mirtazapine

[ILovemydogs2]

hi,just joined this community and was wondering how mirtazapine made you feel when first taking it? I started taking 15mg last Thursday after numerous other meds that did not seem to work for my depression and anxiety,the last three days ive felt awful with chronic dizziness and nausea and an upset stomach,has anyone else had a bad experience on mirtazapine? Should I stick out these symptoms or stop taking them,i rang my gp this morning and im going back to the drs Wednesday,she advised me to stop taking them! What do you think?

[IncognitoC]

if your doctor has advised you to stop taking the medication I would recommend that you do what they say.

[ILovemydogs2 in reply to IncognitoC]

Just didn’t know whether i was giving it enough of a chance but i cant cope with these symptoms,thankyou for your reply.

[IncognitoC in reply to ILovemydogs2]

If your doctor didn’t think you had given it enough of a chance, you’d be advised to continue to take them and have a review at a later date.

[Hidden]

I am sorry IncognitoC but I have the exact opposite experience with doctors - they are in it for profit, for career, and don't care about we on the "fat tail" of the distribution of issues since it isn't efficient for them to take the time to treat unique individuals. How many times do we have to read about physicians pushing whatever drugs they are incentivized (monetarily) to push? We have to realize that we are on our own and need to research things for sure, but then do what is best in our own case. You can't rely on any strangers, no matter how sweet they behave, or knowledgable they sound, or even how long you have knows them unless they have proven to be helpful and honest.

[Hidden]

Well, my previous self would say to listen to the doctor but, I've become jaded from my current experience in relation to the healthcare industry.

I suggest to listen to your gut. If you don't think it's for you... take action. Only you know you. Trust yourself and give yourself grace.

Hugggggggg

[Oreopepper]

I was put on Mirtazapine in Feb for 2 weeks I was taking 15mg which made no difference gp put it up to 30 mg ,I took it for 4 weeks then stopped taking it. My anxiety increased , insomnia increased and my moods were erratic to say the least I felt a lot worse than I had been. I also got irritable to the point I got angry at the least little thing . It was changing me and I didn't like it. I hope this helps and go with your gut.

[Hidden in reply to Oreopepper]

Ah yes the anger, forgot about that,15 mg was really sedating to me slept like a log,

[Hidden]

It didn't work for me and it also spiked my cholesterol and added body fat , I felt slower ect.Not recommended but I went cold turkey 45mg to nothing.

Good points ....... at lower dose it knocks you clean out and your sleep is amazing..........

[Kinlay]

The doctor may be worried about hyponatremia, which can be serious, so I would stay off them until you see them and make sure they run blood and/or urine tests to rule that out. If it isn't hyponatremia (low sodium), personally, I would give it a week or two as long as you can function. And if you aren't already, take it at night (I do), which should cut down on any impact and as a bonus help with sleep. Many side effects go away after a week or so. For me, mirtazapine got me out of the worst depressions I had ever had and it helps me sleep, so I stay on it at night.

I just had a similar experience with a new med, sertraline, that I take during the day. A week or two of dizziness, nausea and diarrhea, then they went away and I felt so much better. The same thing when I went up to the next level of dose, but being freed from anxiety and depression? So worth it. You have to decide if you can handle the side effects and rule out any more serious possibility. How people react to and respond to antidepressants is very individual. Good luck!

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Kinlay]

Why don't the doctors, or even the pharmacists explain this to us. We've had to find out for ourselves.

[Kinlay in reply to Nothing_but_books]

The reality is there are so many meds and so many possible side effects, that I honestly don't think they can even stay on top of it all. They do usually offer an insert with potential problems and side effects when you get a medication filled, at least in the USA, but most people don't read it.

Whenever I get a new med, I research it on at least two reliable sites - I just discovered drugs.com/ recommended by the FDA, and reference.medscape.com/, which doctors use. There are also often some side effects that aren't listed, as they are either new or weren't discovered in official drug trials, so if I have something strange going on I always google that symptom and the name of any new drugs to see if others have experienced it. The latest was loss of taste on sertraline.

