Mirtazapine - weight gain!!!!

Posted , 67 users are following.

Hi,

I've never posted on a forum before but wondered if anyone could give me any advise.

I was diagnosed with depression just before christmas, I had quite a traumatic year with a series of bad events occurring, I was also getting married which I think was the only thing keeping me going, looking back now I realise I was slipping into a depressive state for about 2 months before I finally broke. I fell into quite a catatonic state being unable to function at even a basic level, it was as if my brain had just shut down.

The doc started me on sertraline but this made my anxiety so bad that I couldn't even go into my back garden, unable to leave the house or speak to anyone for a month, he then gave me citralopram, this reduced my anxiety but gave me insomnia, so I spent another month sleeping (or rather not sleeping) on my sofa and only getting a few hours of sleep here and there.

So my doc decided to try mirtazapine, my depression has reduced dramatically but I've have gained a lot of weight, which at first I thought was a welcome side effect compared to anxiety and insomnia but now this is really starting to lower my mood again,

When I was at the beginning of my illness and was unable to function, eating didn't even enter my head and I lost around a stone and a half (my usual weight sticks around 10 - 10 1/2 stone) to 9 stone, I looked really unwell at this weight, but since being on mirtazapine I have gained 2 1/2 stone in the first month (I'm into my second month now) and it's just staying there. I have tried changing my diet and exercising but I'm stuck at nearly 12 stone.

I look overweight, none of my clothes fit me and the worse part is that I look 6 months pregnant and because I am only just venturing out again after months of solitude, a lot of people think that I am pregnant and that's why they haven't seen me, I'm struggling to keep my smile and tell people I'm not as I am infertile and this has been one of the issues that led to my depression in the first place.

I'm not sure if anyone can help, I guess I'm just looking for advise on losing the weight or whether I should change my meds (again!!!!)

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  • Posted

    Hi

    i gained 2 stones in 4 months.  The GP then prescribed Trasadone which is the same type of drug, but even on a low dose, I had tremors.  I was put back on Mirtazapine along with a low dose of Sertraline.  The only good thing about Mirtazapine is that you do get a good night's sleep.  I have constant panic attacks and palpitations during the day, which are partly relieved by Propanol (betablcke). But until the evening, feel as if I'm in a black hole.

  • Posted

    I was also on mirtazapine, along with a few other meds. And mirt is a very big one for weight gain. It did the same thing 2 me. Im fixed after 4 kids. And I'm normally weighing about 115-117 and I look about 8 months prego. I had my Doc. Take me off and put me on a different med. Maybe u should try that. There all different types of meds out there. Good luck 2 u and urs..
  • Posted

    If you see my thread 'Mirtazapine Diet Club', I have now lost four pounds in two weeks. My weight loss has been speeded up by taking green coffee extract and raspberry ketones. But also by keeping below what my body needs in calories each day. It's hard going but weight CAN be lost on mirtazapine.
  • Posted

    I thought it was just me. This last year has been the worst and I have suffer from sever depression for many years. I have been off meds for about 10 years untill I hit bottom when my mother passed. Dr and I tried everything and nothing worked. He put me on mertazipane plus other meds ... I started out with gaining a few pounds and was fine with that then out of nowhere (it seemed like over night) i packed on the pounds (50lbs) WHAT THE CRAP!!!! Depression is down, happy for that but I have no energy to do a thing anymore, I am fat and cant take it. I have a 4 year old and cant keep up. I want to know how to take the weight off, I have not changed any of my eating habbits. Please help
  • Posted

    Hi

    i put on 2 stone in 4 months, not eating any more and no skirt or pair of trousers fitted me.  Trasadone is also a sedative antidepressant and doesn't have the same weight problem.  In my case, it didn't suit me when the low dose was increased as I got tremors and, unfortunately, am back on Mirtazapine again.  I don't know if it's psychological but I hardly eat anything, I think because I don't want to put on any more weight.  The problem is that there aren't cry many sedative antidepressants.  The only advice I got was to exercise and walk, which in this weather really isn't an option.

  • Posted

    Mirtazapine will make you gain weight in the foorst few weeks and months, then it will level off. However, once it has leveled off, it is quite possible to lose all the weight again. I think you have to reach the plateau first and then you can diet. I have been eating 250 calories less than my body needs per day and have lost four pounds in four weeks. This is twice as much as I should be losing, so mirtazapine does not lower metabolism, at least not for me.

