OK so I've been on and off various meds for over 30 years. I stopped taking my cymbalta cold turkey before Christmas and not doing too badly apart from the occasional brain zap and becoming emotional whenever I listen to Evanescence (odd, have never really been a fan) and I got really upset about George Michael (again, not really a fan - weird?).... I saw the shrink today (haven't seen him for close to fifteen years, time flies). Certainly I'm in a far worse place now than I was back then - it seemed like a picnic in the garden of Eden back then compared to where I'm at now. Anyway he's decreed that I should be on medication after I expressed a few opinions on my life expectancy and after he saw my arms had some rather interesting injuries which obviously weren't caused by a gentle caress, I'd rather not be medicated but I will put trust in his judgement. Mirtazapine is what he has given me to trial for three weeks until I see him next. My major concern is the possibility of weight gain - I'm currently 84kg at 184cm tall so definitely not overweight. I'm also worried about drowsiness. If anyone can help me out with your experiences on this med I'd really appreciate it. Thanks for reading.
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mirtazapine - help me out people
- Thread starter dugga
- Start date
- Tags mirtazapine
Hi there. I took this for a minute once back in the day. I feel like it wasn't effective. It didn't give me any side effects, including weight gain or anything, but it just didn't *work* for me. But you know, all that shit is just subjective. What works for one of us is crap for another. I pretty much lived for Prozac and nothing else by the end of my med days... and I tried just about all of them. They just didn't fit for some reason or another, mostly because they plain did not work or they sexual side effects were just WOW.. no. Not happening. Between the two I shit canned every single one except prozac and wellbutrin, but that was only minimally effective. Hope it's good for you though. Give it some time, rate it honestly, raise the dose before you bail out and switch it if needed. Glad you've got a good attitude about things. 
OK I took my first dose last night about about an hour before bed. Sedation effect took hold with a vengeance very quickly - must have looked like a drunk walking the dogs, had trouble maintaining a straight line and can barely remember getting into bed. Must have fallen asleep within seconds and slept through which is rare for me - normally I sleep for around two hours at a time. We'll see what the day brings.
Hi there
As I often write on this forum. Mirtazapine is THE drug that got me out of my severe depression and lessened my suicidal thoughts by 100%. Amazing drug. I was weary of trying it like you right now because I knew nothing about it but it is an amazing drug, it put me asleep every single night and I felt so happy on it, not too sedated,just lightly sleepy. My suicidal thoughts disappeared. I did put on weight but I don't know if that was because of the crap I was eating or if it was the med as I am over weight anyway. I would recommend this drug to anyone who is suicidal and I hope it helps you as much as it helps me
If you plan to go to sleep at 9-10 pm, take it around 8pm. It does give a few hunger cravings but according to others who i have read that were on it, only caused a small amount of weight gain it caused. Please give this drug a chance and honestly I'd give it a little longer than 3 weeks to build up in your system. It was the most prescribed anti depressant prescribed in 2011, I read that before. I am no longer on it and the suicidal thoughts did not come back, I brag about this drug a lot lol! You can do this @dugga
Best of luck on Mirtazapine and please keep us updated, maybe keep a diary on here?
As I often write on this forum. Mirtazapine is THE drug that got me out of my severe depression and lessened my suicidal thoughts by 100%. Amazing drug. I was weary of trying it like you right now because I knew nothing about it but it is an amazing drug, it put me asleep every single night and I felt so happy on it, not too sedated,just lightly sleepy. My suicidal thoughts disappeared. I did put on weight but I don't know if that was because of the crap I was eating or if it was the med as I am over weight anyway. I would recommend this drug to anyone who is suicidal and I hope it helps you as much as it helps me
If you plan to go to sleep at 9-10 pm, take it around 8pm. It does give a few hunger cravings but according to others who i have read that were on it, only caused a small amount of weight gain it caused. Please give this drug a chance and honestly I'd give it a little longer than 3 weeks to build up in your system. It was the most prescribed anti depressant prescribed in 2011, I read that before. I am no longer on it and the suicidal thoughts did not come back, I brag about this drug a lot lol! You can do this
@duggaBest of luck on Mirtazapine and please keep us updated, maybe keep a diary on here?
