Hi and Welcome Chris

There is so much information here and I hope that you find a way to deal with your depression. You may also check the portal for information and if you need the substance abuse room, please pm any moderator or Admin for the password.

Trace

I agree with that. Avoid it. Mixing depression witha depressant like alcohol aint good.

This post has been edited by akanassi: Jul 29 2009, 08:04 PM

Hi I am Brian, and I am 30 years old. I have been using mirtazapine since october 2008, and although I am not happy with the weight gain! I am content with it. I have asperger syndrome which I was diagnosed last year, and a history of bouts of depression.

I have been on many SSRI's before but they always kept me awake at night and messed up my sleep pattern.

Hi Brian

Sorry about the weight gain but it's good that you find it works in other ways. That's quite late to be diagnosed with aspergers isn't it? Has the diagnosis affected you in any way?
Hope we can help to support you through your depression.

PRT xx

Hi every one,

This is the first time i have posted on any forum so please bear with me.

I am Mick I am a 41yr old married father of 5 beautiful kids.I have a good job, a comfortable place to live (in need of considerable renovation) and yet i strive for happiness on a daily basis. I am now just coming through my third major episode of depression/anxiety with the help of mirt 30mg.I am now at week 9 and feel that i am at last climbing out of a huge hole that has probably been 18 months in the making this time. I have always felt that i am not worthy of the great gifts life has given me and i always am waiting for the "bubble" to burst even though it never does.This is the first time i have been on AD and stuck with them for this long. I felt awfull for at least 8 weeks on these. The first month i didn't know what i was doing half the time and boy did i sleep ( 12/15 hrs a day) Before i sought help i coudn't sleep for more than a couple of hrs due to my brain not switching off. The second month was a little easier and now i feel a lot better.I am worried how ever that when i return to work in 4 weeks that the pressure of my job/life style etc will put me straight back to square one again.

Thanks for this site, it has certainly helped me a lot. I have been browsing for a few weeks and gained a great deal from all on here.

Mick

Hello, I was diagnosed with Severe Reoccuring Depression and anxiety when I was 12. I've had my ups and downs and all arounds the last 15 years, but now I am at a place where I can take ownership for my happiness and that is what I am striving to do. I've gone to therapy for years, taken meds. and lived with stigma, but now I am truly flying free.

I know that depression will always be there, but I have chosen not to let it hold me back.

This post has been edited by ndpendentinker: Aug 12 2009, 12:06 PM

Hi MadMick, welcome to DF

I'm sorry I didn't see your post sooner to welcome you. Congratulations for sticking with your AD. It can be really hard when the side effects kick in. 2 months is a long time to feel rubbish for. I'm glad you're not sleeping so much anymore and functioning a bit better. I hope you find the site useful.

PRT xx

Hi ndpendentinker,

It sounds like you're really on top of things, it must have taken a lot of work to get there. Well done for facing your depression head on. I'm sure others here can learn a lot from you.

PRT xx

Hello - My name is Toby - im 40 and from the UK . Ive been on Zispin .. Mirtrazapine .. Remeron ( never heard it called that until i came looking on here) for about 8 years. I was on 30mg a day for the first 7 then last year i was put up to 45 mg. Im also on valium / Diazepam but a fairly low dose and im happy with that.
My problem.. problems with this drug are becoming more and more infuriating. Ive always hated the weight gain aspect of it but taken it because i dont feel depressed much any more. But nowadays i am gaining more weight ( about 4 stone over the 8 years) im not eating more im excercising more but not too much as im lazy. The weight is now an issue itself that is making me depressed so its a paradox. I dont seem to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time ( but go quickly back to sleep) .
i have been on one kind of anti depressant or other since i was 20 - and diazepam temazepam and beta blockers as well. I used to drink alcoholically to self medicate but i have not drunk alcohol in 5 years now.
So basically im on 10 mgs of valium a day and 45 mg of Zispin etc and i want to come off the ADs because i am getting very unhappy with my own appearance - its not vanity its purely self esteem. i have never been over weight until i started taking these ADs and im sincerely fed up feeling and looking fat. Im 6 ft and about 14.5 stone ( 200 pounds i think) and i dont like me very much at all at the moment..

Wow that was a rant i wasnt expecting to make ....

cheerio for now

ToBy
^T^

This post has been edited by Rotten_orange: Aug 24 2009, 08:18 AM

Hi Toby, welcome to the Remeron forum

I completely understand you wanting to come off the meds after gaining 4 stone. Don't worry about ranting, we all do it round here!!!
Good luck if you do decide to come off it, let us know how it goes!

