Mirtazapine giving increased senses

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Hi
I was wondering if anyone has experienced an increase in their senses on mirtazapine (or other AD's)?

About 6 months ago I crashed with the whole package (depression, insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks). I've been on mirtazapine for the last 16 weeks (the first 4 weeks at 15mg).

When my dose was increased to 30mg, I got a boost in most of my senses. I normally have a good hearing, but now I can hear soooo many details that it sometimes gets uncomfortable. Also my vision is like way more detailed (bright light is really annoying now).
The same goes for the tinyest vibrations and all food is tasting so good

This video on youtube pretty mutch nailed the difference I'm experiencing (except the too over-exposed brightness and constantly looking all around)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plPNhooUUuc

I'll probably lower the dose when I see my doctor, next week, due the combination of side effects. But I'd like to know if anyone has had a similar experience. And wether lowering the dose made their senses "normal" again.

I personally found Mirtazapine to be the mildest of medications that I have ever taken. It merely enhanced my appetite and made me feel terribly numb. I shall not be taking it again.

@OP - I'm on 45mg Mirtazapine having crashed badly last Aug/Sep. I'm much more sensitive to light, sound and vibration since being on this. Haven't noticed the taste thing and my appetite is not heightened. The vibration thing is really annoying though, every time a heavy vehicle passes my home it makes me jump and sets of anxiety! I have been much more anxious since being on Mirtazapine anyway so it really isn't helping. I wake up feeling anxious almost every day, I want to get off this but am basically scared that I'll be suicidal again without med's. I'm waiting to see a Psychiatrist next month to discuss options.

I've been on 15mg of mirtazapine since mid-December and yes, I get this for sight and sound. Sadly, I can't say I've noticed it with taste. My vision seems much more acute, mostly in a good way, although sometimes I'll get a weird disturbance in my sight that makes me dizzy or startles me. I've adjusted a bit now, but when I first started taking it it - holy cow. It was almost like I could see every blade of grass. I must have looked stoned as I wandered aimlessly around my university campus staring at ordinary stuff in wonderment. Sounds, however, have become extra annoying. I've always been sound sensitive, but as I was adjusting to the medication I could hear everything. Christmas dinner in a room with two ticking clocks and 14 people was so horrendous I had to keep taking 'bathroom breaks'.

I am so glad to hear someone else say this because when I mentioned the sound issues to my psychologist she suggested it could be because my anxiety-induced irritability was causing it.

What side-effects are you getting with the mirtazapine? I'm still trying to decide if it's giving me more benefits than side-effects. The drowsiness and vagueness, which are my main concerns, seem to be fading away but since I've had an extra stressful couple of weeks it could also be because my anxiety has been overpowering the effects of the medication, good and bad.

Thanks for the replies. It's kind of relieving to know that I'm not the only one.

It also increased my appetite but that only lasted a few months.
I wouldn't say I feel numb. It's more like my baseline is tired, while feeling fresh and a little jittery (like way to much coffee), all at the same time.

@soldersplash
Sorry to hear it makes you so anxious. The vibrations from my neighbors washing machine freaked me out until I realized what it was, because I couldn't hear that one. That makes me wonder if you could prepare yourself, before the heavy traffic is coming, by opening a window slightly so you can hear it first.

@Lockheart
Yep, that sounds familiar. I could barely walk straight the first few days
I had no noteworthy side effect on 15mg except constant tiredness.
My current side effects are:
- Increased senses (status quo).
- Constant hizzing/ringing in my ears (status quo).
- A little drowsy/tired during most of the days (still getting better).
- Vivid dreams occasionally (still decreasing).
- Sleeping very light/waking up several times every night (the sedating effect has worn off a little).
- 1 1/2 to 2 hours after taking the pill, my lower legs feel like I've been walking to much. It goes away after 20 minutes.

When I was stressed my thoughts were kind of fuzzy but that went away when I became more calm. The drowsiness is still decreasing and, some times, I can almost supress it with coffee and going for a walk. But on the contrary I also have days when I'm just physically exhausted (by socializing and thinking to much).

Edit: Wow, my list looks pretty nasty but it isn't as bad as it looks and I feel WAY better than before I started mirtazapine

Interesting. Apart from the enhanced senses and the drowsiness, I don't get any of that. I'm taking it for anxiety. I went from being so wound up I could only sleep four or five hours a night to feeling nothing, at least until life got stressful. I was actually relieved to discover that I could still feel anxious. Too much anxiety is not a good thing, but there is also such a thing as not enough.

Yeah anxiety sucks. I didn't sleep much either (2-3 hour a night) because I was so wired up and over-thinking everything. There were many overwhelming things going on in my life before i crashed. Having eliminated those helped a lot

Good luck with getting the medication right. If you end up reducing the amount let us know what that does to your side-effects, including the enhanced senses.

@mik9

Thanks mik9, and thanks for the practical suggestion! I wonder sometimes how I don't think of the obvious. Always over thinking over complicating ...

@Lockheart
Thanks. I decided to reduce the dose to 22.5mg. I'll let you know how it goes.

You're welcome. Well, I had just read something about reducing anxiety by being prepared ahead. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have thought of it.

I've taken matters into my own hands re:dose as well. I was on 45mg, I'm halving and quartering the tablet so I can take 3/4 of it (so should be about 33 and a bit mg). Started two nights ago. Already feeling less groggy during the day. Too soon to really pass judgement. We'll see how I am after a week or two.
All the best

Though it was my decision, I did talk to my doctor first. Please be careful if you're doing it on your own.

I'm due to see a Psychiatrist to officially sort out meds in under 2 wks, I have no plans to reduce further than the 3/4 tablet level before then. Thanks for caring though. I should perhaps have made more of the relative caution I am taking and made some disclaimer of not encouraging any one else to 'go off meds' without Dr knowing etc ...

I got shingles two days after starting Mirtazipine, coincidence, maybe, i don't know. Was a low dose, i felt more sociable or able to be social at least. I also felt hollow, and more depressed. Did nothing for sleep either. Some people are very positive about it though. Stopped taking after about a month. Perhaps not long enough for a fair trial. Maybe the shingles was affecting me negatively. Was a bad month for me though.

Keep in mind, mitrazapine is one of those weird drugs where lower doses can cause an increase in side effects.

Yeah my doc did suggest a higher dose when i went and told her results. Perhaps a higher dose might work?