Mirtazapine - does it get better?!

[sherbetmelon]

I'm just starting my 7th week on 30mg Mirtazapine, previously I was on 40mg Citalopram and 150mg sertraline before that.

I started 2020 on sertraline and ended on mirtazapine. I was on sertraline as I was breastfeeding but when I stopped mid year I could finally change as it just wasn't cutting it. Anxiety was sky high and panic attacks so frequent, so it was time for a change.

Citalopram had the opposite effect, anxiety was under control but depression worse than ever. I have a toddler and work full time and I'd never been so low in my life I just couldn't muster the energy for anything.

So now week 7 on mirtazapine and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. My anxiety is back to being unbearable and controls my life. I'm so depressed and just feel sad all the time. I've put on so much weight and need to hear some positivity to stop me ringing the doctors begging to change again.

I'm struggling to differentiate between reasonable sadness and anxiety due to what's going on in the world or what's caused by my anxiety/depression. I'm a key worker and work is awful right now which doesn't help.

Those on mirtazapine or those who have gone through multiple medications to find the right one for them... please reassure me it gets better. I just can't go on like this.

I’ve been on Mirtazapine for years and I absolutely love it, it completely calmed my anxiety down. However, it worked very quickly for me - certainly much quicker than 7 weeks - so I think you have given it long enough and should speak to your GP. I hope you feel better soon

Yeah. Glad it worked for me. I don’t feel it has for me. My doc added another medication to it so willing to try that and wait I suppose. Xx

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow you've described me there.
I can hear the impatient, bad tempered comments leave my mouth but I can't stop them. And if it's not that coming out it's good going in because I'm bloody starving 24/7!

@rainbowdashsneeze how long have you been on it if you don't mind me asking?

I was on it for 10 months and it probably saved my life, even if I did gain a load of weight. It made me feel numb once it started to work - not happy or sad, just around a 5/10 on a constant basis. It's s very strange drug but it kept me on an even keel for long enough to access talking therapy.

Unmumsnetty

I've put off calling, worried the doctor will say give it longer because we're in the middle of a pandemic. I think I'll ask to try a higher dose and give it a month and see, I'm sick of it. And I'm trying to lose weight and can't, I've honestly never been so hungry not even when I had a breastfeeding newborn attached to me 24/7.

Thank you so much for all your replies it's really good to hear it can work and interesting that lots of you have felt similarly to me then paired it with another med which has helped.

I haven't spoken to my doctor in months, it's the pharmacist who deals with my meds, she's lovely, probably my age (mid 20's) but I feel she's so focussed on my mental illness she can't see how it will affect my life as a mum, partner and colleague. I've told her my worried about meds that cause irritation and weight gain etc but she still recommends them. I'm terrified I'm running out of options and will be stuck like this forever!

@Chronicallymothering that's good to hear I'm glad it worked for you. Did you lose the weight when you came off it? And did you switch to a new med or come off completely?

I came off them completely and it took a while to lose the weight but I stopped eating as much s soon as I came off them. They also made it really hard to be up for work on time, so I adjusted to take my dose at night so that I wasn't sedated until 9am. It's a hard juggling act but do ask your GP for help- psychiatric drugs are like a Swiss Army knife they have many options and need to adjust for each patient to get the right match.

New to this thread,I took my first mirtrazine last night after having a panic attack since the weekend,slept til 10am and have felt drugged up and awful all day,just having another attack and too scared to take another one tonight as don’t want to feel so zombie like again tomorrow..so desperate,someone please help

@Kiramax I felt exactly the same the first day I took it. It is awful but it will get better. If you feel you can, just try, it takes a couple of weeks to properly start working. Can you have a nice bath and try some mindfulness activities? Hand hold x

I take Mirtazapine and Sertraline. I was on Sertraline to begin with, but I had a very very bad few months with anxiety that led to my GP also prescribing Diazapam. I couldn't take the Diazapam indefinitely, and even at the max dose of Sertraline, I was still struggling with my anxiety. My GP spoke to a psychiatrist and they suggested Sertraline with Mirtazapine. So I take Sertraline in the morning, and Mirtazapine before bed. I feel much more on an even keel with my anxiety. I would speak to your GP and see what they suggest.

@sherbetmelon,thanks for replying,so scared I’m never going to be myself again,can’t look after the children or do anything around the house,haven’t been to work since Xmas ,I was fine until I had op to have gallbladder out just before Xmas and vertigo then escalated into this constant panic disorder..how long did you feel like a zombie with no energy before you started to feel better?xx

@tofuschnitzel..thanks for the advice,did you feel very out of it during the day when you first started the mirtrazine?xx

I was taken off 40mg and moved onto Mirtazapine. I put on 3 stone in 8/9 months and felt worse than ever. They put me back on citalopram but like you, it controlled anxiety and not depression. Now I'm on Venlafaxine and I feel like a new person. Xx

Hi OP, I'm prescribed mirtazipine which helped very well with my anxiety, but the depression was difficult to shift so GP added in venlafaxine. It started to make me feel better after only a couple of weeks though, 7 seems like a long time to not be feeling the benefit yet. Have a conversation with your GP about adding something else in or switching (I realise that's easier said than done when we're struggling).

I hope you feel better soon.

I'm another one adding to the voice of 'it worked well for me' it was very quick. I would consider changing as it doesn't seem to be helping you.

I'm on 40 mg citalopram (for 10 years) and my GP added 20 mg Mirtazapine at night about a year ago. Saved my life. Is that something you might consider?

[quote Kiramax]@tofuschnitzel..thanks for the advice,did you feel very out of it during the day when you first started the mirtrazine?xx[/quote]
Do you take it in the morning? If you are feeling out of it during the day, you could try taking it before bed.

Had a doctors appt last week and I've been taking a lower dose of mirt since. Tomorrow I start escitalopram.

Hi, I'm new to posting on here. I'm in a very similar situation with mirt. Just wondering how you got on with ecitalopram?

I've been on them just over a year I think, along with Venlafaxine and I've put on 3 stone. I speak to my psychiatrist soon and I'm asking to come off them as I really don't notice any difference. I might be making a mistake in which case I'll revise my decision but the weight gain is unbearable.

Sorry to hear they haven't helped. Did venaflaxine make a difference? My doctor has suggested adding this in.

I’m just on Venlafaxine on it’s own. It worked really quickly and is really good.

I loathed mirtazapine.

I’m on a mixture, which works for me better than just an SSRI (although I’m weaving down my amounts so a bit wobbly at the moment.

I take Duloxetine (an SNRI) which helps my depression but gives me TMJ clenchy-jaw issues, so they gave me Buspirone to try to alleviate that - it didn’t work, but did calm the anxiety. I was then given Mirtazipine, which stops the clenching and is miraculous for my insomnia. Unfortunately it also made me eat like a famished horse and could leave me quite zombie like. I reduced the dose until I found the sweet spot - little to no jaw clenching and pretty good sleep, but minimal ravenous appetite and zombieness.

I was stable on…
60 mg Duloxetine (now weaned down to 30 mg)
10 mg Buspirone (currently on 7.5 mg)
7.5 mg Mirtazipine (half a tablet - intending to stay on that).

Seven weeks is long enough to feel an effect if it’s going to work, imho. You could talk to your doctor about combining meds, maybe?

I was on Citalopram for over a decade, btw - it suited me well but stopped being so effective in the final years. Venlafaxine made me manic and impulsive. It can take some fiddling about to find the right drug for you. Best of luck.