hi all,

how are you all doing? i'm new here, just signed up as someone linked me to here when i was asking for some advice about mirtazapine (remeron)

i have been on this for a while now due to depression.

i started on a dose of 15mg a day and found that, at first, i was feeling very tired all the time. after a few weeks this past.

i have since been moved up to 30mg a day and now have a slightly worrying side effect.

after taking my tablet i am experiencing strange sensations in my joints and spine. these feel like an electrical pulse in my spine and a strange sort of buzzing in my joints. the buzzing in my joints is then causing me to have spasms. not small spasms, but to the point were i am making my bed moving and disturbing my partners sleep.

i am going to see my doc, but he has been off the last few days and i find the other doctors at the practice are pretty useless as i have to explain the whole story everytime i get a different one.

has anybody else experienced this?

otherwise it does seem to be helping, with the depression anyway. i am still getting panic attacks now and again and have a few episodes of strange thoughts that make me think i'm going mad.

anyway, i look forward to learning a lot more from the sight and hopefully being able to help others in similar situations. (cheesy i know, but i had to write it )

I took remeron a few years ago for a day. I had terrible side effects. Dizziness, dry mouth, I couldn't open my eyes for longer than 30 seconds at a time, blurred vision, sedation. I was like this for two days. I choose not to take any meds beacuse of the side effects I've survived. The worst was cymbalta, It was like I dropped Lsd or something manic w/ hallucinations.

The main side effects that I have notice is weight gain, sedation, & drowsyness. In the morning it's hell to wake up and I have to sleep atleast 8 to 9 hours but regardless I feel drowsy and sedated the first hours of the day. But the benefits are as follow. I have cured my insomnia, Although I still have mild sexual sides it's not from remeron. It's from 50 mg zoloft. I also feel more calm, less anxious and less depressed. But I think that zoloft with remeron together is better than either alone atleast for me. Right now my only dilema with remeron is the weight gain but I'm going to try my best a try to loose the 10 pounds I gained from remeron.

This post has been edited by Robert123: Oct 11 2008, 05:11 PM

When I was on Remeron I couldn't stop eating. I ate all day and night and couldn't satisfy any cravings, and gained 10 pounds in 2 weeks. I was on 30mg (I think, it was lowest available dose). The wierd side effect for me that nobody has mentioned was a severe middle (thorasic) backache. I don't have a bad back, just aches and pains from being out of shape and from the depression. During the short time I was on it I couldn't believe how much my back hurt all the time. The depression had lifted somewhat, and I had slept better than I have in many years, but the side effects were tormenting. Wish there was something like it that didn't cause weight gain, LOVED THE SLEEP!
I have been on many antidepressants and hate them all, but after a 1 1/2 year of being in bed and crying I can't take it any more. Seeing a counsellor and don't trust psychiatrists any more after the first two I saw.
I hear a lot about the remeron/effexor combo. I wonder if the exitatory stuff that happens with the effexor would outweigh the remeron? Hmm

cured my insomnia, changing a lot my lifestyle.
sedative effect only before falling sleep, but normal during day time.

also a really fast effect of alcohol drinks.

ive only been on mirt for over a week so far my dosage was 15mgs fo the first four days then upped to 30mgs after that.the 15mgs dosages i prefered as i actually enjoyed the sedative affect during the day as work was part on my reason for taking mirt. side affects for me are the vivid dreams,numbing affect,increased irritabilty at times so far,numb-tingling type lips,increased appetite,slight visual disturbances(such as not being able to focus as well) and a jumpiness as if i get a fright from noises and movements in my surrounding enviroment sometimes.i was wondering if i were to take half in morning and half at night would the sedative affect increase again?

Early on, it was the excessive sedation. Later in treatment, I noticed that I was gaining a lot of weight. About 15 lbs in a little over 6 months. So I checked both. I discussed these side effects with my doctor on Monday and he's now switched me to Lexapro. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for the poll!

switched to Remeron 30mg due to sexual side effects of previous AD. I also take 60mg of Methylin (ritalin) daily.
the Remeron made me sleep 12- 14 hrs a day, and I felt drugged for the first 3 hours awake. Then I went through jittery mood swings and felt more depressed and lethargic. Anger was easily attained for no reason and my friends said I looked like I didn't feel well. Suicide seemed better than felling like this, so I called Pdoc and he took me off ASAP. I HATE THIS DRUG. Be very careful when taking any AD. If side effects worsen after 2 weeks, PLEASE seek professional help. I learned the hard way. Too much suffering with this bad puppy!

remeron made me gain like 20 lbs.

