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Title: Mirtazapine and BPD? Post by: aspiegirl23 on September 18, 2014, 11:57:55 PM Does anyone know if the antidepressant called "Mirtazapine" can work for people with BPD? I finally convinced BPDh to go to see his Dr and that is what she prescribed... .he has taken it for 2 days now and things are kinda worse He is REALLY tired, lethargic, and even MORE cranky than before
I believe it is an SNRI so it is working on both serotonin and noradrenaline (norepinephrine). He was taking St Johns Wort before and that did help him a little which I believe mainly works on serotonin. I had thought she would put him on prozac perhaps, but she put him on the mirtazapine. I haven't got much knowledge of this one. I don't know whether he needs to keep going with it til the side effects wear off and the positive effects build up, or if this is already a sign that they aren't right for him. So tired of this Thanks. Title: Re: Mirtazapine and BPD? Post by: merlin4926 on September 19, 2014, 03:25:06 AM My exBPD took mitazapine for few years. It certainly helped him sleep but he didn't like the weight gain and used to stop and start which wasn't good. I think if he had taken it as prescribed it would have been better. He went through period of taking nothing and did ok for a while but then got very depressed. Overall he was definitely better on mitazapine than not. I think two days is not enough time so he should stick with it if he can x
Title: Re: Mirtazapine and BPD? Post by: sweetheart on September 19, 2014, 12:11:41 PM Hi aspiegirl,
With mirtazepine like any psychotropic medication, a couple of days is too soon to know its affect. Most medications that alter a persons mental state take at least 2-4 weeks to start working effectively; with a lot not reaching maximum accumulation in the brain until about 12 weeks. The main draw back for many people prescribed mirtazepine is weight gain, but this tends to level out after a couple of months and tiredness can be a problem too. Mirtazepine is used primarily to help people whose mood impacts on their sleep pattern, that's why it's taken at night. If your husband is feeling wiped out, the initial dose might need to be lower and then increased gradually over a period of weeks. It might be worth talking through this with his doctor. There is no one drug targeted at treating BPD, but there are many that people with BPD have found helpful in treating symptoms of the disorder like anxiety, anger, mood swings, depression, difficulty sleeping. If he can stick with it and the side effects are not too debilitating then they too will settle down in a couple of weeks. I hope things settle down for you both. Title: Re: Mirtazapine and BPD? Post by: maxsterling on September 19, 2014, 12:53:24 PM I think that is what my GF was just put on when she complained the Trazadone she had been taking left her feeling groggy with a reduced sex drive. She took it one night, the next day she said she was really hungry and gorged on junk food, and declared the medication as the culprit, and quit.
Fair enough. But I do question whether some of the side effects she complains of are really not side effects of the drug, they were issues already and taking the drug just gives her something else to blame. For example, she has difficulty sleeping, is tired all the time, and has a low sex drive anyway because of her depression. Same with the headaches. She will blame the medicine for causing her headaches. Yet, she was complaining of headaches before she was on meds. I truly believe the root of most of her problems is BPD, including depression, anxiety, difficulty handling stress, headaches, and pain. I think the BPD leaves her in a poor state to handle life, and then all of the above starts compounding on itself in a negative reinforcement cycle. My feeling is that if she could find something to tip the scale in the other direction, many of her problems would suddenly become minor issues. Title: Re: Mirtazapine and BPD? Post by: aspiegirl23 on September 21, 2014, 02:09:45 AM Thanks everyone. Well, day 4 now and things are better but worse too He is getting some small windows of feeling motivated/happy but then he is his usual horrid self too Today he totally lost it at my 9yo again and I have to start asking myself some serious questions about all of this again
His main issue is anger, to be honest, but it is so much easier to get an antidepressant prescribed. I am thinking though that I might try to find him a psychiatrist to just look after it all as well as give him the diagnoses that fit him - all of them. It is SO hard to get in to see one as a new patient here though. I only just finally got in to see one myself for my ASD and ADD issues. He hates seeing people like that though. I wish he was motivated to do all of this stuff for himself |