Hi there
As I often write on this forum. Mirtazapine is THE drug that got me out of my severe depression and lessened my suicidal thoughts by 100%. Amazing drug. I was weary of trying it like you right now because I knew nothing about it but it is an amazing drug, it put me asleep every single night and I felt so happy on it, not too sedated,just lightly sleepy. My suicidal thoughts disappeared. I did put on weight but I don't know if that was because of the crap I was eating or if it was the med as I am over weight anyway. I would recommend this drug to anyone who is suicidal and I hope it helps you as much as it helps me
If you plan to go to sleep at 9-10 pm, take it around 8pm. It does give a few hunger cravings but according to others who i have read that were on it, only caused a small amount of weight gain it caused. Please give this drug a chance and honestly I'd give it a little longer than 3 weeks to build up in your system. It was the most prescribed anti depressant prescribed in 2011, I read that before. I am no longer on it and the suicidal thoughts did not come back, I brag about this drug a lot lol! You can do this @dugga
Best of luck on Mirtazapine and please keep us updated, maybe keep a diary on here?
As I often write on this forum. Mirtazapine is THE drug that got me out of my severe depression and lessened my suicidal thoughts by 100%. Amazing drug. I was weary of trying it like you right now because I knew nothing about it but it is an amazing drug, it put me asleep every single night and I felt so happy on it, not too sedated,just lightly sleepy. My suicidal thoughts disappeared. I did put on weight but I don't know if that was because of the crap I was eating or if it was the med as I am over weight anyway. I would recommend this drug to anyone who is suicidal and I hope it helps you as much as it helps me
If you plan to go to sleep at 9-10 pm, take it around 8pm. It does give a few hunger cravings but according to others who i have read that were on it, only caused a small amount of weight gain it caused. Please give this drug a chance and honestly I'd give it a little longer than 3 weeks to build up in your system. It was the most prescribed anti depressant prescribed in 2011, I read that before. I am no longer on it and the suicidal thoughts did not come back, I brag about this drug a lot lol! You can do this
@duggaBest of luck on Mirtazapine and please keep us updated, maybe keep a diary on here?
Thanks again for your help Petal
I took mirtazapine for two years - having tried the other "normal" AntiD's to no effect, this worked very well for me. I think even simply being able to sleep properly went a long way to helping me feel better. I agree with Petal that taking it earlier is better - if you take it late and don't go to sleep until midnight or something, you are going to struggle to get up at a "normal" time in the morning. I found this impossible for work so took it around 9pm so I could be asleep about 10pm (I found it took about 45 mins for the drowsy effect to kick in properly). I did gain weight but it was a small price to pay for not feeling suicidal, anxious and awful.
I hope it works for you - hugs!
I hope it works for you - hugs!
Hi I'm currently on it and have been for awhile now maybe 2 years or close to it. I have mostly been doing quiet well for that amount of time now I actually sit down to think about it. However right now I am I don't know exactly what you call it coz it's not a crisis I don't think. But I have been extremely unwell for about 3 months now.....However in saying this I have been through a situation that has brought on this distress. I got told the lower the dose the more effective for sleep. I was hit and miss for sleep for a good while a few months back but yet again I had reason for it. I think mostly over all it has made me more stable and things don't seem so extreme. I still had suicidal thoughts when I was more stable but they were fleeting and basically didn't bother me. I hope to reach the place again of only taking mirtazapine and not needing prn also.
Give it time to build up in you system I don't notice sedating effect so much and I have to be very self aware of the moment because I can quiet easily miss it.....I suggest taking it about 45mins to an hour before bed, but try and do something relaxing, read a book listen to relaxing music I find it I'm watching TV or on my phone I can easily miss the time frame of sedation to sleep because it's only ever so sligh, it's not like taking I don't know names but something and then in 30 to 40 mins you get hit with a huge wave of sedation. But as I am well aware everyone reacts differently to medication and you may notice it easier than me.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey to try and heal yourself
Give it time to build up in you system I don't notice sedating effect so much and I have to be very self aware of the moment because I can quiet easily miss it.....I suggest taking it about 45mins to an hour before bed, but try and do something relaxing, read a book listen to relaxing music I find it I'm watching TV or on my phone I can easily miss the time frame of sedation to sleep because it's only ever so sligh, it's not like taking I don't know names but something and then in 30 to 40 mins you get hit with a huge wave of sedation. But as I am well aware everyone reacts differently to medication and you may notice it easier than me.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey to try and heal yourself
Thanks Petal, you're a champion. The shrink put me on Mirtazapine as I have had such a run of bad luck with SSRIs and SNRIs so we've gone with something completely different. Like you mentioned you really don't get any real effect for a few weeks so I'll persevere. He told me it takes about three days to get over the severe drowsiness and it's now 10:00am and I've had a black coffee and four lindt chocolate balls so the brain has gone from neutral to drive and the fog is clearing so to speak. Good idea about the diary... before I left the left the shrink's office he had me fill out a questionaire with mood related questions and then I'm to complete again in three weeks so they will use that to gauge the effect of the drug.
