Nervous to try mirtazapine

[dreambeliever]

:welcome:

I was supposed to start 15 mg mirtazapine a few nights ago prescribed by my Dr. for anxiety. I'm very nervous to start these :(. Does anyone have any advice or experience with mirtazapine, preferably good?! :blush:

[Kim51]

Hi I started these at 15mg in January went up to 30mg in march and then as anxiety so bad am now on 45mg unfortunately my anxiety is still out of control but on the good side I have had no side effects from them, just because they have not helped my anxiety it is not to say it won't help you different tablets work better for some of us than others.
Good luck :)

[Ingenious]

They worked really well for me. Also the only side effect at the start was putting me to sleep, so they seemed easy to live with compared to other medication I've been on. A friend of mine started on it too recently, same for her, knocked her out the first night (you take these before bed ideally) and she's still pretty tired at the moment, but no major issues.

[dreambeliever]

Thank you for your replies :) I'm still a little hesitant to try them but I will see how I feel tomorrow night. :hugs:

[Bonnibelle]

I felt so scared about starting it, so much so that I put it off for 4 weeks before I took it. I can honestly say it is the best thing I ever did. I had PTSD and it had caused agoraphobia, the mirt has helped me alot to get back out there.

I felt very tired the first week but now 5 weeks in I don't notice it.

Give it a try, honestly it is one of the easiest meds to start x

[cheshirecatqee]

I took mirtrazipine and had no side effects apart from being v sleepy on 15mg and restless leg.

[hanshan]

As a comparison, with paroxetine I had some really awful side effects almost immediately, whereas mirtazapine's sleepiness was a godsend. The first night after I took mirtazapine was the best night's sleep I'd had in years.

As far as I can tell, the general response from posters to NMP is that mirtazapine is one of the easier ADs to start. However, everyone is different, and you just have to try for yourself.

[dreambeliever]

Thank you for all of your replies :blush: much appreciated. I'm going to take my first one tonight and give it a try. As nervous as I am, I do believe I need it. Hopefully it works for me.

My Dr. also prescribed .5 mg of lorazepam (ativan) to take as needed for anxiety. Does anyone know if this combination is okay together? I'm sure it is or he wouldn't have prescribed it!

---------- Post added at 21:15 ---------- Previous post was at 20:53 ----------

I just took my first one! Wish me luck :hugs:

[hanshan]

Good luck!

Mirtazapine can be combined with a benzodiazepine like lorazepam, but take care in the first days of taking mirtazapine, since both can cause drowsiness.

[dreambeliever]

Thank you everyone! :D

I will just give a quick update for anyone reading through and curious. I took my first one last night (15 mg) and felt pretty sleepy 45 minutes(ish) afterwards. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but still pretty sleepy and my eyes felt heavy. I don't remember falling asleep but I do remember waking up a few times during the night. I slept for probably around 11 hours? and now after being awake for 2 1/2 hours I'm still pretty tired. After doing my research though I was definitely expecting to feel tired today.

Does anyone know if the tiredness gets any better as the days go on with taking this medication? I'm really hoping this symptom of being sleepy will start to subside as the days go on, as I have to go back to work in 5 days! I haven't had any other side effects so far and have not noticed my appetite increasing at all. Just sleepiness so far for me, really hoping it will start to go away though as I'm a huge morning person. :blush:

Today will probably be a right off for me, I'm going to try and go for a walk later but won't risk driving anywhere as I know I'm too drowsy for that. Looks like a movies in bed kind of day. :yesyes:

Definitely curious though if anyone has had any improvements with tiredness as the days go on with this medication? What days were the worst for you? :shrug:

Thanks everyone for passing by!

[Tessie28]

Hi, when I was taking them it took me some weeks to stop feeling sleepy in the morning. Good luck!

[hanshan]

Based on my own experience and what I've read, the tiredness goes from after a few days to a week or so. (I've just read Tessie's comment above, and I have to say I still feel a bit more tired waking up, but it soon dissipates - like the time it takes for a cup of tea. Everyone will be different, so you just have to find out how it affects you long-term).

[dreambeliever]

Today is my second day now and has been a huge improvement in regards to the tiredness, which I'm happy about. :yesyes:

[hanshan]

Good to hear that, plus you have the weekend to get through any residual sleepiness (I may be a day ahead of you, in Japan).

[dreambeliever]

Hanshan - it's the weekend now :) you are ahead of me, I'm in Canada.

[hanshan]

Hope the sleepiness is going away, and you are getting your energy back. Yes I'm a couple of time zones ahead of you.