Hi Pat50, I was put on mirt for depression but I found it gave me awful anxiety. When I mentioned this to my psychiatrist she told me that mirt doesn't cause anxiety and is often used to treat it, and it must just be my underlying anxiety coming out. However, I never had that bad anxiety levels to start with and the anxiety I had significantly decreased as my mirt dose decreased so in my mind it was def the mirt causing my anxiety. That's just my experience, but if you feel the mirt is not controlling your anxiety or making it worse then I just want you to know you're not the only one! I would still approach your doc if you haven't already, it's good for them to know what you're planning to do so he/she can support you through it and they may be able to offer alternatives. Yes, Mirt withdrawal was a struggle for me, it may not be as bad for you. One thing to keep in mind is it does get easier the lower the dose and for me, the weight all came off too once the mirt was no longer making me hungry all the time. Just stick in there and know that you are not alone. Good luck. xx
HI ting b, Thanks for the reply, its nice to know someone is out there still. After dropping from 22.5 to 15mg nearly 2wks ago, & seeing my doc, who said most people don't get withdrawal from mirt !! Agreed I should try to come off it, but didn't really offer any further advice. I think I will try to cut with a pill cutter a 15mg pill into quarters then take 3/4 of a pill for a couple of wks and see how I feel, then see if I can get mirt solution.
How did u get off tina b? How long had u been on?
I have also contacted C.I.T.A and bought the book.
My thoughts are with anyone going through this nightmare.
Pat 50 F fr uk
I now have some liquid Mirtazapine from my Doctor, and she said that it will be better to start withdrawal aftermy holiday. I think that I will start with 15mg one day then halve it to 7.5mg the next day. Then if that is ok, I
will drop to 7.5 mg and see how that goes. If this goes ok I will then start more gradually with the liquid,
and reduce week by week. I will report back when I know how I'm getting on.
Best wishes to all who are attempting to do this,
Janie Lee
Hi Janie lee
Good luck with your withdrawal from mirt, please keep in touch to let me know how wot are doing. I'm going to get the liquid mirt and cut down from 15mg one ml at a time, I found the jump from 30mgdown to 15 in 2wks was too farstfor me, and I suffered nasty withdrawal symptoms.
Does and one know any good support sites for anyone going through withdrawl? I feel so alone going through this nightmare?
Good luck to all
Pat
Hallo All
I have read your posts with fascination and am finding it very helpful to hear your experiences of coming off Mirtazapine. Not for myself- I am power of attorney for my aunt who is on 30mg per day and in a nursing home and age 88. She was put on it to deal with the depression and anxiety of moving into a Home but has a history of depression and sleepless nights etc. as do several of my other relatives.
What do you think of my wish to take her off it? I think the nursing home will co-operate if the GP agrees but so many of you are saying that the medical professionals do not understand the withdrawal symptoms and I do not want to cause trouble of discomfort for my aunt or for the staff. Your withdrawal programmes sound so sensible and the drops for the smaller doses although how easy are they to measure for the staff?
My aunt has been extremely depressed recently and even aggressive although she also has Parkinsons so this could be a progression in dementia. I am not trying to play at being a Dr but hate her being on so many pills this late in life.
Any opinions and advise from you guys who have real experience would be very helpful and thank you for sharing what you have already.
Good luck on all of your journeys back to health
Harmony
Hi
I hadn't been on Mirtaz very long, about 2 weeks @ 15mg. The tiredness effect was absolutley terrible. Okay I was seriously low but I still wanted to be able to function and go to work. I wanted to persevere until one day I flipped and called my ex loads and loads, saw him up the road, got out of my car, went to talk to him, didn't like how he was with me and then went home but went mad! Kept phoning him, wrote a letter to his new supposed girlfriend, threatened to take it round to her, threatened I'd turn up at his house etc.
This is NOT me, the medication I'm sure made me much much worse. He ended up almost reporting me to the police and this is when I threw my tablets in the bin and have been off them now for a week. I have still been tired but not nearly as bad as before. I have the odd deep dream about people I knew 20 years ago! But I am determined to see this through. I have been emailing Samaritans almost daily am now volunteering to be a befriender at the Altzheimers society group and am starting to feel a little better.
