Comparing Hydroxyzine vs Mirtazapine

For Anxiety I have had severe Panic Disorder and Anxiety since I was 18. I am now many years older and still have a lot of problems with it. I was prescribed Hydroxyzine and paxil recently. I take 25 mg twice a day as needed and overall, I would say they do cut the edge off and allow me to escape the fight or flight feeling of complete panic. The tired laggy drained feeling is a definite negative although I will take that over a trip to the ER anyday. Utimately I think other medications are far superior in truly calming the symptoms of Anxiety, actually calming the mind as well as the body. Hydroxyzine usually seems to just make you sleepy and kind of sleep the fear away, whereas other medications like Benzo's calm you completely, without the lag.

For Anxiety It definitely helps my anxiety. That being said its not a med I brag about to my friends. I was having an anxiety attack tonight. I took one 25 mg hydroxizine. It definitely made me feel better. I kinda wish I had something stronger. Like I said it takes the edge off. Also to note early mornings sometimes you have to push to get out of bed. Med seems to linger into wake up time. Also at times can feel like its hard to think. I've only taken it for like a week.

For Depression I have been on Mirtazapine 15mg for about 2 weeks now and I have to admit that I have felt very different in this time. The plus side to this drug is that it really does control your sleep which is great for me. As well as this, during my low points I would be completely put off of food: mirtazapine has increased my appetite massively which is a big bonus as I am dramatically underweight. This drug has made me feel drowsy in the mornings and cloudy thoughts at times but so far it seems to be working. I absolutely would not recommend drinking whilst taking this drug as I had a recent bad experience where I had lost control over my arms legs, vision etc. As far as my work productivity, this drug has been wonders and I am feeling more confident, more relaxed and levelled. I still have low moments but they are more controlled, rather that than uncontrollable depressive states. I would rate it higher but I have to see the full effects of mirtazapine.

For Depression Was put on these 2 x 30 mg Mirtazapine over 10 years ago, for major depression, depression went but Dr's keep prescribing 2 a day, so I asked if I could stop, which was met with "WHY" and recommendations not to reduce any medications!! But after convincing my GP that taking high dose psych drugs didn't make sense to me when the initial complaint/condition had vanished, could she help me reduce and come off totally. To her credit she did a great job, and after 12 months slow reduction I am off, have also stopped 4 x 5mg Valium daily, all with no side effects. The moral to this story is Dr's are the distribution arm of big Pharma, and kept blissfully ignorant to good health care, It's up to "you" to take back responsibility for our own health