DOSE:

30 mg

oral

Pharms - Mirtazapine

(pill / tablet)

BODY WEIGHT:

57 kg

A friend of mine has been prescribed Mirtazapine ('Zispin' brand), as an antidepressant, on and off over the last two years. He was initially prescribed 15mg tablets and is now on 30mg doses.

Mirtazapine has a sedative effect and is normally taken before bedtime. As far as I know, my friend doesn't always take the pills and only really uses them as a sleep aid, as and when he needs them. He therefore doesn't normally mind sharing them with others if we have been out raving, taking stimulants, etc.

We were on holiday recently and he gave me three doses, one to use that night, and another two to use later, because he was leaving the next day. I had taken a couple of the 15mg tablets a year or two ago and found them to be mildly sedating, in a similar way to lower strength benzodiazapines. The 30mg doses, however, produced much more pronounced and noticeable side effects.

Dose 1:
As I closed my eyes to go to sleep that night, I saw a rapid succession of dreamlike images, as though I was starting to dream without really being asleep yet, it took me ages to actually drop off, and when I did, I had a rather difficult and unhappy dream. When I awoke the next day I was groggy and uncoordinated. I was also shaking - I had been drinking rather excessively in the preceding days, however, and put this down to the alcohol that I had consumed. I felt very constipated that day as well, although I didn't attribute this to the mirtazapine at that point.

Dose 2:
I took the second tablet that evening, an hour before going to bed. This time the pre-dream images were more intense and disturbing. It took me ages to actually get to sleep, because of the images that would suddenly pop into my head. I had another very dark dream in which I became lucid. Lucid dreams are rare for me. I remember trying my hardest to wake up by pinching myself and ringing my hands. When I did 'wake up', I woke up into another dream. When I woke up for real I made the decision to end my holiday and go home that day. The mirtazapine hangover seemed to last all day. I felt exhausted, as though I hadn't actually had any proper sleep that night. The constipated feeling continued.

Dose 3:
Once I arrived home I decided to go to bed early that night so I could get a proper sleep. I decided not to take the third hit of mirtazapine and try to sleep unaided. This proved to be impossible. This is very hard to explain...I was dreaming vividly, but felt as though I was still awake...It was as though my body wouldn't allow me to reach a deep state of sleep. After four hours of this, I gave in and took the mirtazapine. I had to work the next day and felt terrible all day...it truly did feel as if I had been awake for days...I also had a terrible craving for unhealthy foods which I normally don't eat. This continued for yet another day, to the point where I almost had a full-blown panic attack at work and had to go home early.

It is now three days since I took the third tablet and my mood, appetite and sleeping pattern are almost back to normal. I wouldn't recommend mirtazapine to be used recreationally, or as a a sleep aid, by people who haven't been prescribed it, especially at higher doses. I certainly wouldn't recommend abusing it for more than one day consecutively. I've had benzodiazepine hangovers before, but this was worse...bear in mind that I was only taking the stated dose - one tablet a day at bedtime.

Exp Year: 2007	ExpID: 61902
Gender: Male
Age at time of experience: Not Given
Published: Apr 2, 2007	Views: 59,157
[ View PDF (to print) ] [ View LaTeX (for geeks) ] [ Swap Dark/Light ]
Pharms - Mirtazapine (311) : Difficult Experiences (5), Retrospective / Summary (11), Alone (16)