Five weeks on Mirtazapine and not sure of the effects

Hi James I'm sorry that you are having problems with mirtazapine. Your doctor could prescribe some propanolol to take with it or he could up the dose to 45mg ( maximum dose, he could prescribe some other anti anxiety med or take you off mirtazapine completely. You do not say whether your anxiety is generalised or panic/anxiety attacks? My anxiety occurred when I was coming off mirtazapine. If you are going to come off mirtazapine then it needs to be done by tapering and in a controlled way to minimise withdrawal effects. My guess is that you haven't really been on it long enough for its benefits to be felt. Your GP might like you to stay on it for a few more weeks before deciding what to do. Talk to him if the panic is unbearable or uncontrolable as there are medications that he can give you to minimise this. Best wishes I hope it goes well for you.

Thanks Pooh, This is really helpful. I have been prescribed some propranolol but going up to 45mg has not been too good. Have not been getting much sleep at all. GP now thinks that a tapering down of Mittazapine then on to Trzadone might be good for me but it all seems quite scary.

Hi James, Pooh’s right. And I know it seems scary, but you aren’t alone. Being on 45mg didn’t suit me either but my gp agreed reducing to 30mg – took me 2 attempts but been on 30 for maybe 4 months now. Only one (common) side effect - weight gain – but the benefits outweigh(!) that. Might be useful to keep a diary or at least a list of any aches and pains and anxieties – it’s always difficult to recognise what’s medicinal side-effect and what’s illness, but as Pooh says your gp can help. I wish you well soon.

J

I would just like to say I have read lots of these messages and a common thing seems to be that when people are going onto higher doses than 15mg, they are experiencing anxiety. I went up to 30 from 15 and was so anxious. Infact you could say that I was manic. I went back down to 15mg and now I have been on this dose for months. I feel fine now apart from the obvious weight gain.

Hi. I have been taking the 30mg of Mirt and I suffered total anxiety so much so that my every day life was unbearable. The usual day to day stresses became too much to deal with. I would only have to drop a spoon on the floor for my anxiety levels to go sky high and I felt out of control. At one stage I even believed I was going totally mad and I must of been suffering from a break down. I decided myself to stop the Mirt completely and I have now been off the drug for over a week. I have found I can cope really well with the day to day stresses and my stress levels are more controlled. I am still experiencing mood swings but my anxiety levels are great! Mirt is without a doubt the wrong drug for me and I can only hope that this week I am offered something totally different.

hi i just been reading this and thought i would tell u my story. i suffer with depression that comes and goes wen i get it its like a black cloud over me. also panic attacks regularly which are horrendous. Doc prescribed me mirt for insomnia originally, but didnt take it.xmas eve and boxing day had to phone out of hours doc was that bad with panic attacks. Dr told me to take mirt and within an hour he said it would calm me down so took it while still on phone. Anyway it did take the edge off but did not make me sleepy, managed to gat to sleep hours after took it and stayed asleep til 2 the following afternoon. I took it at night just before i wanted to fall asleep but have not managed to get to sleep before 4 in the mornin and it leaves me really zombiefied all day. Am now tryin it in the morning (8). I get anxiety still with it plus dizziness want to eat everything but dont. Ihave been on a dose of 15mg for just over 2wks. i feel yuck but am tryin to keep on it at least for 4wks. Any advice?[/i]