View Full Version : Beginning of mirtazapine
Hi guys,
I've decided to keep a log on here about how my experience with mirtazapine goes, hoping it helps both myself and if anyone is going through something similar. I've tried a lot of meds for my GAD and depression (citalopram, escitalopram, sertraline, venlafaxine, fluoxetine) with none of them really working over the years. I'm currently going through a 5 month episode that is extremely severe and has pretty much made me housebound.
I tried mirtazapine a couple of years ago. I had one dose and it pretty much knocked me out and i refused to take it. However, I'm struggling with sleep and have decided to give it another go. My doctor has decided to start me off on 15mg which i will take tonight just before bed.
The most debilitating forms of my illness at the moment are extreme tiredness no matter how much sleep i have, headaches, constant extreme anxiety, irritability, lack of motivation, depression. Hopefully the mirtazapine will do something about these. Here's to starting off a new medication!
I wish you the very best of luck with Mirtazapine - especially as you have already run the gauntlet of so many of the other meds.
Mirtazapine is often prescribed to help people with sleep issues and is supposed to be more sedating at the lower doses. I have been on 30 mg, but it didn't suit me so I am withdrawing. I am now down to 7.5 mg and at last I think I am getting some of the benefits of some better sleep.
There is quite a lot on here about Mirtazapine - good and bad, so you should find a lot of support from members who will happily share their experiences.
Good luck !
Thank you Sandie. Couple of things I'm worried about with the mirtazapine is weight gain. Does this happen with everyone? And also I'm constantly tired throughout the day. Could it make that worse?
I am afraid the weight gain is almost inevitable - although it isn't rocket science, if you eat more you will gain weight !
Mirtazapine does seem to stimulate the appetite, which is why it is often prescribed for people who are seriously underweight. It didn't happen to me for the first 3 weeks or so - but then BAM, I had the most serous carb cravings - especially in the evenings, and although I have only been on Mirt for 12 weeks I have gained 7lbs. We had no chocolate or sweets in the house over Christmas (for the first time in our 33 years of marriage); we cut back on all sweet things and on food in general over the festive period, and yet I have gained another pound.
My research does suggest that it can change the way our body metabolises food. However, with depression/anxiety there is also an apathy to exercise, a tendency to stay at home and be less active. If this happens then I suppose it is inevitable that we don't burn off any excess calories we consume.
The tiredness thing with Mirt. I haven't found this - if anything it has made me jittery and more anxious - it hasn't suited me at all. You might want to look at my thread about withdrawing BUT only if this doesn't then concern you about starting Mirt. There are other threads on here about Mirt - as I said earlier, some good and some bad.
It is possible to lose weight while taking mirtazapine, but it might take a while adjusting to the dose and its effects first.
I put on weight at a rate of about three kilos per year (about six to seven pounds per year), but I made a determined effort starting three years ago, and in that time have lost about twelve kilos (26 lb), all the while taking mirtazapine.
In my experience when you first start taking Mirt it is pretty sedating, you will sleep A LOT and feel groggy during the day. The extreme sedation will pass fairly quickly and they say the higher a dose you take the less sedating the drug gets, but I haven't made it above 15mg as the higher dose at bedtime seems to stop me sleeping, and I started taking it to help through insomnia caused by extreme anxiety. I'm still trying to find a dose that will work for me.
Good luck with your Mirt journey & Welcome to the club.
Thanks for the replies guys. I was reading the leaflet that comes with the mirtazapine and it said about 10% will get the weight gain. Yet i hear on here and elsewhere that a lot of people get the weight gain. Am i to definitely experience it as my appetite is pretty big as it is anyway!
The sedation during the day worries me only because I'm always tired anyway but, I'm willing to give this medication a go. Who knows, it could be a wonder drug for me. Frustrating that it takes so long to find what works though
Istherehope?
31-12-15, 15:28
Hi, and welcome to the Mirt club. Really hoping it helps you as it sounds like you've been through a lot.
I found Mirt very sedating for the first couple of weeks but then it was OK. I haven't put weight on so I've escaped that side effect! It wasn't really helping my anxiety/depression that much so I've recently had another AD added to see if the two together might do the trick.
