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← Return to Mirtazapine for insomnia -- concerns
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Mirtazapine for insomnia -- concerns
Sleep Health | Last Active: Apr 5, 2023 | Replies (6)Comment receiving replies
I had a sudden unset of insomnia 3 weeks ago -- could not fall asleep. My dr had addl reasons to recommend Mirtazapine, I have been uncomfortable given my research (half-life is one reason, they say 16hrs) but he pushed it and I am not in a position to refuse (complicated).
I have taken 7.5mg at bedtime for the last three nights. While I do fall asleep, I wake up more than once and every sleep episode comes with a dream. It's not healthy sleep. I felt sleepy only the day after the 1st pill.
The advantage I see is that at the low doze it's not anti-depressive. I only looked superficially @Trazadone and it did not attract me, don't recall why. What side-effects did u experience?
If there is no improvement I may try Trazodone -- starting with 25mg.
Replies to "I had a sudden unset of insomnia 3 weeks ago -- could not fall asleep. My..."
With Trazodone, I didn't notice any side effects, except that sometimes I would build up a tolerance and need to increase the dosage. Now I'm slowly reducing my dosage by 25mg every few weeks to see if I can sleep without it. I was at 150mg/night and am now at 75mg at night with no effect on my sleep quality.
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I was on Lyrica for a while and had similar symptoms as you are having with Mirtazapine. I went to 3mg of melatonin 60-90 minutes before bedtime, and 7.5 mg at bedtime. Melatonin helped get to sleep, the Mirtazapine to help to get back to sleep quickly when I have to get up due to chronic pain/bathroom habits. Both work for me, but my goal is to get the chronic pain managed better so I don't need the sleep meds. One other point, I do use a CPAP for mild apnea.
Unfortunately, meds work differently in people, dosages need customization, time when you take the meds need adjustment as well. If what you're doing doesn't work or has side effects, explore options with your physician's advice.