I tell my husband all the time that managing our medications is a full-time job in itself!

[Nothing_but_books in reply to Kinlay]

My husband completely lost his sense of taste on an antibiotic. Made his tongue crack open and bleed too.

Thanks for the reference suggestions. Good to know.

[DodgeDhanda]

Hi ILMD2.I've looked at all the responses & for some reason my need for Mirtazapine is entirely to be able to sleep & nothing else I was suffering from insomnia for a very long time & was surviving on a max of 2hrs sleep per night without any meds.

I've been on 30mg for a while now & I have found that it's working for me & now that I've dealt with things & understood what things have done to my mind I find I'm able to sleep more & can get as much as 6hrs a night I used to happily cope on 4 hrs a day as I worked nights then came home did the school run then slept got up & back on the school run that was in the late 90s & early 2k.

May I ask what time of day U have been told to take them & is there anything else that U take to partner the Mirtazapine?

If ur taking then during the waking hours then that will describe ur side effects to a tee.

I know that they work for me for the purpose of sleep & if they doing it by slowing down my brain then I'm happy to carry on.

Also I say this to everyone without exception. Follow ur medical professionals advice always. The following is the reason why, if U do ur own thing then complain to a doctor they will say why did you stop & if ur answer is because of what I was told on a forum & ur doc will say firstly are they medically qualified ? Do U know that everyone is an individual in what they suffer & they make U feel small for not listening to medical advice.

BUT do as doc says & it don't work then U can ask him why have U just left me to rot on these , why are U so hard to get an appointment with & it's them who are in the wrong.

Prime example & this happened to me. The pharmacist that works at my surgery called me up & wanted me to swap from morphine tablets to fentynl patches & then set up a call from my GP to discuss it & when he phoned I told him about giving up morphine for the patches & he in less than 2 seconds said NO I want U to carry on as U are & that was the end of that. Maybe the fentynl patches are cheaper than morphine tablets but I believe it's about safety than cost.

I hope U find a solution & soon but ask a gp to call U to discuss how its affecting U.

[Nothing_but_books in reply to DodgeDhanda]

I love the succinct way you portray the yin and yang of dealing with medical professionals. Spot on.

[DodgeDhanda in reply to Nothing_but_books]

Hi NBB.

Thank you for the complement firstly & I'm glad that what I write is seen by others & see why it is always best to talk to professionals every time.

Some one could end doing more harm than good , if they ignore medical advice.

[Maltese1dog]

Worked good for sleep and my apetite took my nausea away took for two months everything good now

[Downandout123]

All I can say about Mirtazapine is that it made me EXTREMELY HUNGRY, ALL THE TIME!! No thank you !! Lol

[Hope__23]

Hello. I feel your pain. I started on the same dosage as you back in January this year. Like you I felt awful. They did help me sleep. The GP tried me on other meds to get me off them but I reverted back to mirtazapine. I realised the affects were not a bad as the other meds

The one thing I learnt is not to stop doing things I life. I was off work and waiting for this medication to work. Worst mistake.

I did try up my dosage and it rocked me. Horrible.

If I was to review mirtazapine I’d give it a 8 out of 10. I stuck with it and I did reap the benefits. I’m now on 7.5 mg half of 15mg and coming off it. I’ve read all the horror stories on here and not experienced what people have written.

I just wish I realised sooner that it’s important to carry on in life. Learn to love yourself. Be kind to yourself and eat good food and work out. Even if you take up walking.

I wish you a speedy recovery. I understand you as it was my first time with anxiety and depression but the above paragraph is key!

Take care

[Tigglypoo]

Hi I've been on mitazpine for 5 months now, first few months I slept better and was eating well .all of a sudden I feel like I can't cope with the anxiety dunno if it's just me or the tablets, anyone found then easy to come off I don't want a higher dose as maybe harder to come off .