mirtazapine and sertraline

1. vangellis 17 October 2011 at 19:32PM
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   Hi all,

   I went to see my gp today as I have come to the conclusion that mirtazapine is doing nothing at all for me whatsoever. Afer a discussion he agreed with me. He decided to put me on sertraline 50mg once daily, he said to just stop taking the mirtazapine (22.5mg daily) and just do a straight swap over.

   Now from past experience with mirtazapine I know that this is not the way to go about this swap.

   So I am in a bit of a dilema as what to do, I'm thinking of cutting down to 15mg of mirt tonight then say 7.5mg in about a weeks time, Thing is I don't know wether to start taking the sertraline or wait a while untill I am of the mirt. coming of mirt is a living hell as I know only to well from the past.

   Do you think I would be ok taking sertraline with the mirt or what?

   thanks

   Vangellis

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2. depresseddi 10 November 2011 at 09:53AM

   Sorry to hear your meds aren't helping. I saw my Psychiatrist this week, they have decided to take me off Sertaline (which I have been on approx 3 years) and start me on Mirtazapine. I was recently diagnosed as having Cyclothymia, after suffering depression on and off for 20 years. (I'm 38 years old).

   I am currently on 200mgs Sertraline (I was previously told by a Psychiatrist that 50 mgs is neither here nor there). I have been told to reduce my Sertraline (by 50mgs a week), whilst at the same time starting the Mirtazapine, 15mgs first week, 30mgs second week, up to 45mgs on the 3rd week. Therefore after a month I will just be on the Mirtazapine.

   I really don't think its advisable for you to just stop the Mirt, or any anti depressant, it should always be done gradually, but only some meds can be overlapped with each other. You could maybe give your local Psychiatric clinic a call for advice.

   Hope you're feeling better soon and I will post how I'm doing coming off Sert and onto Mirt.

   

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3. jbonetwo 19 March 2012 at 08:32AM

   The usual starting dose of mirtazapine is 15mg daily. 22.5 isnt that much more so you'd at worst have a few mild side effects for about a week.

   Swapping is perfectly safe- several people use mirtazapine in conjunction with ssri's as the two tend to work synergetically.

   If you want to ensure a smooth transition, reduce to 15mg for 3 weeks and then start sertraline but I would consider this an unnecessary waste of time considering the long duration of treatments for depression/anxiety.

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