Experiences - Mirtazepine works wonders!!!

[welshmick]

Originally Posted by baron samedi

SWIM starts taking Mirtazapine tonight. The experiences with bad dreams is worrying SWIM, as it has been a problem for him ever since he gave up cannabis over a year ago. Could be because he takes Olanzapine at night which has a delirious edge to it (in SWIM's opinion), but he was doing so when smoking cannabis every night without such problems. After a nightmarish, trippy dream SWIM finds it very hard to get out of bed for some reason, sort of in a scary half-awake half-asleep mode.
Fingers crossed that Mirtazapine makes things better rather than worse!

PUT MIRTAZAPINE in the BIN - It's horrible - and u got to get off it !

Doctors are just good salemen these days

[baron samedi]

Could SWIwelshmick elaborate on this statement please? SWIM already has his doubts about taking it, especially as he already takes Olanzapine5mg and Zopiclone 15mg at bedtime (not to mention 40mg Paroxetine and 45ml Methadone during the day), and is verging on hypersomnolent.
However SWIM will take anything that gives him a glimmer of hope in his quest to feel "normal" again, and experience the positive emotions that everyone else takes for granted (and which SWIM experienced for the first 19 or so years of his life).
Much of what he's read about Mirtazapine on these forums has been quite negative, but he'd like to know why SWIwelshmick has such a bad opinion on it.

[ne_clambaker]

i had remeron for some shitty insomnia for a while but it sucked because i was trying to fit 6 hours of sleep into a schedule with a drug that straight up knocked me out for 10 hours. So i would always spend the entire first half of the school/work day with no idea what was going on

[UpperAndDowner]

I have been on Mirtazapine 30 Mg for 2 months now and I have to say that it causes noticeable weight gain due to an increased appetite. I also find my self waking up every morning at around 9:30 am when taken at 1:30 am.

It also makes me have blank thoughts during the day and sometimes unable to focus. Given I also have ADD, I now take 20 mgs of ritalin sr daily, and have found that it deminishes the drowsiness caused by Mirtazapine the next day.

[Solinari]

Mirtazapine continues to give me very vivid dreams and lately it has been becoming more and more alarming, i have been getting False awakening's and it can be a really horrible. Just last night my dream, which usually relates to other dreams, was about my mother having married a millionaire and we moved in to the mansion. This millionaire husband i never saw nor my mother actually, but this millionaire had lots of drug taking sons and lots of very beautiful daughters who all fancied me (you can really tell its a dream eh).

Somewhere in this dream i become aware it's a dream (i usually do a 'reality test' hold your nose in the dream, if you can breathe through it, you're dreaming), once i had awareness but no control, more and more characters started to appear who i argued with about this being a dream, because of that I was sent to the doctor who started giving me stuff, it paralysed me and i couldn't move. Anyway, this is when i started waking up in the dream, i found myself in my own house in the living room couch, very dark, the TV was on (Hugh Laurie and Steven Fry actually) but it was very dim, i went in to the kitchen and the light wouldn't turn on. I "blacked out" in the dream and woke up again in this mansion room with the doctor, by this time i was starting to question whether it was a dream and continually doing the reality test. I blacked out again and woke up in my own house but a different bedroom that i slept in when i was younger, this time i was rapped in my covers and couldn't move. Then finally i woke up. Sometimes in other dreams this blacking out effect and waking up in another dream can have a sinister element, almost as if some entity is doing it to me on purpose and getting pleasure from it, but not in last nights dream.

My dreams have been related recently, usually about being in a different house, taking drugs and "blacking out" and waking up in the dream. Lighting levels in dreams are very strange, i have noticed in the darkness i can never turn a light on, and as with the TV being on, it was as if the brightness was very low.

[sweetsugar]

How long have swiy been takeing Mirtazapine for Solinari? and at what mg?

