I thought I should say some more about mirtazapine as it’s part of this blog’s title.
I’ve been on this noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant since May now and only have good things to say about it.
It took a bit of getting used to. As I said at the time, the first dose was like taking a ultra-potent tablet dose of marijuana. Within half an hour my legs couldn’t hold me upright, my thoughts were vague and mellow, and I had an insane attack of the munchies.
After that I had pretty massive mood swings for the first few weeks while I adjusted to being able to feel things again. It felt a bit like very rapid cycling bipolar.
I was also tired all the time and only managed to stay awake for about eight hours a day. I don’t know if this is related in any way to the fact that my dreams were like spending a night at the cinema, action packed and vivid.
Once that wore off I went a bit manic. I’d be awake for several days on end writing furiously because my mind kept whurring.
It was all worth it though to have depression lifted. Not completely lifted, but enough that I stopped thinking about killing myself all day long. And it worked wonders for my anxiety. I could go outside again without having to run home five minutes later because I was having a panic attack.
Now, eight months on I’m become immune to most of the side effects.
The only thing I really have to think about now is that once I’ve taken it and fallen asleep, I can’t be woken by man nor beast until it’s worn off again. So I have to schedule in nine or ten hours sleep per day. And that I should probably start doing something about losing some of the weight that I gained as a result of the food cravings.
The pay off is more than worth it, however, because this drug has given me my life back. It hasn’t fixed me completely, I still have the underlying issue of the PTSD, and the fact that I have a lifetime’s worth of repressed feelings and memories to reprocess, but I’m a world away from where I was at the beginning of the year in terms of just straight forward functionality.
And I suppose it’s good that I like the drug, as I can see that I’m going to be on it for a long time yet. I’ve noticed if I’ve forgotten to take a dose that I soon get anxious and agitated again, so there’s a long way for me to go yet. But for the mean time I’m very happy with my mirtazapine, I think it’s one of the most positive things in my life.
Make-Up & Mirtazapine 
I took the actual Remeron years ago and found that I could not function at all. All I wanted to do was sleep. I told my family doctor that he was going to have to put me on something else. He did, but I don’t remember what. I’ve been off and on with several different medications throughout the years.
I’ve been seeing a psychiatrist for about 6 years now. I have been seeing my current psychiatrist for about 2 years. He put me on Mirtazapine 30 mg at bedtime about a year ago. Since I take it at bedtime, I don’t really notice any side effects.
I’m on several different drugs for various mental and physical ailments, so I’m like you said, “unconscious pretty much all the time”.
I’m taking lorazepam instead of diazepam.
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I asked my psychiatrist to switch me in the beginning but she insisted that I just need to build up a tolerance to the side effects, and I’m glad she did because this is the only thing that’s done me any good.
I was offered lorazepam by the crisis team one but refused it. I worked as a part time admin person at a mental hospital while I was at college, and wrote up a lot of notes with patients’ bad reactions to it, so I was scared to take it myself. Thinking about it though, it’s in the same family as diazepam, so I shouldn’t have had any problems if I’m with that.
I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been suffering for so long.
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We all suffer in one way or another.
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The mirtazapine coma…yup know that well. One morning I woke to numerous phone calls, emails and a friend hammering on my door on her way to work. I’d taken my meds earlier than usual and when I hadn’t replied to an evening ‘are you ok’ text that she’d sent she went into panic mode, rung me repeatedly, rung round other friends, had them turn up at my house, all the time I was oblivious of the worry I’d caused.
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Oh dear. It’s nice that they were all organised to take of you though.
The only time I’ve had anyone quite that worried was when I’ve just been asleep was when I was taking diazepam as well as the mirtazapine, because then I was unconscious pretty much all the time.
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