Mental health struggles anyway
Hey there, I'm Phil, and if you don't mind, I'd love to share my story. I'm 35 years old and work long hours to support my family-the people who mean the world to me.
Anyway, let's rewind a bit. Back in February of 2018, I was planning my kids' first vacation abroad, you know? And this is when everything with my mental health started spiraling. Holidays have always excited me, but for soe reason that trip to Lanzarote-where I had been on my honeymoon the year before-became a nightmare.
I hid in my room like a scared little kid; butterflies were doing cartwheels in my stomach, and I couldn't stop running to the bathroom. So basically, it was one of those moments when your nerves just completely go haywire for no good reason.
When we got back home, everything went back to normal, and I thought this holiday was a fluke... oh boy, how wrong could I be? Almost four months later, another trip to Spain hit me with the same feeling until we returned home again. That's when it dawned on me that something wasn't right.
I decided to talk to my GP about it, and they suggested I see a CBT therapist and put me on sertraline at 50mg. Around that time, I was organizing a friend's stag weekend which was supposed to be really fun...
But guess waht? The same old nervousness hit me again. Over the next few years, everyday life went okay, but every change in routine-like going on holidays or even jst little day trpis-would trigger these feelings.
Fast forward to October 2023, I had been on different dosages of sertraline for a while now until my GP and I decided it was time to switch me to the lowest dose of citalopram. Things were going well for a few months till suddenly, everything went topsy-turvy again.
December 2023 saw me off work for two weeks on holiday with my family-looking forward to it all-but five days in, I felt like I was losing control. Life lost its color and I just wanted to cry. Getting back into a routine of going to work sounded so tempting. It was awful, and I ended up at the emergency room feeling out of sorts.
After some bank holidays on January 2nd 2024, my GP bumped my dose up to max citalopram. Things calmed down for a bit, but I knew deep down it wasn't right. In late June this year (2024), I had another chat with a new GP who suggested trying something different in the antidepressant family: SNRIs and Mirtazapine.
I started on 15mg of Mirtazapine while tapering off citalopram, and by day four, wow! Things were looking up. It felt like I hadn't been this good for at least seven years. Booking holidays became a breeze again, planning with my family was fun once more.
The downside is that it makes me sleep really well but struggle to wake up in the morning. Yet last week, after talking to a friend on Mirtazapine who's had great success moving to 30mg, my GP suggested I follow suit for less sedation.
I switched to 30mg Monday the 22nd of July, and here's where you come in: one week later, I'm dealing with a mild but persistent headache plus constant tiredness. Not missing alarms anymore,but feeling lethargic all day. I'm curious if anyone else experienced this or if it'll fade over time.
Thanks for reading! Hope I haven't bored everyone to death.
7 Replies
Glad you checked in with the doc! It's like trying on different shoes until you find one that fits just right. Some meds take their sweet time to kick in, so patience is key here. Just keep chatting with your doc about how everything's going-your body will tell you what it likes best.
There are always new drugs coming out, so definitely run those by the doc too-see which ones might work better and cause fewer issues for you. Internet advice can be overwhelming, but nothing beats a good old chat with your doctor and paying attention to how your body reacts.
Been on Mirt for 5 years, heard both horror and good stories. On max dose of 45mg, started at 15mg for sleep issues, anxiety pushed it up. Some days I'm fine, no relapses, but others I feel numb, can't feel love. Read a lot, check out "D.A.R.E." book. Hope to get off meds someday, but they help now. Good luck
Hi,
I think my wife has been on different medications, maybe like what you were talking about. She's been taking Mirtazapine for several months now and hasn't had any big issues except she feels pretty tired. Her dose is 45 mg.
Maybe this will be helpful?
Colin
I have tried different doses of mirtazapine-15 mg, 30 mg, and 45 mg-and each one has resulted in varying degrees of fatigue, brain fog, or difficulty waking up. I am unsure what the best course of action is and would like to hear about others' experiences and thoughts as well.
Hi everyone, thanks so much for your replies. It's kind of comforting to know I'm not alone, but also a bit tough that there are others in the same boat as me. Today was just one of those 'mh' days, you know what I mean? I went into work and did my 12-hour shift. The day wasn't too bad overall-started very tired, got plenty of energy once I started working, then felt pretty lethargic after that before switching to happy and back to not really interested again. My friend said it's just my body adjusting, and they told me in about two weeks things should feel more normal.
I didn't want to be on meds, but if taking theem means being the best dad to my kids and husband to my wife, I guesss that's what I'll do. I don't usually share much, but it helps knowing others understand what I'm going through.
Thanks a lot everyone, it really means a lot.
I hope you're all doing okay.
Yeah, I'm trying to get off mirt right now. The 7.5 mg did nothing for my anxiety and the 15 mg made me feel so weird with all these side effects honestly. Plus, I'm super sensitive to meds in general. Once I'm fully off it though, I'll probably have a better idea of how much it was really messing with me. But right now, man, I just feel pretty loopy on it-can't wait until that's gone too.
Yeah, it can totally take about a month before you feel kinda normal again with certani meds. Honestly, there was this one where my vision got all wonky in just one eye for a few weeks, and that was crazy lol.