1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Mirtazapine

How long does it take for 30 mg of Mirtazapine to take effect

Posted , 70 users are following.

patricia85842
patricia85842

I have just had my medication increased from 15 mg to 30 mg. When I started taking the 15 mg it literally started working the next day. I am now into my sixth day of 30 mg and I am feeling worse. I would appreciate it if someone could give me their experience with this medication.

1 like, 115 replies

115 Replies

Next
  • stuarto
    stuarto

    Posted

    Are you saying the day after you were prescribed 15mg or going up from 7.5mg?

    It is one of the faster acting meds of its type but that is meaning upto a therapeutic level side effects differ for everyone. I would try 22.5mg (one and a half 15mg) if you are struggling.

    Mention to your Doc that doubling up isn't agreeing with you.

    Stu.

  • patricia85842
    patricia85842

    Posted

    Thankyou Stu. My first dose was 15 mg. I have heard that it takes about 2 weeks to feel better
  • 3sillykidsnadog
    3sillykidsnadog

    Posted

    I've been on Mirtazapine for a year now. I also started on 15mg. It took a couple weeks before I started feeling better. I went up to 30mg several weeks later. It took another couple weeks for my body to adjust and feel better. Everyone is different but it can take anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks. After being on 30mg for about 2 -3 months I started feeling awful. Very groggy in the morning. I went back down to 15mg and once again it took about 2 weeks to adjust and feel "normal" again. 30mg might just be too high a dose for you. I would suggest talking to your doctor about dropping down to 22.5mg. How did you feel on the 15mg? I find that I do better on the lower dose. If your were feeling okay on the lower dose don't be afraid to tell your doctor you don't want to go higher. Sometimes I think the doctors up the dose just because that's the next step in the text book.
  • jacqueline59667
    jacqueline59667

    Posted

    Hey everyone I was on 15 mg since the start of Jan this yr.... started to feel better straight away.... after 5 weeks I took a dip therefore pysch raised it to 30....it has now bn 2 weeks since med has bn increased and yet again feeling the benefits... he did not recommend 22.5 as the therapeutic level shld b 15 or 30 so a suppose everyone is different and experiences diff side effect... I was on this drug before and totally recovered... now faced with a new set of problems I now have the menopause on top off everything else so having to have treatment for that.... god what us woman have to go through... kp talking everyone that's how we will all gt better.x
  • stuarto
    stuarto

    Posted

    The thereuptic or dose range for remission are 15mg 30mg or 45mg, however getting to those doesn't mean you should jump up that amount each time.

    People react and titrate differently to minimise side effects.

    E.g The best response dose for Amitriptyline can be 200mg, but if I had jumped from 75mg to that initially it would have probably comatosed me.

    Slow and steady as prevention is better than cure. Glad it does what you need it to do that is the aim for us all in the end.

    Stu.

  • Maizie
    Maizie

    Edited

    Hi Patricia,

    Hang in there it can take up to 10 days for u to feel the benefits of the 30mg

    So I wouldn't do anything for while, just know u will see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.

    Best Luck

    Maizie

  • patricia85842
    patricia85842

    Posted

    Many thanks Maizie I will take your advice. I am on my seventh day today and I think I maybe feeling s tiny bit better.
  • Maizie
    Maizie

    Posted

    Delighted for you Patricia ....

    ... It will Improve ..... Positive thinking helps too

    Best of Luck

    Maizie

  • jacqueline59667
    jacqueline59667

    Posted

    Ye hang in there x am on day 14 and feeling better x
  • jane96525
    jane96525

    Posted

    Hi Patricia

    Sorry to hear about your difficulties with Mirtazapine - its good to share experiences on a site like this, so you dont feel quite so alone when its tough going. From my own experience, 15 mgs had a nice sedating effect, whilst upping it to 30mgs had a more 'activating' reaction and has been extremely hard - Im on week 13 now and know I shall be on it for a further 5 months.

    I took it two years ago and it worked well for me then. (but only felt better after I had been on 30mgs for about 8 weeks) During the initial weeks I felt jittery, hyper, irritated and then ready for bed by 7pm. Someone compared its effect to throwing snowballs at a wall - a little bit more snow sticks each time. A good analogy.

    Basically, there dont seem to be any wonder cures for depre ssion out there! Not yet anyway. Doubtless in 10 years there will be better drugs available......(not much help now I know) So I should hang in there, believe it will work for you if not immediately but gradually, and try to keep busy when you feel crap. Any form of exercise is good. whatever you feel up to.

    None of us are doctors though, so although its been incredibly good reading other peoples experiences, I would beware changing anything without first talking to your GP or another qualified doctor.

    There is light at the end of the tunnel!