Thanks again for your help Petal
Thanks again for your help Petal
Thanks @Petal @Freya and @na-taya for your excellent advice....I slept right through my alarm this morning which really annoyed me and put me into a panic as I had a job to be at but I guess that might be happening until the sleep patterns settle down - I'm normally a very light sleeper so it's like being whacked with a hammer until a couple of hours have passed from the moment I get out of bed. As for the appetite I could "eat the ass out of a low-flying duck" to quote an expression I've heard. I cycle to work four days a week so I'm not that worried about weight gain but I'll be very wary of my physical activity and regularly weigh myself. I'm making sure there is less chocolate and more fruit in the house to avoid any bad-eating habits. Thanks again everyone for your advice - I really appreciate it.
hahahahha That is one hilarious quote I have never heard that before, your sleep should settle down within a few days/weeks and control your appetite by drinking plenty of water and getting out for some walks every day. Wish you the best on mirtazapine. That quote still has me laughing out loud, thank you I needed that laugh.
Oh but in other news I'm glad the meds are getting you some rest! That's always good, right? Hopefully the sedation wears off quickly. Looks like you're got your eye out for the side effects and are keen on keeping things under control. Good luck. We're looking forward to hearing about your progress.
Well things have rapidly gone into a downward vortex of crap in my life... Friday everything completely went to hell. Shouted at the dogs, shouted at the kids. Told everyone what had been on my mind the last few months about what my self-termination plans were among a host of other things I'd been keeping to myself. Was so close to hitting the metaphorical delete key. Don't think I have ever felt this awful on any medication or even unmedicated. I am extremely agitated and anxious yet dizzy and drowsy at the same time. Really bad, I am totally ashamed of my behaviour, I am a total disgrace to humanity. Tried to call the psychiatrist but just got the recorded voicemail. I really don't know what to do - I won't stop taking the pills until I've got the OK from the shrink but at the moment my state of mind is probably the worst its ever been. I've failed again... I'm sorry for everything I've done
Consumer Medicine Information - Occasionally, the symptoms of depression or other psychiatric conditions may include thoughts of harming yourself or committing suicide. Until the full antidepressant effect of the medicine becomes apparent, it is possible that these symptoms may increase in the first few weeks of treatment"... well that's fantastic... probably why I have the strong desire to terminate my pathetic existence
Your existence is not pathetic and you need to stop beating on yourself. Sometimes when we are keeping everything bottled up inside, the pressure builds so high that we "pop" and it all comes spilling out. That is why it is important to talk - to have a release valve. I am glad you called your psychiatrist. Do you have a therapist? It sounds very much like you need to speak to someone.
Geez, we all flip out sometimes right? I mean we can't go beating the kids & the cat but give yourself a break for a minute. Only you know Edgar happened up in your casa but I imagine you're harder on yourself than anyone else, as is usually the case with most of us. I'm sure the family is flexible & understands. (Esp with you switching meds) This is going to be ok. You are going to be ok. Keep taking your meds for now, like you say...they may only want to tweak them instead of taking you off them. Just hang in there & spend tomorrow taking some extra care of yourself ok? We're all here behind you. You can do it.
Thanks @Freya and @avalanchefan95 I really appreciate your help - I'm just really worried that my behaviour is so erratic that I'll fly off the handle, not physically but verbally. I shouldn't be like this around my kids - I grew up with that sense of fear and worry, I don't want that for them, they don't deserve it. I just want to fix myself, I keep getting told to "go and get some help" but people have no idea - I'm trying I really am, I don't know what else I can do. Thanks again for your help.
