Mirtazapine

[eloiseclay]

Hi, I've been put on mirtazapine for depression but I've heard they make you gain weight??

Is it the actual medication that makes you gain weight or is it the fact that it give you your appetite back??

If I'm honest OP I don't know. I had I take ADs for a few months after a particularly strange Medical MC. It was a different one but didn't have any weight gain. In the end I was only on them for about 6 months.

Have you been offered any talking therapies along with the ADs?

I have tried therapy and didn’t like it. Just didn’t feel the benefit of it

Yes they do give you an appetite! Mirtazipine munchies. I did put on a bit of weight. Nothing awful and it does subside. Its restored my sleep and given me my good mental health back. I get on with it very well. Don't be put off.

Im on mirtazapine and have been for 4months, i think ive gained a couple of pounds but nothing earth shattering but tbh i dont do any exercise besides lugging my dd around! I lost all my baby weight very quickly as i felt so ill after having her i basically stopped eating for a while, so the pounds ive put on arent too noticeable. It definitely gave me my appetite back.
How are you getting on now? Im interested to know if you find it sedating as i never have, and one of the main reasons i went on it was to tackle my postpartum insomnia. .

@Isababybel have you found anything to help with your insomnia?
I'm three weeks away from giving birth and doctor put me on escitalopram which hasn't helped and has me on lorazepam which I'm not keen to be on. She has mentioned mirtazapine to help with sleep but I'm worried how I would breastfeed in the night on it and also the weight gain. I was really hoping my insomnia was hormone related and might resolve after birth. I am finding this all so bloody stressful.

@Isababybel this medication helps he sleep but I have had to recently half my dosage as I wasn't waking up when the children woke up during the night.

@eloiseclay @Isababybel @Eloise97 how are you all doing on the mirtazapine now? I am 4 weeks in and feeling much better! def get the mirtazapine munchies tho.... how are you finding the weight gain/appetite stimulant effect?

@Georgia324 hi! Im still on the mirtazapine. I genuinely dont find it makes me hungry anymore and I'm definitely lighter than i was back in January, definitely back to my pre Baby weight at least. I take it about an hour before bed which possibly helps as i wouldn't eat at that time of night anyway. I hope you are doing ok.
I sometimes wonder how other people end up getting prescribed this drug as gps love to push sertraline instead. In my case it was my health visitor that pushed it and luckily my gp agreed.

@Isababybel thank you! Omg I know - whichever pharma company produces Sertraline has done an amazing marketing job... they are probably the only company who has invested in a very skewed trial that shows their drug is safer for pregnancy than others (total rubbish)! I got prescribed in hospital (mother & baby unit) xx

I was on mirtazipine for a year for insomnia, so took it in the night. It worked great for months, but I put on a stone and it gave me really red eyes. My mum took it as well for depression/insomnia and had this side effect as well. It's a very old school antidepressant - there are much, better newer ones out there if insomnia isn't an issue

Oh no I’m sorry to hear that. Luckily I’m good at managing what I eat, so hopefully won’t put more than a couple of lbs on.
I’ve been on citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine and Lamotrigine before too. I’m not sure how old mirtazipine is but it’s in a different class so behaves v differently to SSRIs and SNRIs.