I have just had my medication increased from 15 mg to 30 mg. When I started taking the 15 mg it literally started working the next day. I am now into my sixth day of 30 mg and I am feeling worse. I would appreciate it if someone could give me their experience with this medication.
Are you saying the day after you were prescribed 15mg or going up from 7.5mg?
It is one of the faster acting meds of its type but that is meaning upto a therapeutic level side effects differ for everyone. I would try 22.5mg (one and a half 15mg) if you are struggling.
Mention to your Doc that doubling up isn't agreeing with you.
Stu.
Thankyou Stu. My first dose was 15 mg. I have heard that it takes about 2 weeks to feel better
I've been on Mirtazapine for a year now. I also started on 15mg. It took a couple weeks before I started feeling better. I went up to 30mg several weeks later. It took another couple weeks for my body to adjust and feel better. Everyone is different but it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. After being on 30mg for about 2 -3 months I started feeling awful. Very groggy in the morning. I went back down to 15mg and once again it took about 2 weeks to adjust and feel "normal" again. 30mg might just be too high a dose for you. I would suggest talking to your doctor about dropping down to 22.5mg. How did you feel on the 15mg? I find that I do better on the lower dose. If your were feeling okay on the lower dose don't be afraid to tell your doctor you don't want to go higher. Sometimes I think the doctors up the dose just because that's the next step in the text book.
Hey everyone I was on 15 mg since the start of Jan this yr.... started to feel better straight away.... after 5 weeks I took a dip therefore pysch raised it to 30....it has now bn 2 weeks since med has bn increased and yet again feeling the benefits... he did not recommend 22.5 as the therapeutic level shld b 15 or 30 so a suppose everyone is different and experiences diff side effect... I was on this drug before and totally recovered... now faced with a new set of problems I now have the menopause on top off everything else so having to have treatment for that.... god what us woman have to go through... kp talking everyone that's how we will all gt better.x
The thereuptic or dose range for remission are 15mg 30mg or 45mg, however getting to those doesn't mean you should jump up that amount each time.
People react and titrate differently to minimise side effects.
E.g The best response dose for Amitriptyline can be 200mg, but if I had jumped from 75mg to that initially it would have probably comatosed me.
Slow and steady as prevention is better than cure. Glad it does what you need it to do that is the aim for us all in the end.
Stu.
Hi Patricia,
Hang in there it can take up to 10 days for u to feel the benefits of the 30mg
So I wouldn't do anything for while, just know u will see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.
Best Luck
Maizie
Many thanks Maizie I will take your advice. I am on my seventh day today and I think I maybe feeling s tiny bit better.
Delighted for you Patricia ....
... It will Improve ..... Positive thinking helps too
Best of Luck
Maizie
Ye hang in there x am on day 14 and feeling better x
Hi Patricia
Sorry to hear about your difficulties with Mirtazapine - its good to share experiences on a site like this, so you dont feel quite so alone when its tough going. From my own experience, 15 mgs had a nice sedating effect, whilst upping it to 30mgs had a more 'activating' reaction and has been extremely hard - Im on week 13 now and know I shall be on it for a further 5 months.
I took it two years ago and it worked well for me then. (but only felt better after I had been on 30mgs for about 8 weeks) During the initial weeks I felt jittery, hyper, irritated and then ready for bed by 7pm. Someone compared its effect to throwing snowballs at a wall - a little bit more snow sticks each time. A good analogy.
Basically, there dont seem to be any wonder cures for depre ssion out there! Not yet anyway. Doubtless in 10 years there will be better drugs available......(not much help now I know) So I should hang in there, believe it will work for you if not immediately but gradually, and try to keep busy when you feel crap. Any form of exercise is good. whatever you feel up to.
None of us are doctors though, so although its been incredibly good reading other peoples experiences, I would beware changing anything without first talking to your GP or another qualified doctor.
There is light at the end of the tunnel!
Thanks Jane for your advice. I took Venlafaxine for ten years with excellent results ie no depression .
It stopped working in 2012 and GP has prescribed various meds since then mostly SSRIs. They certainly don't work for me. I am now into my seventh day of 30 mg Mirtazapine so I am keeping my finger crossed.
Hi Patricia
All my fingers crossed for you too! Dont be too surprised if it takes several weeks to work though Patricia. Its very hard that, but theres nothing instant about these drugs unfortunately. I found it was 7 weeks before I started to feel better and many times I wanted to give up, but somehow just something stubborn in me wouldnt give up.
