Switching from fluoxetine to mirtazapine – Have been taking prescribed antidepressants for about 6 years. First venlafaxine, then citalopram, then fluoxetine. For me, all of these were effective – especially fluoxetine – but all had more or less undesirable side-effects. After about 2 years on fluoxetine, these included: excessive sweating (eventually almost constant); breathlessness on exertion (increasingly); fatigue and drowsiness; and sexual dysfunction. Having come off antidepressants at various times, I know that I don’t cope well without them so I asked GP about an alternative to SSRIs – hence mirtazapine. Over past 2 weeks been weaning off fluoxetine and onto mirtazapine. Effects obviously arise from both those events and thus far only taking a half-dose (15 mg) of mirtazapine (30mg as of tomorrow). However:
:D Sweating has stopped - hooray!
Breathlessness the same
Even more fatigued and sleepy than before
:yikes: Vivid dreams (consistently)
:? Have been putting on weight anyway – apprehensive
:ill: Irritable and aggressive (when awake)
Low mood
:headhurts: ‘Churning’ thoughts returning
:wink: Sexual dysfunction – chance to find out would be a fine thing!
A lot of this is withdrawal from the fluoxetine. There is also a tendency to ascribe everything to depression and/or antidepressants, whereas there are always other things going on as well. Going to see how the mirtazapine pans out after a few weeks, then reassess.
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