Mirtazapine quetiapine

[LitCritChick]

Hi, just wondering if anyone has experience with either of these drugs. I have big mental health problems at the moment and am worried about my long term future.

• I am on these drugs because I am not coping very well with baby's cerebral palsy diagnosis (of which I feel and am likely to be to blame due to my choice to wait 48 hours after my waters broke) seeing as I will never 'escape' the situation, is it likely I will need these for life?

*Are there alternative drugs that don't have the weight gain side effects or 'strong' side.

*I have gained a lot of weight on these drugs, so much so that my wedding ring no longer fits and I have gone up at least 2 dress sizes. Will I be able to lose weight while on these or need to wait till I am off them?

• Has anyone come off either drug and how long did it take?

• Has anyone been pregnant on these drugs? I have a limited window to have another baby due to age so if I were to have another it would need to be within a year or so.

I take Quetiapine, have done for about two years. I also take venaflaxine..... both for bi polar and depression. They have quite simply saved my life. Yes I've gained eight, but I've lost it once things were more on an even keel.

I also have therapy for childhood sexual abuse- now that was no more my fault than your gorgeous babies cereal ever palsy is yours.

Try the medication, ask for some counselling and try not to focus on the medication too much

Sending you a big hug xx

I have been on quitiepine for years for bipolar and have gained weight but due to a swallowing problem I can soon lose too much weight so I have to keep an eye on it
To come off the drug half your doses every couple of days so it is gentle and not sudden. I have special melt in the mouth tablets due to the swallowing so it is easy to take half a one

Thanks I am getting counseling but it doesn't really work. Am wondering if this is it forever. What I have experienced is essentially a crash- had lovely life with DH and good job before, hobbies, was strong and kept fit. Feels like it's all gone forever.
I'm concerned about being on these drugs full time as I have never put on so much weight in my life, let alone over just a year. It's scary how out of control it has got. I also don't want to be on drugs because that underlies that everything is messed up. I've never been on anti depressants before and never thought I could feel this bad.

I was on Mirtazapine for anxiety and put on a stone.

Insomnia was a big problem for me and probably made my anxiety worse, and they improved my sleep no end. I hadn’t had a full nights sleep for years, and was waking up feeling refreshed and ready for anything.
But I really didn’t like the weight gain so weaned myself off them by switching to every other day and then every 2 days till I had none left. This is very probably not the way to go about it.

Insomnia is back and I’m considering my options.

I have been on quetiapine since 2012 and have been fortunate enough not to have gained weight. I conceived on quetiapine without any issues. We had to stay in for 3 days to check for poor neonatal adaption syndrome which is slightly increased in babies exposed to medication in the womb. My lo past with no issues.
I am now on mirtazapine and sertraline for severe pnd. I'm not sure if they are making a difference though.
I am also receiving compassion focused therapy which is loosely following the book by Michele cree if you want to look at that.

I was on Mirtazipine and put on weight, as well as having really bad hot flushes.
Came off it and went on to Venlafaxine instead, although have previously also been on Sertraline and citalopram.

I'm on mirtazapine, I have put on weight on it as well but not too much and it's definitely made a difference for me so I guess, to an extend, it's worth it.

I don't think there's any real harmful effects of being on them long term and the most important thing is that you're well, so if that means staying on them then that's important.

Quetiapine made me gain weight very quickly. I literally felt ravenous.
They changed me onto the slow release one which helped my appetite return to normal. I also managed to loose the weight I had gained.

I gained weight on mirtazapine but I suspect it was just because it made me really hungry! I lost some of the weight easily when I stopped it. I found it easy to come off and I was on the highest dose but that was possibly because it did little for me.
I’ve also gained on quetiapine but haven’t noticed an increase in my appetite and I’m finding it hard to shift it.
Possibly not what you want to hear but certainly the quetiapine has saved / changed my life.

Hi @BluePi, out of interest are you on quetiapine for depression, bipolar type 1, or bipolar type 2? What made you come off the mirtazapine? I have type 2 bipolar and interested because I’ve just started mirtazapine 4 weeks ago (and it is really working, although definitely finding myself getting greedy for carbs...)