I say to the man whose Mother is on these. I would certainly wean her off them. Try a change in diet, alot more fruit, possibly herbal supplements and PuraEPA cod liver oil. I'm never going back to the doctoes about depression again. I am 49 and they have never been able to help me.
Thank you Sandra
I am still unsure what to do since she is in a nursing home and I have less control over what happens. I don't want to risk them taking her off suddenly from reading all of your experiences on here...
It is so helpful to hear real people's experiences and I am discussing it with family
Harmony
hiya harmony 
to be honest, at your aunts age i dont think its doing her any favours to come off her meds, withdrawl can be very confusing and frightening the first time you do it, shes probably frightened and confused enough with the parkinsons/dementia without adding further misery for her.
at her age it really doesnt matter how many meds shes on, just so long as it makes her life easier does it ?? id leave things as they are, leave it up to the doctors etc to decide 
cheers,
Ken~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi all I was on 40mg Mirt for 4 years and gained so much weight so decided I needed to come off it I went to see my GP and he said he would change me to one that did not cause weight gain, so dropped my dose to 15mg for two weeks then on the Friday I was to stop completely and start the new a/d on the Monday that was the 18th Jan this year, well I decided I was sick of taking medication so never started the new ones and have now had 7 weeks of hell on earth, agonising stomach pains, non existent appetitte and when I did eat it I just had no end of burping it felt like I was when I had gallstones and before they removed them and my gallbladder, crying, chronic fatigue, poor sleep pattern, I saw my GP on week 4 and he said I did wrong by going cold turkey but must have a really strong will power to get as far as I had, I'm just going into week 7, last week I felt like I was actually getting to the end of the withdrawal, was eating, light meals 3 times a day, started on my treadmill again, generally felt more me, then went to bed saturday night woke with chronic trapped wind in my stomach, had upset stomach sunday morning the agonising stomach pains are back and anything I eat is just lying in my stomach and repeating and tonight no appetite again, feel dizzy, just so fed up felt I had gotten to the end, but reading some posts on here I think its to be expected, I WILL get through it I had a good week last week and will again, and in time will be right out the other end of the tunnel, positive thinking has to be the way forward, your posts have been a great comfort to know I'm not alone, this will not beat me, I will beat this awful drug, best wishes to you all going through the same thing - we will all do it :-) x
Hi LindaK, I'm sorry to hear about the awful time you are having. I have been off the mirt for 10 months and I am still affected by dizziness, nausea, lack of appetite, chronic fatigue and poor sleep. I hope that these symptoms will get better with time, certainly the gut related side effects have slightly improved. Has your doctor suggested anything that can help you cope with your symptoms in the meantime to help make this time more bareable, eg something to help your gut related symptoms, exercises to help your dizziness & balance? I found acupuncture helped my withdrawal and taking vitamin D, fish oils and a good quality multivitamin that contained chromium helped too. Good luck and keep thinking "this won't last forever". xx
Hi Tina B, thats for your reply,it greatly appreciated, its 7 weeks now since I went cold turkey, I'm coping ok apart from no appetite but am having Complan regular but the worst is the excrutiating stomach pains, go to sleep with them, they wake me up during the night and as soon as I wake they are there, my GP gave me prescription strength Ibrophen gel to rub in, but it's not helping, I am going back Tues to see him, I have tried to be strong but these stomach pains are debilitating how long did your stomach trouble last for?. I am going to buy a good multivitamin with chromium as you suggested. Just feel like I have let myself down as I was doing so well, but can't cope with the intensity of the stomach pains :-( x
Thank you so much kathryn for posting your experience and possible solutions. Very helpful.
Hi All,
Just an update I will be 10 weeks off Mirt since going cold turkey and it has been a living hell, however I wanted to let you all know there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I am seeing it. My GP put me on 300mg Ranatadine at night and 10mg Amytriptyline but the Ami gave me awful dreams, so I thought why am I putting something else in my body when I'm struggling to get another out my sysyem. The stomach muscle cramps where agonsing my main symptom along with outbursts of crying. Well my grandson goes to the Gym 3 times a week and is on a course to become a personal trainer so said stop the rubbish in your system and devised this for me.