Hope things go well for you tonight.
Thanks for the message istherehope. It does feel like I've been through a lot when i reread my message. I'm trying to cling onto that i can recover from this, no matter how incapacitated i have been and am from it. I've never been in proper therapy or seen any specialists so I'm hoping with the right medication and help, I'll overcome it, or realistically, manage it where it doesn't impact my life anymore.
The sedating effect I'm quite looking forward to on a night as my sleep hasn't been brilliant. Could do without the added tiredness on top of the already pretty bad tiredness i have though so hopefully i don't get that.
Thanks for all your support and messages guys. Makes me feel better knowing anxiety and mental health problems are a lot more common than it seems in life
Good luck with the mirtazapine! I really hope it helps you and brings you relief and respite. You won't know unless you try the drug anyway so you have nothing to lose.
Exactly Pulisa. If it doesn't work, onto the next one. If it does, perfect.
Hope you're well and you have a good new year
Thank you! Hope you are surviving the floods? It sounds awful
Luckily Pulisa, i live a few miles north of York so missed out on all the flooding but it's horrendous in the city centre.
Took the first dose of mirtazapine last night just before bed and it pretty much knocked me out like i knew it would. Woke up this morning at 10am and would have slept a lot longer had it not been for my alarm which isn't like me. Feeling very groggy and not with it at all which i don't like. Does it improve the more i take it?
I have never experienced grogginess with Mirtazapine because I have never enjoyed the sleep benefits the drug supposedly promotes.
Even now, at just 7.5 mg, I still awake at around 3 am, but over the last week or so (if I am lucky) I can get back to sleep again. This morning this was not the case, and as a consequence I am tired.
When I am tired, the anxiety and jitteriness becomes more prevalent, and I get a lot more panic attacks during the day.
Istherehope?
01-01-16, 12:14
I found that I slept for almost 12 hours a night for the first week and found it very difficult to wake up but I felt much less groggy after that. Currently on 30mg and still get the sleep benefit at night - I take it a bit before bed - but I don't think it affects me in the day very much now. I think generally if it causes sedation, it calms down after a week or so, but obviously nothing is ever guaranteed on these meds.
I found the worst of the sedation does wear off after a few days but pretty much every day since I've been very muddled and found it hard to focus. It seems to get worse for me as the day goes on and the nightly dose wears off, then eventually I would feel a little clearer in the evening. But at the moment it's pretty much permanent unless I've recently taken a dose.
But I don't seem to be the norm as far as this drug goes, so your experience my very well differ. It may just be stress thats causing many of my symptoms, I don't know.
I have a pretty jaded view on Mirt now, so I'm maybe not the best person to give out advice on it. But if after a week its still leaving you groggy I'd say come off. I've been on it 4 weeks now hoping it'll wear off with no joy.
Hi, I have found that mirtazapine does not help with sleep at all.
Although I am taking half the dose of 15mg.
The only benefit I am having is that I am not getting worked up in the day. I find I am much calmer although I have a horrible taste in my mouth so as a result of that I have resorted to chewing gum or mints.
I think I'm gonna have to call it quits on the mirtazapine already. The grogginess is really bad and i am finding it hard to do anything. Feels like I've been drinking. I know it's only my first dose but i can't carry on like this
As you have only had one night on 15 mg, could I suggest you perhaps just try 7.5 mg tonight?
There is a line half-way across the pill which should enable you to cut it firmly with a sharp knife. You might find you get the sleep benefits without the grogginess.
Istherehope?
01-01-16, 18:19
Sandie's suggestion might work, I guess it depends if you've got things you need to be alert for in the next few days though...
If not I expect there are other meds to try...really hope you find something that helps.
X
Ssmith - did you take jusdt half a dose last night - and how do you feel this morning ?
I think I'm gonna have to call it quits on the mirtazapine already. The grogginess is really bad and i am finding it hard to do anything. Feels like I've been drinking. I know it's only my first dose but i can't carry on like this
I felt the same way. Took my first dose of 15mg at 11pm last nght and it is now almost 5.30pm and I still feel "drunk" and spaced out. Just had to cancel an appointment this evening as no way can I drive my car feeling like this :(
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