Mirtazapine - is it impossible to avoid weight gain?

[Tiddlywinkly]

Hi. Just that really. It's my first time on this medication and it's listed as a very common side effect.

Thanks for any input.

I sit here, 3 stone overweight, which piled on in the first 6 months if taking it and say - actually, yes it is. I started doing calorie counting, 11, 13 fasting and daily exercise and shed half a stone in two weeks. So if you watch what you eat, it IS possible. I then had a starving weekend, destroyed my willpower and prioritise shortbread, a cup of tea and a good book over the former regime. You will be hungrier. I hope you have better willpower than me.

I took them for PTSD last year. I had barely any appetite on it (ate about 1000 calories a day), but still put on a few pounds, mainly stomach and face.

Came off it, because it made me feel like a zombie all the time, and lost the extra weight within a few weeks.

It worked for me for a short time, I was having nightmares before and no sleep, and it seemed to “reset” things. No nightmares since and I sleep better.

Also, I was on the lower dose (15mg?), with the idea of going up to the 30mg once I was used to them. Apparently, the higher dosage has fewer side effects, like weight gain.

My large bottom precedes Mirtazpine! I have been on it for 8 years and actually lost a stone successfully this year. So it can be done. When I started on it, I became obsessed with sugar, but I can't tell if that's because I read about the weight gain, and it worried me. Cutting refined sugars out seemed to calm things. My friend similarly takes it without any weight gain, so it's not inevitable, but I understand that it's quite a common side effect. If anything Sertraline was worse for weight gain in my case. What I did notice with Mirtazapine is that myo fat moved towards my chest, oddly. My weight didn't actually go up though.

Thank you all

I found I did gain weight because it made me so hungry. Both hungry for food and sleep (I took it due to sleep issues so that bit was ok). Before I went on it I thought it’d be fine and I wouldn’t be affected as I’d just use willpower and my appetite wasnt really there due to anxiety but it was wild - my eyes were immediately drawn to anything linked to food when I left the house. Like a child in my head thinking snacks! McDonald’s! Sausage roll! It was so odd. So maybe just watch out for that happening. I ultimately came off it within a couple months anyway as I realised I’d started feeling angry all the time. The weight gain was only about half a stone at the time so not too terrible - just hard work with the cravings!

It was developed as an appetite stimulant and was redeveloped as an antidepressant. You will gain weight on it. Ask to more to a different med like sertraline.

I gained no weight on it and have been on it for years- I'm very slim and workout a lot but eat well too

Not in my case. I am short and was always slim. I have issues around food so only eat one small meal per day. I started taking mirtazapine as I felt that being maxed out on fluoxetine was not helping at all (CPTSD) and I also had insomnia so hoped it would sort that. I gained around 5 stone in six months on it over a year ago that I still cannot shift after choosing to come off it because of the weight gain. I don’t know how I gained so much despite never eating more than that one small meal. It's ruined my self confidence. I can't reduce my food intake any more than it already is, I have exercised the whole time but I am still stuck with the weight gain. I’m literally 5ft tall so it's very noticeable and I’m so embarrassed about how I look now.

I took it for six months and it stopped working as an appetite stimulant after a couple of months. Although the dose was increased from 15mg to 30 mg, and someone has just mentioned a higher dose reduces side effects, so maybe this was why.

This is really scary. I thought that the weight gain was due to increased hunger causing more food consumption but you put on weight despite keeping the same diet?

But this is the thing, if someone is already eating a certain way, and not gaining weight, then they start these types of tablets, and within a short space of time, they gain weight, it is the tablets.
I tried 3 different SSRI's, and 1/2 made me put on a lot. As soon as I stopped I lost it quickly.