Hello all. Thanks very much for reading this. I've been suffering from bad depression and anxiety for quite a while. (I got signed off work for 8 months last year.) I've got better since, but I'm really struggling with the anxiety to the extent that even opening work emails stresses me out beyond belief. I am constantly exhausted from being so anxious. I just cannot go on like this.
I've been taking sertraline (100mg) for over a year, and it does help, but I also feel that it makes me very very tired and thus even less likely to cope with work.
My GP suggested to reduce the sertraline to 50mg, and introduce Mirtazapine (15mg) which should also help me sleep at night.
Reading the leaflet in the Mirtazapine package however has freaked me out (and I really don't suffer from health anxiety....!). Problems:
- these days I often start work very early (7:30-ish). The drug can apparently make you very sleepy in the morning.
- I worry about weight gain (I've not put on weight on SSRI medication).
- If the stuff zonks me out, I can't drive and that means I can't attend my yoga classes which have been a life saver. Also getting to work much more difficult.
- I don't really want to have to rely on drugs. It appears that withdrawal can be more difficult with mirtazapine than with SSRI.
Thus far I've not taken a single tablet of mirtazapine for the above reasons. However I have reduced the sertraline. Not sure this is a clever idea.
(By the way I have had CBT and counselling, both very good but not touched the root cause of the anxiety. I'm now paying ridiculous money to see a clinical psychologist as I've exhausted all options on the NHS.)
Any wise words/experiences on the effect of mirtazapine and/or sertraline would be much appreciated. Thank you.