Mirtazipine HELP

[feathermucker]

Been on 30mg of Mirtazipine for a month now. Before that was on 15mg for a month.

I've noticed feelings of extreme anger and impatience at certain parts of the day.

It's great for sleep but due to the episodes of anger and impatience, it's hard to tell if any difference to my anxiety.

Please give me some advice or your experience of this drug.

I'm going back to my GP tomorrow to ask her advice.

This is really hard to live with.

Anyone?

Hi, feathermucker,

Maybe the 30mg is too high a dose? Did you feel there was some (enough?) effect when you were on the 15mg dose?

I'm not much of an expert - only been on 15mg for about 2-3 months. I think that's just about enough to take the edge off my anxiety/depression.

I don't think I've experienced regular bouts of anger/impatience, but I think the reduced anxiety/depression has enabled me to stand up for myself somewhat better. Especially when I think of the various reasons why I ended up in such a state that I needed to take the pills in the first place. Maybe what you're experiencing is something similar to that?

Good luck with seeing your GP tomorrow. I hope she'll come up with some useful advice.

I'm seeing my GP later this week. He gave me the prescription for Mirtazipine to take on an as-and-when basis. But I got into such a state a couple or some months ago that I've been taking them every day. That has helped me quite a bit, so I hope he'll let me stay on them daily for a while more. I really don't want to go back to how I was feeling before.

Iv been on mirtazapine for over 5 years, I had this when I first started mirtazapine I was literally raging over anything and everything on a very severe level, it lasted about 2-3 weeks then went away, so a bit more unusual if you have been on it already for a couple of months. Did you feel this way when you was on the 15mg? Definitely speak to your gp about it for advice.
Regarding experiences on mirtazapine, I was prescribed it for depression and sleep issues Iv had my whole life, other medications I’d tried before this didn’t suit me for whatever reasons and this one was the first medication that had ever helped me to get a decent sleep pattern which in turn helps the depression slightly, it still works for me regarding sleep however I do still have depressive episodes.

I have been put on Mirtazapine 15 mg as I got into an extreme anxiety state and could not sleep was having panic attacks when did fall to sleep . One week later it has calmed me but I am worried about continuing with this drug . I wasn't eating but now have an insatiable appetite and it feels like a really sedating drug . Am interested to read you can take it as and when I think I would rather do that than get hooked on another drug .

I think you need to ask your GP for a referral to a consultant psychiatrist. don't think GPs know a great deal about meds and you have the right to have a consultation with a consultant psychiatrist. I was on mirtazapine for over a year to augment imipramine - it just made me fat! I have been mentally ill (on and off) for 8 years and have probably worked through the pharmaceutical options with no lasting relief

I'm taking this and also on 15mg. I sometimes feel angry but I have a reason for that so don't believe it's the drug. If mine has helped with sleep as I was waking up at least once a night but I am finding the time between taking the pill and falling asleep on the sofa is getting less. This is annoying.

My GP told me they'd take at least six weeks to work/get used too and should stay on them for at least six months.

If you have only been on it a week I think with time the initial sedating feeling during the day should wear off aswell as the appetite increase over time, it did for me personally after 2-3 weeks but obviously everyone is different and reacts differently to different drugs. If I was to skip doses I would know about it, but I have been on them a very long time for depression and insomnia, so my body would go through a withdrawal process and having been through that when I was pregnant and I stopped them cold turkey (against gps advice who told me to withdraw slowly) it’s not something I would do again in a hurry it was horrendous!

I think you are right I have little faith in doctors after asking for help to get off seroxat . Dr recommended headspace app and I ended up in a and e . This was part of my melt down completely paranoid about medicines and doctors . Just did not feel safe or cared for completely on own with my own demons . I have been advised to take half dose of Mirtazapine this is the dispersive tablet you are not supposed to touch let alone halve it !
Anyone take this drug and not end up lots heavier ?

