A terrible drug

After suffering from a burn out , depression and anxiety for the last three months, I was prescribed escitalopram, venlafaxine which gave me horrific side effects and made my anxiety worse. after several visits to my gp we have decided to explore a different molecule, he put me straight on mirtazapine 15mg one at bedtime ,i have been on it for nearly three weeks and i cant believe the difference it has made i.e improved appetite a good nights sleep. i can now see the light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

Everyone reaction on AD is different. I have learned my lessons not to browse the internet or forum, myself and others are not medical specialist trust your doctor.

Good luck to all.

Hi, Well im 22 and had depression since i was 12, been on all sorts of meds, Cipramil (citalopram), Prozac (fluoxetine) ,Amitriptyline, Haloperidol, Lustral (sertraline) and many more, ive just recently come off the prozac and now doctor has prescribed me Mirtazapine upon reading all these im a little scared to take them now, but on the other hand reading about the other ones ive been on they get the same response that they are very bad, but i didnt get bad effects, so i guess everyone different, gonna take my first one tomorrow and see how it goes.

Everyone is different, personally I wouldn't touch citalopram again with a barge pole as it made me more ill than I've ever been in my life.

Mirtazapine on the other hand has been very helpful for me.

The trouble with forums is that they are full of horror stories. When we are feeling fragile, depressed and anxious they can often fuel our fears. We do have to be careful what we read.

I have been on so many meds and eventually was put on mirt. this helped me recover after having ECT I stayed on this until I recovered. Sadly through being bullied at work I am now ill again and back on Mirtazapine there have been some improvements but I am just waiting to be referred for an increase, I dont say it will suit all and I am far from well but I havent had any horrific side affects . I just think we are all different and what suits one maybe wont suit another,

I think given that there are SO many AD's out there, there is something for everyone. I had been on them for 22 years (from the age of 14 to 36) and tried them all, even Lithium when I was at my worst. Citalopram, Seroxat and Prozac were by far the worst for me, but it was going on to Mirtazipine 10 years ago (and on the 45mg dose) that I finally got my life back, so much so that this Christmas will mark my 2 year anniversary of being off any AD's at all. It worked fantastically but I know it only works for a few people.

Debbie - PLEASE go to your work's HR dept. Work is not a place to be bullied and they are in breach of contract if they are doing so. You can message me if you want as I am a shop steward and can talk you through it if you would like some support x

your reply gives hope that i too will recover on mirtazapine i have had no nasty side effects so if they increase it i can see no problems. Thanks for your message re the bullying, sadly it was done by a'friend' who i had gone into business with who decided to turn on me, I am trying to figure a way out as my anxiety levels are horrendous

Hi,

After my doctor diagnosed me with depression around 10 years ago ive taken quite a few different AD's

before being prescribed mirtazapine I was taking sertraline which worked quite well for me however I was having a lot of trouble sleeping and feeling restless, my dr then prescribed me mirtazapine.. in the first week they helped me with sleeping but I had some side effects, these I passed off as normal and thought they would disappear gradually, ive now been on these tablets for almost 4 mths, ive gained a stone and a half, have 0 energy, terrible cravings for sweet foods and am constantly tearful and angry about the smallest things, I feel paranoid a lot of the time and things that may irritate me normally that I would ignore now seem like the worst things in the world.. ive also had feelings of suicide to just make the symptoms stop, may sound silly that ive not contacted my dr yet but ive been trying to bear with them as I feel a nuisance to keep talking to people about this, does anyone else have similar feelings to this??

Many Thanks xx

Claire you have just described me !!!! The weight gain the cravings but most of all the overwhelming responses to seemingly normal things.I wake with my head feeling like a tumble dryer ,too many thoughts unable to separate them, I worry about things which are months away I worry about money and christmas and whether I've offended anyone...... and it goes on and on !!!! I have not felt suicidal but have definately wanted to dissapear so that it would all just stop. I have just been referred by my GP to see a consultant as she cannot increase the medication anymore,however reading your comments and knowing I feel the same I am wondering if the medication is part of the problem. I have been bullied and treated so badly by a friend so there was a trigger but I am ging to bring this concern up before I increase

thank you so much

Is it me or does this drug only seem to help with people who need more rest and sleep. ?

I think this should be banned after what it has done to me over only taking three days of medication.

can anyone one reccomend a antidepressant that will help with depression and give me more energy?

I have tried a few anti depressants over six years and had no luck. Mostley SSRI and anitripalyne which only make me feel like a zombie.

The first nightI took this before bed at 10pm and woke up at 9am. After breakfast at about 9.30am I fell asleep on the sofa untill 4pm. I normally sleep about 8 hours so that shocked me.

The next day I felt really low and wanted to die.day 2 I was out the house and fainted, I think that this medicine had something to do with it. I was out of breath and thats not like me at all. I came off it after three days due to these side effects. Who knows what harm it does to your health. I am a pretty fit person and theres no way I should have been out of breath from picking up a few weeds.

Also I was eating lots and I am am average weight, but that didnt concern me.

I have tried lots of medication and now I really believe i am ment to live day to day with the only help I can get is alchol.

i had exactly the same problem as you and the lack of sleep was totally debilitating making me anxious all the time due to psychophysiologic insomnia( look it up!) originally I was on mirtazapine which helped but I put on 5 stone whilst on them since 2009 (1 stone a year). then after my own research I came across sertraline and trazodone which respectively helped with the anxiety and the insomnia so I changed from mirtazapine and I now have lost 2 stone in 2 months and regularly sleep for between 7-9 hours a night and feel incredible and function like a normal person I presume (I had been so long without sleep I not sure what normal was anymore!)

trazodone dose 150mg (this can safely go upto 400 mg I have read) 

sertraline 100mg

i hope all this helps cos I was in that dark place you are in for many many years and only now after my own research and demanding to be heard have I come back into the world of the day.