Today Im on week 13 and off to the docs to see how much longer I should be on 30mgs............
7 days on Mirtazapine isnt long at all, they take much longer to build up in your system, so give them at least another 4-6 weeks before you decide anything. My doc gave me diazepam (valium) to help me get through the early stages and i found they helped but as theyre addictive ( very nice, but naughty!) so I got off them after about 8 weeks as my doc warned me off them.
I had tried Sertraline for a whole 2 days and it was a nightmare, as I felt like I was whizzing around the ceiling so Mirtazapine has been relatively easier.
For me it worked better starting on 15mgs for 5 weeks building it up gradually in my system before upping it to 30 mgs.
But everyone is different - dont be afraid to talk it through with your doctor or a friend or relative if it gets too hard, theyre only human like you........
Jane
I started on 15 mg and they worked overnight. I went back to the GP as she had asked me to and said I was feeling back to my normal self. She said she obviously didn't need to increase the dose. I was great for nearly 3 months and they just stopped working so I phoned her and told her that I had increased to 30 mg.
I started on 15mg Mirtazapine for a week, which I found ok, then I upped to, as directed, 30mg. I lasted 12 days then had to get in touch with my Dr because I just couldn't cope with the effect that they were having on me. Extreme tiredness and lethargy not wanting to get up in the morning and the initial sedating effect not lasting long after I went to bed but increasing as the night went on into the morning. I had increased appetite and bloating and the initial raising of my mood seemed to relapse into a continual low mood. My Dr wasn't available but the Dr I spoke to told me to reduce my dose back to 15mg. I was due to see my Dr after a month but won't be able to see her now for another 7 days. Having read a lot on the adverse effects of Mirt on these Forums, I'm beginning to wonder if I should continue taking them.
Hi Patricia and Stuart
I find I can relate to what you are saying. 15 mgs has a nice sedating effect, however in my case it wasnt enough to lift my underlying depression. As far as I understand it, the lower doses cause sedation, but the higher doses of 30mgs and above have a stronger activating effect on the production of serotonin ie the pleasure giving hormones. Unfortunately the higher doses are harder to take and like Stuart I had many adverse side effects for the first few weeks of taking 30mgs. Mostly it made me over hyped up and although tired found it difficult to sleep or to stay asleep as there was so much brain zapping going on.
However these side effects wore off after about week 7 (which I understand is slow) and the depression is completely gone so I am glad I put up with it. My GP said to just grin and bear it because it would work in the end, and he was right. (easy to say I know)
I saw him yesterday and he says I must stay on it for a further 5 months ie 6 months from when I felt 'normal' haha. which was a month ago.
Everyone is different though, thats for sure and although my depression is lifted I am often irritable and hyper, but this is down to the side effects of the drug rather then 'me' and will pass when I finally come off it I know.
Its all to do with weighing up the pros and cons I guess but there are no instant solutions to real depression. I have increased appetite too, but as I was underweight before I see that as a plus.
I think Mirtazapine is a great drug compared with the others, they ALL have side effects, after all you are messing with your brain, and they dont really know why or how mirtazapine works yet!! but there doesnt appear to be an infallible one-pill-suits -all out there ...........
hi
I have been taking mirtazapine for about 18 months,I started on 15mg then up to 30mg and...then 45mg! this is about the third time I have been prescribed mirtazapine and I have always eventually had good results .It was prescribed this time following a period of time where I was bullied at work, it was devastating and I became very ill. This medication I feel helped me lift to a point where I was strong enought to leave. I am still on it but back downto 30mg. I think out of all the meds I tried it has been the best....the thing I hate the most is the weight gain...but I suppose its a small price to pay !
Hey the exact same as me Debbie x not the bullying but meds great for me and I don't mind the weight gain very very small price to pay x glad ur better and I'm getn there x
I am now into my eighth day on 30 mg Mirtazapine. I am feeling the worst I have felt since starting them. I
couldn't face doing anything and spent all day until now on the settee. A this point you feel that maybe the drug isn't for you so reading all your messages about sticking with it is keeping me going.
Hang in there Patricia, you really need a month to reassess, however this is one of the faster meds regarding onset of therapeutic action.
It had been found in a number of studies all be it no comfort when you are in this position but if it makes you feel bad it generally will make you feel good if thatakes sense.
No effects at all means your body is not bothering with it at all. You'll get there and if not try something else and ask your doc for something to take the she off while you start up again.
Stu.