I'm in the process of going from Citalopram to Mirtazapine.
I was on Sertraline for many years and then it seemed to stop working (lose its effectiveness) last year when I got physically ill quite badly. My gp put me on Fluoxetine but after a month it gave me headaches so I asked to go on Citalopram as my sister is great on it. I began taking it (20mg)in January and by March I was feeling good and was back at work after 6 months sick leave but then at the end of March I asked to go higher as my Dad had had a stroke and I wanted something to help me through it, it helped a bit (30mg) but I got physically ill and my mood went lower too (back off work :-( ) so I went up to 40mg at beginning of May but that made mood worse :-(
I went down to 20mg last week and am starting 10mg with 15mg Mirtazapine this week then just Mirtazapine week after.
Is anyone on Mirtazapine? Has anyone found it helps them?
Hi I would try venlafaxine before mirtazapine. I came off sirtraline & went to mirtazapine. Start at 15mg that was fine I felt good & slept so well.. soon went upto 30mg sleep stopped so was prescribed zopiclone also. Then soon after all the side effects started. Bad eye sight. Very sore hips, if I made a sudden move felt like my calf muscle ripped.. and amazingly fast weight gain. I actually thought the scales were wrong.. impossible I thought. Majority of people on here have had the same side effects I think iv only come across 2 that havnt .. the cravings for carbs after taking your pill is immense. . I hope this helps .
The fact that upping the dose of citalopram made you worse means that either you should take less or switch to another drug.
Almost everyone on this forum is or has been on mirtazapine. Unfortunately it tends to be only the people in trouble who post. There must be millions of people who take it successfully. Hopefully you will become one of them.
The main problem is side effects. If you get them, you have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the problems.
I took 45mg of mirtazapine for years after being diagnosed with GAD and PTSD in the late 90s. Doctor tried Paxil first and it didn't agree with me at all. Mirtazapine got rid of my anxiety on the very first night, so I was ecstatic. It was a real lifesaver. But just recently I started getting aches and pains and brain fog so I decided to try to live without mirtazpaine, so I quit it almost 3 weeks ago and I'm feeling better every day.
Mirtazapine is one of the better ADs out there, and it has no sexual side effects, unlike SSRIs. (Paxil was TERRIBLE for that.)
Unfortuately, this takes time. It takes weeks when transitioning from one med to another, so just because you're not feeling all that great since starting mirtazapine, that doesn't mean that it's the mirtazapine causing it—it could be because you're taking both at the same time. So I would suggest taking some more time and see how you feel when you're on just the mirtazapine.
By the way, I slept great at 15, 30 and 45mg, but I was too tired all the time at anything less than 45mg, so that seemed to be the sweet spot for me.
One last thing, I agree with oldboy's reply. People only seem to post here when they're having trouble and scare off others from trying a particular med, but just because it didn't work for them doesn't mean it's not a great med and that it won't work for YOU. So I'm here to tell you that I'm living proof that mirtazpaine is a wonder drug for anxiety for some of us, so don't expect the worst based on others' posts. Give it a chance.
It sounds like you were quite stabilised on 20mg Cit; I think upping the doses to enableyou to cope better with lifes stresses isn't the way AD's work exactly, unlike Benzo's. I'm not meaning to sound unhelpful here, just that it seems to have been a waste of time for you.
However, like you, I started on Citalopram before Mirt' ~ and I have been perfectly OK with the transition from one to the other, BUT, I would just like to try and help with the changeover advice if I may. I tapered off CIT a little slower, taking 4-5 weeks to wean off whislt also taking Mirt'. Rather than the 2 weeks that your doctor advised ~ this way you will prevent any discontinuation syndrome like anxiety, head zaps etc ... just to be safe rather than sorry.
My GP said it was alright to take the both together short term, I think I took both for 3 months.
I know you posted this years ago but I think this site has only just come back online so I only just saw your post. Blimey 45mg is quite a big dose isn’t it? I started on Mitazapine about three months ago, just a 15mg dose. I had been taking Citalopram but was suffering from a lot of anxiety so switched to Mitazapine. I had to come off the Citalopram gradually over 3-4 weeks before I started the Mirtazapine. I’ve only got good things to say about Mirtazapine. I don’t think I’ve felt anxious at all since I started it and prior to that I’d have 3-4 days each week which were just horrible because I was feeling so anxious. One of the best things about them is how they help me sleep. I drink (quite a lot) and even though it says on the label from the chemist on the pack to avoid alcohol I just ignored this. I read up about it and I think drinking when taking it can make some people feel a bit wonky but it seems fine for me. One of the things alcohol does is increase the sedative effect of the drug. That’s great for me. When I was feeling anxious I was sleeping really badly, would sometimes go to bed at 11 and still be awake at 5 in the morning. Since taking the Mirtazapine (and drinking!) I’m usually asleep within about five minutes of getting into bed and will sleep through the night. They’re better than sleeping tablets!