Posted , 3 users are following.
Am on day 9 of this after coming off Mirtazapine and before that cold turkey off Trazadone ( dr told me to even though I'd been on it nearly two years )
Was just wondering how long everyone went before noticing any good effects? I know everyone is different.
But not sure if this medication is making me worse I suffer from GAD and depression and Panic disorder
0 likes, 16 replies
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gina01020 karen32905
Posted
Hi Karen...
How are you going?
I was on Mirt for 7 years and came off it cold turkey and straight onto Escitalapam too...I'm afraid I didn't have a good time of it and its taken me about 3 months to settle down to any extent..
I'd say you'll probably notice a difference in 4-6 weeks though
gina01020 karen32905
Posted
I suffer from exactly the same things...my panic attacks were getting much worse so that's why the doc switched me..the Escitalapam seems to work for the panic attacks and the worrying that I've always done but it took a long time not to feel dizzy etc on it...unfortunately, I don't know which was causing it...the Mirt withdrawals or the Escitalapam side effects..
karen32905 gina01020
Posted
It's awful isn't it as you don't know if its withdrawal from one or side effects from the other?!
They've also put me on Quetiapine, which helps me to sleep a little at night, but by 4/5am I get a brain zap of anxiety and panic and start sweating and shaking.
I had a bad time on Sertraline some time back that's why I was given Trazadone instead.
I'm just worrying that I can't tolerate SSRIS anymore.
How are you doing?
gina01020 karen32905
Posted
Me too.. its taken me months to get any respite..still ups and downs at 6 month mark but nothing like the first few months..still have a zonked out feeling and can't remember anything...good as you forget your worries quickly..lol..but not good if you have to do something..this is the first time I've had this much trouble...those brain zaps and sweats were the pits...I thought I'd never be the same again ..couldn't even think to make breakfast..the doc thought I'd just googled all the symptoms..Aah! Wish that was it but it wasn't..that is the trouble hey...I didn't know whether to stick it out because of the unknown side effect/ withdrawal thing..I could have changed to Sertraline but was too frightened I'd get even more side effects...the insomnia is terrible too...taking Serapax but it's not helping..I've been put on Valdoxan to help as I was only getting 2 hours sleep a night..now I still can't sleep til 1.30am at least...wake at 4am..get back to sleep at about 6am and get up at 8am..nuts.
I really don't think Escitalapam is right for me but couldn't face changing again so sticking it out..still hot flushes too but no where near like I had...that starts the panic off too hey..
karen32905 gina01020
Posted
Gosh I hope things do settle down for me too then, sounds like a long haul !
Yet when they give it to you tell you it's faster working and gentler..... doesn't feel like it to me!
ol05758 karen32905
Posted
I have just taken it now and I'm even more worried than before. Always had a phobia of AD. I'm so scared now. I know it sounds stupid. But all this s mention that f feels no worse before we get better scares me. All those side effects.
Sorry if my post is negative guys. It's the fear in me.
karen32905 ol05758
Posted
Is this the first one you've taken?
gina01020 ol05758
Posted
Yes.. but everyone is different.. there are some people who think it's just scare mongering to say what effects you have on here. But if you weren't experiencing it, you wouldn't need to post on this forum. I was so hoping this was going to work for me and I'm still sticking it out. I don't want to change to another in case I get all those symptoms again.
Try not to worry... It may not make you feel anything at all til you start to feel better.. i've not had any trouble before this but I had to get off the other one I was on, cold turkey, so that's probably why it affected me so much.. I do know what you mean though..
ol05758 karen32905
Posted
And once I did a coupl of weeks feeling ok she on some ad. But then was bullied by doctor to up the dose. I got so scared And stopped them. And am so angry I did
I was drugged when I was 27 and I had hallucinations and heard voices. So I guess I have been traumatised by anything going on my in my mouth. I know it sounds silly. But now just the the worry of having this pill to n my body worries me. I feel so stupid in saying it
ol05758
Posted
Seems to take about an hour to effect
ol05758 gina01020
Posted
Thanks for your comment Gina. Maybe it won't make me feel any side effects. My doctor says he's never met anyone like me and laughed
gina01020 ol05758
Posted
Lol...I think my Doc doesn't know how to treat me either...I think he thinks I make it all up..I have phobias too and don't take many meds because I hate that zonked out feeling..frightening because you don't feel in control I think.. I was getting worse with my phobias, ie. Claustrophobia.. can't get on a bus, the cinema, the hairdresser, the dentist ( because I feel like I can't breath when I have saliva in my mouth) and then I was worried all the time I'd be in an accident and wouldn't be able to get out for ages.. even a low ceiling in a house gave me anxiety. The Escitalopram works well for this. I do still get anxiety if I think of those things but I don't think of them all the time now.
I hate being on ADs and worry about what they do to you but I can't manage without them...it's a catch 22 hey?.
I hope you sail through and find them really good too.. just try and remember it will pass. Not easy I know...I also found it took about an hour to feel them take effect and about 10 hours to get other effects which may have Been the withdrawals from Mirt
ol05758 gina01020
Posted
Thanks Gina. Right now it's 2am and crippled with anxiety. Doc never mentioned if I could take sleeping pills too as well as ad
i did get out of a severe anxiety depression 10years ago. But it took 5years no meds. Was stuck at home couldn't go out. And one day I kept pushing and pushing, and someone I got out the other end. Was totally fine and travelling abroad too
ol05758 gina01020
Posted
are you sleeping ok. I presume you weren't if you were on mirt
gina01020 ol05758
Posted
I have been taking a sleeping tablet through all this but the insomnia has been really bad. 2-3 hours a night.. I'm just slowly tapering off the sleeping tablet now. Down to about 10 mg from 30. I have always had anxiety, even in childhood and claustrophobia.. I ended up teaching ballet for 20 years and the last few years of that, I had a nervous breakdown each year. I didn't know what was wrong with me so would collapse for a week or two and then have to pick myself up and push on til the end of the ballet year..
Since then, it's been a battle of some times fine but mostly battling. I'm not one to ask for help so dealt with it myself. Always worries me that they'll lock me up or something...my worst nightmare with claustrophobia..lol. Now if I'm off Ads I'm in constant panic attack mode. I think we go through cycles in life.. in our 20's - 40's we are probably at our best to cope with things . Then things catch up with you if you haven't dealt with them..
I did have no troubles with heaps of things on Mirt...no insomnia, no hives,etc.. now they are all back with a vengeance.. 😊