Weaning off mirtazapine with less wd symptoms?

I am cutting tabs using jewellers scale. Go doesnt want to prescribe liquid. I am on 4.5 mg and its still a very long way for me to go. Sometimes i feel disheartened thinking i may not be able to come off this med someday and that the symptoms really comes in windows and waves. Such a nasty drug to come off. I just hope i can do it one day. It gets tougher as i am coming down to low doses. I am tapering 10% every 4 wks

I have been tapering since march. Started at 45 and am now on 22.5. I am dropping 10 to 15 % every 4 weeks but stopped at 30 for 3 months. I have the same as you withdrawals in week 1 then some more a couple of weeks later.

I notice your jumps are over 10 %. I really want off this vile stuff. What is your intended taper schedule till off ? What dose do you plan to jump off at.

Are you able to work through this ?

How long have you been taking mirtazapine, months, years??

I have been taking mirt since april this year...but i want to be off this med already... gp has also agreed for me to wean off

Hi! When i first started to wean off, it was more than 10%. But because the symptoms were too much to bear for me as i am still working 4x a week, when i reduced from 5mg, i decided to take it slow and reduce to 4.5mg, now its my 4th wk on 4.5mg. Symptoms have  gone this week so far, so planning to reduce to 4mg this weekend...

I plan to reduce maybe until 1.2 or 1 mg then alternate before jumping off totally...

I jumped off completely at 1.875 mg.  I was only on 7.5 mg for one month as I decided after a couple weeks that it wasn't working for me.  I nevertheless still incurred some serious WD symptoms for about a week after discontinuing.  I completely understand your desire to get off the drug.  Some on this board advocate tapering no more than 10% at a time.  I didn't go that route as I just wanted the drug out of my system ASAP.  I was quite surprised at how bad the WD symptoms were even while only being on the drug a month.  You appear to have been on Mirt for about 5 months.  Knowing what I know now, I would have never gone on this drug.  Your almost there, just be patient.  I agree that 1.2 or 1.0 mg would be a good jumping off point. 

I too agree with you, i should not have taken the drug.very horrible drug. Did not expect this drug to be this nasty. Thank you for the encouragement. Sometimes i just think will i ever come off and return to my normal self? Its quite difficult as well as i am not just staying at home. I have to be at work as well.symptoms come and go. How long did you suffer from wd symptoms after stopping? Did insomnia come back?

So did you jump from 15 to 7.5 ?

What withdrawal symptoms did you have ?

I am desperate to get off it soon but scared to go too fast as on it 3 years....nearly 2 at 45mg.

Are you able to work ?

Hi.  For context, I had a bad case of the flu this January and developed breathing problems.  I thereafter developed GI problems and was losing a lot of weight, i.e., 40 pounds in 1.5 months.  I also had bad insomnia as my breathing was impacted.  Thus, I was put on mirtazapine to stimulate my appetite and help me to sleep.  I was already taking fluoxetine.  Started off at 7.5 mg at night.  Tried to up the dose to 11 mg, but side effects were too much.  I still felt horrible at 7.5 mg.  It did increase my appetite (as most people experience weight gain) to the point where I was eating a lot of snacks at night - this after having an aversion to food for a good month or so - literally having to force feed myself.  As to sleep, the drug helped me for a week, but thereafter it didn't seem to work - that's probably why I attempted to increase the dose.  The drug made me feel horrible, particularly in the morning.  I had great difficulty getting out of bed.  I also developed some agoraphobia and panic attacks (especially when driving), which I never experienced before.  After a month, I decided I wanted to discontinue the drug and started weaning off.  I think I went from 7.5 to 3.5 to 1.85 to 0 mg over a 2-week period.  Once I completely discontinued, I experienced bad WD effects, including body/brain zaps - where your body would be jolted.  My appetite was still very good for at least 2 months after stopping so this leads me to suspect that the effects of the drug last for a while.  I did experience insomnia again soon after discontinuing.  I started on Ambien (5-7.5 mg), which helped.  Then after a month or so, I switched back over to Ativan (benzo) as I want to try to prevent tolerance from developing.  I tried going back on Ambien again after a good 1-2 months of Ativan, but the Ambien didn't seem to have the same effect.  At the moment, I'm taking 0.75 mg of Ativan at night, which has helped me quite a bit in getting sleep.  I still wake up a little early, but still much improved relative to waking up at 3:30-4:00 am every night for 2-3 months and unable to fall back asleep.

Mirtazapine is some serious stuff, even at low doses.  It seems to work for some people, and others think it's  poison.  I fall in the latter category.  So happy to be off the drug and starting to get my life back.  I was on disability for about 4 months (again due to my breathing issues) and combining that with loss of appetite, inability to sleep, upset stomach, depression and just feeling plain old horrible from Mirtazapine was just too much for my body to handle.  I had such a bad experience that I am trying to help people get past this drug even though I haven't taken any in a good 4 months now.  Mirtazapine is not your garden variety antidepressant.  BTW - outside of weight gain, my p-doc was completely ignorant regarding the side effects from this drug.  The doctors don't tell you how difficult it will be to discontinue from the drug, they only want to talk about the benefits.  Best of luck.  You should anticipate a slow recovery over a number of months.

Yes i am still working 4 days a week

Is that hard with withdrawals. I have a 2 year old.

Its hard but i am bracing it through. I am fighting even its hard. How about u? R u working as well?

I have a 2 year old so yes. I have just been offered a job but had to say no as i am worried about withdrawal as i have a long way to go.

Did you drop from 15 to 7.5 ?

Do you get dizzy headaches ?

I did drop from 15 to 7.5 last may. I did not have any dizziness as far as i can recall. All i have is muscle and joint aches similar to that of having flu.