Swim was prescibed these too for depression and insomnia.
When she first started takeing them at 15mg each night she would have a great night sleep but find it difficult to get out of bed the next day, also noticed the 'zombie' like effect throughout the day. She would also wake up during the night to eat as she had an overwhelming hunger feeling, would go straight back off to sleep without a problem and had weeks of very vivid, sometimes quite desturbing dreams, mosly the dreams didnt make much sense, which is something swim was quite uneasy with as she was used to her dreams having some kind of meaning, be it wishfurfillment or something else. The dreams and 'zombie like' feeling throughout the day gradually eased off over a month or 2, as tolerence built (or perhaps the body/brain adapting). Swim continued to sleep well and gain weight. She was only on 15mg but on the odd occaision would take 30mg if she had trouble sleeping- and at that dose she would have the very vivid dreams again.
Swim has never used Mirtazapine for a comedown but found it quite helpfull for what it was prescibed for. Oh and gaining a few pounds!

[Solinari]

I have been taking it for, must be 2 years now or close too it. I have been prescribed 30mg but since i have read that anything over 15mg can reduce the sedative effect, i have usually been taking the smaller half of the pill.

That overwhelming need to eat during the night, oh man i though that was due to the methadone (apparently heroin and methadone dependence makes people crave sweet foods) but it looks like it's the
mirtazapine as well. Makes me wonder what one it is that makes me crave eating throughout the night more. I have had weight gain as well, from getting nearer the 9 stone mark at the
height of my addiction (and i am about 6ft) to getting as high as 14 stone, i am now about 12½ - 13 stone just now and it shows around the waist the most (which i would like to get rid of).

I am not sure about the zombie feeling, certainly lethargy, sheer lack of motivation and just no enthusiasm for anything, although i know the methadone will certainly be a factor for these thing i don't know if the mirtazapine is adding to it or not.

[phatassone]

SWIM has serious insomnia and mirtazepine didn't help swim get to sleep at all, not saying it won't work for others though, its definately a better idea than jumping into taking hypnotic benzos....

also SWIM gained about 15kilos in two months on mirtazepine..

[JDreaming]

SWIM tried Remeron and had more or less the same experience as Pino. It induced sleep immediately, it treated depression effectively, but it induced tiredness for the entire next day after taking even one pill. After blacking out unexpectedly at work and almost getting fired for it, SWIM quit the freakin' thing.

[baron samedi]

Many of SWIY seem to talk about very high doses of mirtazapine (90mg+), which confuses SWIM a bit as he was told by his doc that 45mg is about the maximum recommended dose for this drug. SWIM should mention, he lives in the UK and already takes another AD (Paroxetine), which might be a factor.
SWIM's doc doesn't even seem happy with going any further than 30mg with SWIM.

[sweetsugar]

Swim has decided to go back on these meds for insomnia, She had a strip left and took 30mg, and rightly said Solinari 30mg didnt do what swim would of expected it to which is pretty crazy, perhaps she should do more research on this! The vivid dreams are back but the zombie like effect is not, which is great.

Swim is now takeing 15mg, and at that dose she sleeps soundly. She has also made a dream diary to record all of these crazy dreams, and analyzing them, they do infact make great sense!

Would there be much change in effect if swim was to lower the dose further to about 5 - 10 mg?

Munchies are back in full force haha.

Lack of motivation and enthusiasm swim would say that is due to Methadone, that was exactly how swims ex was when he was on his maitenence.

[stephy171072]

Swim was diagnosed with depression years ago and has never really found an antidepressent that works for her. Swim was first prescribed fuluxotine and was on this for over 2 years and after putting the dosage up on that was still having no effect and things had just got worse swim was taken off it and put on mirtazapine and ampitriypline (sp) which then she was taken off of the later. Now anyway swim is just on mirtazapine for depression and insomnia and swim dosnt find it helps for either! Swims doctor is no help really and swim dosnt know wheather there is any point in keeping taking it as also swim is really scard of the weight gain aspect as swim also has an eating disorder.

[miffy]

Many people have said that it's great for insomnia, but can anyone tell me if mirtrazepine helped with their depression?