    You may not think you are eating more than usual, but you probably are. I thought the same as I was gaining weight despite not eating any snacks and just having three healthy meals a day, and sometimes some wine. But when I added up a typical day's calories it was 2650. That is 550 more than my body needed each day. Add up every cup of tea, coffee, cold drink, biscuit etc, and alcoholic drinks, and you may see that you are actually eating too many calories each day. I was shocked at how little I actually needed to not gain weight.

  • Posted

    Hi there, I read alot of comments about weight gain, while taking Mirt*

    Its strange but true in many ways that we are all gaining weight, mainly women tho,

    I am starting my 3rd full week on 30mg , and when I started I was 110lbs! I am 5' 5 1/2" and that is way to skinny, I hated it, but I have been skinny all my life. I was a smoker for 24 years and just quit about 3 weeks ago, ( strickly vaping)

    I have gained 10lbs in 3 weeks, but its good because like the lady said, its better to be chunky and healthy than skinny and miserable. tho for many women being chunky contributes to thier depression. I feel for them, its got to be so hard emotionally.

    I am welcoming the weight gain however... and I dont get cravings for much during the day, I eat my regular meals, but oh boy, about an hour or 2 after taking my Mirt* at bed time and  falling asleep, Im wide awake again and down in the kitchen for my chocolate fudge cookies. Every single night i do this.

    I suffer from insomnia however and I am up every hour all night long and only eat the one time during the whole night.

    Its got to be the Mirt*

    On a better note, I am feeling much better , I havent had an anxiety episode or manic panic at all since i started taking Mirt*!!!!!

    the miracle is happening. I just need to have something to help me sleep thru the night now, cuz eventually I will get real bitchy If I dont soon get a full nights sleep.

    Dont sweat the weight gain dear.... there are ways to control it, even turning it into solid muscle by exercising, , whatever works for you. and remember you are beautiful....i hope you feel beautiful!!!

    Click here to view image

  • Posted

    Hi as finding I was sleeping but now I'm not..  The days are he'll with the palpitations and now the nights are are as bad.is there I end to this night are.  Fel like giving up nada matte endormytether.
  • Posted

    Hi guys

    Click here to view image

    • Posted

      Thank you for that useful information. Do you think these side effects of mirtazapine deminish with time? I think that they do. I gained weight rapidly at first and then stabilized for over a year, not gaining any more despite eating an average of 2600 calories a day (which is 500 calories more than my body needs to stay the same). As I was a stone over the weight I wanted to be, I have started dieting and have lost exactly the amount of weight a normal non medicated woman would be expected to lose for my height, age and level of activity. So at present, after 3 years on mirtazapine, it would appear that my body is metabolising fat at the same rate as it should be if I was not taking mirtazapine. I have lost 5 lbs in weight in five weeks. I do think it is harder on moirtazapine though because I still really crave sugary foods, but my will power has been strong.
  • Posted

    I have been on Mtzp for 6 months. I feel a lot happier... But I've just crashed again as my weight is essential to my happiness. I have put on a stone in the last 6 months which is huge for me. I have spent the last month doing the diet where you eat no sugar, dairy, grains etc and I have out on a further 2 pounds. I am more healthy and more active and I am much heavier. Feel very trapped as before Mtzp I was in bed all weekend not being able to see people and feeling suicidal. Now I have the energy to get out of bed, socialise and to eat healthily and exersize and I'm heavier, can't for into my clothes, and feel just at breaking point with it all. I'll obviously have to stop Mtzp bit is there an anti depressant that makes you happier AND doesn't cause weight gain?? I'm not crying with the contents of my ski bag all around as I can't fit into my once baggy ski wear and I'm leaving tonight with no hope of replacing the clothes. Being around other people as well.... I just feel like giving up.
  • Posted

    I have been on Mitrazipien for 5 years now, started with 30 mg and a month ago asked for the dose to be increased to 45mg , because I stopped sleeping. I have gained so much weight, I have gone from a size 10 to a 16. I am now so desperate to loose the weight I have just stopped the Mitrazipine. My GP is beyond useless, I have always excersized but I suspect that at the moment I feel so incredibly down over my weight I feel like I can't. I feel like I don't want to leave the house.
  • Posted

    Unfortunately Mirtazapine is a sedative antidepressant.  I have 3 wardrobes of lovely clothes and nothing fits below the waist as I have put on two and a half stones out d y stomach.  The only good thing is that I got a good ight's sleep.  Now she's change the pill and I waken up at two in the morning withaitations and the chronic anxiety that I had to put up with from9 am, I now have around 2 am.  It's not withdrawal symptoms as I have agitated clinical depression which is why I wa put on them in then Iraq place.

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