u/m0mlegz

Hello, I thought I’d post in here to see if anyone has had a similar experience.

I’ve been taking Mirtazapine 15mg for 4 years. It was originally prescribed to me to increase my appetite and help with insomnia. It definitely helped my insomnia, and I suppose helped me prevent losing weight but I never really had any big weight gain from it either.

A bit of background, I got diagnosed with OCD a few years back, more specifically relationship OCD. Had a couple long term relationships fall apart as a result, and went deep into therapy etc and have gotten a lot better. These past couple of years, I now have a wonderful relationship with someone I am planning to marry, and really don’t struggle with my OCD like I used to. I still go to therapy monthly, I live a healthy lifestyle, and don’t have any pressing stressors in my life as of late. I also don’t take any other medications.

Back to the mirtazapine, I got sick about a month ago (cold, maybe Covid) and neglected to take my mirtazapine during the cold. I’ve been wanting to stop taking it due to the grogginess and difficulty waking up when on it, and because my appetite has improved. I also am the type of person where I’d rather not be on any medications if I don’t absolutely need it. I concluded that my issues with appetite/insomnia were more related to my OCD and the constant anxiety that it brought me in the past, and since I have gotten so much better, I thought I could handle my appetite and sleep without the mirtazapine. I had been sick for like 4-7 days and didn’t take the mirtazapine, and was eating and sleeping fine, so I decided to just continue not taking it.

I have been off the mirtazapine for about a month now. The first two weeks of not taking it, I literally felt no change in anything and no withdrawal. I am eating fine, falling asleep and staying asleep fine, and felt good in terms of my mental health. However week three, I started to get some light to moderate anxiety, and some light depression (lower motivation, feeling flat, seeming to care less about pretty much everything, minor depersonalization, etc). However, even up to today I’m still eating and sleeping normally. With the anxiety and depression, it also comes in waves. I feel pretty lousy in the morning, then might feel pretty good in the afternoon, then back to lousy in the evening, etc.

I’m just concerned and confused. I’ve put in so much work on my mental and physical health, and my original reasons for taking mirtazapine (eating, sleeping) are resolved as of now. But this newfound anxiety, depression, etc. is really bothering me and making me worried. I just don’t feel like myself. And it’s weird too, because you’d think the withdrawal from stopping a medication like this would be more acute, and get better overtime. In my case, it was fine for a couple weeks, and then I have started having these dips in my mental health during weeks 3 and 4. Although I did have anxiety as a result of my OCD in the past, that wasn’t even the reason I got prescribed mirtazapine in the first place. Even with my history of relationship OCD, my newfound mental health struggles after stopping mirtazapine aren’t directly affecting or attaching to my relationship. My girlfriend is wonderful, she is aware of what I’m going through, and has been a healthy and constant support system for me.

To wrap this up, has anyone experienced delayed mental health effects after stopping mirtazapine? The only two things I can think of that are causing these new mental health struggles are:

1. Stopping mirtazapine. Even though these symptoms didn’t manifest for at least two weeks after stopping.

2. (This might be a stretch), but I also have been made aware of mental health issues after COVID, and wonder if when I was sick that’s what I had, and now have some neurological long-covid type symptoms.

Any help or perspective is much appreciated. I’m hopeful I will make it through this, but am also scared that something isn’t quite right.

Hello, I thought I’d post in here to see if anyone has had a similar experience.

I’ve been taking Mirtazapine 15mg for 4 years. It was originally prescribed to me to increase my appetite and help with insomnia. It definitely helped my insomnia, and I suppose helped me prevent losing weight but I never really had any big weight gain from it either.

A bit of background, I got diagnosed with OCD a few years back, more specifically relationship OCD. Had a couple long term relationships fall apart as a result, and went deep into therapy etc and have gotten a lot better. These past couple of years, I now have a wonderful relationship with someone I am planning to marry, and really don’t struggle with my OCD like I used to. I still go to therapy monthly, I live a healthy lifestyle, and don’t have any pressing stressors in my life as of late. I also don’t take any other medications.

Back to the mirtazapine, I got sick about a month ago (cold, maybe Covid) and neglected to take my mirtazapine during the cold. I’ve been wanting to stop taking it due to the grogginess and difficulty waking up when on it, and because my appetite has improved. I also am the type of person where I’d rather not be on any medications if I don’t absolutely need it. I concluded that my issues with appetite/insomnia were more related to my OCD and the constant anxiety that it brought me in the past, and since I have gotten so much better, I thought I could handle my appetite and sleep without the mirtazapine. I had been sick for like 4-7 days and didn’t take the mirtazapine, and was eating and sleeping fine, so I decided to just continue not taking it.

I have been off the mirtazapine for about a month now. The first two weeks of not taking it, I literally felt no change in anything and no withdrawal. I am eating fine, falling asleep and staying asleep fine, and felt good in terms of my mental health. However week three, I started to get some light to moderate anxiety, and some light depression (lower motivation, feeling flat, seeming to care less about pretty much everything, minor depersonalization, etc). However, even up to today I’m still eating and sleeping normally. With the anxiety and depression, it also comes in waves. I feel pretty lousy in the morning, then might feel pretty good in the afternoon, then back to lousy in the evening, etc.

I’m just concerned and confused. I’ve put in so much work on my mental and physical health, and my original reasons for taking mirtazapine (eating, sleeping) are resolved as of now. But this newfound anxiety, depression, etc. is really bothering me and making me worried. I just don’t feel like myself. And it’s weird too, because you’d think the withdrawal from stopping a medication like this would be more acute, and get better overtime. In my case, it was fine for a couple weeks, and then I have started having these dips in my mental health during weeks 3 and 4. Although I did have anxiety as a result of my OCD in the past, that wasn’t even the reason I got prescribed mirtazapine in the first place. Even with my history of relationship OCD, my newfound mental health struggles after stopping mirtazapine aren’t directly affecting or attaching to my relationship. My girlfriend is wonderful, she is aware of what I’m going through, and has been a healthy and constant support system for me.

To wrap this up, has anyone experienced delayed mental health effects after stopping mirtazapine? The only two things I can think of that are causing these new mental health struggles are:

1. Stopping mirtazapine. Even though these symptoms didn’t manifest for at least two weeks after stopping.

2. (This might be a stretch), but I also have been made aware of mental health issues after COVID, and wonder if when I was sick that’s what I had, and now have some neurological long-covid type symptoms.

Any help or perspective is much appreciated. I’m hopeful I will make it through this, but am also scared that something isn’t quite right.