    • pauline23944
      pauline23944 jane96525

      Posted

      Hi Jane

      im on 30mg Mirtazapine for anxiety and depression-I've been on 30mg for six weeks and it's been so hard-15mg did nothing for me.

      im tempted to give up because of the breakthrough anxiety and crying spells but I'm inspired by your post.i guess speed of response is not the same for everyone and I'm hoping that I can make the 8 week mark and feel some real benefit.

      Are you still taking Mirtazapine and if not how long were you on it?

      Thank you

  • patricia85842
    patricia85842

    Edited

    Thanks Jane for your advice. I took Venlafaxine for ten years with excellent results ie no depression .

    It stopped working in 2012 and GP has prescribed various meds since then mostly SSRIs. They certainly don't work for me. I am now into my seventh day of 30 mg Mirtazapine so I am keeping my finger crossed.

    • vixxxen222
      vixxxen222 patricia85842

      Edited

      Hi Patricia, I started taking Mirt* 15 mg 2 weeks ago, I took that for the first week and for the 2nd week my doc increased to 30mg.

      seems to be very popular for doctors to be doing actually.

      the first week on 15mg I , like you, felt the changes immediately! I was curious why the increase would be needed and my doc told me because I am suffering anxiety and depression and insomnia.

      the 15mg is usually only perscribed for ppl with sleep issues.

      that being said, I have gone the full week on 30mg, this week will be my 3rd week on Mirt, and my 2nd week at 30mg.

      the feelings I have are quite different than when I was on the 15mg. no doubt about it, ...the 30mg are hard at work in there lol.

      my doc wants to keep me on it for 9 months , and so I am going to hang in there and see how it goes. I have never taken AD before, this is the first for me.

      as I have always ignored ther fact that I have problems. Going to a doc and asking for help was a tough one for me , but whatever, I did it and here we are.

      Now, ...my anxiety is very much under control.... I get fidgety sometimes but not panicy or anxiety...that is a bonus.

      Its the insomnia that is the hardest one for me now. I take OTC sleeping aids, and they knock me right out, but I believe the Mirt is waking me up numerous times throughout the night . 5 or 6 times atleast.  Very upsetting to me, but I try to control my frustration and drift back to sleep , which is working.

      When I wake up in the morning there is no groggy feelings at all....I AM READY TO GO lol.

      I believe the Mirt has me all revved up as soon as I open my eyes . which I do like because I am usually a person who feels drained after about 2 hours of waking up. but I do not feel that anymore.

      I try not to assess every aspect of what I am feeling...it can get very deep if u know what I mean. I am trying to make the best of the good that I have when I get up every day,

      I also have 3 daughters at home that keep me busy, which is a bonus.

      I hope this helps you not feel like your alone...I am a new one to this as well, and just reading other peoples experiences have helped me alot in getting a good perspective on Mirt.

      Good Luck to you

      smile

    • jan88737
      jan88737 vixxxen222

      Posted

      could you please let me know which OTC medecines you use for sleep ?

    • Garabeca
      Garabeca vixxxen222

      Posted

      Hi,

      I know i am replying to this after 5 years, i just read your post, i actually subscribed just to reply to you. Something raised my attention in your post in that mirtazapine made you wake up very often which is (usually) unusual. It might be that it's case by case and it's affecting you differenly but i also have another theory. Mirtazapine is known to increase vivid dreams. Vivid dreams occur during REM sleep. REM sleep is more frequent and pronounced while treated with Mirtazapine. My theory is the following: Sleep Apnea is a condition where you wake up continuously during the night because of obstructions (think snoring that leads to blockage of the airways) and so the brain repetitively wakes you up to resume breathing. Most of the time you will not remember the awakenings. Sleep apneasd is notorious for being much more severe during REM sleep because it is during that sleep cycle that the airways collapse the most. What raised a flag in your post is that: 1- you wake up more frequently with mirtazapine (which shouldn't really happen) and that 2- Mirtazapine increases REM sleep (and dreaming) by a lot where if you are prone to apneas, it would lead you to wake up more often. If i put 1 and 2 together it might lead to a possibility that you are suffering from sleep apnea and it wouldn't hurt to investigate that. Perhaps your partner could tell if you are snoring and stop breathing (between 10 seconds up to a minute at a time) only to resume breathing in a struggle. If you don't have anyone to observe you while sleeping, you can voice record yourself with the memo app on your smart phone. ( i did that and heard myself struggling to breathe countless times during the night). Or you could just go see a doctor and ask if you could do the sleep apnea test because you are suspecting you might have it. By the way, i have very severe sleep apnea ( i stop breathing 89 times an hour) and i never remembered waking up most of the time but only remembered waking up 5-6 times night ( when it was actually 89 times an hour! i didnt suspect sleep apnea at all, until the sleep study revealed it and i was shocked (and so was my doctor) it was very severe. Just a suggestion for you to maybe look into that.

      Cheers !!

      Carl

Back to top
Next

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.