Mitrazapine: terrified about RARE lethal side effects

MIRTAZAPINE. Not ^ Mitrazapine
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Hi,

Well my mental health is bad at the moment.
Anxiety disorders and depression are pretty severe..

I've just been prescribed mitrazapine.
Now I don't think I'd heard of it until my doctor (GP) suggested it...
I think she chose this one as I can't tolerate SSRI's and told her I am weary of trying trycilics due to the side effects.

Well I looked it up on Wikipedia and it sounds absolutley perfect for me,,, minus feeling drowsy,, as I want to be active and I'm already on Valium.
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So this 'on paper' sounds like it might be the right med for me at this time.
However I'm absolutely Terrified about the 'Rare' side effects....
They occur <0.1% of the time.... So something less than 1 in 1000 people.

However several of these rare side effects are potentially deadly.
Now I'm going to list a few but please don't visit the Wikipedia page on the ones I will highlight as there are some quite disturbing images of people suffering with it.
So:
toxic epidermal necrolysis (DO NOT WIKIPEDIA THIS)
^this has a mortality rate of 30-40% and is a horrific way to die...
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a milder form of the above (DO NOT WIKIPEDIA THIS)

Listed there is also Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
And heart attack too.
Plus: Grand mal seizure.... And status epilepticus
Both can be fatal again.
Then there's glaucoma (an eye disorder)
There's several skin conditions that are life threatening... (And horrific)
Plus liver damage.........

So I'm scared to take this medication. I'm aware these side effects are rare..
Probably incredibly rare... I read one of the above only happens to 1 person per million.
But nonetheless there are several life threatening conditions that could develop from me taking mitrazapine.....

I don't really know what to do.... I'm in a bit of a crisis and do need medication, but I am scared to take it...

hmm

All drugs have potential side effects. You and your doctor have to weigh the risk versus benefits.

One of my drugs (clozaril) has a black box warning because 1% of people have potentially fatal changes in white blood cells. So we monitor my cells and so far so good.

My son and I have both taken mirtazapine intermittently. Fortunately neither of us have had side effects other than drowsiness but we take it to help sleep so that is a win.

If you have questions about taking the risk you can discuss it with your pharmacist or your pdoc. Best of luck.

Hi Yoda, thanks for your reply

yeah sadly meds do all have side effects.
i'm glad mirtazapine worked for you, i've just taken one, after a couple of hours
arguing it over in my head.
looking forward to some wild dreams, or; wilder... - my dreams are wild as it is....

unfortunatley i don't have a PDOC... i have a general practitioner...
and two psychotherapists (who are amazing) but they are not allowed to advise me on medication, not even whether they think i should take it or not... which is jarring.
But my new G.P seems really good, and does appear to know alot more than your average, and really understood me, whereas alot of G.Ps really don't get me at all

so.
,,,cheers; hope alls well Yoda.
i'm starting to feel a bit sleepy... (its 03.50am) but i took 15mg 40 mins ago and i suspect its kicking in.. - its quite taxing typing right now.
definitely going to sleep well tonight.

Gnightx
C

p.s: love the pic in your sig. :0)

I've had SJS. I guess I didn't die. It was extremely painful though. Didn't have much rash but had other "complaints".

The only problems I had with mirtazapine was high blood pressure and I guess drowsiness. But the drowsiness was good because it meant I slept! I had to come off it due to the blood pressure though after a few weeks

SSRIs do bring those rare effects too. But it's rare.

I'm on Mirtazapine. Unfortunately my body is really prone to the common side effects so I get everything on the list once I do a med change or increase dosage.

Give it a try, alright? See it as a step towards recovery.

I have learned that sometimes it is best to just not look at side-effects of any sort of prescription drugs. I mean, did you know that Oraj has been known to kill people, mostly children? I used it a couple of times, and when I looked up the side-effects I was horrified and never used it again. I mean it's a cream for tooth aches for gosh sake.

I am not saying to just ignore the side effects altogether. Some drugs really do have extremely scary side effects that actually occur often. But still, you said it is less than 1% and there is something else you have to realize. If one person calls in saying that the drug gave them a side effect they have to put it on there. Granted, it might actually have to be a few people and not just one, but you get the point. Just because I took a Tylenol and got a cough, doesn't mean the Tyelnol caused it, get what I am saying?

Again, I still think we should be weary of side-effects. I just don't think they should consume us. It has to be about whether the medicine is worth it or not. If I am having trouble sleeping one night, I'm not going to take some sleeping pills that might (let's just say, give me seizures). But if I have to take some heart medicine that will keep me alive, and it also can cause seizures, obviously I am going to decide to take it. It has to be about whether it is worth the risk or not. It depends, in this case. If you and your doctor feel like you really need it, it is probably best. But if you think you can control the anxiety enough to function, then it might not be worth it. It just depends. I would discuss it more with your doctor though.

*******it, I should not have looked at those pages. My stupid curious mind, when you said don't wiki it, I did. Why the heck did I do it, I'm already on medication with some scary rare side effects...******* it!

I once was in CHEMIST SHOP when a guy came in and handed the ADs he had just been put on by his GP . WHY because he did just did what you did , read the side effects list and scared himself into a panic over it. So off he went still depressed and nothing to help.

Mirtazapine is one of the only Meds I can take...I have side effects with the other 25 Meds we tried. I'm at 45 mg. I was at 60mg but it made me have to pee all the time. I don't mean I had to pee a lot...I mean I had to go ALL THE TIME. I never felt relief. It was awful.

As for the side effects...every medication has side effects. It's a matter of weighing living your life or not. I want to stay alive so I take the medications. Without the Meds I don't think I'd be alive.

I've been on it for years.

I took remeron YEARS ago, it was given to me to help w sleep. The only side effect I had was weight gain. UGH.. which made me more depressed. I try to not look at the side effects listed and stay away from webmd type stuff. They have to give you ALL the warnings.. liability and such.. I'd try and see if it works for you, if concerned, talk w/ your doctor. Good luck.

Hey, wow, they give this, to felines, to stimulate appetite

I checked rxlist, and mayo, and even wiki. Lots of rare possible side effects, at the same time, seems the benefits could very well, outweigh the risks. The extensive rare side effects are 'only' listed on wiki

When I think of, not choosing a med, I think of the PML risk, from Tysabri and reported deaths. Now, that's something to chew on, in the benefits v. Risk, thought process.

Are there, reported deaths, from prescription use, of your med??
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Have you put on weight ???? I went up from 34 inch jeans to 38 in 1 month . Last week my wife pointed out a stunning young girl I was in mental hospital with. She had just been put on mirtazapine and would eat like I never saw before with her. Sadly I did not recognise her the other day , I don't no if she is still on the med but she was massive with weight gain it broke my heart to see a beautiful girl I remember this way .

I hated Remeron-since it made me very tired and hungry! Since, you can't tolerate the SSRIs, Nefazodone is another option, and is exceptional for anxiety and depression, if you're worried about the rare side effects of Remeron! Best of luck!

circles 5 ) sorry about wrong spelling im dyslexic , and please don't say to VAN,S that's the wrong med, Remeron is its other NAME.

40 pounds of weight gain...unfortunately it's weight or severe depression...sigh