Mirtazapine

[username345]

I'm currently on 15mg of Mirtazapine and have been for six days, Before that I was on 7.5mg for a month. I'm not feeling any better, am in a very dark depression right now. Do you think I should have felt some change by now or is it early days still? How long did it take to work for those who felt a positive effect? I'm pretty desperate for it to work and think the dose is probably too low. What do you think?

Hi there, someone more knowledgeable will be able to help I’m sure but my friend was on this and she was saying that 15mg wasn’t the right dose for her- she’s moved up to 30 now. I think with that particular antidepressant they start you quite low. Sorry that you’re feeling this way. My friend was saying her psychiatrist explained with Mirtazipine, the lower the dose the better it is for sleep but I’m not sure at what dose it actually acts as an antidepressant- I don’t believe it would have been acting as one at 7.5mg though to my knowledge at least xx

@wintersdays

Hi there, someone more knowledgeable will be able to help I’m sure but my friend was on this and she was saying that 15mg wasn’t the right dose for her- she’s moved up to 30 now. I think with that particular antidepressant they start you quite low. Sorry that you’re feeling this way. My friend was saying her psychiatrist explained with Mirtazipine, the lower the dose the better it is for sleep but I’m not sure at what dose it actually acts as an antidepressant- I don’t believe it would have been acting as one at 7.5mg though to my knowledge at least xx

15mg is the starting dose I think. I'm no expert, but that's what I heard. I've also heard it's sedating at the lower dose, I have been sleeping well on 7.5mg. I'm wondering if the sweet spot is 30mg and I'm a way from that at the moment as I think I'll be on 15mg for a month before moving up again.

Thank you.

Hi OP, I take 15mg and it worked pretty quickly for me (I started on this dose). The sleep thing was very noticeable too, are you noticing you're falling and staying asleep better? For me that helped with the depression but won't work for everyone.
The doctor put me on Fluoxetine to begin with which did nothing for me, so I think everyone is different and it helps that there are so many ADs available. Hope you find the one for you OP - hang in there x

No worries, sorry that I wasn’t much help! Bumping in case anyone on Mirtazapine sees the thread.

I’ve been prescribed (but haven’t started yet) Venlafaxine. So glad to hear you’ve been sleeping well which is my main issue alongside anxiety. Hoping you feel brighter soon xx

Lower dose does help with sleep. I take it at 30mg for sleep. Anything above that will lose its sedative quality I think. It is common to take this in the evening at a low dose along with an additional antidepressant during the day. I take Duloxetine, I have heard others taking it alongside fluexetine or sertraline etc.

I would ask if you can increase it sooner 30mg is the most effective dose of Mirtazipine. I have been on it for several years and I'm currently on 45mg. I started on 15mg for a few weeks, then increased to 30mg. I found 30mg very helpful and was on that dose for several years, things got a bit too much for me in Jan 2021 and I increased to 45mg.

@hellokitty9

Hi OP, I take 15mg and it worked pretty quickly for me (I started on this dose). The sleep thing was very noticeable too, are you noticing you're falling and staying asleep better? For me that helped with the depression but won't work for everyone. The doctor put me on Fluoxetine to begin with which did nothing for me, so I think everyone is different and it helps that there are so many ADs available. Hope you find the one for you OP - hang in there x

Thanks, I am struggling at the moment. I am sleeping well which is a blessed relief. When you say it worked quickly do you mean in the first couple of weeks or immediately? I hope 15mg works for me as well.

@FMLpassthegin

Lower dose does help with sleep. I take it at 30mg for sleep. Anything above that will lose its sedative quality I think. It is common to take this in the evening at a low dose along with an additional antidepressant during the day. I take Duloxetine, I have heard others taking it alongside fluexetine or sertraline etc.

I take it alongside olanzapine at night. Both are quite sedating I think.

@HappyPumpkin81

I would ask if you can increase it sooner 30mg is the most effective dose of Mirtazipine. I have been on it for several years and I'm currently on 45mg. I started on 15mg for a few weeks, then increased to 30mg. I found 30mg very helpful and was on that dose for several years, things got a bit too much for me in Jan 2021 and I increased to 45mg.

I'll see how I feel after a couple of weeks. I have to be cautious as ADs tend to trigger bad anxiety which is why I started on such a low dose. Glad it's working for you.