The worst thing for me was that it made me pee the bed for the first few weeks (which is a possible side effect from AD usage in general). I did gain weight but after a few weeks I got used to the hunger and cravings and it settled down. Remeron really messed with my sense of taste and smell.

But on the positive side, it really regulated my sleep cycles and made me feel more energetic and motivated during the day. I was on 45mg dosage and I took it before bed. Remeron was the best AD I'd ever used, good vs bad side effects, but it still didn't provide enough relief of my symptoms on it's own.

Hi amakqv,

I am glad that the remeron has helped you with sleep, maybe if that isn't enough to help you out, as I am not a professional but you may need some kind of combo of meds to level things out for you.

I've been on it for over a month or so and am currently taking 45mg at night.

It's not helped with my sleep as I can't seem to get any that's deep and restoring and I always wake up unrefreshed.

At first I had hunger pangs and also some very strange and vivid dreams. I'm glad I'm not the only one to feel both emotinally numb and dumb, ( I really do feel stupid) but this could also be due to my depersonalisation and depression/anxiety as well.

So far I haven't noticed any other side effects.

This post has been edited by OpenO: Oct 16 2009, 09:12 AM

Hi OpenO,

I think that your feelings of feeling dumb and stupid is from your depression, depression has it's own way of making us feel that way and you are neither dumb or stupid that's the depression talking. I would say that if you are not feeling that you are not getting the sleep and feeling rested that you may want to talk with your pdoc to see if there is a need for a med/adjustment change. I don't know if you know it or not but if you look in the Water Cooler Forum you may find it interesting that Trace/Admins does do dream interpretations. Keep in mind that we are not professionals but it may be of some help to you.

I've been on Avanza (mirtazapine) 30mgs for nearly 3.5 weeks.
The worst one for me is the vivid dreams. They make more sense and are more interesting than the dreams I had on Lexapro, but they cause a hangover effect. They seem to linger in my consiousness throughout the day.
I'm not a fan of the weight gain either, but that seems to have stabilised over the last week or so.
A few days ago I upped my dose to 45mgs (30mgs at night and 15mgs at luchtime) and my anxiety ( the reason I use AD's in the first place ) has become REALLY bad.
The Avanza has done nothing to help my feelings of derealization, but I think it has helped my depression because I want to kick anxiety in the butt!
I've never really had a problem going to sleep, in fact I welcomed the escapism. It was getting up in the morning that was a problem, so perhaps Avanza is not the med for me.....

Hi I need a miracle,

It sounds like at least it's helping with your depression and as helped with your dreams making sense now. You may want to contact your pdoc about the feelings of the hang over effect which this is a side effect but sometimes where's off after you body gets use to the new dosage. It can take up to 8 weeks for meds to take full effect but with the anxiety level increasing it may be best to contact your pdoc.

Hi all,

My first post here, I've been on mirtazapine for 3 days now as a depression remedy. Yesterday I felt really aggressive and wanted to attack pretty much anyone around me (including a police car which drove past) for no apparent reason. I'm not generally a violent person, and my girlfriend was quite disturbed by my behaviour.

Apart from the "irritability", the drug seems to have cured my hayfever, and has given me an increased appetite/thirst. I still feel pretty down although my confidence is improving a little bit. The anxiety is still within me, but is diminished.

What else.. oh yeah, I changed over from escitalopram to mirtazapine with no cross-over period (on advice from my pdoc), and am getting electric shocks, which I guess must be withdrawal symptoms from stopping the esci. I had the same symptoms when stopping fluoxetine suddenly a couple of years ago (against medical advice), the electric shocks went right through my body.

I have some doubts as to the advice my pdoc gave me, mirtazapine and escitalopram have different modes of action and I don't think I should have swapped over so suddenly. I'm a chemist myself and have some grasp as to how the biochemistry of these drugs work.

Anyways, if anyone reads this, thank you.. any responses are appreciated.

Cheers,
IB

Hi ironbelly and Welcome to DF,

Wow, I guess I've never heard of it curing hay fever. You are the second person recently who has mentioned more irriatable and angry, along with the appetite and thirst. I have had the increase of appetite and thirst. It does take time for the meds to start working properally and hopefully given time you will also get more relief for the anxiety.

