Mirtazapine just for Anxiety advice ?

Hi there, 2 stories

I know of someone who has been put on 15 mg and after 4 very drowsy days, she woke up to feel so much energy had come back and has lost all her anxiety. She has only used it for just over a week and feels lot better. Depression has not gone but anxiety has. She has to double dose next week.

Unfortunately my husband has just been put on 7.5 mg and started to feel a bit beter yesterday but had a really bad day today and complains about blurry vision. He is supposed to double next week.

We need to speak to psychiatrist to know whether to continue or not. He won't get the benefit of the body producing noradrenaline as that is only on the 15+ mg.

Have spoken to psychiatrist and GP's and in their experience there is always a medication that works but it is a bit trial and error sometimes which takes up time and time is precious.

Hang in there, you will get better!

Hey there Dave,

This is my 1st post on these boards, so hi all, I have read the posts for the past couple of weeks, as I have recently been put on Mirtazapine, for both depression and anxiety - started with 15mg, now on 30. Like yourself, I have noticed that my anxiety has improved a little - noticed the frequency and severity of panic attacks decreasing a bit. However, also like yourself, I am noticing a great deal of restlessness, especially in the evenings, feels like my whole body, (especially legs) is buzzing, and its hard to sit still. I sometimes catch myself clenching/grinding my teeth. I'm also finding it VERY difficult to get out of bed in the mornings - get plenty of sleep, but just wake up drained.

As for the effects on the depression, I cant really feel any yet, but even a little decrease in the anxiety has been good, but I really hope this restlessness and inabilty to settle subsides, cos as much as I want to be rid of the anxiety, I don't want to be constantly on edge as I am at the moment!

Anyway, like Dave, I'd like to hear from anyone who's been on it a little longer, to hear whether these effects do taper off after a while.

Take care,

Richard

Richard

Just an update for you on my progress, I upped my dose from 15mg to 22.5 by spitting the tablets - as I was wary of going all the way to 30 - I've found the agitation to be worse at this level and if I do not immediately fall asleep after taking it I start to fell really strange - I get palpitations and by body feels strange. I've decided to go back down to 15mg for now as the anxiety/panick attacks were the main problem. I'll just have to deal with the restlessness. Its hard thing to deal with isn't it - you dont quite know what to do with yourself. I did have the agitation before starting the treament so its very difficult to know whats causing it.

I just cant seem to relax but the higher dose is definately not doing me any good at all I'm afraid. I feel like I've been poisoned as soon as I've taken it. the secret I think is take it just before you fall asleep otherwise things get really strange. Thats the best way I can describe it. I had to take 10mg of vallium to get me to sleep last night. Of course the other downside of increasing the dose is that you loose the sedative effect.

Stick with it though for me it does work somewhat for the anxiety - I think part of the problem is anxiety feeds restlessness - if your not doing anything all day (like me because I'm signed off) then you get more restless. I tend to wake up restless and calm down in the evening as I know bedtime is coming.

Luckily I've got an appointment with a psychiatrist next week so they should be able to shed some light on this whole thing.

Are you taking anything else for your anxiety aswelll such as a beta blocker of diazipam ?

Dave

Hey Dave

I'm not on anything else for the anxiety at the moment, I was actually pretty

averse to going onto any medication intially, as I have had bad experiences with SSRI's in the past, and wanted to try to beat this 'under my own steam' but things have gotten to much to deal with recently, hence going onto mirtazapine.

Today was a pretty bad day for me, unfortunately, after my previous post saying the panic attacks had started to subside, I was hit with another really bad one this evening, out of the blue, whilst walking to the shops. This has really got me down, as I felt I was finally beginning to get the better of them with the help of the mirtazapine, but it would appear they're still there, just round the corner. I did manage to get through the attack and get back home ok, but it has left me really pretty demoralised; still feel very on edge. I think if these attacks continue coming, I will have to speak to my psychiatrist about the possibility of beta blockers,etc. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks, so I'll see how things are then.

