I've been taking mirtazapine as a sleep aid for 4.5 years. I took 15mg for the first 3 years and 7.5mg for the remainder. I decided 4 days ago to quit cold turkey, as I'm hoping to have less brain fog if I'm not taking any meds. I thought I would post my progress here:
Day 1: slept 4 hours. No side effects
Day 2: slept 5 hours. No side effects
Day 3: slept 5 hours. No side effects.
Day 4: no side effects
Thats great I was only on it for 3 weeks, read how hard it was to get off it as well. I have quit mine but still on the citalopram(side effects are insomnia) so I'm also trying to cut that down.
But well done
Thanks! The worst is still to come I'm pretty sure but I'm determined to finally get off it. I've thought about quitting it for over a year but never had the courage to actually do it since it actually worked really well as far as helping me fall asleep. Staying asleep not so much. I've taken a few other ADs over the years and found that I actually felt better when I got off of them so I'm optimistic that will be the case here. I hope you have success cutting down on citalopram.
I'm so glad you're doing so well! Would you mind keeping us up to date on this, I'd love to know how you get on as would really like to wean off soon too.
Good luck
Kirsty x
Absolutely! I plan on updating this daily for the foreseeable future. I couldn't find a ton of success stories from people quitting cold turkey so since that's what I'm doing I'm hoping my experience will be helpful to someone. I personally am not a big fan of tapering, as it prolongs the withdrawal process, so I plan on sticking to cold turkey no matter what. I'm about to hit that dreaded week mark so hopefully it doesn't get too bad!
Day 4: slept 5 hours. No side effects.
Anyone know if it is possible to edit a post?
Good luck! You are in my prauers.God Bless You,Bob
It's going to be that bad huh? Haha. Thanks for the prayers!
I'm hoping this keeps up for you! I've read some pretty bad stories too, but my doctor said some people have no withdrawal symptoms at all... so here's hoping!
Good luck and I'll keep checking in
Thank you
Kirsty 😊
Day 5: slept 4 hours. No side effects
So happy for you! This is massively encouraging to hear too 😊
Day 6: 6 hours of sleep. Possibly have increased anxiety and brain fog but could be due to overall lack of sleep in the past month. No other obvious potential side effects.
A lot of people keep using the term "brain fog" is this a feeling of being a bit daydream like or a bit out of it? Sometimes I feel a bit spaced out on Mirt!
For me brain fog feels like my brain is just processing things more slowly. Like, it takes me longer to understand things going on around me or what people are saying to me. Also, I can't think as quickly so it is harder to say something witty or write something creative. The main reason I'm quitting Mirtazapine is that I'm hoping the brain fog will improve, but I guess it will probably get worse before it gets better.
That's exactly it. Feels like I have to really think just to be able string a simple sentence together! Hope last night went well 😊
Day 7: Slept 4 hours straight but woke up in the middle of the night with my mind racing and could not go back to sleep. As far as side effects, I'm feeling some kind of tightness in my throat, perhaps some increased anxiety, and I have a bit of a headache. Overall the side effects aren't bad though.
Hope you've had a good day. Good luck with tonight!
Hang in there! You might start feeling more side effects.I'm going in the other direction.I have IBS and anxiety/depression and was put on Mirt about 5-6 months ago starting at 15mg going up to 30mg(15 am,15pm) about 3 months ago.Also taking Gabapetin starting about 5 months ago for nerve block/IBS pain starting at 200mg going up in 200 mg increments to 600mg(200 am,200 afternoon,200 late pm)
which I hit about a month ago.At same time I was weaned off of Paxil,which I had been taking 20mg twice a day for 20 years.I also was given Tramadol 50mg twice a day for back pain caused by IBS after taking Ibprofin for many years,but it was starting to erode the lining of my stomach.I'm still adjusting to all this which was made much worse when the small company I work for(28+ years)was bought by a large corporation almost 2 years ago and when we switched to their "system" about 9 months ago has caused all of us tremendous stress.Hope things continue to go well! God Bless You,Bob
Thanks Bob! I know around now is when the side effects tend to get worse so I'm trying to stay hopeful. I've been through some nasty side effects with ADs before so I know I can get through it though.
Sounds like you've had some rough times recently. I hope things get better for you. Mirtazapine was actually pretty good to me for a while. Hopefullly it works out for you.
Day 8: slept 6 hours. A little bit of a headache and itchy skin but no really bad side effects yet.