Mirtazapine Withdrawal :: Dreadful, With Nausea, Palpitations, Ringing In The Ears
Jun 18, 2014
Almost 3 weeks ago I stopped Mirtazapine cold turkey. I was on a small dose of 7.5mg but I'm also a small person (8 stone) and that dose seemed to work for me. Just before I stopped I tried to taper but then changed my mind and double the dose which almost immediately gave me some nausea, palpitations and very bad muscles and joints pain. I stayed on that dose for a week but none of the symptoms cleared completely so on Friday 30.05 I stopped it completely.
Next few days were dreadful, with nausea, palpitations, ringing in the ears (and ear pain), burning skin on legs and arms, painful joints and muscles, especially left leg, muscle twitching, back pain, insomnia. They don't all come in at once and I do have a better moment or day but pretty much i'm still in pain most of the time and exhausted. I'm sure that the fact i've been on an antibiotic (doxycycline) for a bacterial infection drains the body as well and perhaps contributes to feeling ill but my GP says it shouldn't matter.
Please can anyone having a similar experience reply to this post. My GP just took my hope away today telling me that I don't have any withdrawal as he's never had a problem with this drug, but the only other choice is probably a serious autoimmune disease, which I'm terrified to think of. I never had any muscle or joint pain until about 4 weeks ago and now having a very sad time thinking what happened to my life as I'm not able to look after my family. I just want to have my hope back that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it's a few more weeks or months...
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I've been suffering with anxiety for two year panic attacks nearly every day was on mirtazapine for 3 months then my doc put me on sertraline but like an hour after i took my first one i got white noise ringing in my ears then next day went to hospital it was that bad been took of sertraline back on mitrazipine but my tinnitus has got worse ....
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i have had ringing in the ears (tinnitus) now for like 6 month and i also just noticed a few months ago everytime i swallow my ears click very very loud does anyone know what this could be?
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I have been experiencing a ringing in my ears, mainly by the left one for about a month and a half now. Sometimes is better some others worse, I have also been experiencing a sense of queasiness. At times feel slight fullness around my ears, and around my nose and face when i bend over.
Went to the GP once and was given ear drops as the Doctor suggested it was built wax in my ear. The drops didn't seem to do much so went back and got an ear spray, antibiotic. I have been taking it for a week now and to be honest, might have done something, or so i thought but the last two days I have been feeling queasy again and the ringing in the ears isn't going away.
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Did anyone experience ringing in their ears as a symptom of their gallbladder problems?
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I was diagnosed with OA in my lumbar & cervical spine 10+ years ago although it has not caused me any severe problems. I am now in a new state & under the care of a new rheumatologist. She has diagnosed me with Sjogren's & also "probable lupus" (I have many of the symptoms but nothing has shown up in blood tests as of yet.)
Over the past few months my knuckles have gotten bigger so that I cannot put on rings or remove my wedding band. My fingers also swell, & there are some nodules on the knuckles of 2 fingers up near the fingernails. My rheumatologist told me I now have RA.
I have been taking prednisone bursts every now & then to help with my problems. I have also taken it for several weeks at a time, either 10 mg/day or 5 mg/day. Most recently I had been taking 5 mg/day but it was not helping me. I asked at my last appointment about bumping it up to 10 mg/day again, but she is not wanting to do that. I don't know if its just this state I'm living in or what, but every medical professional I see tells me that taking prednisone long term is not good ... yet I know of people elsewhere who have been taking it for many years.
Three weeks ago my rheumatologist asked me to try hydroxychloroquine while I tapered off the prednisone. Not long after I started taking this medication, I noticed I was having ringing in my ears. I really didn't pay much attention to it ... figured it was just some fluke thing. I never had ringing in my ears prior to starting the hydroxychloroquine. As time went on the ringing got worse. I checked the side effect sheet that came with the medication & ringing in the ears was listed as an "unlikely but serious side effect" & it was noted that if this occurred I should "notify my doctor immediately."
