Have been prescribed Mirtazapine 15 mgs, but haven't taken any yet. From what I've read on here, nobody seems to be getting on well with it, only seeing negative results.
Before I start taking, I would like to hear from somebody who thinks it is great and they are feeling better
Id like to hear some success stories to
Hi Angela,
It's quite interesting. My therapist told me to avoid forums because all you hear are negative reviews. You won't find any of the people that find it beneficial on here (or as many)
I was given it for sleeping problems. It worked but the stress that I'm under means it stopped working. Overall it was fine to be on. Helped me sleep well. I put on weight which was fantastic as I've always been underweight. It stopped my tense stomach and improved my appetite.
I wanted to come off as it was no longer helping with sleep. I made the mistake of
Coming off it too quickly which caused me some problems but nothing that can't be fixed and I'm coming off slowly now.
Everyone is different and reacts differently to medication. Some people have taken it (and come off) without any problems.
Other have side affects. It's important to bear in mind that people can have a range of medical issues/problems and "side affects" could be from a whole range of things- not necessarily mirtazapine.
Paul
I had no problem with it, I was prescribed mirt 30 for lifelong insomnia, I was on it for 18 months and didn't connect it to my huge weight gain, I only heard it being discussed on the BBCR2 programme with Jeremy Vine, and that was the ONLY reason I came off it, only over a couple of weeks, but I wouldn't recommend it, although I had no WD symptoms we are all different, it has helped me get into a half decent sleep pattern, perhaps because I wasn't prescribed it for anxiety or depression that may just be a good reason why my moods weren't affected by it, although I lost 5lbs quite quickly I just can't shift the rest of the weight gain ggrrr
I have been on 45 gms of Mirtazapine for over a year now. I alsso take 150gms of Venlafaxine. Mirtazapine alone was no good. However two months ago I went through the pretty stressful business of getting a knee replacement and before that I was in a lot of pain following a fall. I don't want to be on either longer than I need to be but until I am more mobile I will stay on it. I do have to watch what I eat I have put on some pounds but not being able to exercise hasn't helped. Sleep wise I'm not very good but the larger dose of Mirtazapine isn't supposed to be sleep enabling. I think we all have to decide more by trial and error what is good food one. All the best.Maggie
Hi Angela,
It's true that most of the comments here are about the problems with Mirtazapine but actually it does work for insomnia.
The downside is that it can make you put on loads of weight, which is good for you as you say you were underweight, but for many it is a negative side effect.
The drug not only makes you crave food no matter how full you are already, it also changes the way your body sinthesises the food making your body produce excess fat stores.
When it makes you feel better because you can sleep you think -- so what if I've put on weight, I feel well--
In my case, the depressive symptoms were recurrent over many years.
GPs, who are not psychiatrists, just bump up the dose and send you on your way. A little relief then the depression comes back, and the weight piles on, the dose is increased, because GPs don’t know what else to do. Again, you feel better so you ignore the weight gain.
Finally I found myself clinically obese, going to the gym 3x a week, exercising really hard and putting weight on. Added to that I was experiencing long periods of extreme anxiety which I learned was common when on higher doses of Mirtazapine. Mind you I was still sleeping!
So I searched 'Mirtazapine, weight gain and anxiety'. It was this search that came up with this site. And what an epiphany that was. All of a sudden I realised that I was just a greedy, fat, anxiety ridden depressive. A lot of things started to make sense.
There's an awful lot you don't get told when you're put on medication, so much is left to the individual to find out and sometimes purely by choosing the right words for a search.
I'm a registered nurse so you'd think I would have access to all the nitty gritty of information, but I had to trawl the Internet to learn about Mirtazapine. The British National Formulary (BNF) and other drug info sites tell you very little about the side effects, but they are where GPs get their information from.
I haven't really answered your question but I hope I've enabled you to make more of an informed choice.
I'm sorry if I've reinforced the negative but I wish someone had told me all this 15 yrs ago.
Good luck xx
Hi Angela,
It's true that most of the comments here are about the problems with Mirtazapine but actually it does work for insomnia.
