mirtazapine withdrawal

[slowfish]

Hi. I have been on 15mg each night for the past 6 months - it has helped my sleep but I hate the side effects - weight gain, feeling drowsy all day, aches and pains.

If I wanted to withdraw what would be the best way? How gradual should the dose reduction be?

Thanks

[Hipha]

Surprised that nobody has responded to your question. Have you stopped taking mirtazapine? If not the most cautious guidance is 10% of dose per month. This would be painfully slow for you considering the low dose and length of time on it I would reduce 7.5 mg for 2-4 weeks and see how you feel and then drop to 3.75 for 2-4 weeks and then stop. Crucial that you listen to your body and adjust taper accordingly. Good luck

[karenp]

I was on Mirtazapine 3 years ago and WD was bad. I think I did it way too fast though but it was all done with in 3 weeks. I found starting on it easy but coming off very hard but hey, we are all different. I'm back on it again now and more worried about the weight gain thing than anything else. I'm going to ask my ex husband if I can have my treadmill back and get on that every day! Good luck coming off, do it very, very slowly, my main symptoms were throwing up with anxiety, skin crawling and just feeling generally horrible but as I said, it was all done with in 3 weeks.