Mirtazapine users- a wee question

[acmillo]

Hi all. I have recently been battling with a bout of anxiety and some mild depression. This seems to have been brought on by a visit to the dentist about 18 months ago where after an extraction of an upper left molar I begun to notice a weird almost sweet taste. After several visits to the dentists and getting a second opinion where they said the wound had healed ok and there was no obvious reason for the taste disturbance
To cut a long story short the constant worry/distress of this taste seems to have taken it's tole on me. I now feel very low and anxious.
I went to my gp who then sent me to the dental hospital and they seem to believe that it has been anxiety all along which has been the source of the taste.
Since then I have tried Citalopram and venlafaxine but couldn't handle them.
Last month the results of tests conducted by the dental experts came back clear. They advised my gp to prescribe mirtazapine.
I have started there drug past week and I thought I had found a miracle drug. The taste whilst still there was diminished and my anxiety was gone along with the veil of depression. This lasted for about 5 days but the last 5 I have felt really anxious and really
low. Sorry for the long winded post but I thought context may help anyone who replies. Basically my question to mirt users would be is the feelings I am now feeling just start up side effects. Would my initial positive response to the drug suggest that this med will help me?
Many thanks to all who take the time to read this.

[hanshan]

Hi acmillo,

You don't mention your dosage level. If mirtazapine worked well in the first few days when you were still building up levels in your body, but less well later on, perhaps you can get by on a lower dose.

[acmillo]

Hi and thanks for taking the time to reply. I am currently taking 15mg which I have at night a couple of hours before bed time.

[hanshan]

If you're on 15 mg a day, then I'd probably have to say the reverse of what I said before. 15 mg is generally regarded as the lowest daily dose - the highest usually recommended is 45 mg per day, but there are people taking more.

Mirtazapine works differently at different doses, so you need to find out the dose that works best for you - there's no clear-cut chart, it's a matter of trial and error.

Good luck.

[Consider]

I take 15mg at night with my Paxil. It seems to do good and even cuts out the nausea!

[Mark13]

It's great as an augmentation to an SSRI or SNRI.

I take 15mg of mirtazapine alongside 60mg of duloxetine.

If you're on mirtazapine alone, 15mg is good for helping you sleep, but generally 30mg and above is considered the therapeutic range for anxiety and / or depression.

If 15mg was helping you, all well and good, but if not you may want to discuss an increase with your GP, as hanshan says.

[karenp]

I was just the same on Mirtazapine, great the first month but then my symptoms just came back and I went right up to 45mg's but it never helped me, so I came off and now take Escitalopram which has been great for me. But I would def try the higher doses and see if they make a difference before swapping to another drug. All the very best darl xxx

[acmillo]

Hi guys/and gals and thanks for taking the time to read and reply to my lengthy post.

In the past week the possible side effects I was experiencing seem to have passed and I have kind of levelled off (if that makes sense).

My 15mg prescription runs out next week so I will be seeing my GP to discuss how the treatement is going.

Although I am encouraged by my overall tolerance for the drug, it has done little so treat the intital sypmtom of a constatnt unpleasant tatse in my mouth and discomfort of my tonuge, the symptom which caused the spiral down in my mood.

If, as the docs and dentists believe, this is sypmtom of anxiery, on reading your posts and general web research I am not too sure that 15mg is always a theraputic dosage.

Therefore I will see if gp advises sticking or twisting ie 15mg or upping to the 30. Overall I am encouraged by my tolerance of the mirtazapine ( I hardly know i'm taking a drug now) and am willing to give it every channce to work.

[Bonnibelle]

Good news, hope things keep improving for you. I am still to take this, had it nearly 5 weeks but am worried how I will feel starting it so keep putting it off. It doesn't sound too bad really x

[acmillo]

I must admit that I have found this drug so much easier to stomach.
I have tried Citalopram, Prozac and Venlafaxine and all three really floored me side effect wise.

I think the fact that it helped me sleeps in the first week really helped me pernsonally because the first thing to go when i have anxiety and low mood is my sleep. SSRI/SNRI just seem to exagerate the insomnia and I found that i could go days upon days with little more than a nap, which just fuelled the anxiety.

With the mirtazapine I did feel groggy in the morning for the first 2 weeks but I dodn't really mindthat as I have never been a morning person so it just kind of felt like normal start to the day but a wee bit sleepier.

One thing I would say , and this may just be personal to me, but I found the side effects such as anxiety never appeared until week 2 but quickly passed after another week.

So don't feel bad if the you feel a wee bit better in week one and then a wee bit worse in week 2 because if you're like me it will balance out in week 3.

Good Luck and keep us informed of your progress.

PS Enjoy the Dreams. It's henestly like going to the movies each night