The FastDay Forum

Hi — anyone else here on mirtazapine (Avanza, Axit, Mirtaz, Mirtazon, Remeron, Zispin)? I've been on 30–45 mg for years (like, a decade). I'm on the med to help with sleep. I've gained weight since starting on it, and all my weight-loss efforts have been slow, difficult, and not very effective. I'd never really made the connection before with my weight gain & the med. D'oh.

At the start of April, my doctor reduced my dose to 15 mg, to see if it would help with weight loss. Mirtazapine has known weight gain effects, especially carb cravings and increased appetite. And lo and behold, yes, my appetite and carb cravings are less now! I'm waking early now (5–6 am), but it's proving to be worth it. I don't think I can get off the med entirely, but halving my dose is making a big difference.

What I've found (only 20 days in) is that my weight is starting to go down on 5:2 at last, and mostly stay down in between fast days. I've been on 5:2 for 2 years, and in that time have only managed a ~6 kg loss. I've never managed steady weight loss before — it was always down a bit after a fast day, and the right back up to where I was the days after. So I'm cautiously hopeful!

Anyone else in a similar boat?

Wow, that's good you figured it out at least! I have horrible sleep patterns, but my doctor years ago said there's no sleep aid that comes without issues and for many, the issue is weight gain. So I've never used anything stronger than occasional benadryl/diphenhydramine HCL.

I hope your losing days are here to stay!

I'm always so surprised to hear other people's doctors recommend sleeping pills.

I hope my losing days are here to stay too, although I've only ever had disappointments and struggles, so I'm not banking on it But here's hoping
Yeah, sleep stuff is so difficult. My daughter has bad sleep issues too — the only thing she's found helps is prescription melatonin (ie high dose).