Mirtazapine 30mg to 45mg

[Joanissy]

Hi everyone,

Long story short I was diagnosed with PND/Anxiety in November, my son is 9 months old now.
I was originally prescribed Sertraline but I couldnt tolerate it at all. The GP then gave me 15mg of Mirtazapine and within two weeks I felt totally normal. Unfortunately that only lasted for another two weeks. He then increased it to 30mg and I am am nearly finished week 7 of the increased dose. In the meantime I have been referred to a Psychiatrist, who told me to keep going until week 8, that it takes 6-8 weeks for the anxiety to go. I have seen incremental improvements in the last few weeks particularly, I even had a quite good week last week, anxiety was still there but much lower level, but the last two days the anxiety has increased again.
Overall I would say it is v v slowly improving, with the good days getting stronger and the bad days getting weaker. The anxiety is worse that the low mood.
I just am losing hope that I will be normal by the 8 week mark, as today is really not a good day. Should I go back to the Psych and request an increase to 45mg? Has anyone had a similiar experience to mine where the 30mg finally worked after so long? Or where they increased to 45mg and it did the trick?? Ive had very few side effects so far, really none to mention.

I am being as patient as I possibly can but my life has been on hold and Im really losing hope.

Any advice or reassurance would be so great!

x

@Babyg1995 thanks again x

I have been taking 45mg for about 3 years, after increases from 15 and 30. 45 seems to work perfectly for me, when I am compliant - I went through a phase of thinking I needed to feel my grief without being medicated, but it led to a breakdown, as soon as I started back on the meds I started to improve quite swiftly.

@Babyg1995 @RositaEspinosa
Can I ask did the 45mg cause you to wake up more in the beginning? I’ve found I’m waking a few times during the night now and it’s taking a long time to go back to sleep? will this go away, I find if I don’t get a decent nights sleep I feel worse the next day

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners thanks for your reply, sounds like 45mg the right one for you. I’ve notice over the last few nights I’ve been waking up throughout the night, did this happen to you and does it go away?
Thanks x

Hi Joanisssy once I take it, within about 30 minutes I'm asleep and stay asleep usually (unless I wake for the loo). It doesn't send me to sleep as quickly as the lower dose did, but it is effective there (was prescribed this because i had terrible insomnia and other meds weren't touching the sides)

Thanks @RositaEspinosa ... that makes me feel better, hopefully it will pass in a couple of weeks for me too. I find I can fall asleep but wake up wide awake a couple of times a night.

@AndNoneForGretchenWieners yes I found the 15mg best for sleep. Hopefully I will start sleeping through the night once my body adjusts to the 45mg

@RositaEspinosa sorry to bother you again but I’m having a real wobble today, I’ve had to take two Xanax already for my anxiety. I keep waking up throughout the night, is this what happened to you? I can go to sleep but then keep waking up. Was your experience similiar? I’m just really scared I’m not going to get better 😔

@RositaEspinosa thank you so much for getting back to me, I’ve had a tough couple of days and your message has given me some hope that things will improve. Since increasing the dose 8 days ago I’ve had a couple of ok days but I find I have no resilience and keep getting sucked into anxious thoughts even on the good days.
It’s encouraging that you found the 30 helped a bit, as I did too but now I don’t know where I am. Did you find the 15mg helped at all? I got two good weeks out of it before it stopped working.
Thanks again for your reply, it just helps to talk to someone who is a bit further down the line. Xx

@RositaEspinosa ok thank you again, my anxiety just seems to be so bad, I’m on day 9 now so hopefully I might see some improvement by mid week.
On the 30 i had so many blips, was that the same for you?
Great that you have come through the other side x

Op, I just wanted to chip in and ask how your hormones and cycles are at this stage? Even if the Mirtazapine is working, you may still have hormonal fluctuations that give you a few bad days in a row. So don't panic if that happens, it may resolve itself.

@RositaEspinosa thank you so much, it really means a lot... I do have support around and my DH is great but it’s been v difficult for him too.
I’ve had so many blips and it’s been going on for so long now, I just hope that the end is near. The good news is I slept right through the night last night so that helps and hopefully it’s a good sign.
Thanks again for your support, I will keep posting as it really does help xxx

@WhoWants2Know I was bfing until Christmas so I’ve had two periods since then. I do think my hormones have added to this, as before I had my son I was a very easy going, capable person and since then I’ve just turned into someone unrecognisable.
It really helps to hear from people who have been through it and have similiar experiences so thank you xx

@RositaEspinosa thank you for checking in... I was a little better yesterday but not great again today. I’ve definitely found my anxiety is increased since I started taking the 45mg, I used to just be bad in the first half of the day and now it’s lingering. The psych gave me a low dose of Xanax to take the edge off and I’ve been taking it every day, she tase before I coped without it.
You said your anxiety was worse during the first couple of weeks too, when did you start to see the turning point? I’m just so sceptical that this is going to work for me 😟

Thanks again for checking in, it means a lot xxx

@RositaEspinosa thanks for getting back to me... my mood kind of improved as the day went on... I’m 11 days in now so I’m hoping I’m over the worst of it. I will see how the next week or so goes and will see my psych again if I haven’t noticed an improvement.

Thanks again for checking in, it’s really encouraging that you are doing so well, so so hoping that I follow suit over the next week xxx

@Joanissy how are you doing? Been following your thread as I’m thinking I need to increase
Hope you’re feeling better x

Hi @webby2 I’m doing a bit better over the last few days. I will be three weeks on the 45 this weekend and I have noticed a gradual improvement since the middle of the week, each day getting a little easier. I also had one very good day last Saturday which has given me hope that soon I will have more of those days. My improvement is very gradual, just a little bit better every day. When I was on the 30mg I found it really hard to judge if I was getting better as I kept going backwards but this seems to be moving forwards more but v gradual.
@RositaEspinosa hi again, would you agree in terms of your recovery and timeframe? I remember you saying after three weeks things started to get a lot better... so far I’ve had one great day and then backwards a bit but then a gradual improvement everyday since. Xxx

Pleased to hear you feel like you’re improving, think we expect fast results from the meds don’t we. Try not to despair if you have a bad day, as long as you’re improving on a weekly basis xx