To get so upset about my weight?

[Wazza89]

I’m on mirtazapine for anxiety and sleep! I gained about a stone in the summer and was actually asked when I was due! I’m desperate to lose weight. I’ve already lost about half a stone but I’m still overweight according to my bmi! I’m restricting myself so much, counting calories, working out every night, etc,. but it’s so so hard to shift! This morning I burst into tears because I gained 2 pounds over the weekend! I feel like absolute crap and it’s taken over my life! DH says it’s not the meds but I disagree! I want to throw them down the toilet but I know that’s be stupid!

Has anyone else experienced this as a side-effect of medication??

It’s a well documented side effect of mirtazapine. I work in mental health and it’s not unusual for people to put in 3 stone so you have done well. It can have a metabolic effect so increases appetite. Try not to be so hard on yourself because that’s really not going to help. It’s really not your fault. Do the benefits outweigh the negatives?

Mirtazipine is horrendous for this. I gained over 3 stone. I came off it eventually because the weight gain just gave me something else to be depressed about. Yanbu.

@PomegranateSeed at first but now the weight issue has overshadowed that! I didn’t care initially! I’m also knackered if I have any less than 8 hours sleep which isn’t always practical!

Hi OP, just wanted to drop in and say, please be kind to yourself. Your body is (I hope) responding to your meds in the way it was meant to by keeping your migraines at bay. I know side effects that change your physical experience can be challenging, especially when confronted with the fact that it absolutely is not your fault, but your health is so much more than your weight. Please don't get too upset, sending lots of love!

Possibly change meds

I don’t know about the meds but I just wanted to say it’s quite unlikely you actually gained 2lbs (in fat) over the weekend. That would typically mean an excess of over 7000 calories so most likely it’s daily fluctuations due to water, food volume etc.

How often are you weighing yourself? As a former anorexic I can tell you that the excessive calorie counting, frequent weighing and mandated daily exercise is a slippery slope.

Can you talk to your GP and ask to change your meds?

Mirtazapine is well known for weight gain, and leaving you feeling knackered all the time.
It might be worth having a chat with your GP and see about gradually coming off it, and changing to something else.
I used to weigh myself every day, and it was surprising how much your weight can fluctuate.

Mirtazipine always made me and my sister look pregnant,I was big anyway so not so noticeable but my sister was tiny previously,she had people ask her if she was pregnant and they asked me if she was too.im on different meds now,she was on different meds,lost all the weight,now back on mirtazipine and looks pregnant again.Tell your husband it IS the meds.
This all being said I was only bothered about the weight when the tablets actually worked and I no longer was suicidal.

Hi @Wazza89 … maybe ask MNHQ to add the name of your meds to your thread title so more people who take the same meds can see it and respond to you

I know exactly how you feel. I was recently on migraine meds and they made me lose so much weight someone asked me if I was terminally ill. I cried and cried. I couldn’t eat a thing.

As soon as I came off them (they clashed with something else!) my weight went back to normal xx