Mirtazapine hell

I've just started it and it makes me really sleepy too, which is great. I have a more disturbing side effect. Nightmares. Really scary ones, that feel real and you try to escape from them but can't. Haven't taken them for 2 days and they're getting worse. Hope I haven't screwed myself up for good. Doc says come off them for the next threes days but hasn't given me anything else. Hope I can cope - attempted suicide three times already. Don't want to go back there.

Hi

I've been on mirtazapine for 2 week now and yes they do make you drowsy and i could barely function too. I'm glad to say that once your body gets used to them it's not so bad but the first week i was like a zombie.

I too did have vivid dreams on them very realistic and sereal at the same time again this has worn off now. i will also add that i was also coming off prozac during the first two weeks.

the sedating effect seems worse on the lower dose of 15mg from what i've read. This what i'm currently on i have seemed to have platued out now but i'm still nowhere to how i used to be. I go back to the doctors in 2 weeks time so we'll see if there is a change in my mood in that time. Another thing i noticed is my appertite has increased and can sometimes be constantly hungry.

hope is useful

best wishes

Mike

Mirtazapine is an odd drug in that it more sedating at 15mg than at 30mg. This seems to be because the higher dose produces more noradrenaline (neurotransmitter) which is designed to defeat depression. I have had horrid nightmares - really surreal and upsetting too. However, I'm bipolar so it may affect me differently.

I went from no sleep to 12 hours almost overnight.

I was exactly the same I mentioned to the GP that i wasn't sleeping,no problem getting to sleep just staying there.There has been lots of family upsets over the last year and as everyone knows they are blown out of propotion in the middle of the night.she suggested i went on this drug,yes i had a few weird dreams which then stopped but so did everything else,i just couldn't funtion at all,i could have slept all day and all night,my memory was going,if i read something it didn't make sense.He has now said i'm depressed which i don't think i am and prescribed something else,i haven't taken them but have felt 100% better in the few days i've been off them.

Hi there,

I have been on Mirt for 3 weeks on 15g dosage and was extremely sleepy for the first week or so but seem to be more or less sleeping normally now (I had insomnia before taking Mirt)

I have just gone up to 30mg and had another long sleep today

Hope it goes well for you!

Hi, I changed from Fluo to Mirt 7 weeks ago as the Fluo wasn't helping my low mood at all, and I suffer from insomnia (haven't slept for years) so GP thought Mirt was the anwser. Spent a week like a zombie - went to sleep and could have slept all day, really struggled to come round in the mornings, couldn't think properly, looked and felt really drugged up. Then it settled a bit, but brain function has remained poor - wrong word comes out of my mouth, struggle to think of simple things. Also the weight gain - 7lbs in 1st month, then dose was increased to 30mg and I gained another 4lbs in a week! I'm someone with low self-image, have spent last 2 years losing weight so this is a disaster for me. Came off the pills on Monday, have lost 3lbs already! Sleep has gone bad again, but am giving it 2 weeks to see how my mood/weight/sleep goes before considering another option. Don't know what else I can try, but so far, mood hasn't improved, sleep improved slightly and the weight gain is the worst thing that can happen to me!

I was prescribed Mirt a while back. I took one tablet and felt so dizzy, tired and awful - much worse than without the tablets - that I decided not to take any more. The Doctor prescribed them to help me sleep because the situation I was in was making me extremely anxious (waking up with panic attacks) and I couldn't sleep for fear of panic attacks and nightmares. I knew why this was and thought it could be dealt with through counselling and CBT. However, the main cause of my pain is out of my control - my partner's own pain and hurt. Last week I recognised that watching the pain I have contributed to in him was 1. Impossible to live with, 2.Making me grouchy, depressed and adding to his pain, when all I want to do is make it better. I still had the mirtazapine and after speaking to counsellor and doctor, started them again. The effects weren't nearly as bad as I remembered them first time round. I was a bit dizzy and drowsy, but managed to carry on with normal life. I am still feeling a little groggy, but have carried on working normally and leading a normal life. I too feel a distance from reality - but to be honest, that's just exactly what I need to survive right now! :roll:

Hi Guys, I am about to take my first dose of Mirtazapine, after having been weened off prozac for a week. The reason my GP took me off prozac and onto mirt was because prozac was making me sleep 10-12 hrs, making me feel fatigued when I was awake, and wasnt helping my mood much at all, so why Mirtazapine if its likely to give me the same problems? Does anyone get an energy perk from ANY antidepressant? The waste of time I spend sleeping and being fatigued really gets me down and feeling guilty, and on the prozac at least, the very mild improvement in my anxiety and mood was cancelled out by the downer that oversleeping and a lack of energy gives me.

Oh well, down the hatch with the 1st Mirtazapine, I just hope it helps me on my way to becoming myself again. I chose medicine as a last resort after trying CBT etc and eventually gave in to my doctors advice - just want it to work this time! Anyone got any positives? I suppose eveyone reacts in different ways

Hi Not all anti depressants make you drowsy, I was on one called Lustrall and it realy made me buzz, I was only sleeping for about three hours with a 10mg Tomamzapam, Mirt worked well for me and seemed to have the right baalence but if you are sleeping constantly Lustrall may be right for you.

Hi.

I hate mirtazapine. I slept for nearly 48 hours for the first two days of taking it and now (two weeks in) I have brain fog all the time. I constantly feel dizzy and I dread going to sleep because of the horrendous nightmares and extremely vivid dreams that are so realistic I can't tell the difference between the dream and reality. These tablets have made my life a living hell. I would rather have no anti-depressant than this.

I was on Citalopram before, and although I made 3 suicide attempts whilst on the drug, at least I had some form of grasp on reality.

Mirtazapine scares the hell out of me - it makes me feel like I have no control over my life, because my mind is not functioning.

I would recommend to anyone, who has a doctor considering this drug as treatment for depression, to try every other drug on the market before this one. It is horrendous.

Hey this happened to me - going on M was the worst decision of my life. I was put on it for the exact same reasons as you!! it made me put on a tun on weight, that comes off, when you get off it! it slows your metabolism right down and increases the ammount of sugar stored in your blood. My partner and I both experienced this, the weight gain is so fast you get stretch marks. I have also found it the HARDEST thing to ever come off from - the sleep it gives you becomes addictive, everyones withdrawels are different and individual but for me - this is the worst, the abosulute hardest thing to come off. Its a GREAT anti depressant though, but its not worth it.  I thankfully have a GP who prescribes me sleeping pills on a long term basis, I ve been on them ten years now - I ve noticed no ill effects from that all. We are all individuals. Insomnia is worse for your health than sleeping pills. Im sitting here right now - like a zombie - because of mirtazapine - after all these years it still knocks me out. I would do anything to go back to 2008 and be able to look up online about this stuff to see if it was for me. Oh I regret it so much...

Hi , i been on for past 2 yers and its a life saver for me, im on 45, what dose  are you taking, maybe your taking too much, i always found taking it 2 hrs before bed worked best for me, you should feel really relaxed going to bed, i only ever felt groggy after increasing dose, jay