Hello,
I have been on Mirtazapine for some months now - I take it in conjunction with Venlafaxine. I started on 15 mg, moved up to 30, then back down to 15. I almost feel at my wits' end. I suffer with severe and chronic depression, and also from generalised anxiety and stress - not only do I have Churchill's 'Black Dog,' but I also have a Black Cat and a Black Budgie as well.
Add into this mix a rotten case of fibromyalgia and I.B.S., and you can guess that I feel pretty dreadful any day of the week.
I'm pretty limited in terms of mobility. I have to use a stick most of the time, and now and again have to rely on a wheelchair. Quite a lot of the time, actually. Therefore, to cut a long story short, I get no exercise. None at all.
As I mentioned, I have been on Mirtazapine for a few months, prescribed to assist the Venlafaxine, on which I have been for over 5 years, and was up to 225 mg per day. But sleep was an issue - I rarely get 3 consecutive hours a night. Bear also in mind that I am over 16 1/2 stone; which, trust me, when you're only 5'7\", that's overweight. I thought I was in the queue marked \"handsome devil,\" but seem to have ended up in the one marked \"shortarse\" instead. Anyway, my stomach is bloated out and my wife is forever trying to find foods that do not bloat me, but we are running out of options.
I seem to have every symptom in the book: general pain (this is part-fibromyalgia, part medication) all over my body, overweight, tired, mood swings, shaking of arms and legs, twitching hands, acid reflux (very bad at night just as I am going off to sleep - it jerks me awake), fast heartbeat, sweating, swollen hands and fingers. And that's just the physical symptoms. Mentally, I'm a mess of panics, depression, moods affected by the weather, feelings of hopelessneess and of impending death. All of this leads to some pretty bad days.
Add to this in the last 48 hours my feet and lower legs have swollen up beyond all recognition - could this be a Mirtazapine symptom? It could be due to lack of exercise but it just seems odd that the problem has sprung up in the last day or so. I shuffle around the house feeling like I'm about to die, which would be a shame, because House is on tomorrow.
But in all seriousness I feel hopeless, lost, like every symptom is piling on top of another - no relief and no prospect of getting any better. In addition to the 'Mirt' and the 'Ven', I'm also on the highest possible doses of Pregabalin, Codeine for the pain as well as paracetamol plus, oh yes and Bisoprolol for the anxiety. I also have diarrhoea pretty regularly and feel sick at night, especially when trying to go to sleep.
My wife is extraordinarily tolerant of the way that I am, but I sometimes wonder how much more of it my body can take. Sorry that not all of this is Mirtazapine related - my initial question was whether anyone thought the Mirtazapine could be causing the swollen feet. They are very painful now, more so than usual, because my skin is being stretched tight across the tops of my feet. This is in addition to the bone-ache I feel constantly inside my feet anyway.
I feel like a lost cause. With painful feet.
Cheers
Stephen