I was told about the risk of weight gain but told it was more to do with increased appetite than fat binding, etc and that as long as I watched what I consumed I'd be fine. Roll on six weeks and I have surgery and after a further six weeks I feel enormous but put it down to swelling and post-op "taking it easy". Decide to take control and join weightwatchers to find I'd put on over two stone and am the heaviest I've ever been. One week in with little effort I lose 9lb but three weeks in I've regained 2lb and feel huge again. Only difference, other than increasing my exercise, was that I'd ran out of mirtazapine 30mg five days before the 9lb loss as my repeat prescription failed to materialise and I started again the day after. Can weight loss and gain be that rapid be purely down to the mirtazapine? Having a history of bulimia I am tempted instead to ditch the pills, lose the weight and take the chance that withdrawals are not too catastrophic. Certainly won't miss the twitchy left eyebrow either!
Hi sem
Yes mirtazapine is notorious for weight gain
I was barely eating and put on 2 stone I've always been skinny have a small build and I'm short lol.
Speak to your doc
Since decreasing from 45 to 30 in 3 weeks I've lost a stone and have been eating more!
Hope this helps
S x
Hi Suzannah & Sem2175
I too have gained so much weight its really upsetting me to the point I feel even more depressed than when I first started the stupid tablets. I have gone from 45mg to 15mg and have noticed not difference in my weight loss at all. Does anyone else know when the weight will start to drop off?? I feel so sad and fat and ugly that I want to just stop taking them altogether but after reading the blogs on here I realise that could be really dangerous to my health and as I need to keep working I dont wany any time off being ill because of it. So if anyone out there can give me hope that the weight will go that would be good and at what mg does it start to go?
Thanks so much
I put 3 stone on with mirtazapine I was on it for 6 years.
Consult your doctor before messing with medication.
Stay Strong
I only lost weight during withdrawal so i might put it back on yet
Generally from what I've read all the weight goes once you're completely off of them
But if your depression is still a problem i would speak to your doc about a change
S x
Thank you Lynne, its awful isnt it, I wasnt was told about the weight gain when I was first prescribed the drug and to be honest I was so depressed and suicidal that I would have taken rat poision if they had said it would make me better lol!!! I have spoken to the doctor and she was happy for me to come off of Mirtz I just wish I could do is quicker then I could shift this weight!! Thank you for your response
Hi Suzzannah,
I am only depressed about being so fat I cant fit in any clothes and I dont want to look in the mirror I know I will feel so much better once this weight has gone, just wish I could go from 15mg to nothing as soon as but at the moment I am tapering every 2 weeks. Roll on the weight loss!! Thanks for your reply
Hi sem
i do think it's purely down to mirtazipine. I have never been a big person but mirt has made weight gain the norm. I am eating between 1000 to 1100 calories and piling on weight. When I came off mirt for a month, the weight dropped off. I wouldn't stop mirt abruptly as this can make ypu very ill. It seems like this medication would be beneficial for your illness. I would honestly stick with it for a while. I am sure the twitchy left eyebrow looks cute! Wishing you better ♥
I'm afraid it is quite a low dosage before you notice a difference. My appetite dropped after I got down to 5mg but I hardly lost any weight until I was completely off it. Also it turned out I was hyperthyroid and so I dropped weight like a stone. Much more than I had gained on the mirt. Just take the taper really steady. I made up my own liquid and tapered by 0.1mg at a time for the last little bit. I had virtually no WD symptoms.
When I went on mirtazapine, I put on about a stone eating chocolate as midnight snacks, I realsed this could not go on so instead I tried eating low carb healthy snacks such as rye crispbread or museli. This worked just as well to stop the so-called "sugar cravings" and I lost that stone I'd put on. I never put on weight after that! 