Ok so 15 mgs is the starting therapeutic dose. Have you had another antidepressant before this one ? This is usually prescribed if you struggle to sleep. Also if it is the higher dose will not help sleep as much.

@RadFem73

Ok so 15 mgs is the starting therapeutic dose. Have you had another antidepressant before this one ? This is usually prescribed if you struggle to sleep. Also if it is the higher dose will not help sleep as much.

It's been prescribed because I don't tolerate a lot of SRRIs. I was on Duloxetine for a long time but had a lot of side effects on it. I do struggle to sleep yes. I'm hoping 15mg will be enough but I'll have to wait and see. I can't wait to feel better.

I didn’t notice any difference on mirtazapine until on 45mg. I was started on 15mg. 7.5 can’t be even a therapeutic dose so it’s no wonder you haven’t noticed anything! Fingers crossed you get some improvement or another increase soon.

I started on 15mg and that helped (mainly because I was finally sleeping!), but after two months I upped to 30mg and that made a dramatic improvement to my depression and anxiety. Been on 30mg for 4 years now and I find it brilliant. Maybe upping to 30mg would help you too?

@hellokitty9, @FMLpassthegin, @HappyPumpkin81 - how do you manage the weight gain on mirt? I’m trying to decide if after 4 years mirt is still making me gain weight - or if it is just me being a bit greedy and lazy!

It didn’t work for me until I reached 45 mg. it’s been way more helpful for me than SSRIs so I’m glad I stuck with it.

7.5mg seems very low.

I started on 15mg and stayed on that dose for nearly a year, then came off it slowly.

I think it helped very gradually but somewhere around week 6 I remember noticing that I felt so much better.

Hi. I take mirtazipine. I started at 15 but increased to 45 over time. It took a while for it to work for me - I’d say around a couple of months and each time my dosage was increased I would suffer horrible side effects to the point my mood would plummet and I’d be suicidal. It did pass though and I find it works well for me now. You could just be suffering effects from your dosage increase. It might be something for you to watch if you have the dosage increased further in the future.

I've now been on 15mg for nearly two weeks and am not sure if I'm feeling better or not. I'll see how I feel at three weeks then ask about raising the dose to 30mg. I'm just worried that I might get bad anxiety like I have before on SSRIs. I hope this works and thanks all for responding it seems as though this is an effective medication and I need to find the right dose. It also seems as though there are side effects as you increase the dose but they fade after a while. Very informative, thanks it's good to see people's experiences.

@username345 is Mirta working for you yet? I was prescribed this yesterday , mostly to treat insomnia. I took one at 7pm last night at 7:30 my muscles were weakening and I had to go to bed, I stayed in bed for 11 hours and really struggled to get up. 15 hours later I still feel numb. I can't say I had a good night's sleep either, I wasn't knocked out in any way, I was tossing and turning a lot and feel just as tired as I felt after sleeping only 2 hours. I'm tempted to take half a dose tonight.

@lovelygirl17 No it's not. I'm now on 30mg and have been for about a week or so and I haven't noticed any difference to my depression. I've been on in from 10 December and am feeling very frustrated.

I haven't had the kind of side effects you are describing though. I haven't had any problems getting to sleep on it and don't feel numb. I started on 7.5 then doubled the dose and have now doubled again. Maybe you could speak to your GP about halving the dose to start with.

@username1987a it is very frustrating indeed. This is the 3rd type of meds I'm trying and so far everything made me feel worse. Nothing solved my sleep issue but everything gave me unwanted side effects as an extra burden to deal with. I hope that there is something out there that will make a difference (however I can't help becoming increasingly sceptical)

[quote lovelygirl17]@username1987a it is very frustrating indeed. This is the 3rd type of meds I'm trying and so far everything made me feel worse. Nothing solved my sleep issue but everything gave me unwanted side effects as an extra burden to deal with. I hope that there is something out there that will make a difference (however I can't help becoming increasingly sceptical)[/quote]
It is frustrating isn't it, sounds like you've been through the wringer as well. I don't know what to suggest as I have not noticed any lift in mood. However if you read other people on the thread they didn't notice any difference until they were on a higher dose so I'll be trying 45mg next if 30mg doesn't work for me. Then I'll be trying something else I suppose. I'm desperate for something to help with my depression.