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Mirtazapine - just started after 8 weeks of Citalopram

Posted , 5 users are following.

jason15970
jason15970

Hi Folks,

I hope you are as well as can be. 1 week ago I started on 30mg Mirtazapine to help my depression, having found that 40mg Citalopram, which I took for around 8 weeks, was not really helping lift my low mood. Is anyone else on this dose and what are your feelings on it? How long before you felt it 'kick in'? I should add, I am 37 years old and in good physical health aside.

Part of the reason I asked to try something away from Citalopram was that I was not sleeping well - I have been on 30mg Mirtazapine for 1 week now and already I can recall vivid dreams, so know I am getting some sleep at least!

I am very interested in hearing from others who are or have been on Mirtazapine, particularly if you also started on Citalopram.

Thanks

Jason.

 

0 likes, 14 replies

14 Replies

  • thomas_59848
    thomas_59848 jason15970

    Posted

    Hey am on mitrazipine also but a have terrible anxiety not depression but felt worse for a while first with this but have been feeling better now give it couple wks a started on 15 mg up to 30 hope it woks for u also a also had funny dreams and still do but would rather few funny dreams the been ill hope all goes well
    • jason15970
      jason15970 thomas_59848

      Posted

      Thanks Thomas! Yes, I am always reading for prescribed pills t be given 2 weeks, and like you, sometimes that seems forever! I am 1 week in, so, will keep patient....!
  • shinkansen
    shinkansen jason15970

    Posted

    I've been on Mirtzapine 30 mg for 15 months. It's not a magic pill to fix your problems. But it does reduce anxiety and definately contributes to a better night's sleep. Vivid dreams are one aspect of this. 

    Interesting how you've switched from Citalopram. I take Mirtzapine in conjunction with 2 other pills: Concerta (72 mg) for ADHD and Olanzapine (5mg) for mood swings.

    Stick with the Mirtzapine. It's not a quick fix, but it helps.

     

    • jason15970
      jason15970 shinkansen

      Posted

      Thank you for this! The vivid dreams kicked in almost right away, and I am only 1 week in! Fingers crossed this helps....!
  • thomas_59848
    thomas_59848 jason15970

    Posted

    Yeah it does help a still have the odd bad day in work like this afternoon but easier than feeling horrible like a was all day everyday couldn't wait till bed time to sleep
  • betsy0603
    betsy0603 jason15970

    Posted

    Hi Jason, 

    I went off of Effexor last year and didn't realize I was in protracted WD, was having a terrible time and finally went back to the doc out of desperation thinking I had relapsed.  He put my on 7.5 mg mirt.  At first it really helped; I felt better and was able to sleep through the night!  However, very quickly, I was sliding back down even though the good sleep held, so I increased to 15 mg.  That helped briefly, but then not, so I increased again. My doc told me I could play with it and increase as needed. Within a month I was up to 37.5 mg and feeling horrible, so apathetic I didn't care to get off the couch to shower or feed myself! I was agoraphobic.   I knew going up further was not a good idea since it simply wasn't working!  I went back to my doc and he reinstated the Effexor; within one hour of taking it I was feeling 100% better!  So, I finally realized I was in withdrawal, which is why the Effexor worked so quickly!  Normally it should take 4 to 6 weeks to start working so well!

    So, there I was on a high dose of mirt that had failed to make me feel better.  I don't know if it was the Effexor withdrawal that made the mirt not work, or whether it just wasn't going to work for me regardless.  My situation is unusual, but I have read many peoples' posts about it just not helping even after a period of time.  Since taking it for 6 weeks I have been doing a 10% taper off of the mirt, and feel better now at 17 mg than I ever did at 37.5, for sure!  I am also tapering off the Effexor, going from 37.5 mg (the dose at reinstatement) to 30 mg, and again I feel better now than I did when I reinstated!

    My understanding of mirt is that it should help quicker than most SSRIs.  Also, I have heard that the combo of mirt with SSRI/SNRIs is supposed to work better than each drug individually.  They call Effexor plus Mirt "California Rocket Fuel!"

