after coming off mirtazapine after 11 years it's completely depersonalised me and left me with lingering physical problems that doctors cannot find anything wrong with me and have lablled me with 'Health Anxiety' or 'hypochondriac' basically. I'm going to try ECT electro convulsive therapy but I feel as though I'm in Big trouble and don't know what to do I've been off the drug 12 months.
Hi Stuart, 12 months is a long time😪 Sorry to hear about your struggle... I've only beeen off this medication for exactly a month and it has been terrible, I've gotten so depressed like never before and stressful to the point anything frightens me, wether is the withdrawal or just cause the pill isn't doing it's job I really think this pill is very dangerous, yes it did help at the beginning but they never said anything about lifetime use...it seems to me that that's the case.! Hope you find a way to fully recover🙏
Hi Candy, I got rid of my mental health problems by doing what's called an hypnotic regression it revisits the incident that caused your depression/anxiety or breakdown as this is in the subconscious part of your mind all the doctors do is give you medication to cover this up until you feel better but most the time the problem remains because tablets are a short fix or just mask the problem, I'm now stuck with the issues that the medication has caused me and cannot get rid of them.
It's messed with the chemicals in the brain.
Hi Stuart I'm sorry to hear of your struggles with mirtazapine, you must be feeling desperate which is understandable. Can I ask what dosage you were on for those 11 years? I'm interested as I'm going through similar type problems which I now believe to be caused by mirtazapine as I have been on them for a very long time too. Wishing you well.
I was on 30mg a day, 1 tablet per night it was for my anxiety I got rid of the anxiety using an hypnotic regression which takes you back to what caused the anxiety in the first place it then gets rid of it where as tablets mask this. I went from 30mg to 15mg for a month then 15mg to 7.5mg for two weeks then I stopped. I'm also found out today I have really low levels of lactobacillus in my gut which can affect mood so I'm now addressing that with probiotics, I did a stool test with a lab in America.
So sorry for your suffering Stuart. That taper wasw very fast indeed, maybe you were OK with it though - too fast for me though.
Some people can have discontinuation symptoms that BEGIN as far out as 3, 6, 9 months or so I understand. And you are not alone with suffering with symptoms post Mirt after a year, especially with gut problems. Sometimes it is a comfort to hear you're not the only one.
Glad to read the Hypnotic Regression worked so well for you, good job done there. Hope you find some peace and healing in the near future.
Yes thank you very much I'm trying to look at as a challenge I've been set I just have my bad days. Thanks all for your help I wish everyone well.
Hi,Stuart.Just started on Mirt about 8 weeks ago at 15mg and it has been upped to 30mg about 3 weeks ago.I had been taking Paxil 20mg twice a day for 20 years.I have IBS problems so about 6 months ago I had a bad "attack" which I have been battling since Oct. 2016.IBS can affect the chemistry in your brain which it does with me for 20 years.Hence the Paxil.I got so anxious and depressed that they changed my meds as per above.They also gave me Gabapetin as a nerve block because there was one nerve that seemed to go from my rectum/colon right to my brain.I started at 200mg and they upped it to 400mg starting 3 weeks ago.I also take Tramadol twice a day for pain.Now here's the killer.I've worked in a warehouse for 30+ years with heavy lifting.etc.They took a ct scan(scheduled by my gastro doc) about 6-7 weeks ago.My psy sees the scan says "everything normal",.My gastro guy sees the scan,"everything normal."I see my regular doctor he says "everything normal,you still have your hernia on the left side."I said,"WHAT?!!!".He says didn't anyone tell you and I told him no.On top of that I found out today when I saw him to refer to a Surgeon to fix the hernia,that a CT scan 6 years ago showed it as well and no one told me then either! So now I'm on these meds I may not need after I have the hernia surgery,because they just wanted to block the pain, instead of treating the symtom(hernia).I hop all goes well for you and God Bless You,Bob
Hi Robert, yes I'm amazed at how doctors seem to think our medical records are their property and they can hide things in order to precribe as much of whatever reaping rewards from pharma companies while keeping us ill and desperate. Are you going to sue anyone for the medical negligence/non disclosure you have suffered at their hands? I hope so.
