Does anyone have experience with Mirtazapine?

Posted by faithshouse @faithshouse, Jun 20, 2019

My husband has trouble staying asleep, and falling back to sleep when he awakens during the night. It concerns him, but we wouldn't say that he is depressed. He had heard about Mirtazapine for sleeping. His doctor prescribed 15 mg. Has anyone had side effects, or depression while taking Mirapine? Is it more for depression, than for sleeping? Thanks for your feedback.

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I was on Amitriptyline low dose for quite awhile, I had actually started on them for nerve pain and it worked great…I was taken off them because I developed rapid heartbeats after having covid, the cardiologist said they were bad and the heart and actually contributed to the problem…I can’t take the newer antidepressants so I started on Mirtazapine about two weeks ago because I can tolerate them since they are in the same class of antidepressants called Tetracyclics. I don’t really feel anything yet and I’m not sleeping any better, I also need some weight gain and it seems that they help with that…I would like to get a dna test to determine what would work best for me with anxiety and depression, my eldest son is trying mushrooms for anxiety and he says it really helps him but I am afraid to try them.. I have done some research on it and it’s rapidly becoming more popular because they don’t have lots of side effects…I would like to hear more about this option from people who have tried it.

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@frouke

I was on Amitriptyline low dose for quite awhile, I had actually started on them for nerve pain and it worked great…I was taken off them because I developed rapid heartbeats after having covid, the cardiologist said they were bad and the heart and actually contributed to the problem…I can’t take the newer antidepressants so I started on Mirtazapine about two weeks ago because I can tolerate them since they are in the same class of antidepressants called Tetracyclics. I don’t really feel anything yet and I’m not sleeping any better, I also need some weight gain and it seems that they help with that…I would like to get a dna test to determine what would work best for me with anxiety and depression, my eldest son is trying mushrooms for anxiety and he says it really helps him but I am afraid to try them.. I have done some research on it and it’s rapidly becoming more popular because they don’t have lots of side effects…I would like to hear more about this option from people who have tried it.

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@frouke I highly encourage getting genetic testing. I was in the hospital in 2020 and was given an SSRI drug Fluoxetine. It lowered my sodium to 115, I spent three days in ICU. The hospital did a test, RX Match, that showed I cannot take SSRI drugs! It was worth the $250 to get tested. My insurance wouldn’t cover but well worth knowing this info. It also showed I have a gene variant MTHFR C667T Heterozygous which can cause depression and anxiety of which I have both. Due to this variant I have to take L-methylfolate (prescription) indefinitely. I’ve been on Mirtazapine since then and I feel great on it. I’m still struggling a bit with sleeping. The doctor had to adjust the dosage once. It does tend to increase your appetite a little, at least it did with me. It’s taken me six mos to lose 17 lbs!

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@soledad02

@frouke I highly encourage getting genetic testing. I was in the hospital in 2020 and was given an SSRI drug Fluoxetine. It lowered my sodium to 115, I spent three days in ICU. The hospital did a test, RX Match, that showed I cannot take SSRI drugs! It was worth the $250 to get tested. My insurance wouldn’t cover but well worth knowing this info. It also showed I have a gene variant MTHFR C667T Heterozygous which can cause depression and anxiety of which I have both. Due to this variant I have to take L-methylfolate (prescription) indefinitely. I’ve been on Mirtazapine since then and I feel great on it. I’m still struggling a bit with sleeping. The doctor had to adjust the dosage once. It does tend to increase your appetite a little, at least it did with me. It’s taken me six mos to lose 17 lbs!

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I’m going to look into getting tested because it would make things so much easier, as I previously mentioned, I started on Mirtazapine about two weeks ago, 7.5 mg. to start with, I heard it’s good for weight gain which I need and also helps with sleep. I did notice at this point I have an increased appetite so that’s good but due to a recent bronchial infection I had to take amoxicillin and prednisone which cause their own symptoms so it’s hard to say how much the mirtazapine has helped, the prednisone also causes insomnia but thankfully I only have to take it for five days. Thanks again for your help and I hope you’re doing well too.

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@soledad02

@frouke I highly encourage getting genetic testing. I was in the hospital in 2020 and was given an SSRI drug Fluoxetine. It lowered my sodium to 115, I spent three days in ICU. The hospital did a test, RX Match, that showed I cannot take SSRI drugs! It was worth the $250 to get tested. My insurance wouldn’t cover but well worth knowing this info. It also showed I have a gene variant MTHFR C667T Heterozygous which can cause depression and anxiety of which I have both. Due to this variant I have to take L-methylfolate (prescription) indefinitely. I’ve been on Mirtazapine since then and I feel great on it. I’m still struggling a bit with sleeping. The doctor had to adjust the dosage once. It does tend to increase your appetite a little, at least it did with me. It’s taken me six mos to lose 17 lbs!

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I take 15mg but it stopped helping with sleep after a week or two.

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@imomtojdkt personally I would give it a few months before quitting. Many medications take awhile before they start working.

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I took it for Gastro issues , and depression . 7.5 mg was good but 15 mg too high for me .
I was on it 6 months . I didn’t even realize I gained 10 lbs ! I need to lose weight not gain .
It was a good drug but I wouldn’t say it helped me sleep 💤. I’d try Lunesta or Ambien for that .

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I’m also taking Mirtazapine for about three weeks and just starting to feel some slight improvement with anxiety but not much improvement with sleep…I did read that they usually start you on 15 mg. but apparently 7.5 mg. Is apparently better for helping with sleep.

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Has anyone taken hydroxyzien??
Atarax or Vistrail?
Experience?
PCP prescribed it for sleep while tapering off Ativan.

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@frouke

I’m also taking Mirtazapine for about three weeks and just starting to feel some slight improvement with anxiety but not much improvement with sleep…I did read that they usually start you on 15 mg. but apparently 7.5 mg. Is apparently better for helping with sleep.

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Yes, 7.5 is recommended for sleep

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@kawanhee

Yes, 7.5 is recommended for sleep

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I noticed that they recommend 7.5 mg. for sleep benefits but I need it for both and I’m not sure how to deal with this.

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