Hi and thanks SecretMist,

Yes apparently M is prescribed as antihistamine sometimes. I was extremely irratable yesterday, but today seems to be improving somewhat. I'm seeing my pdoc tomorrow, see what he has to say about that.

More soon..

IB

It's good to hear that you are feeling better today ironbelly

Yes my aggression has certainly died down, however I still feel a bit irritable, especially when tired. I find my electric shocks also come back when I'm tired.

I'm on day 10 of mirtazapine treatment now. I'd say I'm feeling quite a bit better, around 5/10.

Hi ironbelly,

In time once your system gets the full effect of the remeron your irritability should also calm down a bit. Try to give it some time as you are feeling better with it already and that is great.

I have been on mirtazapine for about 4 months now, and unfortunately I seem to have had all the effects :) Iv put on alot of weight, which i dont care about too much, i was underweight to start with, just have to get used to having a belly :D .. the drowsiness / sedation hit me from day one which made me feel 100% better instantly since I'm an insomniac and had been living on 1 or 2 hours sleep every 2 or 3 days for a year, dry mouth and nausea hit me about a month and a half in, it only lasted for a week, but was alot of throwing up and set me back alot in the normal inducement time of building drug up in system i think.. dizziness I havent had, headaches I somteimes go whole weeks where I have to have paracetamol or ibuprofen just to think, they are pretty evil.. in the past i usually try to avoid pain killers, but on mirtazapine I find after a few hours it gets too much.. those seem to have passed now though, I also had bad indigestion every night for about a month aswell ..

theres one symptom not in the poll that i have noticed though.. some days my pupils will be giant, like 1mm of iris left even when you shine a bright light or look at the sun, and other days my pupils will be pinhole sized, the complete opposite even when its dark....... It doesnt effect my vision but may be why I get headaches

Im kind of lost though, these are the first legal drugs iv done in 10 years..I'd not been to doctor since he gave me seroxat or something when I was 17 and it made everything alot worse, these took a long time to kick in at 30mg, around 2 months while i still felt awfull, then i had a month of pure happiness, and now im back to feeling awfull..

hmm,, guess im asking will a change in dosage be helpfull ?.. as far as my doctor knows its a miracle drug, Im not comfortable talking to him about side effects or reccurance of me wantin to cut my own throat etc :)

again yeah, lower back pain was new to me when taking mirtazapine.. is dehabilitating sometimes but makes no sense hehe, you start to think about buying new chairs etc, its a very odd one, it caould be the new weight, I dunnooo, working the lower back muscles slightly for a few hours stops for days, its a wierd one

hi everyone, im back on mirtazipine been on them a little over a week now my anxiety is stabalizing just through fact helps me blot out crazy thoughts was on them a few mnths back and boy did they help me sleep they was wonderful but this time round i can take my med and still be wide awake hrs later.. the water retentiontion is awful i look like a heavily pregnant woman with cankles thats swollen ankles lol they do help with appetite but im not a big eater and anything i eat gives me a sprint and i mean sprint to the loo x i am getting a little back ache and siatica just know i spelt that wrong lol ... but that could be due to the water retention ...apart from that they good but does anyone know if the doc can give you something to help with the weight/water retention? any feed back would be gratefully recieved . catherine x

Hi catherine,

With all that fluid build up and swelling I would suggest to you that you may want to see your pdoc and let them know that you are having all this swelling as the fluid build up could be something else too, it's important that you have a chat with your doctor. They do have water meds that can help but the fluid build up and swelling could turn out to be something serious and should be checked on.

hello and thankyou secret mist for your reply and yes i think your advice is wise. im going to get in touch with my doc asap as i decided not to take med last night because of the swelling problem but also i cant go with any kind of med . im not as swelled today but im still very swollen and just feel fat and horrible so its making my confidance drop an awful lot. many thanks again and yes im going to take your advice x

hey there went to see em doc this evening on the advice of the mental health team as its weekend i cant see my fam doc till mon or tues... anyways my blood pressure etc was ok but left the surgery with no meds as that paticular doc decided i should stop due to excessive water rentention hmm long time till mon just hoping i will be ok he was telling me about others to try one he mentioned was prozac hmm was not too sure as i want the right meds and not just anything, im now thinkinking to phone my pdoc on mon also to hurry my appointment as i really need to be on right meds to get better will keep you posted ,, catherine x