Im right with you in your lack of patience and wanting off ASAP
But we can't make ourselves ill in the mean time
Some people come off fine others struggle
I did quite a big drop from 45 to 30 but i paid for it still don't feel right now
Im still heavier than I've ever been but i have no interest in men atm and find it quite liberating not trying to impress anyone
Its who we are on the inside that counts
You will get there
S x
The weight gain on mirt is two pronged. It increases your appetite and desire for 'bad things', and it also lowers your metabolism/interferes with the way your body uses enery and stores fat so that you need fewer calories to stay the same weight. It also seems to 'fight back' if you do lose weight, adjusting your system still further making it even harder to diet. I gained a good couple of stone on mirt and lost over a stone whilst still on it. But I noticed I would drop a few pounds and then just stop losing any more and plateau despite eating and exercising the same amount. So I would have to step it up, drop alcohol, exercise more and I'd lose 3 more pounds then plateau, so I'd have to drop even more food and I would lose 3 more pounds and so on. It's a very strange drug indeed. It's as though it has a vision of a new larger you and fights tooth and nail against all your efforts to prevent it. It seems able to make new adjustments to get to it's idea of just how big you should be! I think it has a life of its own this drug.
Im also with you and not looking for a man but I would like to find one before I get so fat I can no longer count how many chins I have!! When you say you still dont feel right now, what sort of symptoms are you getting? I have bad headaches, feel like I cant consentrate and very forgetful. It was really frightening actually as I told my friend a story and an hour later I called her back up and told her the same one, It made me really upset I thought Oh my god have I lost my mind!!! I also have really bad blurred vision and have to keep blinking to refocus have you had that too? I know I shouldnt just come off them but I have had these symptoms by coming down by 5mg each time so how much worse can it get ? Would love to hear back from you thanks
Hi yes it's purely down to mirtazapine. . The only way I could lose weight was cutting carbs altogether ..& it takes time.. it causes cravings. This drug was given to anorexics to make them eat. Iv come off it after putting 2stone on in such little time. It made me ill as I suffer with weight issues..
Oh my god that is so bad!!!!!!!!!!! I would never have taken them had I been told by my doctor, thats shocking these need to come with a health warning
No I wouldn't of either never known anything like it.. I was in tears in the pdr office after 4months of taking it ..I went so down hill & was put on zopiclone bcause my sleep went awful on 30mg . So another drug iv had to WD from.. I have no trust in that pdr now ..
Neither do I. I was told to go on Mirtz and Venlafaxine, taking Ven in the morning and Mirtz at night. I was so depressed I wanted to take my life I was referred to the mental health team so I just took the tablets as I was told too never ever being told that I should be aware of the effects. I wasnt well enough to ask questions. It did help for a few months then i had no recollection of what I had said to people or how I had reacted only when my lovely friends told me did I realise I had broken down in tears i had no idea I had done that !! It scared me so much I decided to take myself off Ven which was pretty bad, had brain zaps and felt totally out of it for around 3 weeks. Then I decided to tackle Mirtz and i have to say this is far worse than Ven. I actually dont feel depressed at all apart from the fact Im now fat and never was before. I dont think the drugs are good at all for you in the long run they may stop you taking your life to start with then they just muck up your brain. I am absolutely determined to come off of these horrible drugs and hopefully get back to being me as I was 2 years ago, just happy to be alive !!! Thank you for listening
I don't understand why they prescribe them together.. 15mg works on knocking you out.. did you have problems sleeping? There's to many side effects with mirt..eyesight aching limbs carb cravings. List gos on n on. I came off mirt with no tapering didn't find it too bad went onto venlafaxine 8 days later ..they work great with me thankgod .. no problem glad to help .
Thank you so much Sharon I am going to come off them sooner, I have side affects anyway coming off them slowly so what the hell the sooner Im off them the better I have no idea why they just hand out tablets just like that. Glad you found Ven useful, I have been put off tablets for life now I dont want to take another pill ever again. Fingers crossed I wont need to and the depression has gone for good. And even more when I lose the weight Ill be almost unbearably happy!!!
Arhhh good luck I hope it all works out for you ..I went on the Cambridge diet to lose mine ..I lost 8lb in the 1st week & lost every week..