over the last 8 weeks I have been weened off Fluoxatine (Prozac) @ 60mg after crashing into my own personal ■■■■ after 12months of bliss.
I am now on Mirt @ 15mg, over the last 3 weeks on Mirt I have started sleeping more (still wake up at least twice in the night but thats better than getting 10- 30 minutes a night) but my dreams are insane... theyre like watching badly written and directed films.
I wake up everyday feeling like I'm hungover and have no energy at all, before I started the Mirt I had lost weight and had just bought new clothes to match my new weight, I have now put it back on which isnt helped by the lack of energy.
My re-increased weight isnt helping my lower back pain which I have always managed with paracetamol (now has no effect)
and on saturday for the first time in my life I had a panic attack in the middle of Asda while shopping with my mum
I'm just not convinced that all this negative outweighs the joy of a proper nights sleep.... obviously I will be discussing with my GP on Monday when i go, but advice would be apprechiated
There are some people on this forum who think mirt is evil and you should WD from it straight away. They say that because they have had extreme difficulty with WD and assume everyone would too (if they had to withraw) .
I have found nothing to beat mirt for help with sleep. I do get vivid dreams but they do not upset me after waking. I did go through a stage of feeling week - but that diminished with time.
I found mirt restored my appetite so I have to work hard at keeping my weight down - but no more so than before I was ill.
Regarding your panic attack, you may not have been on mirt long enough for it counter that fully. If you up the dose or swap to an SSRI AD you may well lose the help with sleep that it gives you. Personally I take 11mg of mirt for sleep PLUS an SSRI (Sertraline) for anxiety.
Sorry I cannot be more constructive, but in this game it is trial-and-error because everyone is different.
Hi Daniel
The sleep aid of Mirt' is very good & I see that insomnia was your problem too. The bizarre dreams & hang over effect will diminish, but the fatigue never really goes - just varies from day to day.
I'd advise pushing yourself to exercise or go for long walks if time permits as this has the effect of lifting you up out of the Mirt cloud.
CBT might be helpful if you suffer with panic attacks, it's simply mind training, & let's face it ... we could all do with a little help from time to time!
Wishing you well Daniel
I've just studied a course on the Science of Medicines and one of the categories we covered was anti-depressants. It was explained that often you feel the side effects worse to start with, before they ease off and the beneficial effects kick in. I've experience of this myself. This can take 6 to 8 weeks apparently. So my advice would be to hang in there if you can, and give it a few more weeks. Discuss it with your GP and see what he/she recommends. I do understand how you feel. Have you tried any "self help" strategies like a soothing warm bath just before bedtime, slow breathing to calm the panic, distraction techniques to take your mind off how horrible you feel? I found crosswords and trashy TV useful for distraction. See what your GP says. I hope that reassures you a bit.
i would agree totally with your comments.The fatigue never really goes awy it just varies and i u do have to push oneself.As regards weight I have put on nearly 2 stone and NONE of my 20 suits fit ! Nor my jeans etc etc BUT i would rather be like this than a total wreck that I was with anxiety.It has taken almost exactly 1 year to get to this and for that I'm grateful to mirtazipine. ( and my excellent counsellor)
Hi Plainden
I sympathise - 20 suits !!! WOW - that's quite a loss.
Yes it's 1 year for me too & 20 lbs gain ... I've started to wd now, very slowly, hoping the "hungry all the time" will start to leave me when I get down a little lower on the Mirt !!