difficulty losing weight on mirtazapine

Treatment and medication
1

Hi everyone,

I've been on 45mg mirtazapine for a year and a half, during which time i've put about 19lb. I've been trying to lose this for the past few months but nothing i do seems to work - i lose a pound, then my weight shoots up 3 pounds for no reason, then i stop losing at all. I'm feeling very well at the moment and so am out exercising 5-6 times a week (intensive cardio workouts, eg squash) and watching what i eat very carefully but the weight won't shift.

Has anyone else also experienced difficulty losing weight while on this med? I've been on medication for 10 years and mirtazapine has worked the best by far so i don't want to come off it, i'd just like to be able to lose the weight...

2

I have the same problem as you. I cannot lose weight on mirtazapine. I have been taking 15mg with other meds since September. I lose a few pounds only to put it back on again and then get stuck. I am going to try weight watchers again which is expensive if it isn't working. I would be grateful for any tips as to how to lose weight. I exercise swim and do pilates. At least my weight has stabilised but I am far too heavy for my height.

3

to me poppy can i ask what you take mirtazapine for depression/anxiety??

4

That is exactly what is happening to me! I lose a few pounds, then it goes back on and then i'm stuck. I joined ww four weeks ago too as i felt like i was going mad going round in circles trying to do it alone. I lost for the first two weeks and then put on in subsequent weeks. I've been fitting in 28+ activity points per week and tracking on my food - it doesn't make sense that i'm gaining/not losing when i'm exercising so much and on a controlled diet.

To answer your question - I take mirtazapine for depression with 10mg diazepam for anxiety when needed. I'm on a really even keel at the moment hence all the energy for exercise and my motivation to shift the weight.

I feel a bit silly moaning about my weight when i know i have felt so much worse than this in the past but it's something that makes me feel very self-conscious and i'd really like to get it sorted.

Do you think the mirtazapine affects metabolism or the way the body stores fat?

ps i play squash with my husband four times a week and go mountain biking every weekend so i'm not talking about leisurely stroll type exercise, i really am putting a lot of effort into this. sorry, i'm going on a bit aren't i...

5

me again :D

my psych suggested i have a fat lipase test. anyone had this done?

6

[quote:a595dcab6f=\"mepoppy\"]me again :D

my psych suggested i have a fat lipase test. anyone had this done?

I have been on these for two months now! they are great for depression! but eat! i can't stop! i have put on a stone and half! so uncomfortable, think i will review them with the doctor, can't carry on putting on the weight!

7

Hi

I have also put weight on using this drug and found when I stopped that I continued to crave sugary foods. I read somewhere that high carb diet is beneficial for anxiety and that this drug was initially developed for anorexia and that it has an appetite enhancer in it.

8

Apparantly i have anorexia although i'm not so sure myself - think my weight is too high for an eating disorder but that is beside the point. My psychiatric consultant has prescribed me some mirtazapine and stopped my sertraline but i'm really anxious to take it coz i'm really worried about putting loads of weight on - have you really attributed the Mirtazapine to weight gain? :cry:

9

For as long as I can remember I have been able to eat pretty much what I like and not put on weight. I started on prozac which really disagreed with me - I couldn't eat or sleep, lost half a stone in 3 weeks which made me borderline underweight. Was switched to mirtazapine and very quickly (felt like days!) put back on the half stone I had lost plus another stone. It hasn't made me particularly overweight but I feel uncomfortable and concerned that I don't know if it will stop or will I go on putting on weight. I know everyone reacts differently to anti-ds but it does seem like rather a coincidence that I should suddenly have such a weight gain when I started this one!!

10

Just wanted to say I have lost around 4st in just over a year and I'm on Mirtazapine. Can't say it was easy, but it is possible. I gained weight when I first started taking it.

11

Just wanted to say I have lost around 4st in just over a year and I'm on Mirtazapine. Can't say it was easy, but it is possible. I gained weight when I first started taking it.

12

Gosh, all these issues, Weighed myself this mornig after my hysteria, and put on tons....i cant handle this.....Ive only bee on it for over a week. I dont think I have an ed, I am far too big, but this makes me worry. Really should not complain , but I cnat help but worry.

13

I dont know what to think anymore, feel incredibly alone, and my sister (who has the mega power over me), Her that says I am her best frined her who does not even bother to tell me, that shes coming over, her that consolidates with my partner. Well excuseme, here , but forgive me for letting the little green monster out, I find it all weird. I find that he listens and focuses in on everthing she has to say, Hello.....????

