Mirtazipine to help Trintellix withdrawal symptoms??

October 13, 2026

I’m having bad withdrawal symptoms having had a very bumpy ride on Vortioxetine, currently at 3.75mg after basically cold turkey off Citalopram. My body feels like it is constantly shaking on the inside and my muscles are tensing up randomly. I just spoke to the GP as I didn’t feel I could wait until my appointment on Friday. She said I am okay to back up to 5mg as I just don’t think I can bare the withdrawal symptoms anymore. I really hope it helps. She also said that the psychiatrist they had written to had come back and said it was unusual to get bad withdrawal symptoms (!) but I could try taking mirtazipine to help with the withdrawal. I don’t really want to be taking another drug when I’m all over the place, so ideally want to increase the Vortioxetine for a while and hold at that and hope things get better. But wondered if anyone had any thoughts. After reading lots on this site, I am loathe to put something else in my body when I’m feeling so bad, but I also feel stuck. Any thoughts welcome 🩷

Citalopram - 40mg to 20mg in 1 week then 0 June 2026 | Trintellix 5mg 4 weeks, 10mg 17 days, 5mg 5 weeks, 3.75mg 4 weeks, up dosed to 5mg 13 Oct 2026 — plan to holding and to taper slower in future

6 Replies

Polly's Farm1h ago

Trusted VoiceTrintellix · researching

Hi Tealrobin, I'm sorry you're feeling so bad. I think the updose to 5mg and a long hold is a very good idea. How long were you on Citalopram? How did you feel on 5mg vortioxetine over the summer? I really hope the symptoms settle down soon and you start to feel more stable.

Trintellix — 15mg — 4 years, 9 months — researching taper | Risperdal — 0.25mg — 4 years, 9 months — actively tapering | Depakine — 1000mg — 12 years — supporting others | with clinician

RO1h ago

@Tealrobin Your symptoms are they possibly because you cold turkeyed Citaloptam or did you also lower Vortioxetine dose at the same time? Your symptoms could be a combination of both medications. It sounds like you need someone more knowledgeable in this area to guide you correctly and the psychiatrist you mentioned doesn’t sound like he understands the medication reaction. I cold turkeyed Prozac and reacted badly too. Completely lost trust in GP’s as they got me into the s mess due to the lack of simple guidance. It’s very important to get the right guidance from a more knowledgeable psychiatrist. Hope you get better soon.

RO1h ago

How long were you on Citalopram?

Tealrobin53m ago

Trintellix · holding

@Polly's Farm thank you 🩷 I was on citalopram for about 14 years, went into the docs cos I was feeling fatigued which I now think was adhd burnout. The locum gp suggested I change AD’s and I just went with it. Absolute worse decision I think I’ve made in my life. I asked at the time how to taper off the citalopram properly and she just said to go down to 20 for an day and then stop and start taking the Vortioxetine. I also asked the pharmacist and they didn’t know either. So I did a longer taper of a week (which again is ridiculous) but I didn’t feel I had any info. I also thought that the new AD would stop any withdrawal once I started taking it. I feel like I’ve made some really bad decisions, though I have tried my best with the little info I had, so have been over thinking this too. I was in the 5mg for 4 weeks, felt okay on it but was having the citalopram withdrawal at the same time. I did get some restless leg and I think there is a chance that will come back more but it wasn’t as bad as when I went up to 10mg.

Citalopram - 40mg to 20mg in 1 week then 0 June 2026 | Trintellix 5mg 4 weeks, 10mg 17 days, 5mg 5 weeks, 3.75mg 4 weeks, up dosed to 5mg 13 Oct 2026 — plan to holding and to taper slower in future

Tealrobin50m ago

Trintellix · holding

@RO thank you 🩷I was on 40mg of citalopram for 14 years, then dropped to 20 over a week and then stopped taking it and started to take the Vortioxetine. I don’t think the GPs know much at all and I think I need to advocate for myself more and say no to going onto another one and just get steady on the Vortioxetine if I can and then look at if I can afford a private psychiatrist that understands.

Citalopram - 40mg to 20mg in 1 week then 0 June 2026 | Trintellix 5mg 4 weeks, 10mg 17 days, 5mg 5 weeks, 3.75mg 4 weeks, up dosed to 5mg 13 Oct 2026 — plan to holding and to taper slower in future

RO29m ago

@Tealrobin I’m really sorry you’ve been given wrong advice on stopping it cold turkey. You are not the only one and please don’t blame yourself for it, doctors especially GP’s don’t understand the risks. I really think that they shouldn’t be allowed to hand these kind of medications out if they don’t understand a simple thing as cold turkey risks. If you can get steady that would be great but again be careful with how fast you increase or decrease and listen to your body. The best way is probably a proper psychiatrist who deals in this area. I really wish you speedy recovery.

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