i was on mirtazapine 7.5mg for 2 weeks and was great....but i wanted to be better and my anxiety to completely go away so then 15 mg for about a week, had all the horrible side effects, i was irritable, angry and started having panic attacks. i havent had one for ages until i started taking these! then went back to 7.5mg, was ok for a few days then on the 5th or so day i had another panic attack. went off on cold turkey monday, started prozac that same day..woke up last night with heart pacing and anxiety, burning dehydrated feeling...when i woke up i popped a prozac, felt panicky during lunch...went away then at 830 till 1am ive been having full flown anxiety on and off., i feel cracked out but groggy.like less of my hand motor control and facial twiching? i dont know.i feel out of body. i think this is from the remoron withdrawl.. what is currently helping me is DOING things to keep my mind out of it. i started CLEANING and organizing things arond the house and it sounds silly but it helped me A LOT. i think some of our anxiety comes from us moping around and not having anything to release that energy into. i get anxious when i am idle. im actually pretty sleepy right now bc i was cleaning, i havent had sleep issues yet. i was actually able to take a nap both days.
I also think theres a few triggers in my diet that is causing the attacks..SUGAR & CAFFEINE & SPICY FOOD.
Has anyone been able to quit cold turkey? Can you tell me about your experience..I will update mine..
FYI its been two days since Ive taken my last dose of Mirt.
Hi Elizabeth
About how long did you take mirtazapine for, 3 - 4 weeks ? Then you stopped cold turkey? And how long have you been cold turkey?
What you describe is certainly mirtazapine withdrawal. The lower doses act more like sleep aids. Many patients say that this drug has not helped with anxiety issues or panic.
I stopped this drug and unintentionally went cold turkey. I was taking 15mg dose for about 5 - 6 months. I stopped it at the end of May last year and never took another antidepressant. It's a difficult drug to stop but I made every effort to power through the withdrawals with absolutely no help from the GP's surgery. The medics refuse to acknowledge withdrawal side effects when stopping antidepressants.
I managed by by taking a sleeping pill for the chronic insomnia that surfaced after 4 days of stopping. This lasted on and off for 10 months. The insomnia was the worst. Anxiety, migraine headaches, nausea, stomach upset and flu like symptoms disappeared much sooner. If you can, get outside in the morning and go for a walk. I did a lot of walking outside. I also took magnesium at night and a pro-biotic to aid the gut. I took a course in mindfulness to help with the anxiety and took up yoga. A lot may depend on how long you took the drug for. Bear in mind that dosage, duration and one's genetic make-up all play a key part in how bad you suffer withdrawals and for how long. Some people may not suffer much. But many patients find this a very nasty drug indeed and are in no doubt that there are difficult side effects to deal with when stopping. Don't let the general practitioners tell you any different
Best wishes for your recovery and please feel free to ask any further questions.
I see your comment below. In my experience withdrawals never started for at least 4 days after stopping
I was recently taking Mirtazapine for a month at 7.5 mg. I tapered off over a couple weeks as I had decided by week 2 that the side effects were not working for me. I experienced some restless leg, my left hand felt like it was detached from my body and hand function was impacted (for example, I had difficulty typing - very strange). I also experienced a lot of nausea (especially in the morning upon waking) along with the usual difficulty getting out of bed and feeling groggy throughout the day. ONCE I WITHDREW from the drug, I experienced twitching, body zaps and brain zaps. These were quite scary but thankfully only lasted about a week. Apparently brain zaps are quite common among people discontinuing antidepressants. I am very happy to be off Mirtazapine. The side effects were not worth any benefit I received from the drug. BTW - I am also on low dose Prozac and have been taking for many years without any problems.
Hint for you. Don't consume any alcohol while on these meds. I hadn't had a panic attack for years and all of a sudden they reoccured after I had a couple glasses of wine.
wow good advice. thank you! also do u mean the mirt or the prozac?
how long did the side effects persist after you went off of it cold turkey? how long till you were "normal" afterwards? did you had any anxiety attacks?
DAY 3 of quitting Mirt cold turkey
The doc gave me .5mg of klonopin. I have been taking 1/4 of the tablet twice a day. i almost feel normal again. not much anxiety except for when i was taking a nap. I am able to sleep ok besides that. however my eating is a little less. Doc says continue the prozac and the klonopin for another 2-3 weeks until the prozac kicks in.
