Change from 15mg - 30mg

Hi all. First post.
Bit of info about me before I start:
I'm a 28 year old male from England, who has been suffering with bad anxiety for the past few years. It came to a bit of a head back in July when I was near-suicidal with anxiety. The severe suicidal thoughts were probably due to the Citalopram I had been taking for about 4 days on the advice of my GP (prescribed after a 10 minute appointment which had her basically saying "This is the third time I've seen you. Here are some pills"). I was referred to the Community Mental Health Team after my family were afraid to leave me in the house alone incase I "did" something daft whilst having these awful thoughts. The CMHT advised me to stop the Citalopram and start taking 15mg Mirtazapine instead.

I have been on this for 7 weeks, and have up and down days but rarely anything stable - Usually a few good days are followed by a sudden crappy moment out of the blue which sends me backwards. I have now been advised that my dosage will soon be upped to 30mg as that is more of an effective level of medication for anxiety and the resultant depression it caused me.

In the lead up to this change, I have been advised to take 2 15mg tablets one evening, followed by 1 15mg the next in order to prepare the change of dose for my system so it is not such a shock.

Does anyone have any experiences of increasing the dose of Mirtazapine, and did it make them improve?

My anxiety has been so bad at times (even whilst on 15mg) that I have been unable to walk to town or even catch a bus. I also seem to have a frequent urge to use pass urine at times, even though nothing much happens! I also get a feeling that I am going to start crying for no reason, which is really odd!

Is 30mg a better dose for aiding anxiety? I sleep like a log most of the time on 15mg, so I am hoping that I wont sleep too much more on the higher dose.

Thanks,
Al

Hi there. I've been on this drug for almost 7 years, varying doses. I'm now on 45mg. I think that 30mg is considered a therapeutic dose so you should have no fears about increasing it. The sleepiness side effect, in my experience, didn't increase when I went to 30mg and then 45mg. It's one of the joys of this medication that it aids sleep, helping the body to rest while you recover. Are you having any other treatment? Therapy and the like?

Unfortunately it often takes some time to get the drugs and/or doses right as everyone is different. It might take a while for the 30mg to take effect if it's going to work for you. I wish you well.
:hugs:

Hi, thanks for your response. I am just concerned as to whether increasing the dose would add (even temporarily) to my hightened anxiety, as that is the last thing I really need right now.

In answer to your question, yes I am attending a group CBT session that I was referred to by my GP. This Tuesday is the last of my 5 sessions and whilst I have found bits of it useful, I have found it very difficult to put the new ideas and stuff into practice! Old habits die hard, as they say.

you will no when your gething enought just give time may take a few weeks to get what you want . but dont be afraid to up your dose.