Starting on Mirtazapine

[Papageno]

Dear Friends,

I have just started on 15mg Mirtazapine having managed to come off Venlafaxine. Whilst I felt much of the usual Venlafaxine withdrawal symptoms , I am now feeling v. spaced out and sleepy on the Mirtazapine. It seems to be working well on the anxiety but at a price!!!!

How long should I leave feeling like this before going back to the Quack to see if I should be on the 30mg dose. Any advice/suggestions will be greatly accepted!

Papageno

[jo61]

HI, I've been on mirtazapine for years and what you describe is perfectly normal when starting treatment. I slept a lot and did feel spaced out. This passed for me in a couple of weeks and I was side effect free. One good thing, it's still a bit sedative so easier to fall asleep at night. Increase of dose doesn't necessarily mean more side effects - that's the good news.

On the Venlafaxine, how slowly did you come off it? I got it down to 75mg a day before Christmas and then stopped until after the holidays. It was pretty difficult to reduce. Would be interested to hear from you.

Jo x

[Papageno]

Dear Jo61,

First of all, many thanks for your helpful advice about Mirtazapine. I was on Venlafaxine for about 5 years all told and was on 225mg a day at the end!!! It was becoming worse than useless and so I was advised to come off it first of all to 150mg a day for one week, then 75mg a day for one week and lastly to 37.5mg a day for a week.

Reading all the terrible side-effects that people have had, I was worried about coming off but, apart from the truly terrible nightmares and a certain amount of irritability, I have come off them reasonably easily. Christmas did not help! EFT did!

I hope that this helps.

Regards,

Papageno