Looking at the Mirt/Remeron forum I see a lot of negative threads. I was a little concerned in case a newcomer was to look into the forum for some hope. My story:

About six years ago I started feeling funny. I couldn't think of anything good to do and I felt like I was robbing a bank vault and the cops were coming towards me thru the lobby; serious anxiety. I had no idea what these feelings were and they caused me to really worry, such that I went to the Dr. I explained my problem and he attached a heart monitor to me for a 24 hour period to see why my heart was racing. My new anxiety/depression (unknown at that time) was causing me to worry such that I would hyperventilate and my heart would do strange things. I had NO idea it was happening in the brain. Obviously nothing came from the heart check or the full blood check. After about two weeks of this, with the dep/anx steadily increasing my dr. deduced that I might be suffering from depression. I had been losing large amounts of sleep and could barely function. I thought I would be admitted to an insane asylum for the rest of my life. My attacks would last very long because my reaction would trigger another attack. When I did sleep after exhaustion I would wake up in the middle of a panic attack. Life was not good.

So my dr put me on Remeron. I think around 7.5 or 15. RELIEF!!! Finally some moments of relief. But it didn't fix it all the time, only around night time. Oh the wonder of medication!!! Then he put me on Effexor but that didn't seem to do anything, so I begged to be taken off that. I think I made it to 30 mg of Remeron before he said that he couldn't legally prescribe anything higher and I should go to a psychiatrist. Well that just wasn't going to happen. Not me. I put that off as long as I could but then after I started singing Tiptoe thru the Tulips and liking it, I went. My new psych dr was a no nonsense guy. No compassion on the surface but very knowledgeable and not afraid of the hype. He listened to me telling everything I could, asked brilliant questions. When it was said and done I was on 300 mg of Effexor XR and 50 mg or Remeron and feeling completely like I was used to feeling. I felt so normal that I have often wondered if my dep/anx has left me.

My point is not to write a pamphlet. My intention is to say that Remeron was the med that finally gave me some relief. And as my dr increased it I felt confident that I would sleep peacefully. And I did.

I am to a point that I am coming off Remeron but staying on Effexor.

Please remember, there's always hope and there are combos of meds that should allow you to find relief. Hang in there!!!

Thanks for doing this Kernel - it is important to have access to positive news!

Hi kernel,
Thank you for taking the time put this out there. I am a remeron participant also and feel that it is working for me. As stated above it's so important to read positive info. Paece......Popi

I've been taking Remeron 15mg for a year now. It's helped get back on track and be active. The negative thoughts are still there though, and i have suicidal ideations everyday.
I tried 30mg but it made apathic.
Two weeks ago I added Effexor 37.5mg and for the first time in years I felt good. But for some unknown reason this didn't last and this week-end I'm having no energy and feeling more suicidal than usual.
I guess I'll go back to Remeron only. It saddens me so much that I'll spend at least the next months having suicidal and aggressive thoughts on a daily basis, even though I'll be functional.

(((hertz)))

Don't give up on the Effexor just yet. Such is the case with many AD's that this yo-yo of emotions is common. Usually in the first month or so of taking an AD your emotions can be all over the place. The good thing is that it's usually a sign that the med can work for you. I had the same thing happen to me with Zoloft. It eventually took almost 3 months for it to get to a level I could consider stable. Until that time I had horrible up's and down's. But now I'm doing very well 4 months in. Stick with it for a while because it can take up to 8 weeks for AD's to really work.