I called my dermatologist's office & unfortunately her nurse took the call. This nurse seems to feel that she is a doctor. She has given me incorrect instructions in the past regarding medication. When I told her what was happening, she told me to stop taking the hydroxychloroquine for one week, then to start taking it again ... "just to see that there's nothing else that could be causing the ringing."
If the ringing hadn't been happening prior to me taking the medication, & it stopped immediately after I stopped taking it, then why do I need to start taking the medication again? Again, this ringing is described as an "unlikely but serious side effect." I am concerned that starting to take it again may result in irreparable harm to my hearing.
Am I just being silly/overcautious? Has anyone had this experience or a similar one?
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I've been to two gynos with my issues and I'm getting a little frustrated but I think I've figured this out on my own anyway. I'm 39, work out intensely 6 times a week, have 11 year old twins, no history of gynecological disease, and for the past year I've been experiencing signs of perimenopause. I haven't missed a period yet but sometimes I get two (yay me) and sometimes I get one that's either very light and short or very heavy and long. I have hot flashes, night sweats, mood swings, headaches, ringing in my ears on a regular basis for about 4 months(that hasn't happened in a few months now), extreme breast tenderness, fatigue, itchy skin, aversion to odors that normally don't bother me, digestive issues, etc. I can go down a list of symptoms of perimenopause and I have at least 12 of them. The problem is that when I tell a dr these things, they don't offer much help and they basically dismiss the idea that I could be perimenopausal at 39. I want them to understand that I'm miserable and I feel like **** 50% of the time because of these symptoms. They offer me the pill or an IUD to which I politely decline, leave, and go to my local homeopathic pharmacy to have some compounds made to help me cope with these insane symptoms.
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I have been having horrible anxiety attacks recently. I feel like there is something new wrong with me every day.
I have been feeling so sick after I eat then I panic that I am going to be unwell. I have been feeling very sick recently.
I have been getting a pain in my right leg and convinced I have a blood clot as I got the pain before. Probably just twisted my knee or something but my mind goes crazy.
I have been getting palpitations which make me short of breath then dizzy. Sometimes I sweat but I think that comes from the panic of having a heart attack. After a day of feeling these symptoms, I then end up with a headache or tension in my neck, back or shoulders and I'm convinced it's all related and I am seriously ill. It's a vicious circle. Anxiety causes me to be a hypochondriac.
I'm hoping others get these symptoms and have turned out to be ok? It's all anxiety related?
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I have been on antidepressants for 11 years, for OCD, and on Venlafaxine for roughly 6 years. At its highest i was on 225 mg plus 5mg Abilify. About two year ago my OCD had been under control for a good few years so i wanted to come off the medication for that reason but also I was suffering with chronic tiredness (falling asleep at work) and headaches that the drs could find no explanation for and I thought the drugs might be causing this. So I started reducing my meds.
I am off the Abilify and have got the Venlafaxine down to half a 37.5mg tab in the morning and a quarter tab in the evening. This has not been without its problems though. I could deal with the nausea/head zaps etc but about five/six months ago I tried reducing from 37.5mg every day to every other day (on the 'advice' of my GP who said it was 'such a baby dose you should be able to come off it in two weeks' ha!) and this resulted in my having heart palpitations (rate of 130bpm) and severe shakes and ending up in A&E. GP and doctor in A&E were both sceptical that withdrawal could cause this. GP made me do a 24hr heart ECG thing which came back normal so she put it down to 'anxiety'.
There were other (less severe) instances of heart palpitations in the following months that became less frequent. Then yesterday I couldn't remember if i'd taken my Venlafaxine in the morning so I took a quarter of a 37.5mg tab in the afternoon and a half of a quarter (crazy maths i know) in the evening. I then woke up suddenly at 1am and proceeded to get violent shakes and a feeling of a burning sensation in my brain. I got my partner to call an ambulance but by the time the paramedics got here the shaking had stopped and they said i was ok to stay home.