    • jason15970
      jason15970 betsy0603

      Posted

      Hi betsy,

      Thank you! One week in as of tonight, so hoping I too have Mirtazapine help me! In March this year I was diagnosed with a terrible nerve condition called trigeminal neuralgia which caused intense pain on one side of my face. The drug I was given, Tegretol, I have since learned, is also used to bring down the mood of people with mania! The doctor said the period between me ending this and starting on Citalopram probably meant it was 'flushed' out my system, but I cannot help but wonder!

    • betsy0603
      betsy0603 jason15970

      Posted

      Tegretol is a GABA receptor agonist, so that means that the body's response is to upregulate receptors, or add receptors to try to regain balance.  Therefore, getting it out of your system isn't what makes the difference.  How long were you on tegretol?  If longer than a couple of months, then your nervous system has remodeled.  The absence of the drug leaves the system with another imbalance of GABA which the nervous system must once again respond to by down-regulating or removing receptors; this takes time.  Did you just stop the tegretol or did you do a taper?  If you went off cold turkey you may have had/have withdrawal symptoms.  Suddenly stopping this drug can cause mania or depression.  How long have you been off?  You might want to visit the support forum survivingantidepressants to see if others have experience with this drug that might be similar to yours.

       

    • jason15970
      jason15970 betsy0603

      Posted

      Thanks Betsy,

      I started on Tegretol (600mg) around April and continued until the end of July, there was a few times I took 800mg per day and even 1200mg but for the latter, only a few times. I did, perhaps stupidly, just come right off Tegretol when I stopped getting TN pain, I had no idea Tegretol was also used in depression. I started on Citalopram on the first week in September, having felt gradually lower for the two weeks before that.

    • Calmer
      Calmer jason15970

      Posted

      Hi Jason

      I was on Citalopram for around 3 months then started Mirt' - Mirt' gave instant relief from the anxiety and insomnia, so was successful.  Citalopram did nothing to help me either, although it is widely used I havn't heard or read of any success from it.

      I'm intrigued by your story ... your original condition Trieminal neuralgia which was medicated with Tegretol which caused your low mood and depression - is that right?  If so it seems (unless I have misread your story above) that you are chasing a condition caused by a drug with another drug - sorry if I'm mistaken, but if I've got this correct, surely something is amiss, wouldn't the answer be to stop the original "mood depressor Tegretol " and let your mood return to normal and try something different for the original condition?

      Anyway, and either way, the vivid dream - yep I got those, although after a month or two these diminish.  It's worth you realising that Mirt' has a slow release sedative effect that lasts 24/7, and as such can cause limited uplift I'd say.  Although on the other hand it is brilliant for anxiety.

      I hope youu can get relief from your low mood, it just doesn't seem right to be crossing those 2 meds.

      Wishing you well Jason.

    • jason15970
      jason15970 Calmer

      Posted

      Hi there,

      Many thanks for such a detailed, and interested response! Yes, when I was on Tegretol for the neuralgia, this was as pain relief due to the excruciating nerve pain that neuralgia causes. I had no idea until about a week ago it can be used to bring down the mood of patients with 'mania'. I would say there was around a two month period between stopping Tegretol (I came 'straight off' when the nerve pain ceased, which in hindsight may not have been good for me) and starting on Citalopram.

      Right now, I just long to 'feel' again. I gave been on Mirtazapine for one week and already my sleep has improved, I badly want to feel good about myself again.

      Best Regards

      Jason.

    • Calmer
      Calmer jason15970

      Posted

      Have you searched this site for Tegretol (as opposed to Mirtazapine) to seek out when the mood lifts ... I feel it is such a shame for you to have suffered this and then be put on AD's.  

      Bear in mind for later ' a slow WD' from Mirt, like 10% every month.

      Wishing you well Jason

    • jason15970
      jason15970 Calmer

      Posted

      Hi Calmer,

      Thank you, I shall indeed look up some Tegretol discussions to hopefully help me. I imagine going from taking 600mg daily of it (some days higher, even as high as 1200 on a few occasions), to stopping a week or so after the nerve pain vanished, has not helped me. However, having not been made aware Tegretol was actually an AD did not help!

      Best Regards

      Jason.

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