Mirtazapine

What is mirtazapine?

Mirtazapine is used to treat depression. Mirtazapine is in a class of medications called antidepressants. It works by increasing certain types of activity in the brain to maintain mental balance.

How should this medicine be used?

Mirtazapine comes as a tablet and as a disintegrating tablet to take by mouth. It usually is taken once a day at bedtime. It may be taken with or without food. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take mirtazapine exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.

To take a mirtazapine disintegrating tablet, open the blister pack with dry hands and place the tablet on your tongue. The tablet will disintegrate on the tongue and can be swallowed with saliva. No water is needed to swallow disintegrating tablets. Once the tablet is removed from the blister pack, it cannot be stored. Do not split mirtazapine disintegrating tablets.

It may take several weeks or longer for you to feel the full benefit of mirtazapine. Continue to take mirtazapine even if you feel well. Do not stop taking mirtazapine without talking to your doctor. Your doctor probably will decrease your dose gradually.

What special precautions should I follow?

Before taking mirtazapine,

• ​​tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to mirtazapine, any other medications, or any of the ingredients in mirtazapine tablets or disintegrating tablets. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for a list of the ingredients.
• tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking the following medications or have stopped taking them within the past two weeks: a monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), linezolid (Zyvox), methylene blue, phenelzine (Nardil), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam, Zelapar), and tranylcypromine (Parnate).
• some medications should not be taken with mirtazapine. Other medications may cause dosing changes or extra monitoring when taken with mirtazapine. Make sure you have discussed any medications you are currently taking or plan to take before starting mirtazapine with your doctor and pharmacist. Before starting, stopping, or changing any medications while taking mirtazapine, please get the advice of your doctor or pharmacist.
• the following nonprescription or herbal products may interact with mirtazapine: St. John's wort; trytophan; cimetidine (Tagamet). Be sure to let your doctor and pharmacist know that you are taking these medications before you start taking mirtazapine. Do not start any of these medications while taking mirtazapine without discussing with your healthcare provider..
• tell your doctor if you have or have ever had a heart attack, low blood pressure, heart, kidney, or liver disease, or high cholesterol.
• tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. If you become pregnant while taking mirtazapine, call your doctor.
• if you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking mirtazapine.
• you should know that this medication may make you drowsy. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this medication affects you.
• remember that alcohol can add to the drowsiness caused by this medication.
• if you have phenylketonuria (PKU, an inherited condition in which a special diet must be followed to prevent damage to your brain that can cause severe intellectual disability), you should know that the orally disintegrating tablets contain aspartame that forms phenylalanine.
• you should know that mirtazapine may cause angle-closure glaucoma (a condition where the fluid is suddenly blocked and unable to flow out of the eye causing a quick, severe increase in eye pressure which may lead to a loss of vision). Talk to your doctor about having an eye examination before you start taking this medication. If you have nausea, eye pain, changes in vision, such as seeing colored rings around lights, and swelling or redness in or around the eye, call your doctor or get emergency medical treatment right away.

What side effects can this medication cause?

Mirtazapine may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• drowsiness
• dizziness
• anxiousness
• confusion
• increased weight and appetite
• dry mouth
• constipation
• nausea
• vomiting

Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of the following symptoms or those listed in the IMPORTANT WARNING or SPECIAL PRECAUTIONS section, call your doctor immediately or get emergency medical treatment:

• flu-like symptoms, fever, chills, sore throat, mouth sores, or other signs of infection
• chest pain
• fast heartbeat
• seizures

Mirtazapine may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while you are taking this medication.

If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online (https://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch) or by phone (1-800-332-1088).

In case of emergency/overdose

In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at 1-800-222-1222. Information is also available online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at 911.

🔗 Reference: https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a697009.html