Anyone successfully tapered off mirtazapine???

Treatment and medication
1

would like to hear any success stories of anyone who has come off mirtazapine,and their story,that may give us all hope please!

2

I have managed nearly 3 weeks. Sleep problem back so back to square 1. This drug should have a health warning as the last 6 months seemed to have been a waste of time

3

Thanks for reply Bob.what symptoms are you suffering? Is it complete insomnia? Or do you have all the others eg nausea,headaches,anxiety spikes,itching,poor appetite,tinnitus etc

4

Just poor sleep quality. I put on over a stone when I started so I hope to lose some of it but so far, nothing

5

Hi Chrisy,

I successfully got off Mirt after a year of tapering. It was not easy and I still had WD that lasted around 6 months with months 2 and 3 being the worst. I’m off for over a year now and feel like normal, for the most part. It can be done but requires time and patience. 

6

What dose did you taper off ?

7

30 mg. I tapered to quickly to around 21 mg and then got a compounded liquid prescription filled at a local pharmacy. This allowed me to taper by about 5% Ever 10-14 days. 

8

Hi, can I ask  what was the dose when you jumped off remeron?

Im 0.5 mg right now but scared to jump yet.

Thank 

Eva

9

I jumped off at 0.25 mg. I was terrified but me therapist encouraged me. I set a date to come off and she held me to that date. 

The first month was ok. Itching skin, weird bodily sensations. Then I was given an antibiotic a month later that made me very ill, insomnia, anxiety, depression, feeling awful. I lasted 4 days on this drug and had to get off it was so bad. Unfortunately, that opened the dam for those symptoms for the next 2 months. The worst was the insomnia. But I got through. My husband was very supportive because he saw how badly Mirt had affected my health. It was like I was 20 years older. Blood sugar issues, cholesterol issues, weight issues, body and joint issues. 

I lost 30 pounds within about 2 months. My knees began to feel better. My foggy head, on occasion, would clear. My thinking was getting clearer at moments. So I could feel at times what it would be like once I was through WD. 

The scariest part was that I felt like I was going crazy. But this, too, passed. It did take 6 months and I think what helped immensely was juicing every morning (cucumber, celery, apple and a bit of ginger. It helped to clean out by body. I began to sleep much better and my brain began sipping around again, unlike the sluggish thinking I had while on Mirt. 

And when I couldn’t take the WD symptoms, I told myself I just needed to get through that day and that I could always take the Mirt tomorrow.

And let yourself cry and feel emotions. Mirt numbs you and it is hard to feel again at first. Be gentle with yourself and trust you can do it. And one day, you realize you’ve been off for a year and you are so glad you stuck to your guns. 

Try to find a WD buddy. I have had one for 2 years and it helped immensely. 

10

Did you get withdrawals while you tapered or only after you were off ?

11

I did have WD symptoms but they were mainly feeling mentally off. My husband would remind every time that it was a pattern and that the symptoms would pass. And they did. Generally, they would come on 4 days after the taper and last 4 to 7 days. 

12

Hi, when I was on it I would sleep for at least 12 hors and still be tired. They told me it's because it's a sedative. They swapped me onto sertraline and I'm fine on it. I have vivid dreams anyway but the mirtazapine made me unaware if it was real even after I woke up from about 20mins I couldn't be 100% if it actually happened. I would only recommend taking this if you struggle sleeping but only for a short time. Hope this helps a little x

13

I also became really emotionless. Completely numb it wasn't nice x

14

Kc,thank you so much for reply.that gives us all hope.so pleased you are really well now.

15

Thank you for taking time to reply,glad you are fine on setriline.

16

How did you go from 3.75 to .25 can i ask.  My gp says no to liquid. I am dry cutting but its hit and miss now down to 2.5. I feel awful on waking,  It takes me ages to come to and get up(i dont really want to get up) then i can have agitation, depression, nausea etc. I also have a very sore throat every night, is this mirtazapine? Every day difficult.  Is this the mirtazapine or is it the illnesss?

you have done so well to get to where you are.  I dont feel better yet and its been since august i dropped to 3.75. 

I just dont know if im still ill, or is it this med.   should i be feeling much better? I too am afraid of the last drop and scared the psych will want to put me on something else, tried so many and all been awful.

17

I would like to go to a compounding pharmacy but i am in uk and dont know how to find one.  Has anyone any suggestions if they will do it here?

18

Ann

i would suggest asking your local pharmacist,or phone one up,they may be able to help you.

19

Well hopefully eventually sleep will return,really glad your not suffering some of the other withdrawel symptoms also.

20

MAKING MIRTAZAPINE LIQUID, PILL & 'SOL TAB' INSTRUCTION

Here is the pill to liquid instruction for anyone who might want to taper slowly.

You will need a 15 ml syringe and also a 1ml syringe with markings on at 0.1ml intervals

A pill crusher (available from Amazon)

Ora Plus suspension (available from Amazon)

A clean medicine bottle or small jar

A small accurate measuring jug or medicine cup with measure on. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Crush up 2 x 15mg (or 1 x 30mg) Mirtazapine pills until they are a fine powder (although the outer coating does not grind up as fine as the white Mirt’ powder that is inside, but that's fine. So long as the white Mirt’ is a fine powder. 

• Then measure both 15 ml water & 15 ml Ora Plus and pour into the medicine bottle or see the end for receptacle..

• Then pour the powder INTO THE WATER FRIST, and shake it , then add the OraPlus & shake virorously. So 1ml of the liquid equals 1mg of Mirtazapine. N.B. Mirtazapine is not soluble in water and so you must shake it vigorously every time you take out a dose to ensure you are getting an accurate measure of Mirtazapine. 

• Also you should store it in the fridge. It is recommended to keep it no longer than four days.

So from the 30 mg / 30 ml draw up the syringe what you require.  

1 ml of the liquid = 1 mg.

This has been tried and tested and works very well.  Just make sure you shake it very well before drawing up the syringe.

Credit to Evergreen