The downside is that it can make you put on loads of weight, which is good for you as you say you were underweight, but for many it is a negative side effect.
The drug not only makes you crave food no matter how full you are already, it also changes the way your body sinthesises the food making your body produce excess fat stores.
When it makes you feel better because you can sleep you think -- so what if I've put on weight, I feel well--
In my case, the depressive symptoms were recurrent over many years.
GPs, who are not psychiatrists, just bump up the dose and send you on your way. A little relief then the depression comes back, and the weight piles on, the dose is increased, because GPs don’t know what else to do. Again, you feel better so you ignore the weight gain.
Finally I found myself clinically obese, going to the gym 3x a week, exercising really hard and putting weight on. Added to that I was experiencing long periods of extreme anxiety which I learned was common when on higher doses of Mirtazapine. Mind you I was still sleeping!
So I searched 'Mirtazapine, weight gain and anxiety'. It was this search that came up with this site. And what an epiphany that was. All of a sudden I realised that I was just a greedy, fat, anxiety ridden depressive. A lot of things started to make sense.
There's an awful lot you don't get told when you're put on medication, so much is left to the individual to find out and sometimes purely by choosing the right words for a search.
I'm a registered nurse so you'd think I would have access to all the nitty gritty of information, but I had to trawl the Internet to learn about Mirtazapine. The British National Formulary (BNF) and other drug info sites tell you very little about the side effects, but they are where GPs get their information from.
I haven't really answered your question but I hope I've enabled you to make more of an informed choice.
I'm sorry if I've reinforced the negative but I wish someone had told me all this 15 yrs ago.
Good luck xx
Darn, a line in there should have read "I WASN'T just a greedy fat anxiety ridden depressive "!!! Autocorrect 😠
I have good and bad experiences with mirtazapine. The good:
It works really quickly - depression reduced significantly within days
Gave me my life back for 3 years
Gave me the best years of sleep I have ever had.
The bad:
Gave me stage 3 kidney disease (thankfully this has improved since coming off mirt).
Knocks you for six for the first few days but this soon disapates.
MAY have cause my severe hyperthyroidism which made me very ill and took six months to get under control. More likely though it just masked the symptoms preventing me from being diagnosed earlier.
Frequent night time urination
Fast weight gain despite not changing diet and working out daily.
Very difficult to stop. Most people need to taper off it very slowly.
Good luck with it. It really is a good anti-depressant but it has a lot of serious downsides.
Hi Angela,
As you know, Mirtazepine (like many other drugs!) is associated with many side effects and can give horrible withdrawal symptoms, but despite these issues I would always recommend it. It instantly helped me sleep and after about two weeks of taking I experienced a dramatic lift in mood that allowed me to move forward. Although I did gain a small amount of weight and struggled when stopping it, if I'm ever in the same situation again I wont hesitate in going back on it because I found it so effective.
I can reassure you that it works well for me, with minimal side-effects and no weight gain. I take it in combination with venlafaxine. Only side-effects is a slight difficulty reaching orgasm during intercourse (sorry if that is too much information!) But we find ways round it and I still enjoy myself!
Thanks to you all for your comments. I am underweight and don't sleep well, so fingers crossed, I may find it beneficial all round.
Thats why im considering it to
Hi Angela,
I would like to say you Mirtazapine has worked for me very well, just allow it a couple of weeks to feel better while your body adjusts to the med.
The thing is you have to accept the illness, from my point of view we suffer a kind of sickness in which we have two options. First one is to be depressed doing nothing lying on bed and the second one is to get up to do many things, it is what many people call anxiety but it is not. It is normal when you've been suffering from depression all your life and suddenly you start doing much, just go with the flow. I'm 34 now and been on meds since, I was 13 but I can say the best has been Mirtazapine.
Hope my post is useful for you.
Have a lovely day.
Maritza
Hi Maritza,
Much encouraged by your story about yourself.. It gives so much of strength and positivity.. Though you had so long years of battle, God be with you and all well wishes to u.. Every time I take Mirtazapine I will remember you :D (though it has just been a week, wonderful medicine.) ..Cheers.