At the moment, I really dont know how much of this restlessness,etc is me, and how much is the drug - it feels like my thoughts and feelings are clouded over, I'm tired, but can't relax to sleep, and just feel in a weird limbo. Being off work doesnt help in some ways, but at the same time, I really cant function properly at the moment to do anything!

Sorry for rambling on for a bit, its just today especially has been a very confusing and draining day, I only hope that putting up with the odd side effects from the Mirtazapine will be worth it eventually, as I really can't take feeling like this.

Richard

Richard

I know completely how you feel your situation sounds exactly like mine although thankfully my panick attacks are now much better I still fell very anxious all the time which is a very uncomfortable feeling dont feel like doing anything but at the same time cant sit still. It really is a horrible feeling - I upped my dose of Mirtazapine and I just felt more restless so I'm sticking with 15mg's at the moment - Beta blockers do help a little but they only mask the underlying cause. I also use Diaziam (vallium) which does calm me down. Unfortunately theres very little the docs can do for the restlessness exept change the medication which I dont want to do do - after a negative exoerience with an SSRI. It really is hard to tell whats the anxiety and whats the medication.

So I completely understand where you are coming from, you are not alone.

Dave

Hello,

I was off work for nearly nine months with anxiety and depresssion. I had severe panic attacks and after trying many different treatments ended up on Miratazipine. I started off on 15mg, then increased to 30mg and finally 45mg - which I have been taking now for nearly 2years.

I found it help quite quickly with the panic attacks - they haven't completely dissapeared, but they are quite rare.

I found initially that the medication made me drowzy, but then it was a struggle to get up in the morning. I try to make sure I'd taken them by 8pm to allow the medication to kick in, but this does mean that I do sometimes get muscle cramps and slightly agitated.

In the initial 3 months I took this medication I found my weight increased by 2 stone! I reaslised I never 'felt full' when eating, so have had to watch how much I eat.

I have managed to get back to full time employment and do feel a lot more in control of my life now - which in part is due to this medication. I know that there are lots of negative affects of this drug, but I'd definately prefer them then the panic attacks and depression any day.

My Doctor put me straight onto 30mg dose at the start of February. The breakdown of my marriage and subsequent thoughts of my children made me feel dreadful. I had this perception that I had let my children down. That's all it was, just a perception and not reality. Sometimes it's hard to draw a line between reality and what you perceive to be real.

Mirtazapine helped me to deal with these negative thoughts. They helped me when I needed them. I was accutely embarrassed to admit that I was taking them, hence I stopped after a month quite easily. Here we are 2 months on and I am back on them. My Doctor said I should have taken them initially for a period of three months but I don't wish to become dependant on them.

My first night back on it: well it completely knocked me for six. Felt totaly spaced out, unable to walk straight. My sleep patterns are still erratic & have the twitchy legs and nightmares too.

I do find it difficult to get out of bed the next morning. However during the day now, I feel more able to cope with things. I find it easier to put things out of my head. My work has suffered during this time period because I couldn't focus on my job. My mood for the day tended to be pre-determined by how I felt during the first five minutes of being awake. If I had a bad thought in my head, it just stayed there all day, no matter what I did or thought about, it wouldn't go. I became tired of feeling down and crying all the time, I couldn't explain how I felt, couldn't name any one reason why I was down, just a whole load of things on my mind.

I have had a few dizzy spells during the day if I took my pill in the morning, which BTW is not advisable if you have to drive or work etc. They make me very drowsy & my speach tends to become slurred.

Look on the bright side though, the only was is up. Although I am not devoid of emotion now, it is more difficult to become upset. The crying stopped very quickly, the feeling of anxiety is also starting to wain a little. I often wonder if things really are as bad as they seem, maybe they're not? There are more than enough people in this world with far more substantial problems than me. I have my physicall health which is all I can ask for. But sometimes the feeling of utter and complete loneliness can be overwhelming, it's times like these when it is very hard to be cheerful.

It would be nice to forward the clock six months and for all of this to be behind me.