Mirts dumbing down of the mental faculties was the reason I stopped mirtazapine. I work in i.t. and needed to be able to think.
Hey Tony
Do you take anything else and did you taper off? I'm thinking of stopping them tomorrow and just put up with the side effects. Only been on 15g for a week and I know people say to wait but even with citalopram where I had horrible anxiety I still felt like myself. Feeling very zombie and uncompforatble on these.
I would miss the sleep sedating though as I had bad insomnia for almost a year.
x
I tapered off mine by halfing the dose every 2 days. so it took me 4 days to come off 15mg. It can often take a few trys before finding the right med.
You should go back to the gp and tell him/her that mirts not for you so you can try something else.
Much welcome Caramax
I had the very same symptoms with ssri- suicide thoughts are a side effect..they did help but with non-helpful symptoms- Another suggestion is asking your dotcore to be refered to a psychiarist- The reason being doctors are limited to what they can prescribe, psychiarist have more medication and knowledge available to patients..It doesnt mean that some people are crazier than others, it just means the medication doctors have at their disposal are not the right medication for you..Its common for people to have negetive reactions to meds- best of luck- you will find a solution and you will win the battle
Hi Guys
Just a suggestion, perhaps try Valdoxan...its works for sleep, and depression- is a agomelatine medication- i think its reasonaly new to the market?? it is also presribed to limit depression and coming back and side effects
Thanks Australia & Caramax. I switched, swapped & changed my medication back in August/September not realising that initially most of the antideps/meds that help calm you and therefore help you sleep dumb you down initially - now probably 5 months on mirts* I'm quite used to them & am particularly needing them to sleep. I will rread up on Valdoxan tho' - thanks. I intend to stay on these for now though, and caramax - I wouldn't recommend coming on Mirt until you have something else to take - just in case. Have any of you tried CBT or Mindfulness???
Best wishes
Hi, Tony. Hope no one minds me butting in and hijacking the conversation, but you sound quite knowledgable and I would really appreciate some advice as I feel as if I am running out of options, having suffered from depression all my life, I feel like I have hit a dead end. I am taking Mirtazipine, which I have just reduced from 30 to 15. My brain is mush and has been for a while, but I need to sharpen my thinking for a new and demanding job, but also my mood is at rock bottom. I wake up every morning wondering what the point is and wishing I wasn't here. I am very isolated and as I don't enjoy anything at the moment, can't do anything to make myself less isolated. I have been on Sertralinr for past five weeks, didn't get above 50mg because anxiety through the roof and cognitive function severely impaired. Not good when trying to hang on to your job. Doctor has switched me straight over to Duloxatine 60 from today, with Mirtazipine 15 at night. I am hoping this might pick my mood up a bit, but without the crashing effects on anxiety levels and memory/ thinking. Wondered if you might know something about it?
Hi Gillian, Duloxatine is an SNRI and different to Sertraline which is an SSRI. Duloxatine will increase the level of noradrenaline as well as Serotonin (which sertraline already did). I cannot say what will help you as these things really are hit and miss. It is trial and error with many people having to try a variety of drugs to find the one (or combination) which works for them. After 5 weeks of sertraline and mirt its clear that was not for you. Mirt will be the one causing the cognitive function problems I doupt it was sertraline.
Why was you put on Mirtazipine? Because of sleep problems, thats the normal reason GP's go with it. Have you tried propanolol (beta blocker) to help with anxiety attacks? It may not help the mental feeling but could help with the physical symptons like the shakes etc.
Hi Tony. Had depression all my life. Peaked about five years ago. Eventually settled on Mirtazipine 45 and Venlaflxine 375mg. As you can imagine, pretty damped down. Didn't.'t feel great, but got through and still here. Started weaning off Venlaflaxine over a year ago. Took six months, then on just Mirtazipine 30 for six months, but crashed and burned. Didn't want to go back on anything, but really low and felt I had no option. Really desperate. I week on 25 Sertraline, 4weeks on 50 and anxiety very high for me. Psychological, the physical symptoms are very minimal. Took last 50 Sertraline yesterday and first 60 Duloxetine today. Have read high risk of Seratonin syndrome so keeping Mirtazipine to 15mg for sleep. Seeing a counsellor, and just marking time. Very frightened about losing my job if can't get anxiety down and thinking a bit clearer. Have 5 days off so hoping to be a bit more settled by Wednesday, just enough to get through my shift .
Thanks for replying by the way. It's nice to feel your not alone.
Not heard of this before, but have looked it up now. It looks ideal. Wonder why we haven't heard much about it?
Sorry, Valdorax that is. Hope you don't mind me jumping in pon your conversation, but I am desperate to find something to lift my mood, particularly in the mornings, but without increasing my anxiety and impairing my cognitive function. It's a nightmare. Was on Mirtazipine 30mg having weaned down from Mirtazipine 45 and Venlaflaxine 375 because I was a zombie, albeit a functioning zombie. But crashed and burned after six months. Have just had five weeks on Sertraline, only got up to 50mg, anxiety very bad and cognitive function very poor. Started duloxetine 60 th morning with Mirtazipine 15. Fingers crossed things get better and not worse.