Has anyone had similar problems with convulsive shakes or heart palpitations with Venlafaxine? I want to come off it but these symptoms are alarming and no one in the medical profession seems to understand, all are dismissive of Venlafaxine withdrawal and even more so if you mention what you've 'read online'! But reading other people's experiences of this nightmare drug are reassuring me that i'm not insane (or at least no more than i was anyway).
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This is day 17 of tapering from 45 g to 30g alternate nights 22.5g and odd nights skipping it. So far i've had no withdrawal symptoms. I know it's early days and have to be careful, I just wanted to share my experience so far and perhaps give a glimmer of hope to anyone out there! Also my stagnant weight has finally shifted. Coincidence?
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Yesterday it was my 6th night on 7.5mg of Mirtazapine (instead of 15 mg). Moreover I could not take my dose on Saturday since my wife was celebrating her birthday so I had a few bottles of beer and did not want to combine it with med. What I experience so far is maybe slightly worse sleeping (really slightly worse). In this thread I would like to post my progress of withdrawal since I know many of people here go or would like to go through it as well and such threads would be very helpful for me.
My questions now:
1) did anybody experience really heavy back pain + shoulder pain + weakness in arms and palms (fingers) - all the time while on Mirtazapine?
2) did anybody experience huge volume of stool every day - all the time while on Mirtazapine?
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I am having significant fatigue, going into my 8th week since the last pill. I also have seasonal allergies and the pollen is bad right now. I am just wondering if fatigue (weak legs) has been a problem with others in this process. I haven't done much walking since this has been going on, as it has literally kicked my butt! Allergies make me feel bad in general, but this year is far worse than it ever has been, and I am wondering if the withdrawals are contributing.
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hi for about 8 weeks now i have been having what feels like heart palpitations,i have visited my gp and 2 said they thought i was having panic attacks and 1 thought a stomach ulcer i have ended up in hospital twice due to me going light headed feeling sick and having numbness down both arms and racing heart both times i was watching tv when it happened! its driving me insane i have had 3 ECG's all came back normal i sometimes have pain in my left shoulder or in my upper back around shoulder blades or in my upper stomach both sides, i have sat and taken my pulse when it happens but my heart rate doesn't seem to change, i have another appointment with the doctor on monday but feel like im being laughed at and not listened to!
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I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism 2 months ago. since then my thyroid levels have stabilised and are just slightly on the low end of normal. The specialist I was seeing put me on a med called mirtazapine to help with my sleep and appetite. He told me to only have 1/8 to 1/4 of a 15 mg tablet, so I started off with 1/8 of a tablet for 3 weeks every night which work good, anyway went up to 1/4 of a tablet for a week or so, was way to tired the next day so came back Down to 1/8 of a tablet for about a week or 2. I started what I can only describe as inner trembling and rushes of energy in chest arm and neck area, these rushes would happen over and over again from about 3 am till morning. It's a really horrible feeling accompanied with crawling tingling skin which makes me squirm. I was assuming it was the mirtazapine so I stopped it at 1.85 mg. it's now been six days since I stopped and this is still happening. Has anyone else had this as a side effect/withdrawal symptom. I don't think it agreed with me. Other medication I am on are propranolol 10 mg three times a day and 5mg carbimazole.
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My psychiatrist has just agreed that I can try reducing my antidepressant medication. I'm on 225mg venlafaxine and 30 mg mirtazapine, and he's suggested I gradually reduce the mirtazapine first, and see what happens He's warned me that i might notice less sedation, so sleep less well. Are there any other withdrawal symptoms I should know about? Anyone else tried it?
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I have read several sources on protracted withdrawal symptoms. All that I have found in the extended symptoms were psychiatric in nature. As anyone who follows this subject knows, mirtazapine has more than it's share of physical pains as well. Anyone know anything about protracted withdrawals that are physical symptoms, such as headaches, back spasms, stomach cramps, etc,? God have mercy on anyone who's life has been negatively touched by this "medicine".
