hypersensitivity to antidepressants

Hi, I am new here too and mainly because I wanted to know if I was the only one to have such a drastic reaction to mirtazapine..... you are not alone !

I was recently changed to it after being on efexor for some time and the first night I took a 15mg tablet and within 30 minutes I had to yell from the kitchen for my partner to come and get me because I thought I was going to pass out, the room was spinning and I felt totally drunk. I slept for 12 hours on the sofa where he managed to get me before I completely zonked out and then the next day my head was in a total fog and all I wanted to do was sleep, I felt as if even if someone had shouted \"fire\" I still wouldn't be able to move.

The next night (and for several nights after) I only took half a tablet and gradually the drastic reactions have worn off and I have now been on one 15mg tablet per night for 5 days and don't feel too bad I still won't drive because I find I have a very short fuse, I can go from 0 to 10 on the irritation scale in a matter of seconds.

Anyway I saw my GP yesterday to discuss my dosage because he initially wanted me to progress to 30mg within 2 weeks and he agreed that some people do have severe reactions to the sedative nature of it so he has asked me to persevere on 15mg for another 2 weeks to see if I feel any of the \"good\" affects before he considers changing my medication again.

I have agreed to this because I feel that I have come this far with it I might as well give it a chance but I don't think I would have agreed to taking it if I had known what drastic effects it had because it is a bit scarey.

Obviously I can't advise you on what is best for you but I do know that the side effects are slowly wearing off for me.

Good luck.

:dog:

Hi

you are definately not alone.My Dr has acknowledged that i am very sensitive as i have had some very bad side effects - one example was lofepramine.On the 3rd week of Mirtzapine as the Dr said give it another 2 weeks.I manged two weeks on 15mg so now on 30 mg.I did say to the Dr that i would rather cut my own arm off than carry on with these let alone increase the dose but afterwards thought i've come this far so i'll give a while longer.The side efects have got better but only slightly.I feel tired and dizzy especially when i get up but ther does seem to be some respite from it.Still eating like crazy though.

Other side effects i've felt are irritation/aggitation and zero tollerance.My mood seems to change very quicky and like you said Kristal it goes from 0 to 10 at warp speed!

Not sure if i can carry on like this for another week in terms of constant tiredness and dizziness.The worst thing is i'm not feeling the benefits of it as i am swamped by all these physical symptoms.

Also i feel so \"out of it\" and \"punch drunk\" that i just don't feel anything like the person i am...........just totally zombfied!!

Take care and let me know how you get on

J

:roll:

Dear All,

I've certainly enjoyed reading your experiences re. reaction to Mirtazapine!

Talk about a 'short fuse', I'm lucky i've such a good wife, she ought to have gone off to her mum's a couple of weeks back, I just became so irritable.

Now I've been on Mirtazapine over 2 months the irritability has definetly eased (I'm on 30 mg). Still getting about 9 hours sleep a night on most occasions, but have a hard time trying to get going on some mornings ... this is one of them.

I take medication also for a throat illness and severe migraine. I think the migraine medication (Imigran) reacts with the Mirtazapine as I become more and more like a zombie after the the attack is over.

Compared to three months ago my mood has lifted considerably, been busy deocrating, d-i-y etc, things I could just not get my head around before.

Got told this week by the Doctor my Triglyceride levels have raised. Oh dear, now I must start more daily exercise, eat less sugar and fats etc etc. Perhaps it's an 'ill wind' blowing some good because I strongly believe exercise is a great benefit for a depressed individual. It's just the last thing I want to do when I'm really down.

I think Mirtazapine is a drug that has to be persisted with before the benefits come through, although that's easy to say when the side-effecs aren't too bad. When they are, it's got to be back to the Doctor and sorted. We're entitled to a life, not an existence sedated 'up to the hilt'.

Keep writing ... it helps.

Best wishes,

Stiofain

I am also very sensitive to antidepressants, since september I have tried 4 different ones. My worst reaction was to prozac. I have been on mirtazapine for 8 weeks now and the only side effects I have had is feeling tired the next day and taking ages to get myself motivated, also eating more, especially in the evening. I have been taking 15mg and my dr upped my dose to 3omg as of last night, but Im not sure if I want to take the 30mg anymore, because today I have felt very anxious,restless ans very snappy with everyone. So tonight Im going to try taking half the 30mg and see if I feel any better. I was feeling ok on 15mg, so why the dr upped the dose in the first place I dont know.

Anyone had similar experience????

I have been taking mirtazapine for ten months. I found, at the beginning, it was extremely sedating - even more sedating than many sleeping tablets - and that I did not want to get out of bed in the mornings because of how drowsy and groggy it made me feel. It has also made me put on a lot of weight - I was already overweight before being prescribed mirtazapine, and I have put on another 2 stone during the course of treatment. It's been difficult for me to judge how much this drug has helped. I am not really sure it has helped. The weight gain and sedation have been big drawbacks for me but I persevered with mirtazapine as my psychiatrist would not change my medication. I am currently weaning myself off mirtazapine in order to find out what I am like without medication. If you are seriously underweight and cannot sleep and don't need to get up for work in the morning then this drug will probably suit you.

A long time since your post. Are you still around here? Intolerance to anti deps is what i need advice about.

I am sensitive to antidepressants too, I ended up losing all sense of control on sertraline and overdosed when I got really angry. I then switched to mirtazapine which made me get migraines where I became aggressive. I had an episode of seeing red when I had a small argument with my partner, I ended up lashing out n hurting him pretty badly, I just blacked and couldn’t remember doing it. When I was starting to calm down I ended up a scared crying mess, it terrifies me what I became like. I still had little impulse control and ended up overdosing again on every tablet I could find because I felt like nothing and no one was helping me, I hated that I was so irritable n short tempered all the time. I just wanted it all to end so I wasn’t suffering n I wasn’t a threat to anyone again. 

When I came out of hospital (3 days ago) I stopped them cold turkey and I have felt so much better. I’m having some withdrawal symptoms like occasional shakes and headaches but I’d rather deal with the withdrawal than be how I was.