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mirtazapine compared to fluoxetine

Posted , 6 users are following.

luke43luke.n473
luke43luke.n473

Iv been on fluoxetine 60mg for 2 years with good effects my doctor has swapped me to mertazapine due to lack of sleep does it work ?

0 likes, 12 replies

12 Replies

  • eric32307
    eric32307 luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    It does work at first luke it just makes you feel numb like you have no feeling that's what it did for me anyway, but the downside of it is you eat loads of food and the withdrawal ( which I'm going to start in the new year , again) are the bad bits of the drug , but will it make you sleep? answer to that yes , I suffer from severe insomia and 30 mg knocks me out after about an hour
    • luke43luke.n473
      luke43luke.n473 eric32307

      Posted

      Thanks the sleep thing is not that big of an issue i think it was just withdrawel

  • gillian20097
    gillian20097 luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    It's great for sleep and helped my anxiety and depression. I'm a long way off better but I guess 12 weeks is still early days smile xxx
    • eric32307
      eric32307 gillian20097

      Posted

      I've been on them for 2 years now and yeah they help with sleep a lot , I've been a insoniac all my life and the sleep has been the best bit of these but they are a nightmare to come off tried once and got put straight back on them as the insomia , anxiety where even worse than before so you need to taper yourself off them slowly it's worse than giving up smoking in my opinion
    • luke43luke.n473
      luke43luke.n473 eric32307

      Posted

      Im not planning on coming off anytime soon and the insomnia was from stopping fluaxatine without weening off i think im hopeing these will work

      thanks for your comments much appreciated 

  • Desperate_now
    Desperate_now luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    Yes it does work. I was on fluoxetine 60 MG's for about 10 months when my Gp changed them due to lack of sleep. However he did tell me to reduce fluoxetine to 40mgs for 2 weeks then 20 MG's for 2 weeks before stopping fluoxetine and starting mirtazapine the next night. This was difficult anxiety really increased so he prescribed diszepam 5 MG's 3x day if needed to get me over the transition, once on mirtazapine15mgs  I started sleeping straight away and the drowsiness in the morning soon settled. It also had a positive effect on my mood, unfortunately I had other side effects which meant I had to come off mirtszapine after 8 weeks but I had no problems in swapping to Venlsfaxine. Hope it works for you, I quite liked the effect of the drug on my mental health but it was physical symptoms I was experiencing although i could have lived with them my GP said he wouldn't continue to prescribe them for my own safety..
  • tara6744
    tara6744 luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    How are you getting on? My doc changed me from taking fluoxetine 60mg a day and I'm really struggling. I'm currently on 20fluox and 30mirt and getting dizzy spells and feeling generally a bit spaced out. My anxiety has chilled out though and I am feeling much less emotional and sleeping well. I have however put on a stone in 3 weeks even though my eating habits haven't changed. Think I'm going to see it through and leave it a few weeks on the mirt and see if the pros outway the cons. Just wondered what your experiences are?
    • tony15730
      tony15730 tara6744

      Posted

      Hi Tara, Did you find going to 60mg from 40mg with fluoxetine? Its my understanding that the serotoning uptake is fully blocked at 40mg so I wouldn't expect any improvement except maybe increased side effects on 60mg.

      I never got used Mirtazapine, the hunger, sedation, feeling spaced and very bad memory. I never put on weight being a natual ectomorph but even I put on a just under a stone in a month.

    • tara6744
      tara6744 tony15730

      Posted

      Hi Tony, Is the question meant to be 'how did you...' I'm not sure of hte science but my previous doctor increased my dose to 60mg which she said was the maximum dosage. I then changed docs as she wouldn't help me any further until I changed my lifestyle and job and he is a more traditional doc and doesn't like fluox as says its 'the old, last resort drug' that will work! He says if docs don't know what to do they put you on that?! He doesn't like it as it has a long half life so stays in your system along time and if you want to change meds you can't without going through a horrible time. Anyway, I am off work with stress and anxiety and he said fluox hightens everything in other words to make you 'happy' but he thinks it may have hightened my anxiety, hence changing me to mirtazapine (the only drug you can change to without having to completely come off fluox).

      I definately got all of those symptoms but had them also when I forgot meds for 3 days so took it as a withdrawal system and persevered with the new tablets. It took a week to get used to the new dose with the first 3-4 days being the worse. Luckily I have stopped putting on the weight at a stone and am starting to go to the gym as I have an exercise referral from my doctor as well. I am off work still though so not sure how I will cope with work on these meds. Sometimes I find driving a spaced out experience. I need to give it another month or so to see the outcome but my mood is much more sedate - I was a very emotional person. All the best for the route you go down

  • Nessie91
    Nessie91 luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    Yes it works for sleep, but you wil probably put on a lot of,weight.  T's a sedative antidepressant but I found I needed other beta blockers for,the,panic,attacks and palpitations during the day.  
  • amanda28605
    amanda28605 luke43luke.n473

    Posted

    Hi Luke may i ask why your meds were not tapered before taking Mirtazapine i too had been on 60mg since 2016 and was told to stop abruptlly and start the 30mg of Mirtazapine with horrific consequences

    Thanks

    Amanda

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