PRT xx

Hi my name is John and I have been dealing with anxiety/panic disorder for about 8 years (since high school). I managed the last 7 years with trying various SSRI's (and some xanax initially, then klonopin). Although effective, the SSRI's have always caused SD to some degree or another.At one point I tried going without an AD. My panic/anxiety had me losing sleep and was disturbing my daily life. My new doc I started seeing earlier this year started me on 7.5 mg of mirtazapine. After some weird initial side effects (super sleepy after taking it at night, hard to get up, vivid dreams, a couple of hallucinations after taking it) the first couple of weeks, I seemed to adjust. We upped it to 15. I noticed irritability as one of the side effects when adjusting dosages that goes away in about a week.

Right now I'm on 15 mg every night for panic disorder. I take klonopin .5 mg-1mg as needed.

The 15mg seems to lessen the severity of panic symptoms/attacks, reduce the frequency of them, and help me sleep through the night. However, I still have panic symptoms starting late morning going throughout the afternoon which can include increased heart rate, nervous thoughts about death/health, worrying about future/finances/family, sweating, hot flashes, things like that. It usually doesn't develop to a full blown panic attack, but it is uncomfortable and makes it difficult to work. I already started a thread, but my interest is in what I can do besides taking klonopin daily late morning to control for this panic. I'm wondering if increasing the dose of remeron would be effective. My doctor and I are discussing going up to 22.5mg to see. I was wondering if anyone else had any good results with panic disorder raising the dose up instead of lowering it. Thanks for listening.

Hi John. Welcome to DF!

I'm glad that the 15mg helps you sleep through the night but it is very distressing to have anxiety during the day. I also suffer from this and don't want to take anything that will make me drowsy - it's fine at night time. I haven't taken mirtazapine myself so can't answer you about the dosage, but hope you find something that works for you soon. From a non medical point of view I find it helps to make sure I'm active. The more I try to sit or stay still, the worse it gets. Although I appreciate that if you have a sit-down job it's not possible always.

PRT xx



This post has been edited by PRT: Aug 24 2009, 02:49 PM

Hi, I am 23 from Chicago, IL. I have been moderately depressed and very anxious for most of my life. My depression gets pretty severe around this time of year (autumn). I've never been able to stay committed to an anti-depressant/anti-anxiety med for more than a month (tried two times, was given lexapro and kylonopyn both times). My anxiety had worsened to the point where I had terrible irritable bowels and awful flare-ups of what felt like stomach acid to the point where I had to get a colonoscopy/endoscopy. My doctor said everything looked fine internally and suggested I get my anxiety checked out by a psychologist again...

I'm really against the idea of being prescribed medicines but this season coupled with my stomach problems kind of has me backed into a corner. So I started going back to the psych, was prescribed 15mg of remeron. When I addressed my stomach issues to him, he told me that the bulk of serotonin is built and stored in the stomach and remeron will treat that nicely.

Started taking it for a week and became increasingly more tired and became very late for work nearly every day. I called my doctor to see what can help and he told me to double the dosage to 30mg after the month supply was up, stating that it makes you more awake. Now I'm doing that and all of the negative side-effects have just doubled. Instead of feeling awake around noon I don't feel awake at all. When I nod off before bed I'm convinced that it's the middle of the day and I'm talking to co-workers or friends, only to feel limb after limb coming back to bed. The restless leg thing is awful too, considering I can't even walk due to the dizziness. The dreams I've had have been unsettling to say the least. I'm even later for work now than I ever was. I probably would have already stopped if it wasn't doing miracles for my digestive system. My doctor had mentioned something about taking remeron with an ADD medicine and I fear this regimen will just turn me into a walking robot, no emotions whatsoever. But I will remain on it until I have my next appt.

Hi Kofaco, welcome to DF!

My depression gets worse in winter time so I know what it's like to dread a time of year coming. I know you wrote your message a while ago but I'd like to hear how you're doing now that you've had more time on the Remeron? Is it working any better for you now?

PRT xx

They have just added Mirtrazapine for me, with citalopram and lamotrigine. I've already read about weight gain, not good, I will have to keep up the extra exercise as I've just got down to a weight I am happy with.

Welcome Girly!

