Why don't antidepressants seem to work for me?
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi,
Recently I had a long psychiatriatic eval with a psychiatrist and he said he thought I had General Anxiety Disorder. I was prescribed between 30 - 45 mg of Mirtazapine, and he left it up to me to find a dosage between that that suited me best.
For about a week after, I felt nothing except for a few side effects on a dose of 37.5mg. I lowered the dose to 30mg and about a week later, felt fantastic for about 6 days. After that, I started to feel bad, so I upped the dosage to 37.5mg, but I still feel pretty dreadful. I've now had about a week for feeling bad after my 6 days of feeling great.
Unfortunately, this pattern of feeling fantastic for a week and then in the next week feeling worse than ever keeps repeating itself. Over the past few months, I've tested Wellbutrin and Venlafaxine, and the story is always the same. I feel great for about 1 week and then after that feel worse than ever. Apparently my switches in moods has been noticed by people I work with (one week, full of life, confident and funny; the next week feel so bad that I curl up into a shell of myself)
Does anyone know what the hell is going on here? I'm considering just giving up on medication altogether as it only seems to make me feel worse.
Thanks
0 likes, 5 replies
Rish000 nick98765
Posted
nick98765 Rish000
Posted
Mirtazapine 37.5mg. I'm forcing myself to keep taking it hoping that things will get better.
Rish000 nick98765
Posted
I am surprised that your doctor prescribed you this medication for GAD. It is mostly used for patients suffering from depression and insomnia. If you don't suffer from any sleep problems I would stay away from this pill and would rather go on SSRI. I am not a physician but would highly suggest you to ask your doctor about Lexapro or any other SSRI. Also, if your doctor decides to get you off Mirt then don't go too fast even if your doctor says so because insomnia is a common withdrawal effect and it will mess up everything. I hope it helps. Good luck.
nick98765 Rish000
Posted
Thanks Rish and sorry for the late reply.
I have mixed anxiety and depression, which I guess is perhaps why my doc put me on Mirtazapine. I emailed him (unfortunately he is in the UK and I live in Asia), and he suggested upping my dosage to 45mg just to make sure the drug doesn't actually work for me.
I'm too scared to do this however, as the Mirtazapine has been making me feel so strange. I decided to stick with 37.5mg to see if there was a change, and while I feel like my mood has stabilized a little bit, I still feel quite strange and probably more anxious than I was off the Mirtazapine.
I'm not sure why my doc didn't suggest other SSRIs, but I was on Paroxetine for a few years before, and I'm not sure it has much of an effect on me. Perhaps that is why he decided to look at alternative solutions to SSRIs?
Rish000 nick98765
Posted
Firstly, I would suggest if you can see a doctor in your country. Secondly, I would see if 45mg is helping or not. If not I would switch to another drug. If you have already been on Paroxetine then tell your doctor to put you on some other pill. There are lots of medications in the market. If your doctor asks you to stop mirtazapine and switch to another drug then don't listen to him and follow the 10% taper rule every 2 weeks. It will help to prevent insomnia.