i decided to stop taking my medication

[davidburke]

i have being taking an anti depressant Zispin(also known as Mirtazapine)for around 3 years and i decided not to take them anymore last night without consulting a doctor because my old doctor is retired and i'm afraid to go to a new one but mostly because i don't think i need it, it hasn't really done much for me i just was put on it and i never really discussed if it was working for me with my doctor.

I'm worried about the side affects from suddenly stopping taking them the biggest one is i am pretty much not able to fall asleep when i don't take them i think i only got a hour or two of deep sleep last night and i'm feeling dizzy and i have a headache although that could be from the lack of sleep. the meds have a sedative effect so my body has gottin used to it so that why i can't sleep without it.

I am hoping this does not last long and that i can sleep tonight. has anyone else being on this medication or have come off them? whats your experience with it?

 

[Noca]

I'm on Mirtazapine but I haven't gone off it. Its best with all anti-depressants to wean off them slowly over at least a weeks time.

 

[Enialis227]

NOTE: As I say every time now, I am not a doctor.

I can't condone stopping medication without consulting a doctor. But, the key to safely quitting nay medication is slowly tapering off of it.
To find the safest way to taper off though, how much you should scale your dose over what time etc, you need to consult a medical professional.

 

[mikestar]

load of rubbish, been on zispin for last couple months, first 4 weeks they sedated me and made me sleep, after they started given me throbbing legs and couldn't fall asleep, now they do nothing.

Seen no difference to my anxiety and stress whatsoever

 

[PhillyFlyersGrl]

Personally I think its a bad idea to just stop taking them and also not taking them out of fear of having to find a new doctor. Maybe a different med would help you better? Who knows?
If your really going to stop though, you should taper off slowly

 

[davidburke]

its bein two days since i stoped taking them and i don't really have any side effects today and i slept better last night and just so everyone knows my mood is fine i'm not depressed at the moment

 

[DillJenkins]

A drug like Mirtazapine is probably okay to slowly taper off for a week or two. If you have already discontinued use and you feel okay then it probably wont get any worse given its 20-40 hour half life.

Like you have said the main effect of stopping is an inability to sleep for a few days. Another potential effect is histamine rebound as Mirtazapine is the most potent anti-histamine I believe.

Basically for a few days you might notice that you have a harder time falling asleep and if you have allergies they will probably get worse.

I recommend take the OTC sleep aid Diphenhydramine to combat insomnia. Its Benedryl and it will lesson any withdrawal symptoms from Mirtazapine.

Note: In generally it is a bad idea to stop taking a medicine without consulting a doctor. This is especially true if you have been on the medicine for awhile. For example, if you did this with a benzo like Xanax the results could be seizure and potential death. Just FYI.

 

[AngelSong]

Since you have been taking it for so long, you may not realize how they are helping you (if they are doing anything) and suddenly stopping will probably show you what the medicine was covering up. If stopping doesn't do anything It's probably better off that you aren't taking medicine that isn't helping. As hard as it may be your best choice is to see a doctor.

 

[Luke1993]

I stopped taking prozac in january. I had taken it for two years previous. It just wasn't doing anything to me. Maybe the dose wasn't high enough. If anything I feel better now. I just hated taking it, because I felt like I could never conquer my problems if every day I was relying on this prozac.

 

[powerfulthoughts]

Side effects are aweful. But once they go away, things are so much better.