I hope you're feeling a bit better today? You may not get the weight gain (crossing fingers and toes for you). It's difficult to keep up the exercise when you're feeling low. If you get someone to do it with it is much easier.
Let us know how you get on.

PRT xx

Hi im darragh and am deppressed as long as I can remember. after a long road that included self medication, addiction and self harm i have been put on mirtazapine by my doctor. Im only on day ten and it has left me rather numb and i find myself drained. I suffer bad anxiety and insomnia so I am hopefull this medication can help. im taking the odd xanax here and there the last few weeks to help me along but am hoping I can settle on the mirtazapine. anyways I nice to meet you all :)

Hi Darragh and Wecome,

I do hope the remeron helps you as it has helped me wonders. There are many people to whom remeron works really good for.

Hi everyone,

I've been reading this forum for a few days now as part of my pre-mirtazapine research. I'm 29 and have been suffering from generalized anxiety, social phobia, and occasional depression for around...I don't really know. 16 years? I've tried most of the SSRIs (Lexapro, Celexa, Paxil) and they've done absoultely nothing for me. Last year I tried Wellbutrin and had to stop after a few weeks because it caused some very bad side effects. So after doing a bunch of research and almost deciding to take various anxiolytic (then chickening out) I settled on mirtazapine.

I took my first 15mg dose last night and it put me out like a light. I'm still pretty drowsy today, but I hear that's quite normal for a while at least. I hoping this is the one that does something for me, but I'm extremely worried about the weight gain. I'm already overweight (which contributes to my anxiety issues) and I don't want to gain anymore. Well...we'll see.

I hope to get some advice from you guys as I continue my mirtazapine journey.

This post has been edited by Gozer: Nov 1 2009, 05:49 PM

Hi everyone,
I'm 32, though not for much longer, mum of one beautiful daughter. Have suffered from reactive depression since the age of about 14. Although have always been on anti-depressants of one kind or another I found my turn-around was when I had my daughter. Considering how closely I was monitered and the fear I had of having post-natal depression, I actually found the opposite happened and with hand on heart felt I could say I would never again self harm or attempt suicide.

Unfortunately I recently found my anti-depressants weren't having as much of an effect as they had been. Nothing serious really, which shows as I immediately saw my doctor which I'd never do when seriously depressed. My GP put me on mirtrazapine last week I think (can't remember much at the moment). Since then I've done nothing but eat, my body feels like it's too heavy to carry, I'm tired but still not sleeping properly. More frightening for me though is that I feel much like I did as a teenager. I feel a bit out of control, like I might do something stupid, I then feel so guilty when my thoughts are a bit more rational that I soon start spiralling downwards again. I keep thinking that my daughter has nothing to gain from me anymore, I'm tearful all the time and focusing on the past.

I will make an emergency appointment tomorrow, I keep visualising myself sitting down to accuse my doctor of trying to bump me off by putting me on these tablets... though obviously I know that's not the case, I just feel so angry at such a huge change in such a short amount of time.

I'm sorry it's not a great introduction. This isn't what I'm usually like at all, I just really need to express some of what's going on for me right now. Would also like to hear if anyone else has been effected so profoundly by mirtazapine?

Thanks in advance,

Seledas.

Hi and Welcome Gozer

I really hope the mirtazapine works for you and that it makes a difference in your life.
Please make yourself feel at home.

Trace

Hi and Welcome Seleda's

I am glad that you have an emergency appointment tomorrow to discuss how you are feeling.
You may want to start your own topic, to get some feedback on this. I am sorry that you are suffering so and I hope that the doc can sort something out for you, fast.
Please make yourself feel at home.

Trace

Thanks Trace,

I don't know if this is a fluke, but I'm on my second day and I feel much less drowsy that day one. I also take Provigil (modafinil) so I don't know if that has some mitigating effect on the drowsiness. I still feel like I'm on a dose of cough medicine, but it's not so bad enough that I can't function (and write a research paper).

hi. new to forum so i thought id say hello. just started taking mirtazapine at 15mgs after trying several other meds that didnt seem to work. sleep is a major problem but strangely i dont feel tired even if i havent slept for a few nights. due to see someone at mental health on mon. just hate feeling down all the time. bfn sandra

Hi sank9 and Welcome to DF,

It's good to have you aboard. As you go a long here on DF you will notice that most of us have or are where you are now and will share, support and offer suggestions as to how you are feeling. We will see you on the boards.