Misc Mirtazapine as an antidepressant / anxiolytic

[DistyBoi]

Been scanning user reports recently on various forums relating to non addictive antidepressants and anxiolytics. Usually within a few posts you tend to get a horror story from a user about side effects or how ineffective the drug was (usually SSRI/SNRI related threads). However since I've been looking into Mirtazapine I tend to find a trend of only positive reports from users and a severe lack of negative reports. The wiki article on it seems to be extremely positive too when compared to a lot of other antidepressant/anxiolytic drugs that lack abuse and withdrawl issues. Also seems to really help with sleep issues too for a week or so (its a H1 receptor agonist) until tollerance to the sedation kicks in.

So is this a wonder drug for people with depression and anxiety? Or am I missing something? Finding it hard to find negative reports so far ...

 

[Doomed2pain]

It sent me batshit mental, I mean properly psychotic. Nor did it help me sleep. I was gutted as I'd read a lot of ooh reports too. There are issues with weight increase too according to some friends who have used it. But everyone is different.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I've been on mirtazapine for about 2 months and I sleep just as good as I did when I first went on it. The only thing that's really changed I no longer feel like a zombie like I did the first week. It's also helped my anxiety but probably wouldn't be good for those with really bad anxiety (at least not by itself).

 

[Folley]

People have been taking them at my school (yeah... in school.) and the general consensus seems to be, if you can stay awake, youll feel great! but thats a big if...

 

[BrokedownPalace]

I am not on it now since I stopped seeing this one doctor, but I was prescribed remeron (mirtazapine) for a few months, but I only took it at night. I took 30mg each night, and that shit knocked me out proper. I never took it during the day so I can't comment on its effectiveness on depression/anxiety, though at night it would certainly sedate me before I would pass out. I am also on benzos/soma and was doing opiates daily so my anecdotal experience on its effects on depression/anxiety are more than likely unreliable.

 

[jaurk]

When I went on it, after an hour of attempting to write a trip report, I went for a shower, in complete darkness.
Every time I closed my eyes I saw the room in full brightness, instant dream-state, before this happened, the come-up was like flashes, just flashes every few seconds, then the instant-dreaming whilst awake started.

The next day, any loud noise or anything which got my attention made me jumpy, and scared me a lot.
I had to do a physics test, and math study the day after I took it, I only just made it, I loaded myself up on psuedoephendrine to make it through the day, as that was the only stim I had in my house.

I do not like mirtazpine, but I don't have depression and I don't need it.

It's pretty much exactly the same as sleep deprivation, the hallucinations that is.
I had ataxia because I was so tired, makign it from the shower to bed was a struggle, I felt like I was about to drop dead (well, drop sleeping)

I didn't like it at all
I wrote a report in "I just tried BLANK but don't want to write a trip report" thread.

 

[THC2LSD]

For me, Mirtazapine works great for depression. Helps me sleep too, although its not as good as temazepam or ambien. It gave me crazy ass vivid dreams for months.

The only thing I hate about it, is its an 5-hpt2 antagonist, so it probably blocks psychedelic drugs. Does anybody know if it does?

 

[Sepher]

I've been 'on' Mirtazapine for 2 - 3 months. I use 'italics' because I'm not all that regimented with my use of them. I try to remember to take them, but tend to use them as a sleeping aid mainly when I realise I ain't sleeping so much.

It certainly cuts anxiety. I had to come off Prozac because I was having head zaps and felt generally anxious and over-stimulated on them. Mirtazapine is way better as far as that goes. One of the symptoms of my depression is self-harming / suicidal thoughts, and Tourettes-like ((( Really quite loud! ))) vocalising of negative thoughts ((( Wanker! Dickhead! What a fucking knobhead! Things like that. ))) Much worse on Prozac, much reduced since switching.

Helped sleep at first, they do not help me sleep any more. I started on 15mg I think, which knocked me right out within half an hour, upped to 30mg tabs, wide awake, why aren't I sleeping? Upping to 60mg helped for a while, now I just get restless leg syndrome, which stops me sleeping. Duh! 5mg Zolpidem + 30mg Mirtazapine tried as a remedy for that don't help all that much as a sleep inducing combo. 10mg Zolpidem + 60mg Mirtazapine has me kicking like a junkie in withdrawal.

Positives are they are really short-acting as a sleeping aid and do not linger on into the morning, nor do they flatten affect in the same way that Citalopram / Escitalopram (((( a.k.a. Cipramil and Cipralex ))) did. I was a complete zombie on those two, noticeably. They may help prevent deep emotional lows, but they also prevented emotional highs, for me. Life was not worth living on them, which kinda defeats the point of being on anti-ds in the first place, no?

They're working. My mood is generally much better, notwithstanding the ongoing sleep disorder. That may well be related to super-vivid / lucid dreams on them. Very entertaining, frequent flying.

 

[HdoubleODeezy]

try some good old fashioned imipramine or amitriptyline. Was on the latter for a few months before it made me manic (im bipolar)

Nothing against the drug at hand, was just giving you more options on different drugs that are the same type kinda..

 

[ferinox]

Most of these reports I read are just acute usage which you can't judge the drug by that, its meant for chronic use. It's a perfect antidepressant/anxiolytic for me. It kicks in by the end of the first week, it's effective, and it continues to help me sleep. Everything seems so much better since I started taking it. No side effects except munchies and transient daytime grogginess. I love it.

 

[suessmayr]

I'm no longer on it because it caused me to gain a lot of weight. But that was the only negative involved. It helped me sleep, totally killed anxiety, massively improved my mood and just generally kept me sane. Now that I'm off it I'm having to juggle multiple meds and constantly use benzos to manage the anxiety as effectively.

 

[DistyBoi]

I'm no longer on it because it caused me to gain a lot of weight. But that was the only negative involved. It helped me sleep, totally killed anxiety, massively improved my mood and just generally kept me sane. Now that I'm off it I'm having to juggle multiple meds and constantly use benzos to manage the anxiety as effectively.

If weight gain was the only side effect against "helped me sleep, totally killed anxiety, massively improved my mood and just generally kept me sane" I would risk the extra weight! Or just excersise on it too.

I wonder why a lot of people report this extra weight gain on this drug? Makes me wonder if its effecting endocannabinoid systems in some way that been as of yet unstudied, giving people the munchines ...