I take the 300mg of Ranatadine everynight to help my digestive system. Two 500mg paracetamol, and rub in my stomach prescibed Ibropophen gel and I am sleeping through most nights and not being woken up with stomach cramps. I take two amino acid tablets and I good quality multivitamin every morning with breakfast both totally natural ingredients from a Health Food Store and drink 3 cups of Green Tea throughout the day. I can happily say no more stomach cramps I am eating better but light food, chicken fish etc, and the past two days have managed 25mins on my treadmill without any stomach cramps at all, I know I'm not completely out of the woods yet as today was a tearful day, but definiately a massive improvement, I will have up and down days ahead I am sure, but to go so many days and nights with no stomach cramps is a blessing in itself. I hope this gives encouragement to you, and know this may not work for everyone, but wanted to share what has finally helped me, thanks to a brill grandson I have - keep going we will all get through it :-) x
I was interested to note you had anxiety and depressive symptoms whilst on American drug Mirtazepine.
I had for some time suspected exactly the same with my mum: Really anxious most of the time and just been on a lovely holiday where she spent most of the time upset, lacking in energy.
Its a farce this drug - a confidence trick - all the more because it does completely the opposite to what's labelled on the tin.
Still on a top dose of it and not experienced any benefits.Why?
Still taking 15 mg of Mirtazapine, but I am feeling much better now whilst still taking it. I'm much calmer. I 'm in no hurry to come me off the drug. I tried once and felt awfully nauseous. Better to withdraw from this tablet very very slowly over a period of several months.
I will attempt to stop taking Mirtazapine when I feel confident that life's events are more favourable.
JanieLee
I just want to add to my original post that I am still concerned about my aunt's state of mind- she is still in a nursing home and so depressed now after being quite god for a spell after a lot of interaction with family in June 2013...but since then impossible to speak with or motivate and getting aggressive too. Of course this could be dementia starting at her age (she'll be 89 in October) but I am concerned because the GP is going to look at increasing her Mirtazapine...when I would have rather take the dose down from what I am reading here.
Thank you all for continuing to share your experiences. Its so helpful
Harmony x
Hi Harmony,
I note that you are concerned about your aunt's state of mind. Mirtazapine is not necessarily the problem. As you mention, your aunt is now 89 years of age, and this could be part of her ageing process. I have a friend whose aunt is taking 30 mg of Mirtazapine, and she has become calmer and more focused. I am sure that your aunt's GP will not increase her dosage without good reason, perhaps for a trial period.
Best wishes,
JanieLee
Thanks Janie Lee
I am grateful for your input. I don't know that he Mirtazapine has helped her to be calmer as she is not at al calm now and very depressed...It may be the side effects of it or it may be her Parkinsons/age related deterioration as you say. ITs so hard to know. But I definitely would not want the dosage increased having read the comments here. I am wondering about a different anti- depressant if she must have them
I will post back when she has been assessed by the GP and Parkinsons nurse.
Harmony x
Please help me I am on 15 mg of mirtazapine and have been on them at various doses for the last 4 years tried to come off to go on another antidepressant and has been causing bad withdrawl eg bad thoughts extream anxiety ect. I already read how you can taper down more slowly and will try this. I just want to know if the extreme tiredness I am now suffering could be to do with the mirtazapine and if this will go when I come off them??
I am a 71 yr old man with M.E....originally started out on Mirtazapine 4 years ago when suffering from CPPS(Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome) which may have been allied to the M.E.
I started out with 30 mg and stayed on that till about a year ago when I reduced the dose to 15mg on the suggestion of my GP.
About 5 months ago I started on Pregabalin (Lyrica) - seems very effective in reducing the assorted M.E. aches and pains ....so thought that getting off Mirtazapine might be a good idea.
I tried unsuccessfully several times just going to 7.5mg ...but in the end , about 1 week ago now I just stopped completely ( from 15mg .)
So far the main effect has been the fluey feelings, some nausea at times , tired and disturbed sleep (with the Mirt I usually slept thru midnight to 7 am).
So I am going to stick at it ... as long as things improve I feel I must be better off without in the long run.