Six weeks on...

[Ingenious]

Last time I posted here I was a little way into 15mg Mirtazapine after first spending one week on 20mg Citalopram (formerly long term 40mg). The change from Citalopram to Mirtazapine was because increasing does of Citalopram were no longer working and not preventing me having some severe bouts of depression.

I seemed to be suffering both from the side effects of Mirtazapine (drowsiness, feeling like I was drunk, nightmares, extreme eating) and withdrawl from Citalopram. Generally pretty messed up.

Well good news Six weeks later. Virtually all of the bad side effects have gone. I no longer feel like I am drunk, or have dizzy moments, or excessive hunger, or constant bad dreams. The odd visual effects have gone (flashing in peripheral vision), as has the odd buzzing sensation in my head.

Mood wise, I'm feeling great! Coming off Citalopram was like having a fog lifted. In recent weeks I've had some feelings and thoughts which have been alien to me for many years - hope. The world is starting to look nice, and nice for what is is, not that nostalgic/tranquilised nice some drugs create.

My ability to have an orgasm has returned since coming off citalopram and my sex drive is staggering slowly back to normal.

I've been motivated enough to get on the exercise bike, that has not happened for a year or two.

I still get the odd bad dream. My appetite although back down from mad levels is still a little up - I have cravings for sweets mostly.

I'm still a long way from being able to work again (eg. full time job) but I am slowly getting there instead of moving further away.

So for me, Mirtazapine seems (finally!) to be the drug that hits the spot.

In fact the best way to describe how I feel is: Not depressed and I don't even feel like I am on medication. Dare I say it, I feel what I expect "normal" to be like.

Happy days - if you've started on this drug and are worried either by side effects or by all the posts here about side effects - stick with it. It's not very nice to start with but once it settles down it will work.

[ElizabethJane]

You have written a truely inspiring post Ingenious. I agree with you that the first few weeks of taking mirtazapine can be very rocky to say the least. The benefits can be felt if you stick with it. The troublesome side effects eventually fade. I am a long term user of mirtazapine 45mg and it has certainly helped me to prevent relapse and stay well. I wish you well on your mirtzapine journey. EJ.

[hickman]

Thankyou Elizabeth Jane & Ingenious for your posts. You have both made me feel so much better. I am 2 weeks into Mirtazapine, after Citalopram & Setraline not working for me, but apparently Mirtazapine has a slight sedating effect so I seem to be sleeping better but not back to normal yet. I was so anxious about taking this drug after having 2 failed drugs but it has made me calmer (my anxiety was so bad I felt uptight & unable to take a proper breath). I am still slightly uptight as I am trying to get back to normal, i.e. driving, haven't gone back to work yet (been off 11 weeks) but I'm going to try going back maybe this week or next but I am still anxious about doing that. I do feel like Mirtazapine is trying to calm my mind but still have a long way to go, but after reading your posts it has made me feel better. I will stick with them & hopefully should start to feel much better within the next few weeks. Thankyou both, Susie xx

[Ingenious]

Yes I must admit I was skeptical too after the failings of previous drugs and the first few weeks didn't fill me with much hope. But after I'd say a good 3-4 weeks it all started coming together.

I think the lesson learned for me is we are all so different with our brain chemistry. A drug that works great for one person might make another one worse. So you need to be prepared for some trial and error and also accept this does involve a very long turnaround time.

I forgot to mention one other side effect of this drug that also subsided - aggression. I really was an irritable guy for a few weeks and felt such an awesome rage. The doctor thought that could be depression poking through during the transition onto Mirtazapine but I read of others here who had the same. Anyway, I'm quite a lot calmer now!!

Susie don't push yourself to going back to work too soon. It's never easy of course returning to work especially with problems such as ours. I had been off a good 5 months before returning on a casual basis to help a colleague and as soon as I was at my desk, the whole world was closing in on me and I thought I was going to implode. The message there being I was not ready

But I can tell you for certain that when you get the right medication and the right dose, the magic does happen. Hope does come back and the darkness fades and fades away. Suddenly the supermarket is "just a shop" and not a hellish place with staring people and challenges in every aisle (I can't be the only person to resort to home deliveries during my bad times!). I would never have believed it during the days when the new medication was ripping apart my mind and body.

[JT69]

Hi Ingenious,

Lovely positive post!!! Glad you are doing so well on the mirtazipine...it turned my life around too!!!

May it continue.

JO.xx

[hickman]

Hi Ingenious
Thankyou for your post. You have given me hope. Where abouts in UK are you from? Susie

[rubytuesday]

i'd just like to add my thanks to you for this post, i've been on mirtazepine for 2 weeks and been feeling so irritable and i'm generally a pretty calm person. so it's a huge relief to hear that this side-effect will subside, thank you!

[Ingenious]

Well three months give or take now into Mirtazapine and all of the side effects I had have gone...

Bad dreams or really unsettling, bizarre dreams - gone for good, been ages since I had any problems with nightmares.

Bad temper - this lasted a couple of weeks and has completely gone!

Off the scale appetite (mega munchies!) - has settled down. I have put on weight, but this has not got any worse.

I'm actually struggling to remember that the side effects were. This is the first antidepressant I have taken where I don't actually feel as if I am on medication.

A month ago I started on a HUGE exercise drive, I was at a loss to understand what motivated me to do this (I'm usually crap sticking to exercise) - I can only put that down to Mirtazapine. It has really broken the back of my depression and started me in such a positive cycle of improvement which in turn has pushed me to self help (exercise, better diet, getting out more, being more confident etc).

My mood diary was a very sad, dark rant after rant of how bad I felt and how awful the world was. In the last few months it is full of posts about hope, a glow from within, reasons to live.

[bugrud]

please please keep these threads coming and sharing your stories - 15 days into 30 mirt from 40 cit i'm wavering a bit - but unbelievably i think my bad day was just due to being hungry !!!
thanks to all your info i will persevere with this drug change over - your experiences are telling me it will be worth it