My sister weighs about 6 stone, she suffered from glandowerfever when younger, ( blame that), but surely for someone so sensitive, i should not be so invisible. Sorry, (there should be a picture off a big foot), Its about time mum took her on board, I have enough to deal with. Regardless of what I am going throw, shes up there and I am the nasty b****. Sorry, I am begging somone else to support me here, I feel so hurt.

I was even justifying the anorexics paths, It is built from emotion, I can understand this, I lost a we bit weight when feeling sore and sour, but for me that was the point where I thought, I need help. But I am not honest about that stuff, just become a doom and gloom cripple to being last to be investigated\"as she abused alcohol'. Well, to know the truth , I will know and only I. When she turned up, the first thing she asked \"Katy, can I see your Bikini\". reluctantly , I show her...She says \"since when did you become a size 16?\".

Regardless , my passed still hurts me, it will always haunt me, and always has, but I am building a bone in my body that says\"Enough!!!\". I need to learn to say NO, without the burden of guilt. I am human too and I am to allowed to say .yeah, or no, and if its not going to be heard, boy..... I will let myself BE HEARD!!!

Probably, would not have a \"drink problem\" if I ate, I look no different from anyone else. I look normal weight, I am normal , and of normal weight, I just hate my body and I can normally cope with my crap body image, but I cant handle much more.

I must say this though, I completely understand people with eating disorders, and just as alcoholics try to hide against their emotions, so do anorexics, collide it with both and well , you will just look like an alcoholic. I am by no way means an ano, i just understand it, . For instance: without trying, I dropped to 7 stone, when my grandad died. I understand and empathise.

I will never be the \"little angel\" my sister is, I will never be able to have her insightful thoughts, or her strenght, I am me, Iam just Okay, medioca, (if I am liucky) But I vcanr handle that they and she ignore mydesperation, Ignore the war of the roses, ignore allmy painIt s maybe genetic.I am so very alone and always have been, thers never been anything to turn to, for me, and now my doc has it on his records that I am an alcoholic(not that Ive ever spared his time to read) . Everybody seems to be against me. My family ... I am lost,what to do?.

14

I switched from prozac to mirtazapine about five months ago. I haven`t really noticed any difference in my mood but I`ve put on over one and a half stones and still gaining. I have fibromyalgia as well, so I also take amitiptyline, I am really down and lonely and feeling fat and not being able to wear my normal clothes really doesn`t help. My GP is away at the moment but when he comes back I think I must go and see him.

15

QWhat happened to my 14th post?????What ????Did it disappear, perhaps I should.

16

hi, i just wanted to say that i have been lucky enough to not worry about weight or what i eat in the past, but since i fell ill i am now taking mirtazapine 45mg, i have been on it a year or just over, its defiantly a side effect of the medication, i went from 12 stone to around 15-16 stone, and it was not my diet or exercise. Its very frustrating as now i watch what i eat and exercise alot more than i ever did previously,but cant get my weight or size down, which i feel is counter productive. whats the point in an anti depressant that makes you gain weight and makes you feel horrible. i am seeing my doctor this week about it as i have had enough and would rather suffer the panic attacks and depression than look and feel like this!

17

Hi

I was on 45mg Mirtazipine for just over a year as gained nearly 3 stone! I have just stopped them five days ago so hopefully the weight might start dropping off

18

Hi everyone,

I have never been on any of these forums before, but I am glad I have now! I am 27 and on 30mg mirtazapine, Ive been on it for about 3 months and put on just over a stone and a half. I was beginning to think I was ill, I am super active, climbing, biking hiking, dancing and heading to the gym. Being so active and putting on fat when I've always been able to control my weight was making me more depressed!

I am throwing them in the bin I think!! I hope the weight comes off!

Thank you all for sharing, it certainly helps when you have a reason as to why weight just keeps flying on!!

I hope everyone is ok and manages to sort it all out!

19

hi, i know this thread is a little old but thought id add my exp.....

ive been on mirtazipine for a few months, ive stopped taking them now. I also got diagnosed as having an underactive thyroid. Both these things combined i put on FOUR STONE in a year! gone from size 10, 10 stone (im 5' 7"wink to size 16 and 14 stone, BMI 30!!! surprised

ive lost almost 1/2 a stone this week from dieting and not taking the mirt..pine. I would say this is a bad drug for weight gain and i dont think its a gd anti-depressant. Ive stopped taking any, except my diazepam which i need for my anxiety/panic attacks. 

I guess you could keep weight gain to a minimum if you hada very strict diet and exercised cardio alot but id rather just eat sensibly and not take the tablets...

20

Just started on met. Put on a hit of weight.  What are your tips to loose the weight would u advise?