[darkthorn]

Well, GP has finally stepped up and given me something for the depression. Been reading the boards on this, a couple of old posts. Seems like not many people have stayed with this drug for long. Anyone that has had success with this on its own?

She's only put me on 15 mg, is this too low to do anything? My problem is PPD, plus normal (probably) MDD. I have some anxiety issues too, but that's not what this was intended to be for.

And she suggested it would be good for me to gain weight. I'm not in the underweight BMI, I'm just in the normal category. Sigh. She said if the weight gain was too bad, we could try something else.

Been seeing conflicting information about sex drive too. Can I hope it will improve mine? I mean, I don't have a sex drive now, it has to improve, right?

Anything else I should expect? I didn't get a brochure on it, so I've just been netting about it.

Lots of questions... thanks in advance.

[bluelikejazz]

Hi,
I had the PI on my computer, it says that 12% gain weight on it. 54% get sleepy. It's one of those weird ones where a lower dose is actually more sedating, so going up to 30mg might be an option.

I found it really helpful at first. It helped me sleep which had been a major problem, and my mood improved. It didn't last very long and when my pdoc raised the dosage to 45mg I became extremely anxious and discontinued it. I haven't heard of that happening with anybody else.

Sometimes it seems like nobody has any success with first-line treatments; but I think it's just that they aren't using crazyboards. People have to have shown some improvement or even the dodgy pharmaceutical companies wouldn't be able to get away with marketing it.

[MistyGypsy]

I found mirtazapine great for helping me sleep, but it didn't reduce my depression much if at all. I gained weight as well. My brother found it useful for both sleep and depression issues, but didn't really gain weight. I guess everyone's different

In my experience the docs usually start off at a lower dose & see how you respond to that. So if you don't feel enough of a benefit, it'll probably be bumped up as required. This helps to reduce any side effects as well.

Glad your gp has decided on this route, & look forward to hearing how it goes

[tryp]

I started on 30 mg. I found it very good for sleep and anxiety, but not so good for depression. But I did stay on it for a long time, and it did some good things for me. Hopefully it will help you.

[~nestling~]

Have been on mirtaz. nearly 4 years, at 30mg.
I'm still borderline-underweight. Basically gained what I lost on efex. which had made me severely underweight.
It helps me sleep, takes the edge off anxiety, and has seemed to reduce the amount of time of my more severe depressive episodes.

[darkthorn]

Thanks for the replies! Everyone cross their fingers for this working for me

[DarkendHour]

Hope it works well for you!

Not sure how long I've been on Mirtazapine now... I know its been over a year at least.

I'm on 45mg and I haven't noticed any problematic s/e from it at all. It could make you sleepy... but thats one of the reasons my pdoc picked this one for me and I take it at bed time.

Obviously its not my #1 for getting rid of depression... my Wellbutrin just got bumped up the other week.

Good luck!!!