Mirtazapine

[dark_soul777]

Well, I went back to the doctor today to get a referral to a new psychologist. He decided that because my old one said I hadn't responded to any of her treatments he would prescribe me medication.
It's 30mg of Mirtazapine once per day as an antidepressant and to help me sleep. I've never been on medication before and I'm wondering if anyone would care to share their experiences (with Mirtazapine in particular).
I'm also a little worried as this (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a697009.html) site and several others mention side effects such as self harm/suicidal thoughts when used on children and adolescents. I'm 15 and I self harm and think about suicide on a daily basis, will this make it worse?
Any help is VERY much appreciated.

[aperson444]

They say that for all anti-depressants. It's really rather rare, but it does happen. I know it happened to me when I first started SSRI medication (Prozac). Probably has something to do with the acute effects of serotonin increase vs the downregulation and more trophic factors. I think Mirtazapine has catecholamine release promotion and antagonism for serotonin receptors, and I know that when I first went to the psychiatric nurse, she was reluctant to prescribe me amphetamine/methylphenidate for my ADD because it might reduce my inhibitions to suicide. Mirtazapine seems to be an atypical TCA that really just augments typical SSRI therapy and allows sleep the same way diphenhydramine allows sleep (H1 receptor antagonism). I would be cautious, but I think that the risk is less than with SSRIs, especially because you likely are already on some other antidepressant. You may have already gone through a lot of the 5HT receptor changes that tend to bring on suicidal ideation and this might actually make you feel better (dopamine/NE release).

Just be wary and keep your medical professional informed.