this to avoid withdrawal, IF you develop withdrawal, some women take Benadryl Cough Mixture, apparently it helps, drs tell you to take it as well, but cant advise you to take it, incase, you have health condition that told you to specifically avoid Benadryl, or, if your taking other meds that could interact with it, so, speak with pharmasists beforehand,   its your decision.............you have to stop it very slowly to avoid withdrawal, or limit it.................  Good luck with it,

    • Posted

      Yes im beginning to think that you are right. As im three months without a period my perimenopause symptoms are obviously at their worst right now.

      Im waiting for a call from my gp to discuss.

      Thanks for your advice its much appreciated. X

    • Posted

      Just to add my hot flushes are increasing but still got to go another nine months period free to be classed as post x
    • Posted

      would you believe it use to be 2 years without a period before you were considered post, thats scientists for you, changing the goal posts all the time, to suit themselves of course as always..............thank god its only a year now.

      Yes if your symptoms are severe then, wouldnt say to stop your meds just yet, but good idea to discuss things with gp, go by what they say.

  • Posted

    Hi Michelle,

    It probably depends how long you have been on them. I have tried them and come off them but I was only taking them for about 3 months. I did it by taking one every other day then every two days then just stopped.

    I don't think they were making me feel any less depressed. I tried St John's Wort afterwards but that didn't help much either.

    After that I tried high dose 1000mg methycobalmin b12 lozenges and a good quality ionic multivitamin. I certainly felt no worse and at least it was natural.

    After my periods had stopped I was just so hot all the time and zero libido I decided to try HRT and the depression began to lift within 2 weeks.

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