I took half a 15 mg last night and this morning can’t function – exhausted, dry mouth, headache, dizzy – how long do these side-effects go on? Days, weeks?
Hi Sue I've been on Mirt for nearly 2 years now and the sedation has never really gone away. The medication is a strong sedative with a long half life of 20-40 hrs so that's why people feel tired a lot of the time while on it.
Thanks, Gareth – I've just woken up – spent half the afternoon asleep – I never do that! I had to cancel two appointments today. I just won't be able to take it tonight as I have to be somewhere in the morning. How can half such a tiny pill have such a drastic effect? I will try it once more but will have to give up if it does the same thing. I have a life to lead! 40 hours takes me to halfway through tomorrow, hope I wake up by then...
Yes small pill but it's a powerful medication which affects a lot of brain receptors. But yes for most people the most prominent effect is the lingering tiredness. I often still feel heavy eyed into the afternoon. I've often thought about quitting because of it but I think I'd rather cope with that than depression and insomnia. There is another medication though called Trazodone which is sedating but doesn't linger in the body for as long as Mirtazapine. So I might ask my doctor for it.
I specifically said to my GP that I didn't want a sleeping pill – I explained that I don't mind sleeping badly, it's the least of my worries! So I am pretty angry that he prescribed mirtazapine. I can't take another one – or rather a half one – I can't keep cancelling things and letting people down.
A couple of days, for me it lasted 5 days. I still have a headache but it might be from a illegal substance I abused 2 months ago(main reason I started a short-term treatment with Mirt).
Hi Sue - Mirt can be very difficult to get used to. The good news is that once the start up side effects pass, most people don't feel anything at all. I've been taking Mirt for 15 months now and feel just as I would during the daytimes if I wasn't taking it. It's hard for me to judge as I started both Mirt and Escitalopram at the same time, so was getting used to two different drugs together, but I would say it took around 2 weeks for the VERY bad side effects as you're experiencing now to pass, and about 4 weeks to feel "normal". It's a gradual process, bit by bit it gets easier. For the first week or so I was also totally unable to function the next day but it does pass. One thing to mention is that particularly when starting the drug, the lower doses like the 7.5mg you took are more sedating than the starting dose of 15mg. Once my body has adapted to the drug I've found no overall difference in sedation on doses, but particularly for just starting it, you might want to consider that it would likely be slightly less sedating a bit higher than 7.5mg. Good luck - hang in there, it will pass xx
I started it lastnight 15mg for unexplained constant nausea .... wasnt able to function all day. I've just been laying in bed in and out of sleep and I feel really weird, like there's an anxiety feeling thru my chest and arms, Idk, my arms feel heavy and jolty, overall I feel awful and out of it... not sure I want to keep this up.... sigh.