Hi Gillian
I think Valdoxon is new to the market, or in Australia anyhow..Its great that people contribute to conversation Support network is very important when dealing with depression and such alikes...Im not sure if Valdoxan is a morning medication, though it should work just the same as it is also for major depression and will help rid the shadow in time..I have noticed that many people are reporting the same affect with SSRIs, I am thinking of doing some research into this...
Hi calmer
Yes.CBT is a great option, combined with medication.I would recommend all people under going treatment to have a health care plan.Medication works however you still need to deal with the causes of the chemical imbalance that occured to begin with..I guess my advice is to find a good Psychologist and to attend the appointments even though you may think its mundane or trivial to begin with..Its suprising how information given from Psychologist really have an impact in your life, even if you find yourself reflecting on the therapy in the future, it does help if you manage to get a good psychologist...
Yeah! That would be good. I speak to people all the time who would benefit from support with anti-depressants, but are too scared to go on them, and with good reason. I feel like I am on a merry go round and my options are getting narrower every year. Thanks for your support.
Hi Australia2014, I agree entirely, mundane as CBT is sometimes I find that by doing the "homework" I'm slowly realigning my negative thought pattern. As for getting a good Psycologist, I am lucky I could afford to pay as nothing was available through the GP unless I was admitted to hospital - there is (obviously) massive space for improvement within the NHS. CBT is available on the NHS with a waiting list - I would advise anyone to try it and READ around the subject to affirm.
Have tried CBT a few times, and I can see it's value. Unfortunately, my confidence, self esteem etc... Are so poor that I have found its helpfulness limited. I can't 'believe' the positive affirmations. I am seeing a counsellor privately now, so that I am not panicked by the limitations of short term therapy. Also planning to do some regular 'mindfulness' sessions, and going to try hypnosis. On day 3 of Duloxetine and Mirtazipine mix. I feel as if stopping the Sertraline has had massive positive effects. My anxiety is massively reduced, I feel as if I am thinking a bit more clearly and a bit more positively. Seems a bit of a dramatic improvement, but I am not complaining. Let's hope it continues. Morning panic seemed a bit better this morning as well. Have been reading about difficulties coming of Duloxetine, but can't worry about that just now. Going to ask advice about coming off the Mirtazipine in about a weeks time if I feel up to it. Are you having CBT currently? How long have you been having it and are you finding a steady improvement? I have also been referred to see a clinical psychologist on Nhs. Know you should only try one type of therapy at once, but hoping that the Clinical Psychologist might be able to add something into the pot to keep me on track.
Hi Gillian, In reply to your questions firstly, I saw a Clinical Psychologist 3 times privately as NHS couldn't help and I just KNEW I needed to. As my anxiety was on the ceiling she recommended I steadied myself on meds (Mertazapine) to try CBT to strengthen myself mentally before any further treatment, and to reaffirm the CBT for 6 months or so. The CBT was and is very useful indeed; it then led on to a course of Mindfulness which in times of utter despair was a realy grounder and after 4 weeks of this I am "seeing the light". Although I have been on mertazapine since September 2013 I don't plan to come off anytime soon - needing the help to sleep. I know what you mean Gillian when you say to "keep you on track" - it's a way of life really don't you think? ... there's no quick fix, trying to achieve happinness through negative depression takes a lot of unlearning. x
Thank you so much for your honesty and generosity in sharing your personal experience. I am new to these forums, but will definitely be a regular visitor when there is so much intelligent thought and experience to be gained from others with similar difficulties as myself. Yes, I think the mindfulness wi be a great help in getting me back into the moment and give me a break from the incessant negative dialogue that I hammer myself with nearly ever waking moment. Hope I am not fooling myself, but I feel as if my change of meds, new therapist, the other things I plan to try and the support of these forums might just help me turn a corner at long last. Even expressing a hope of change is a massive leap forward from how I've been feeling over past few months. That said, I have sat in front of the telly in my PJ's for past 3 days, so still a way to go. I didn't wake up waiting that I hadn't this morning and I am at least seeing this as a temporary low point and not a template for the rest of my life since feeling less anxiety. Thanks again guys.
Hi Guys/Gals
I would reply independantly, though you all have made very ligit and personal expereince/advice about withdraws and CBT...It may work for some, it may not work for others, but there is other options- As i recently explained to another post on here..withdraws are a process- you have the medication withdraws, then you have to adapt back to a life without the co-dependant medication..your emotions and thinking might be confussing and self-identity may also be uncertain as we experience a lot of our inter personal selves in regards to our emotions and thoughts- this may take months, so its important to try and not draw conclusion when going through process...it will balance in time and every person is different...Another point worth considering is this adaptation process has a lot of parallel behaviour linked to it- i.e. comparrison...Its normal to determine how
"happy" or "normal" we should be based on remebering what were like before depression or such alikes...dont be to hard on yourself- allow change and remember that naturally things change, through growth, experience and such events that we speak of in these forums..You may do some re-discovering about yourself and dont let this confuse you..its all part of your experience