Hi, my DD 17.5 has been on sertraline for 6 mths, starting on 50mg daily and building up to 150mg daily. As she was still experiencing some anxiety/concentration issues/insomnia and mood swings on this dose the doctor changed her on to Mirtazapine 15mg once daily. She was to drop from 150mg sertraline to 100mg daily for 3 days, then take 50mg daily for 3 days then start on the Mirtazapine. She has been taking this for 3 days, and though she is sleeping better at night , is feeling very tired during the day, dizzy and very short tempered. and had a cry today for no particular reason, even she didn't know why she was feeling so overwhelmingly sad. Her appetite has increased, we have read about a common side effect being weight gain and as she has recently worked very hard to lose some weight she is worried about regaining it (which could also add to her feeling bad/ low self esteem.) The doctor didn't really talk much about side effects when she prescribed it , I was wondering if anyone had experience either of coming off sertraline so quickly (or is this standard?) or if the symptoms she is experiencing are just due to starting the mirtazapine and may settle down. She has A levels this year and because she has already been having spells of being unable to concentrate her predicted grades have dropped, if she is very tired all the time she definitely won't be able to study, so she's also worried about getting into University (though we have reassured her it isn't the end of the world/she's young/she can repeat A levels if necessary, so we're trying to make her feel not under too much pressure).
Also ,does anyone know, is the weight gain inevitable on mirtazapine? I will speak to our lovely pharmacist and/or speak to our GP again tomorrow but thought I'd ask the knowledgeable ladies of Mumsnet for some advice too!
Thank you very much.