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Having read some of the experiences others have had withdrawing from Mirtazapine I thought I would post my own. I hope it may be of use to others. I recently was re-prescribed Mirtazapine,after three years of not taking it. I took one 15mg tablet, felt like I'd been hit over the head with a riot shield and fell out of bed with severe restless legs syndrome. I decided there and then "there is no way I am going through all this again", and stopped it right there.
Previously, I had been prescribed Mirtazapine for severe anxiety and depression. This medication caused restless leg syndrome, and caused me to put on 3 stones in weight. Despite being previously a fit and active person. I became lethargic, and fatigued easily, needing to rest after evey 20 minutes of moderate activity, not to mention the dreadful hangovers I would have all morning. I persisted in taking it for nearly 5 years because I looked forward to the sedative effect it has. I even looked forward to it at night, despite the dreadful side effects, because I felt it helped me escape the world into sleep. Personally I think Mirtazapine is addictive and I was addicted.
I eventually decided enough was enough and decided to get my life back.
My GP was of little use when it came to advice for tapered withdrawal, though damn quick to prescribe the stuff in the first place. I determined an action plan of my own. I was aware of the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms of suddenly stopping, as I had previously, on occasion, run out of money and couldn't afford my prescription. Dizziness, extreme anxiety, nausea, insomnia, sweating and flu like muscle and headaches are all in store for any one who stops this medication abruptly. I tapered Mirtazapine over approximately 3 months by, cutting up 30mg tablets. 1st week I took 3/4rs of a tablet, then 1/2 plus an 1/8th second week, then 1/2 plus 1/16th for the 3rd week and so on. Eventually I was taking 1/16th of 30 mg (or less) per night for the last 2 weeks after which I felt no withdrawal symptoms upon cessation. The doses are approximate as cutting these tablets is accurately is difficult.
All of this took a lot of focus and bloody-minded determination. I find it surprising that the manufacturers don't provide decreasing doses for people wishing to stop taking their product without discomfort. At the moment I have decided to cope with life without Mirtazapine, or any other chemical horror. It can be very difficult at times, but vastly better than being a Drs. corporate guinea pig/junkie. I would say though, that for people who are severely depressed, Mirtazapine or other medications could be helpful if used for the short term, but please be aware of the very real side effects and problems with these substances. Ask yourself very carefully if you think you need this, despite what your Dr. may say. These drugs should be a last resort, not first port of call. They most certainly are no magic cure, and have serious "side effects" that should not be underestimated.
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AFTER BEING ON MIRTAZAPINE FOR MANY YEARS i went cold turkey about 4 weeks ago,I honestly haven't had any withdrawal symptoms,the only slight problem is awakening earlier in the morning,I have als lost nearly a stone in weight which I am really happy with and really feel a lot better within myself both physically and mentally I kept asking my G P IF i could maybe stop them and he was the one who kept putting me off that is why I went cold turkey
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I broke my wrist on 1st Feb and my body went into severe shock. I felt very ill and couldn't sleep. My doctor gave me Mirtazapine to "calm things down". I took two 15mg tablets a day for 7 days and had horrible reactions including 'burning' and painful legs. I just stopped taking them 18 days ago but ever since I have what I imagine must be withdrawal symptoms. I feel so ill and feel desperate for some reassurance that things will pass. I can't sleep,feel nauseous,my chest hurts and I feel breathless. The symptoms seem to be getting worse.
I am so shocked that I have such a severe reaction after only taking the tablets for a week. Can anyone out there tell me if this is normal?
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I would like to ask anyone who has withdrawn from Mirtazapine to explain what sort of symptoms you have experienced with withdrawal.
I have reduced from 15 mg to 12.5mg 4 weeks ago and have had a constant trembling/ shaking feeling predominantly in the mornings with an underlying anxious feeling, nausea, gastric upset, sweating, aching lower limbs and pressure in my head. Can anyone relate to any similar effects please?
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Ok so I am now off the mirtazapine after being on it in total just over 8 weeks..... When should I expect withdrawal to kick in and when will it peak before it starts to get better?
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