mirtazapine for insomia Dr said that I would not gain weight

I think that I read once that mirtazapine was originally developed as an appetite stimulant for anorexics! Unless you are super fit and eat sensibly then I'm afaraid you may well put on weight. Mirtazapine in the lower doses will help you sleep but it is primarily an anti depressant. I think that your GP was being unfair to you saying that you might lose weight. If you have a look at the information sheet inside your pill pack the side effects are well documented. If you look on PUK you will see that most of us are preoccupied with our weight.

Hi Angeltask. I had the same misgivings about going on Mirtazapine (see my post on 7 July) as I had a dreadful time on Prozac. I am now in my third week of Mirtazapine 30mg (I know, still early days) but I feel great on them. I feel as though I have got my life back again. I have got an increased appetite but I am trying to control it (ie not eating inbetween meals etc). As I am at work fulltime I can control when I eat too which is good. I take it about half hour before I am due to go to bed and within an hour I am fast asleep until the morning. It is so good to have unbroken sleep again (unfortunately my husband says I now snore :? I have not had nightmares but the dreams are very vivid and odd! As I said, it is still early days yet so I could experience some adverse affects when it has firmly got into my system. Maybe the chronic side effects of Mirtazapine are experienced by those who are also on other powerful drugs :?: :?: :?: Good luck - from Bushbaby.

To Bushbaby: you talk about 'chronic' side effects in people who are on other drugs? stronger drugs what combination? Do you have any experience of this? Any anti depressant taken in the higher doses could be regarded as stronger but each person will be affected differently and be able to tolerate different levels of a drug. If you mean 'chronic in terms of long lasting or severity most people experience side effects in the first few weeks of taking the drug. In the case of mirtazapine drowsiness and increased appetite affect most people regardless of what dose they are taking. These side effects usually lessen after a few weeks. In the case of mirtazapine being taken with other drugs ( not necessarily stronger?) it is usually given to boost the other drugs already taken (in my case) It doesn't mean that someone like myself will experience more side effects than you or for a longer period. That is a wrong assumption to make. I think that it is better to talk from your own experience rather than making up an experience that is wrong or not your own. The most obvious side effect of combined meds has given me is sedation but thankfully that is only at night when you would want it. Sedation usually decreases in the higher doses of mirtazapine anyway. Pooh.

i started taking mirtazapine 2 years ago. it was reaaly good at helping with insomnia where other medication had not been effective and has made me feel 'normal' which is great as i have a demanding job etc. however i have put on over 2 stone and am now trying to cut out mirtaz as my diet is low calorie etc but the pouncs keep piling on. hope this helps

I've been taking 45mg of Mirtazapine for several years now and my weight has dramatically increased. I can't say whether it's due to an incresed appetite - I don't eat huge portions or 'graze' during the day - my wife sees to that!

The weight gain began when I was prescribed Venlafaxine and got worse when I switched onto the Mirtazapine. We can actually pinpoint the start of it all through photos and videos - it's fascinating to watch.

Anyway, I've now started on prozac in the hope that it may help, but I'm going through hell as I'm dropping down from 45mg to 20mg and all the problems I thought I had under control have resurfaced. I have agorophobia and a social phobia and they are taking over to such an extent that I'm avoiding even my own family because I just can't deal with them. And now I'm rambling and ranting - sorry.

So I don't know whether to stick it out or go back on the mirtazapine full dose (I'm taking a quarter of a tablet with the prozac in the attempt to wean myself off - doctors orders.). It's another week before I see my therapist so I'll see what he says.

Apart from that I've never experienced any other side effects from the meds.

Actually, I've just thought. there was another side effect from the mirt. At the beginning, I had terrible nightmares - really mind blowingly bad ones, so the doc gave me some sleeping tablets which didn't actually stop the nightmares, they just made it so that I couldn't wake up from them. And you wonder why these people are doctors? Anyway, got addicted to the sleeping tablets and had a hell of a time coming off them once the prescription stopped.

So now I take a couple of herbal nytol before bed and that does the trick. No nightmares, just really vivid and incredibly weird dreams. I mean really strange ones in full colour with dolby surround sound.

Reading this through, I make it sound like a good thing - believe me, I dread going to bed some times. Especially as due to balloning up cos of the mirt, I have sleep apnoea and have to use a cpap machine. So weird dreams and a nasal mask with this damned machine wheezing next to me make it almost unbearable. And now there's paranoia thrown into the mix - last night apparently, I was convinced that people would come and take me away if I fell asleep and that my wife would vanish if she fell asleep. I say apparently, as I have no recollection of this, it's just what my wife has told me. So there you go.

There's a Harlan Ellison short story called \"I have no mouth and I must scream\". That kind of sums up how I feel really.

I got extremely vivid dreams and if I had nightmares then I'm not aware that I did. I put on 3 stone in 11 months when I was on the mirtazapine but other than I had no bad side effects. If you did put on weight whilst taking these meds then when you come off them you could always ask your doctor for some diet advice and that would help you lose the weight again.