I am a 24 year old male that recently tapered off of Mirtazapine. I was taking between 7.5mg and 15mg over a time period of about 10 months. I stabilized at 15mg for almost 6-8 of the 10 month time period. I am not a doctor and I did not do this under the supervision of any doctor.
The main reason for tapering or “coming off” of the medication revolves around the side effect regarding weight gain. Specifically weight gain centered on the lower abdomen. I have always been very fit and in shape, although after taking Mirtazapine for the last 10 months I ballooned up around 40 pounds. Within the first four days of starting Mirtazapine I gained 17lbs in weight.
My reduction was simple. The half life of Mirtazapine is roughly 20 hours. Therefore in a healthy adult it is usually excreted entirely in five days. Therefore I gave myself 7 days on each ‘phase’ or milligram adjustment. This offered me 2 ‘buffer’ days that helped me determine how I felt after the entire dose adjustment had been excreted.
I reduced at 1/4th pill (started with 15mg tablets) per 7 days, so it took a total of 21 days to entirely taper off. 15 -> 11.75 -> 7.5 -> 3.75 -> off. The only withdrawal symptoms that I encountered were morning nausea, reduced appetite during the day and more difficulty to awaken in the morning. Since reducing down to 0mg I have experienced insomnia along with the other symptoms. Although not terrible enough to stop me from continuing my planned abstinence from Mirtazapine.
Personally I experienced more energy, easier awakening, less depression, more sociability and of course, weight loss, during and after my taper and I have personally found that it has been a reasonable and overall productive experience for myself. I am glad with the limited withdrawal symptoms and my mental health and mood feel leveled out again. If this changes, I’ll likely try a new antidepressant with limited weight side effects.
I hope this offers anyone some insight into the unknown path of reducing and eliminating medications, especially antidepressant medications with a relatively subjective and unknown reaction experienced by each individual. During my taper I didn’t encounter any increase in depression, but if you or someone else does, it might be worth considering your options and potentially slowing or halting the taper altogether.
Thanks for reading. Best of luck!