Has anyone tried Mirtazapine with or without venlafaxine?

i have been on effexor xl 375mg for around 2 years. Stopped working after 6 months of the increase.

I have now been decreased to 225mg xl as over the BNF limits.

Been given additional med of 30mg of mirtazapine and currently feel much better.

Yes mirt can be prescribed by your GP. I was on it last year and it was great for depression but I changed to ven due to weight gain on mirt.

Your GP can ABSOLUTELY NOT prescribe a combination of Venlafaxine and Mirtazapine. The NICE and BNF clinical guidelines regarding prescribing such combinations of antidepressants is very clear that it should only be initiated by a specialist consultant with special experience of these medication combination. Your GP is clinically negligent if he or she prescribes it without you being under the supervision of a Psychiatrist.

This is a potentially toxic and very dangerious combination of medications. You can suffer from serotonin syndrome when taking this combination of medications. In addition there has been reports of BRAIN DAMAGE by patients who has taken this combination of antidepressants.

You are completely f*cking up you mind by taking this combination of medication. It interferes with you ability to think, it alters your perception of reality and has really ruined many people's lives. Do not believe what you doctor tells you about this combination of medication. There has only been one clinical trial conducted on the effectivenss of this combination of medication and literally no one knows really what the long term damage is that it can cause you. You are placing your long term mental and physical health at very serious risk. As your doctor to provide you with a list of the adverse side affects that people experience when they take this combination of medication, not the lists of the individual antidepressants on their own, but the list of the combination and your doctor will not be able to. This combination of medication is an \"off label\" prescription and as such you cannot give informed consent as you are not advised of the potential risks relating to such treatment. It should be illegal to prescribe these medications.

Hey Barking Mad what meds you on?

I have spent nearly 2 years taking some form of Anti-D. Am now on 225 ven which has done its job, feel levelled out but lack sleep. Just been put on lowest dose of mirt by psychiatrist who stated that new studies have shown ven & mirt used effectively. Only on 2nd night but certainly sleepier than normal. Have been on far worse!

Stupot

I have just been prescribed mirtazipine 30mg with the venlafaxine 150mg and the feelings im getting are unbareable has anybody else been through this ????????????????????

I have on anti-depressants for almost half of my adult life ie more than 30 years - venlafaxine for the last 10 at least. I have returned to education, got a degree and became a teacher all while taking these. My physical health has deteriorated and when I read the side effects of venlafaxine I seemed to have every one. My doctors have never checked my depression, they just keep giving me a repeat prescription for these. Three weeks ago I halved my 150 mg tab - using scissors - and stayed on this for a week, 2 weeks ago I halved this again, now a quarter tab. 7 days ago I came off these and have had a battle on my hands. I have tremors, nausea, diaorrhea, confusion, anxiety, tinnitus, and can be very sharp with my husband. I am lucky that as I am on holiday I can go to bed for an hour if needed, I can ask my hubby to put up with my symptoms, which he does. But today I feel things are slightly improving, as I did yesterday and hopefully tomorrow they will improve again. An american forum recommended high strength omega 3 which I started today. So here's hoping. I threw out 4 boxes of these tablets, I will not go back on them. I have been robbed of much of my life. No more!

Hi there - I hope that you are ok. Are you still wandering whether to try this combination of medication. If not/so, why? Thanks.

i am concerned after reading how dangerous taking venlafaxine combined with mirtazapine can be, it has caused a fatality in my family. has anyone else experienced such devastating effects from these meds ????

If this has been offered as an option than your family history will have been taken into account before hand. Even I need to get confirmation about this but as far as I'm aware (that I have been told by doctors and from what I've read) the next stage is the classic lithium although other mood stabilisers would be the most preferred. It's a double edged sword, mental health, these meds might help you in which case they can be very helpful to you or they won't and will make you worse (by this I mean not do anything at all, making you feel bad since there not helping or deepening your mental health issues.)

My medical information about my grandparents hasn't been realised but I've got an appointment with my doctor next week to review my entire medical file and doctors notes plus family notes too. There's some heart issue that I have had that I want to dig into though I have been Od'ing on a daily basis as described below.

Of course no medication is safe and mixing these types will differently increase the side effects whether that is serotonin syndrome, peripheral nerve damage or heart abnormalities. I could give you the same waffle as the medical pros, but they do bear relevance. That is to say that by taking meds, you as the patient will have a greater chance of benefiting than if you don't take meds.