I am taking 30mg mirtazapine and 10 mg escitalopram (Lexapro) and while I never had a problem with alcohol and mirtazapine it did not mix well with the Lexapro ( says right on the script container DO NOT Consume Alcohol While taking this medicine). I have taken Prozac and I don't think I was drinking alcohol at the time so I can't say either way but I think it would be smart not to mix the two since alcohol is a depressant.
Hi Elizabeth, I've been on mitrazipam for over 2 years. I put on 4 and a half stone. I've now taken my doze down to 7mg. I have no energy,I don't get out of my bed at all. I appreciate what you said about cleaning,organising. I've let all that go badly,Also my garden which I used to love doing. Can I ask you how do you motivate yourself? I know the weight gain has totally floored me. Literally. Appreciate any help or advice you can give me.
Take care.
Eileen.
Hi John.
My main problem with mitrazipam was weight gain. I've went down to half a tablet 7mg. Reading your reply I never connected my really bad leg twitching almost kicking to this drug. Also when you say 'body zaps,brain zaps. Do you mean like a mini electric shock? I tried to explain that to my doctor,to no avail.
You take care.
Eileen.
Eileen, my situation is a little different than yours, I was only on the Mirt for a month. when i start to have racing thoughts and feel an panic attack come on, then i occupy my mind and body to do tasks around the house. I am also starting prozac at this time and prozac keeps you awake. Maybe talk to your doctor to ween you off the Mirt and put you on something else...You may also loose all that weight after you get off the Mirt.
DAY 4 of quitting cold turkey:
the gogginess is gone and so is the weird buzzing or popping in my ears. feeling slight warm like a mild fever kind of feeling, throat was a little sore...dehydrated..very low energy levels, eating very low like before i was on the Mirt. Slightly low depressed mood. Feeling almost like my normal depressed self before the Mirt. I only took one 1/4 of .5 Klonopin today.,, i may of not needed it...i think it just made me sleepy...it seems my anxiety is back to normal (no attacks) even though i was in a stressful situation today.
Hi Elizabeth.
Thanks for replying. Much appreciated. You and I seem to have a similar illness. Not the same,but I appreciate your reply.
Take care.
Eileen
Hi Elizabeth
How are you getting on? It must be day 5 of stopping mirtazapine. I think as you were on it for a month your side effects may not be so protracted. We all suffer differently on this drug. I did not suffer too badly with anxiety attacks during the day but night time was worse because I could not sleep. Bear in mind that I was on it or 5 months. So i felt truly rid of the withdrawals when I could sleep without any sleeping aids and that took 10 months. The anxiety and migraines and nausea all went in less than 3 - 4 months but there were weeks when things seemed normal and you felt great only for the side effects to come back. This is quite normal it's called windows and waves
Thanks for your reply. I do intend to come off them in the next month. Hopefully you'll be feeling better soon. Mental health is such an enigma. Sad ,not easily sorted,draining ,anxiety driven. Wish there was a physical operation,Unfortunately not.
Take care.
Eileen.
Day 5 i had to work. I have completely cut off sugar and caffeine. I had anxiety multiple times at night, waking up every few hours. 5 hours or 2 hours. I took klonopin to help with anxiety at work, it does make me somewhat sleepy.
Day 6: Pretty much the same as day 5. However I did drink that night...3 drinks total. Eating less. Anxiety while sleeping
Day 7: Lost my appetite completely. Could not eat at all, struggled to shove down one slice of pizza. My anxiety is through the roof at night while trying to sleep. Not sure if it has to do with the drinking last night or stress due to the fact my vet says that my cat needs to be tested for renal failure and may have to find other ways of managing his diabetes...it could be a combination of both.
Day 8 (Today) I took a klonopin today before going to the dentist. however I do feel slightly more positive. I am tired but I seem to have more energy and excitement to do everyday things again. I am eating again, 3 meals today. what a dramatic shift from yesterday..Hope its the same tomorrow...
Hi Christine I'm the same as you I'm off mitrazapine about 8 weeks have chronic insomnia been prescribed sleeping tablets but im scared in case I become dependant on them too then need to go withdrawals from them too. Any advice would be most helpful xx
I had your day 7 last night feeling horrendous I'm not sleeping at all then getting very very anxious xx
I really feel for you. Chronic insomnia is the most debilitating.
In my experience sleeping tablets such as Zopiclone were easy to take and leave. I have used them on and off throughout mirtazapine’s vicious withdrawals and never felt any sort of withdrawals from Zopiclone. In fact my insomnia was so bad for months that just knowing I had a back up plan to just take a sleeping pill was comforting. I never took them all the time. They were really easy to take or leave for me but they did help me get through 10 months of hell.