Anyone familiar with mirtazapine?

Posted by toren123 @toren123, Jul 27, 2025

Is anyone very familiar with mirtazapine for sleep or anxiety? I have been taking 3mg lunesta every night as instructed by my sleep neurologist. He thought that I was so concerned about my insomnia that I might need anxiety medication. Especially when I started waking up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get back to sleep. To my surprise he prescribed mirtazapine. 15mgs, take 1 or 2 pills with lunesta every night. The first night, I took 1 and had blurry vision and felt somnolent and generally lousy all the next day. The GP said cut it in half for 7.5 mgs. I still had the same results. The next 2 nights I took half of the half, 3.75 mgs. Still same results. After 2 days of only lunesta, no mirtazapine, my vision is almost back to normal and I’m feeling somewhat better. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Could this be a problem with the half life of mirtazapine?

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Profile picture for sharshy @sharshy

I have been put on Mirtzapine and have weird dreams and wake up in the night laughing.

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@sharshy Yes very weird dreams and have put on weight but I do get some sleep at last.

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Profile picture for raya55 @raya55

I tried this drug for sleep. Found myself ravenous and aggressive. No longer taking it. Took it for 6 nights

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@raya55 . How strong was it and what did you use instead?

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Profile picture for raya55 @raya55

I started taking Mitrazapine a week ago for sleep. Took over three hours to kick in. After a few days I was noticing that I was reacting angrily to things that don’t normally bother me. My aggression caused me to do some research. I found (on this forum) that many have had similar experiences. I took it for six nights. Will not take it again. I was also ravenous for most of those days.

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@raya55 What did you take instead?

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Profile picture for frouke @frouke

Mirtazapine is in the same category as Amitriptyline which is what I use daily, perhaps my doctor thought I could tolerate this medication but it didn’t help, I have had my share of medication but Mirtazapine was very scary for me, I recall having symptoms of restless legs and I was so worried about it because the sensation was very strong and foreign to me, it’s interesting how a med can work wonders for some people and be a proverbial nightmare for others.

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@frouke I have been put on Mirtazapine for restless legs and it was better than the restless meds.

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Profile picture for sharshy @sharshy

@frouke I have been put on Mirtazapine for restless legs and it was better than the restless meds.

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@sharshy it’s very curious how drugs work for some people and not for others, I did enjoy the appetite Mirtazapine gave me because I’m very thin and I sure miss it but not the restless legs.. I sympathize with you having this issue, thankfully they have help for this.

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Profile picture for sharshy @sharshy

@raya55 What did you take instead?

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I’m taking 10mg of melatonin, magnesium glycinate and L Theanene. These 3 actually do help me sleep

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Profile picture for raya55 @raya55

I’m taking 10mg of melatonin, magnesium glycinate and L Theanene. These 3 actually do help me sleep

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@raya55 as it turns out L Theanine doesn’t agree with me either - very disturbed sleep and sensations of losing my mind

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This drug was a nightmare for me. Took it for six nights. Caused me to be ravenous and aggressive. Now just taking 10mg of melatonin and magnesium . Sleep is hit and miss… more “miss” lol

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I know I'm wading into this late in the game, so you've probably worked your issues out already, but mirtazapine is known to cause vision problems, one of which (acute angle-closure glaucoma) is very serious (although rare). I would encourage anyone taking it who starts noticing vision issues to discuss them with their eye doctor.

Also, the half-life is 20-40 hours: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10885584/, so yeah, a daily dosage does accumulate.

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