From personal experiance and from what I had been told I think mirtazapine is more sedating the lower the dose and less sedating the higher the dose is, which may be correct because if I remember rightly the first few weeks I started it was on 7.5mg- half of a 15mg tablet and gradually increased the dose as time went on.
I’m sorry that you are feeling this way, if you have no trust in the doctor who prescribed you this or in their advice could you maybe ask to see a different doctor. Although people on mumsnet can give our personal experiance on this medication we are obviously not professionals and don’t know your medical background either.

@feathermucker I don't recall feeling any anger when I started taking these.

I've been on them for 2 years now after a breakdown. Previous to that I was on amitryptaline for several years due to nerve pain. The dose kept increasing and eventually the doctors thought it was this that contributed to my MH.

@kerstina I am definitely heavier than I've ever been but I have got a 5 month old baby and am still losing weight I put on during pregnancy as I continued to take throughout. I'm hoping when life is more settled with baby I can try and come off them.

definitely more sedating at lower doses , im on 7.5mg to keep me calm and sleepy ,i get agitated and paranoid at the higher doses.

Well I took the half dose for the first time and although a bit unsettled still managed to sleep but my appetite hasn't halved ! Am obsessed with food at the moment alright till start eating then eating stupid amounts .

Sorry for hijacking your thread OP but am so glad you started this thread as it's so good to hear from others who take this medicine .

Just came on here to add my experience and hopefully make you feel better, OP. This happened to me many years ago with mirtazapine and I came off it after about three weeks. I was worried about what I might do as a result of the extreme anger as it felt completely overwhelming. Went back on to citalopram and stayed on it!

hope you get sorted soon

It’s interesting to see how people’s experience differs. I kind of understand the difference between Citalopram and Sertraline, which are SSRIs, versus Mirtazapine which is an SNRI, but even so, I can’t understand why Citalopram/Sertraline was very unhelpful, but Mirtazapine somehow does work for me. Maybe it’s a combination of individual metabolism and what (or who) created our problems in the first place.

From googling, I can see that some people experienced extreme tiredness in the middle of the day when taking Mirtazapine; I did have a bout of absolutely needing to sleep in the day, but I’m not sure if that was a side-effect of Mirtazapine, or the horrible cold I was suffering at the time. But that did wear off eventually. And I could easily give in and have a nap, as I’m retired, and only occasionally needed for day-time childcare for a grandchild.

It’s a lot more difficult for people who have young children or work responsibilities to deal with side-effects. I mean: how long do you give a medication to see if the side-effects diminish? And then maybe try another one to see if that one works? All at a time when we’re feeling just about as low as can be.

Some people think that it’s just a case of popping a pill (or, worse, just getting out for a walk in the fresh air). Well, good for them, but they really don’t understand how challenging it can be to find the right meds and therapy. It can feel like a long and lonely road to have to travel down.

I saw my GP this week and he was OK that I’d changed from as-and-when to daily, and said he was OK if I occasionally upped my dose from 15mg to 30mg by taking two tablets at night; or to go back to taking 15mg as-and-when. It’s good to feel that I’m supported in having that kind of control over my meds. He also gave me info on therapy. I think that’s good GP care.

All I can say is that Mirtazapine has made a difference for me in a good way.

Thanks for sharing your experience kooshbin . One side effect I am having that is scary is numbness in legs . Should I be worried about this ?

kerstina - I haven’t read anything regarding the symptoms you’re currently experiencing, so I don’t know if those could be due to the Mirtazapine. But we’re all different so we could all respond in different ways to medications.

I would suggest asking your GP but, having re-read your previous post, I can well imagine you being hesitant about doing that. I’ve experienced my concerns being dismissed by previous GPs, both as a patient and the mother of a patient. I knew what I needed from my current GP and was careful to explain things in a respectful manner, BUT I’d already sussed out how I could get the Mirtazapine, should he refuse to prescribe it on a daily basis. That would mean throwing money at the problem and luckily I can afford to do that. The GP practice is a good one; on their website each GP lists the areas that they’re particularly interested in. My GP lists homeopathy as his particular interest. I don’t have any problem if other people want to try that out, but that does make me a bit wary of trusting him.

I hope feathermucker is doing OK. Sometimes it’s hard enough to talk about these things, let alone put fingers to keyboard and hope something intelligible comes out.