Weaning of mirtazapine 15mg and Fluoxetine 20mg

[Rachmyworld]

Can mirtazapine 15mg and fluoxetine 20mg can be weaned off simultaneously in a period of 10months? I have fibromyalgia too. I’m told to get off them as my liver function is poor....Don’t what to do as getting off antidepressants needs a lot of time and I’m scared of fibromyalgia pain blow up if I do so?  I’m thinking to follow anti-histamine diet to minimise WDs...Any insights please

[DataGuy]

Hi @Rachmyworld

Welcome to SA. Sorry for the delay, but we are staffed by volunteers. Why do you need to be off in 10 months? I would suggest you take longer than that, if possible. Normally we would taper the fluoxetine first, then the mirtazapine last, since it is more sedating. Tapering slowly would be less likely to exacerbate your fibromyalgia. 

 

I would suggest reading our topic Why Taper By 10%. Tapering slowly helps minimize both symptoms and symptom severity, ensuring you can remain functional while you get off the drug. Reducing more quickly than 10% can be too fast for many people, and as you get to lower doses you may want to slow the reduction even further, since receptor occupancy of these drugs tends to decrease more rapidly at lower doses. Here are specific tips for tapering off fluoxetine.

 

Some drugs and supplements can interfere with metabolism and can also have psychotropic effects (antibiotics, steroids, some supplements, coffee, nicotine etc.). It would be very helpful if you could create a drug history in your signature like this one. This link will take you directly to the signature. Signatures generally look like this: 

 

Example:

2001–2002 paroxetine 
2003  citalopram 
2004  paroxetine
2008  paroxetine slow taper down to 2016 Aug off paroxetine
2016  citalopram May 20mg  Oct slow taper down
2018  citalopram 13 Feb 4.6mg 15 Mar 4.4mg 29 Apr 4.2mg

 

This will allow any moderator or member to quickly see your history and where you are in your taper, and thus be able to help more easily without too much reading (most people here are volunteers and have other jobs).

 

In the meantime, you might find some of these non drug coping techniques helpful to ease your symptoms. Hope you start feeling better soon : )

Edited September 17, 2021 by DataGuy