mirtazapine INCREASING anxiety?

[melfish]

Does anyone know at what dose mirtazapine's noradrenergic effects kick in? I increased from 7.5mg to 15mg and feel way more anxious. Is this to be expected? I can't see how something that amps up adrenaline can possibly help an anxiety sufferer like myself. This drug is just weird. All it seems to be good for is sleep

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.

[melfish]

Thanks. I posted in the general section in the hope it might get more response. The meds subforum is not on fire like health anxiety is

[hanshan]

Hi Melfish - The noradrenaline tends to kick in at the higher doses (30 mg and 45 mg per day), but this is very variable. Some people don't notice it at all (and hence sleep beautifully on 45 mg per day) and others may feel some anxiety or agitation. This may be temporary, so it's worth persisting a short while. The noradrenaline effect is perhaps best for people who have low mood combined with anxiety, but with all these meds, it's often just a case of try it and see if it works and at what dose. Good luck.

[KK77]

And you got an excellent response ^^^

[melfish]

Thanks, hanshan. That's what I suspected. Haven knows, I have enough noradrenaline coursing through my system without adding to it. Any depression I experience is always secondary to my anxiety. Once it's under control, my mood tends to be good. I think I will drop back to 7.5mg and talk to a doctor (when I find one) about perhaps trying something more tailored to HA/OCD. Xanax works great, but I don't want to go the benzo route

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's a question of how much NET, melfish. With Mirt it is also working on Serotonin and at the lower doses it's really more an antihistamine. Once over a certain dose the antihistamine effect goes as Serotonin work starts to take place.

Even SSRI's can be potent in terms of NET yet they aren't classified as SNRI's. Sertraline is a good example of that.

So, if the NET only increases to a point where you feel it after a certain level of dose, it may not even be an issue. If you look at the SNRI's as an example, they only work as SSRI's until you reach that NET threshold.

SNRI's are used for anxiety too. I have always wondered about adding more NET onto someone with so much already.

[melfish]

Thanks, Terry, just saw this. (Is there a way to turn on notifications for posts?)
I need something that can help with my smorgasbord of anxiety disorders - GAD, HA, social anxiety, panic disorder. In the past I've had not much luck with SSRIs, though the only one I remember by name is Effexor.
If I don't find something soon, I'm gonna go back to a few reds a night. That worked a treat (hic)