Hi Wayne.Well I have a cousin who is a good lawyer from a large firm.He knows the whole story and right now we are concentrating on getting me fixed(hope this is a figurative statement and not literal considering the site of the surgery!).I have always had anxiety problems,with a high revving"motor" if you will, and some depression,but it has increased as of late but there are other factors including being bought by a larger company 1 1/2 years ago and switching to their system 7 months ago which causes us to do more tasks to accomplish the same amount of work plus lots of pressure including possible down sizing.I have IBS and had been eating and drinking very improperly for my condition for awhile and was at 265 Lbs. when my proper weight was about 190 Lbs.I am now at 202 Lbs.,but the weight loss was because I was going thru this suffering the last 6 months and couldn't eat much.Who would have thought pain is a great motivater?!(extreme sarcasm).So for now I do need the meds to function,but after the surgery and recovery we will see where I'm at.I live in the US ,in a suburub of Cleveland ,Ohio,so litigation is fairly common with good outcomes.But I'm also big on forgiveness and also because I didn't keep good records about who did what it could be a long drawn out process which I'm not equipped to handle.I'll keep you up to date.Keep the faith,brother!! God Bless You,Bob
Try and send your reply to me again as some moderator elimainated it.Bob
I'll have to think what it was Bob it was quite long and probably a bit close to the truth about the pharmaceutical industry that's why it got deleted.
AMEN,BROTHER!!!!
Pharma mafia I think you mean!!
That's terrible and just the thought of thing one would expect from the NHS. I hope you get sorted.
So sorry to read what you're going through. I weaned myself off gradually and haven't taken any mirtazapine since lady September but feel rough. Determined not to go back on it. I read one if the side effects can be depressed bone marrow hardly conducive for someone with advanced osteoporosis. Only the other day I found quite by chance a trial had been carried out with mirtazapine on healthy subjects which proved that mirtazapine is the only antidepressant that lowers cortisol by ad much as 30 percent. In my case I am always stressed and have high cortisol levels but what of those that do not and are on it for a long time? By the way if you can avoid it I certainly wouldn't agree to ECT treatment. I thought it had been banned in the uk. It's very old fashioned my father had that around 45 years ago it was horrible and certainly did not help him.
I'd try a high strength probiotics like 20 of 50 billion cultures for IBS you can find them on the net by a company called 'Bioglan' or do a proper stool anyasis with a functional health practitioner of nutritionist.
I cannot remember the rest of my reply as it's been deleted.
I had low cortisol levels on an adrenal test I had done whlist I was on them.
Not sure what it's like now, I feel that bad st times I'm completely confused as to what is up with me. I don't know what to do, your right about ECT I think but I've not got a clue what to do the situation I find myself in.
Hi again Robert - thanks for your response. I know exactly what you mean about documentation in judicial cases, and the law can be a slippery, grey and shadowy thing. I too am big on forgiveness, even though some things need to be sorted. Best of luck to you whatever you decide.
Hi Stuart,
Sorry to hear that you're suffering from depersonalisation, it's not a pleasant experience to go through. However, at the same time congratulations on coming off Mirtazapine and reducing your anxiety!
I think with time you will start feeling better, our bodies are amazing things and our brains really are amazing at healing and returning back to a healthy state.
Supplementing your diet with healthy, organic foods full of nutrients and omega oils, such a fish and nuts will really help. Make sure you're drinking plenty of water everyday alongside a multivitamin as that can also help, and most importantly whilst it may be hard, do try and get as much exercise in as possible. I've found that when I suffered from depersonalisation, exercise really helped 'ground' me and gave me the hope I needed to keep up my motivation.
I hope you feel better soon,
Wish you all the best