[brainfog]

Pdoc just started me on Mirtazapine. Can you share the positives and negatives of your experience with it?
Many thanks

[MuddyBoots]

Good sleep, major hunger
all it did to me

[Mountaindewed]

I gained 14 pounds in 2 weeks from it then I took myself off it which I don't recommend doing.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

First it worked very well for me for quite some time and without triggering my bipolar.


It's a weird med; the higher the dose the lower the side effects. If you are taking it for sleep you may need a lower dose. If you are having weight gain increasing the dose may decrease that side effect. When I was on the highest dose I didn't gain any weight.

It eventually stopped working or started messing with my bipolar (this was 20 years ago, I don't remember) and I had to go off it. But I liked it the time it worked for me.

[Stillhuman]

great for sleep. I think it's okay. Not a magic bullet for my anxiety and depression.

[WastingAsparagus]

It can help a lot when paired with Venlafaxine, but not any psychiatrist will prescribe this for you, as it can cause serotonin syndrome. But in my case, I have needed Venlafaxine + Mirtazapine to help with my depression a lot, a lot, a lot. Anyway, obviously don't try that without talking to your Dr. but I feel like mirtazapine has helped a lot on its own too. But combined with the venlafaxine it is great. (Meaning that it works).

[Rose76]

It was very good at helping me to sleep. You do have to take it a couple hours before you want to sleep.

My only negative: It caused me to dream a lot - vivid, complicated, weird dreams. They weren't nightmares, but it was too much thinking going on in my sleep.

I was forced to go back to amitriptyline, which I found similar to mirtazapine. They are both effective antidepressants, though neither is a cure. They help. Doctors prefer mirtazapine because it has less effect on the heart.

I do know doctors order mirtazapine for sickly people who have lost a lot of weight. It's considered an appetite stimulant. They put my boyfriend on it when he had c. diff. He did regain the weight he lost.

Watch out for constipation. (I highly recommend MiraLAX for that problem.) Take a stool softener daily to prevent constipation. Get a generic one. It's right next to the Colace and is identical, but way cheaper than Colace.

Mirtazapine dried out my mouth. Chew gum. (Water just washes the saliva out of your mouth, which is pointless.)