Discussion Venlafaxine vs Mirtazapine

[Moonomyth]

Oh, one addendum - the withdrawals if you run out of Venlafaxine were rough as hell. I've also been on lexapro and citalopram in the past, and never before were the withdrawals so bad after screwing up my refill schedule. That was the only time I have gone to the ER for the sake of getting an emergency refill after three days without.

 

[Sadddd]

Thank you @Moonomyth @L-L !

I'm seeing the mental health nurse today and also looking at paying for private psychiatric. I'm in the uk, the nhs is amazing but things like mental health are under covered

 

[L-L]

I'm in the same boat - also from the UK. From what I've heard, your care can be influenced by your care team.

Hope your appointment goes well, and remember you can make requests and have an input into your treatment!

 

[Suicide_vampire]

I'm actually on both these meds. I take 375mg venlafaxine in the morning and 15mg mirtazapine with 150mg quitiepine at night.
Side effects I've had are weight gain (as per), really dry mouth.
Has it helped? No idea I'm so used to low mood I don't know, what normality is, so the best answer I can give is I'm still here and functioning as best I can. Hope that helps.

Thank you @Moonomyth @L-L !

I'm seeing the mental health nurse today and also looking at paying for private psychiatric. I'm in the uk, the nhs is amazing but things like mental health are under covered

Yeah, seriously under funded, I spoke to my psychiatrist in December and asked if I could see a psychologist for therapy CBT or NLP to try rewire my thought processes. So I was referred and in my area there is a 13 month waiting list. I mean seriously...

 

[Sadddd]

I'm actually on both these meds. I take 375mg venlafaxine in the morning and 15mg mirtazapine with 150mg quitiepine at night.
Side effects I've had are weight gain (as per), really dry mouth.
Has it helped? No idea I'm so used to low mood I don't know, what normality is, so the best answer I can give is I'm still here and functioning as best I can. Hope that helps.

Yeah, seriously under funded, I spoke to my psychiatrist in December and asked if I could see a psychologist for therapy CBT or NLP to try rewire my thought processes. So I was referred and in my area there is a 13 month waiting list. I mean seriously...

It does thank you for sharing this!

 

[arslongavitabrevis]

Day 14 of Mirtazapine after a month of Fluoxetine made me more suicidal (which is why I went to the doctor anyway).
I've had two huge breakdowns while on Mirt and feel my social anxiety is pretty much the same. Appetite has increased which is good and bad. Definitely sedating but getting up in the morning feels like gravity has upped by 10x. Still base level depressed,lots suicidal ideation and last night I wrapped a belt round my neck and hung from a hook till I almost passed out.

So.... it's a fucking guessing game at this point. As everyone has said, brain chemistry is a wild and varied thing so what works for one may not for the other.
I find it quite terrifying that we're just throwing darts at a board and hoping for a bullseye. It's disheartening and makes me understand the fallibility of the medical establishment. Nobody knows what the fuck they're doing.

Doctors tomorrow to try something else.

 

[Sadddd]

Day 14 of Mirtazapine after a month of Fluoxetine made me more suicidal (which is why I went to the doctor anyway).
I've had two huge breakdowns while on Mirt and feel my social anxiety is pretty much the same. Appetite has increased which is good and bad. Definitely sedating but getting up in the morning feels like gravity has upped by 10x. Still base level depressed,lots suicidal ideation and last night I wrapped a belt round my neck and hung from a hook till I almost passed out.

So.... it's a fucking guessing game at this point. As everyone has said, brain chemistry is a wild and varied thing so what works for one may not for the other.
I find it quite terrifying that we're just throwing darts at a board and hoping for a bullseye. It's disheartening and makes me understand the fallibility of the medical establishment. Nobody knows what the fuck they're doing.

Doctors tomorrow to try something else.

Im really sorry to hear that, sending positive thoughts to you and hope the doctor is ok tomorrow.

I'm here if you want to message. I started on the Mirtazapine after no sleep for 2 months so side effects lost in actually getting sleep. The first 4-6 weeks of any med always makes me super anxious but your situation sounding really difficult.

It does thank you for sharing this!

Sorry I replied in a rush the first time. That is a long wait, did you go on the list? And was that for talking therapies or something else? You can self refer into talking therapies also but would have thought having access to the psychiatrist would have sped your referral along

 

[smonchybons]

Mirtazapine pretty much zombified me for a good 6 months where I kind of needed it. Got amazing sleep, but woke up super groggy every day. It was just a haze, no ups or downs. Like a dull bubble?

Decided to stop taking it myself and didn't struggle too much with withdrawal.

Venlafaxine is what I take at the moment, after 7 years of being off meds. I was so against them. Sertraline, fluoxetine, citalopram - all sucked for me. Mirtazapine haze was ok but not again.

I've been on Venlafaxine now it since July 2019 and at first it was the best bloody thing I'd had since my first Valium (ha). Despite the first week feeling like a daily comedown (only physically though - nausea/gurning), my anxiety was nowhere to be seen. Then my GP upped the dose and things went wrong. Then she put me onthe extended release and it's sort of levelled out.

I read lots about people experiencing terrible withdrawal, but the times I've missed doses I've luckily not suffered with anything too bad.

 

[Sadddd]

Mirtazapine pretty much zombified me for a good 6 months where I kind of needed it. Got amazing sleep, but woke up super groggy every day. It was just a haze, no ups or downs. Like a dull bubble?

Decided to stop taking it myself and didn't struggle too much with withdrawal.

Venlafaxine is what I take at the moment, after 7 years of being off meds. I was so against them. Sertraline, fluoxetine, citalopram - all sucked for me. Mirtazapine haze was ok but not again.

I've been on Venlafaxine now it since July 2019 and at first it was the best bloody thing I'd had since my first Valium (ha). Despite the first week feeling like a daily comedown (only physically though - nausea/gurning), my anxiety was nowhere to be seen. Then my GP upped the dose and things went wrong. Then she put me onthe extended release and it's sort of levelled out.

I read lots about people experiencing terrible withdrawal, but the times I've missed doses I've luckily not suffered with anything too bad.

Thank you! Nice to hear from someone who has had some generally ok feedback about venlafaxine. Interesting as I was ok on citalopram but am pretty hyper normally anywau