Mirtazapine - Side Effects?

[Pink_and_Sparkly]

Ive just been put on 30mg of Mirtazapine, but im really concerned about the weight gain/appetite stimulant side effect. Does anyone have any good/bad experiences of this? I've just lost 2 stone and have issues with eating/laxatives and although I think the benefits will outweigh the negatives, I still feel anxious about taking this if weight gain is going to be an issue?
Also are there any other bad side effects?
Any info would be much appreciated!
x

[Strawberry.Bananas]

I'm sorry, because I don't think that this is going to be what you want to hear but I had a very bad experience with it. I put a lot of weight on in a very short amount of time to the degree that I ended up entering very bad eating habits just to stop gaining weight. I was on it for 3 weeks abs I would never take it again but the thing to remember is that different tablets affect people differently x

[Cedrus]

I've never taken mirtazapine but I wanted to offer some advice. I was on an anti-psychotic called clozapine once which caused an horrendous increase in appetite and was also a really strong sedative. my suggestion would be to take in when you feel really tired, so there is less time awake to binge. also, drinking lots of sugar free fluids and having healthy snacks in case you get really hungry. I don't know scientifically what the link is, but i found that meds that have a sedative effect often increase appetite, i think it has something to do with how it effects the histamine.

Have you tried any other anti-depressants, because im wondering, if weight gain is going to cause you to feel low, maybe its worth trying an activating SSRi.

[Once A Fallen Angel]

I'm on mirtazapine, olanzapine and venlafaxine and pregabalin-- all four have weight gain side effects :S . With the olanzapine I put on 5- yes 5- stone in 3 years, and as the mirtazapine is only a relatively new one for me I was worried about the weight gaine, but I have drastically changed my eating habits in accordance and now if I have to snack I drink lots of water to make sure it's not actually thirst, and snack on things like raw veg and sugar free jelly-- so far so good :)

[Stellata]

I'll have been on mirtazapine 6 years in October. Most of that has been on 30mg, and a year I managed to stay at 15mg.
I did get the munchies and gain a bit of weight when I first started on it. But I had lost a heck of a lot on efexor, and have never been much above underweight all my life due to my being born very premature and being naturally petite with a fast metabolism.
But I have retained a just on healthy BMI throughout, [hopefully this is not too much weight detail] never gaining a noticeable amount of weight. Now, I do tend to put on a bunch pre-menstrually now. But that's likely due to perimenopause [I'm 41] and not the mirtaz., and it does go after my period has started.

[Pink_and_Sparkly]

Thank you for the replies, they're really helpful

Im going to give them a try, and be very careful with eating. Hopefully if i dont overeat I wont put on weight? Due to my issues with eating, this will either work well or wont work well I guess!