Time course of recovery on Mirtazapine - anxiety
Posted , 7 users are following.
Dear fellow anxiety sufferers,
I'm currently taking 15mg mirtazapine (in conjunction with 10mg escitalopram that I am taking since 1 year) - changed dose from 2 weeks 30mg (too sedating) to 15mg that i am now taking since 2 weeks. I feel that the mirtazapine has helped to reduce my anxiety and improved my sleep but it all feels still a bit unsteady and I still struggle on some days (usually more in the first half of the day).
I would like to invite all people (@ katecogs 😉) who have recovered to share their mirtazapine recovery stories here. Ideally with an emphasis on the time course. I am aware of a significant negativity bias on these health forums (recovered people simply don't spend time online on health forums). I also want to highlight that I have a great doc whom I fully trust but I think it would help me and other fellow sufferers a great deal to hear from recovered people how their mirtazapine journey was and how they have overcome the bumps in the road that I am sure we all experience. I hope this thread to become an inspiring one - sort of to counterbalance all these negative scaremonger health forum discussions.
Many thanks in advance for sharing your personal (positive and inspiring) mirtazapine stories here!
May we all get well!
xxx Andy
2 likes, 26 replies
nezza72309 andy02598
Posted
I have no bad things to say about mirtazapine ,I started taking this drug 4yrs ago suffering with severe anxiety it was a life saver to me , which finally helped with sleep and depression, I now feel I do not need this drug anymore so the last 4 days I have dropped my dose from 45mgs to 15 mgs and so far with no withdrawal effects apart from waking earlier , I will probably stay on 15mg for a few weeks and then stop, and stay positive with a hobby to keep the mind ticking over.
nigel45109 andy02598
Posted
hello, dont mean to scare you, but you are in for a really bad surprise over the next few weeks. you dont come off anti depressants like you have done. go see your dr, for a way of reducing your dose. id suggest reducing from 45mg by 7.5mg reductions every 4 weeks minimum. even that might be too quick.
nezza72309 nigel45109
Posted
Hi Nigel,
just seen your post and you are correct ,I am on my 3rd month off mirtazapine and feeling not to good, the last week I have been getting constant anxiety ,fatigue and only getting 3 hours sleep, seen my doctor and he has been in touch with a chemist to call me tomorrow to find a medicine to help me that has no contraindications as I am on quite a few drugs for various illnesses ,I have come off antidepressant before but this one is a killer ,I have come this far now and have no intention to go backwards , my advice to people is do not be like me and get help off your doc, atb nezza.
nigel45109 nezza72309
Posted
hello, having come so far, you dont want to go back on it, well done. myself, i dont see myself coming off meds. i also do lots of active yoga and self hypnosis. active yoga, repititions of the sun salutations, morning and night works very well. i do them calmly, sort of in a trance, and ive just managed to get the breathing correct, after years of trying. by just doing reps of sun salutations every day for the last 10 months, morning and night, without fail, has meant a lot of tweaking to see what works best. puts me in a good mood in the morning, and calms me at night. its active, but if you get the breathing correct, and do it calmly, after 10 sets, on each side, so 20 in total, i feel tired, which is much better for anxiety, rather than energised, which can send you manic with anxiety. going to classes and doing other types if yoga didnt work for me, too varied, and too much to learn. trying cbd oil would help, but you need to make sure you get good quality and the right strength. the good stuff is expensive, but the majority is cheaper, and too weak to be if benefit. reading novels for 30 mins before bed is very good. key, is to be disciplined, and do it every day. shame i cant teach these 3 things to people, if i was there to make people do them, theyd be so much better. all the best.
nigel45109 andy02598
Posted
andy, sorry, please ignore my latest post. i thought i was replying to someone who just dropped from 45mg of mirt to 15mg over night. apologies, it wasnt meant for you.
andy02598
Posted
Hi all,
I wanted to send you another progress report on my journey to recovery:
I am now 4 weeks in to taking a steady mirt dose and I feel that it has started to settle (i.e. no more side effects). Anxiety-wise there is still room for improvement but compared to a few months ago I am now at a much better place. It is sometimes hard to realize how much progress I have already made since some blips here and there can make you believe that you are back to where it all began - but you definitely are not back to where it all began. I guess a few months ago I would have done anything to change a bad day as I experience it now to a good day as experienced back then - if that makes sense.
So to sum up: Side effects have mostly disappeared. Anxiety symptoms still lingering around, in particular during the first half of the day, but overall a significant trend upwards. Improvements are very subtle and seem to take ages so onward and upwards!
Fingers crossed that this will continue!
All the best to everyone out there on your personal road to recovery!
XXX
Andy
SerotoninSurfer andy02598
Posted
How are you feeling Andy. Fingers crossed you are still making good progress.
Jojo222 andy02598
Posted
Hi Andy,
I hope you are still feeling positive about where you have got to on your journey with Mirtazapine. I thought I'd report back on where I am at, after nearly 8 weeks on the full dose of 45mg, split into 30mg with breakfast, and 15mg an hour before bedtime.
In some ways, my experience echoes yours - there are definite improvements but they are very gradual. But a couple of weeks back, during a situation at work when in the past my anxiety would almost certainly have shot up and potentially out of control, I could feel it bubble up, I thought, oh here we go, and then it bubbled right back down, and stayed down.
It may be that I am able to keep more of a lid on my anxiety, sort of like watching a pot of boiling liquid on the stove and pulling the pot off the hob before it has a chance to boil over. Ultimately it does not matter (to me) whether the Mirt keeps the anxiety down, or whether the Mirt makes me feel better, and in so doing enables me to deal with the anxiety more calmly. It may not be possible for me to tell the difference.
Side effect-wise it's just my old friend the ravenous appetite 😃
8 weeks is not long in the grand scheme of things, so perhaps there could be further improvement in the medium to long term. But I'm okay with where I am at the moment.
All the best to you and everyone here on the forum,
Jojo
andy02598 Jojo222
Posted
Hi Jojo,
thanks for your message! Great to hear you are doing much better! I am sure there is more good stuff to come for you!
On my side thinks are still a little shaky. Will have another appointment with my doc in a few weeks to discuss my situation. Will keep you posted!
May we eventually all live the peaceful life we are longing for!
xxx Andy
andy02598
Posted
Hi Jon,
Thanks for your message. I am still not where I want to be but I guess more time is needed. Will also report back to my doc. It has been almost 3 months in total now on mirtazapine. My sleep is great and my evenings are ok now but I don't feel great most of the times during the day. I will give it a few more weeks but my doc already mentioned to me that I could also try Lyrica...
Will keep you posted.
xxx Andy
andy02598
Posted
Hi everyone,
I hope you're all doing well!
I thought it was time for a quick update. After my last appointment with my doc we have decided that I come off the mirtazapine. I have given it 5 months but I was never really happy with it. It is simply not the right medication for me. So I have tapered it slowly out - which for me did not cause any problems. My doc said I should try Amitryptiline instead (an older TCA) which I am now taking since two weeks. For the time being I am carefully optimistic that this will work. My sleep is great and my daytime anxiety is slightly reduced. Other than a dry mouth I have no major side effects. I find it a bit odd that most drug companies say that it will take between 2-4 weeks for ADs to have an effect. In my experience it takes much longer - and also from what I have heard from others. Do you have an explanation for this discrepancy? Saying that a medication will work in 2-4 weeks will certainly discourage many people who will then change meds too quickly and many might miss their boat. Anyway, I have waited 5 months and I was not really happy with the results so here we go again onwards and upwards!
May we all get well, eventually!
xxx
Andy