Sertraline to mitrazapine?

[AmethystMoon]

Has anyone moved from sertraline to mitrazapine, and if so any issues?
I am currently on 100mg sertraline but it is destroying my oesophagus so being moved to mitrazapine. Two days 50mg sertraline then onto mitrazapine, 15mg I think.

[NanaNina]

I'm on both - 200mg Sertraline and 45mg Mirtazapine and still have bouts of bad days. The main side effect of Mirtazapine is weight gain - in the 18 months I've taken it I have put on at least 1.5 stones and my GP says this is very common. My appetite hasn't increased but apparently this drug slows down your metabolism. I was warned about this but decided to give it a try and I don't think it was beneficial in any event. They give it to people who need to put on weight apparently, so I'd think carefully before taking it.

How you mean Sertraline is destroying your oesophagus?

[Pandora37]

I used to be on 100mgs sertraline and am now on 45mgs mirtazapine. The only real issues I had were sleep disturbance and bad dreams. It started when I was tapering off the sertraline and got worse the first few weeks on 15mgs on mirtazapine. It's got better now I'm on the higher dose though.

They're weaning you off quite quickly. I took 50mgs for a week, then 50mgs every other day for a week, then 25mgs every other day for a week, then 12.5mgs every other day for a few days.

[Orangeanddemons]

I've found mirtazapine the least evil of all the anti depressants for appetite. And I've been on pretty much all of them. . Sertraline made me into a carb monster

[Orangeanddemons]

I didn't find it slowed my metabolism down either

[AmethystMoon]

Thank you for your replies, they're really helpful.

The sertraline has caused severe inflammation of my oesophagus which my GP says is dangerous longer term. Shame as the sertraline was working well.

She warned me about weight gain but said it would increase my appetite rather than lower my metabolism. I plan to keep a food diary to monitor my munching!

Hoping it might help me sleep a bit better but don't fancy bad dreams

Day two of 50g of sertraline and feeling a bit anxious already, first mitrazapine tomorrow evening, fingers crossed.

[Pandora37]

That's a shame, sertraline worked well for me too but I had to come off due to it causing severe bruising. I think the bad dreams were caused by increased anxiety, which I had when I first started sertraline as well.

What I've found with mirtazapine is that it sometimes makes me feel drowsy but I can't actually fall asleep which is very frustrating. It's not as bad as it was though. You'll probably feel quite groggy the first few days and very tired so be prepared to sleep lots! That feeling wore off quickly for me though.

[AmethystMoon]

Pandora, thank you, I'm quite pleased I will start at the beginning of the weekend, so I am not at work if I do get drowsy! Good to know it didn't last too long for you.

[Belle12]

Hi AmethystMoon,
Were you offered any medication to protect your oesophagus? If not it might be worth asking GP if you could have Omeprazole (or similar) which may mean you could stay on Sertraline.
Also, if you also take anti inflammatories (Ibuprofen, voltarol, etc) it increases risk of stomach problems (irritation, bleeding).
Hope this helps.
Belle

[AmethystMoon]

Hi Belle
Unfortunately I was already on a double dose of omasaprasole (spelt wrong I know!) and it was just not effective enough :(
I haven't used ibuprofen etc. either. It's such a shame as I started the new tablets last night and today feel awful. Slept for 14 hours and feel exhausted and almost badly hungover :(

[slushie]

I've been on Mirtazapine for 6 weeks ish. 4 weeks at 15mg and now I'm on 30mg. Previously I was on Quetiapine.

It does make me slightly drowsy some nights, but I don't find it too bad (but I was used to the quetiapine sedating me)

I have found it is very slow going, I am slowly feeling better depression but it doesn't seem to be helping y anxiety. I have started having panic attacks again which I haven't had regularly for bout 6 years.