[rocknroll714]

Mirtazapine is a wonderful drug. I'd recommend it over an SSRI/SNRI any day. It's mildly psychedelic in high doses too which is fun. Here's a study in which 12 different antidepressants were tested in terms of efficacy and tolerability:

First Top 10 List for Antidepressants

Efficacy:

1) Mirtazapine (Remeron)
2) Escitalopram (Lexapro)
3) Venlafaxine (Effexor)
4) Sertraline (Zoloft)
5) Citalopram (Celexa)
6) Buproprion (Wellbutrin)
7) Paroxetine (Paxil)
8) Milnacipran (Savella)
9) Fluoxetine (Prozac)
10) Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
11) Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
12) Reboxetine (Vestra)

Acceptability:

1) Sertraline (Zoloft)
2) Escitalopram (Lexapro)
3) Buproprion (Wellbutrin)
4) Citalopram (Celexa)
5) Fluoxetine (Prozac)
6) Milnacipran (Savella)
7) Mirtazapine (Remeron)
8) Venlafaxine (Effexor)
9) Paroxetine (Paxil)
10) Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
11) Fluvoxamine (Luvox)
12) Reboxetine (Vestra)

Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 12 new-generation antidepressants: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis.

Mirtazapine was the most efficant as you can see. Tolerability was right in the middle which isn't all that bad either.

[humdroid]

Y had mirtys for four weeks but the depression and anxiety side effects felt too much.
He got weaned off them, by halfing the dose, and is now about to start trazodone.

[welshmick]

Originally Posted by humdroid

Y had mirtys for four weeks but the depression and anxiety side effects felt too much.
He got weaned off them, by halfing the dose, and is now about to start trazodone.

Funny old life, I'm now back on Mirtazapine, just 6 days at 15mg at night.
Slept better, but I can control my dreams now. Weird not control really, just decide when to end, then which one to go back to


Trazadone helped me, and I found them easy to get off.
Good luck humdroid

[humdroid]

thank you welshmick

[baron samedi]

SWIM has just had his dose increased to 30mg in order to help with hypersomnolence and over-eating (particularly at night), as well as the most important thing try to help SWIM overcome his depressive/stress-induced problems. 30mg is when the Noradrenaline aspect of the drug kicks in so fingers crossed SWIM will respond well to it.

[Jatelka]

45mg IS the maximum licensed dose for Mirtazapine (not just in the UK)

I suspect that those who are taking doses in excess of that are not taking their meds as prescribed

Some doctors also prescribe outside the license of course, but I have not come across this with Mirtazapine

[humdroid]

Y had thoughts of suicide on the mirtys and so doc weaned him off them. He felt a bit of a comedown of them too.
Y is still on trazodone, too early to tell if it works yet. Good for sleep (some nights)

[baron samedi]

SWIM's been on 30mg for a week now. No great difference has been noted yet, but apparently it's one of the AD's which takes longest to have an effect. SWIM's sleeping patterns have gone up the wall since starting Mirtazapine though. He could sleep 15 hours every night without too much trouble, although because of the disturbing dreams SWIM gets most nights, it's not often very restful. (SWIM should add that he's on 4 other prescription drugs, plus he's started daily usage of the "incense" smoking blends, so Mirtazapine may not be the only factor.
Is Trazadone a Tetracyclic, like Mirtazapine?

[humdroid]

Originally Posted by baron samedi

SWIM's been on 30mg for a week now. No great difference has been noted yet, but apparently it's one of the AD's which takes longest to have an effect. SWIM's sleeping patterns have gone up the wall since starting Mirtazapine though. He could sleep 15 hours every night without too much trouble, although because of the disturbing dreams SWIM gets most nights, it's not often very restful. (SWIM should add that he's on 4 other prescription drugs, plus he's started daily usage of the "incense" smoking blends, so Mirtazapine may not be the only factor.
Is Trazadone a Tetracyclic, like Mirtazapine?

Trazodone is a phenylpiperazine, whatever that means.

[Valseedian]

if anyone is still having issues with dream-blackouts or nightmares, read a childrens' book before bed and keep a light on in the room.

dreams most often resemble the last thing you did, so reading a particularly cute or pleasing book just before sleep can be helpful.
same can be said with more adult content.


keeping a light on in the room will counteract your dream-blackouts.. instead you will just find yourself waking constantly... seriously better than sleep paralysis..

tho swim hasn't found a cure for nightmares alltogether, he finds them to be worth it in the long run.