Unless your sectioned (sent to the loony bin in other words) check the link btw quite a good song to listen to, you have the option to take them or not. The question I want to ask you is, do you feel you would be better off without meds? If so, why?

I am currently on 45mg Mirtazapine and 150mg Venlafaxine. I find them very useful, although I have taken well over my prescribed dose (MAX 375mg daily for Venlafaxine and a one off OD of 840mg) I have only found that the adverse effects occur well above that on a routine daily basis.

I did experience a rise in blood pressure and breathing though my heart rate started going up and down. Almost as if I were to pass out it seemed. These are the adverse effects I have personally had when routinely od'ing on Venlafaxine at 6*75mg daily. My Od on Mirtazapine is slightly different and isn't relevant as it was a one off rather then a reoccurring habit. Needless to say it felt like I'd hit the whiskey a bit too hard the day after.

As I said above, it's a double edged sward really and the only way you can really know 100% how a drug will confidently act (by this I mean has shown you that it will happen over and over again, like how alcohol effects you) in your body and what your body will do to the drug and side effects is to give it a try.

I hope you find this useful.

PS: Here's the song:

Emis Moderator comment: I have had to remove the link as some users may find it offensive. There will be a private messaging facility coming soon where you can send links like this.

Hi Emis - Thank you for the advice. I wasn't too sure about the song and thought it's better to let you decide whether it's suitable or not.

my family member commited suicide just two weeks into being given this combination of meds, i know it is commonly noted that mirtazapine alone can cause worsening of suicidal thoughts and tendencies, the comment about the combination being dangerous and only one medical trial ever being conducted gave me massive concerns??????????

I have been on venlafaxine and mirtazapine for nearly 4 years. It was the last roll of the dice by my psyciatrist. I have been very close to coming off them and in fact was as low as 37.5mg daily venlafaxine for a while. I am now back to 225mg daily. The realisation that i could be on these for a long time yet added to the fact that these drugs have a negative effect on my male fertility has been a bitter pill to swallow. Sweating, dry mouth, electrical impulses are frequent events in my life. I just want to live a normal healthy life but these drugs are a bitter reminder of my lowest point. Can anyone make suggestions to alternatives?

Hi guys,

I am relieved that other people have been on this random combination of meds, although I hate seeing everyone struggling with these side effects, fears, etc.

I actually just finished tapering off of mirtazapine but am having panic issues and insomnia and emotional rollercoasters daily but I dread the idea of having to increase the Effexor or end up back on clonazepam.

Has anyone been in this boat? My psychiatrist always says I'm the best person to gauge how I will respond to med changes but I am at a loss as to suggesting what I think I need. I know obviously HE'S the doctor but he never wants to add or increase meds unless I really think it would be beneficial/needed. Maybe these symptoms will eventually stop...?

I'm at 112.5 Effexor, as well as lamotrigine.

Hello - I have cancer and been taking anti depressants for 5 years. After a depressive relapse that started 8 months ago I found myself a private psychiatrist as I was getting nowhere with NHS . I am now on Venlafaxine and Mirtazapine and I have had the common side effects listed on the data sheets. I guess that's why they are called common ... But I do not feel any of the alarming things mentioned above. I am no longer turned inside out by anxiety attacks nor have suicidal thoughts. I think this is a pretty good deal. It does appear that some folks here are on the same doseages as me and they are significantly smaller than me. In-my-humble-opinion this may be causing them more side effects without a balancing increase in the therapeutic effect. Just a thought.

It is a stunning and tragic loss for someone to take their own life, but in my case I would say the medication prevented that outcome. Best Wishes. David.

Hi David. Thank you for taking the time to comment on my post. I noticed a definate change in my husbands mood and behaviour very soon after being prescribed venlafaxine, but at this time his moods were very up and down, i believe now that this was due to the very short half life of this drug. The suicidal thoughts became intense when the venlafaxine was significantly reduced and the mirtazapine was prescribed at the same time as the reduction in dose. Venlafaxine is notoriously difficult to withdraw from, even in tiny increments, my husbands dose was reduced by 75mg which is quite a massive drop. This along with a new drug which states that in the early weeks of treatment, patients should be monitored closely for a change in mood. I noticed a massive decline in mood and suicidal thoughts and notified his CPN. Sadly my words fell on deaf ears and they simply knew best. He was never reviewed before being prescribed his repeat prescription and all of this was within a two week period. Exactly two weeks after this change of prescription he was gone. I wish you all the best in your fight. Please never stop fighting. Denise.