Does anyone have experience taking low dose Remeron for sleep?

Thanks for bringing this up. I’ve had terrible insomnia for well over a year. Remeron has been suggested by more than one doctor but I’ve been hesitant. I took SSRI’s for years which didn’t do much for depression. I had a horrible time getting off of them. It’s been a few years now and I don’t want to go on another medication if I can avoid it. I might have to if I can’t get insomnia under control so I appreciate this thread. I haven’t had a full nights sleep in a very long time. Even when I took Clonopin, I still woke up. I average 2-5hrs interrupted sleep a night.
The Remeron weight gain is a concern. I was able to lose over 40lbs after stopping antidepressants and don’t want to put it back on. It seems like the low dose works well. Maybe it’s not as much of an issue on a lower dose? Hopeful for good sleep for all of us here. Sleep is healing and so important. Not sleeping well is really getting to me.

Congratulations for getting down and almost stopping these horrible benzos. I plan to also go as low as 0.125 when I get down. I taper .5 mg every two weeks. I sped it up to every 10 days and got very bad anxiety. I think if I had not initially gone the cold turkey route I would not have to be going so slow but I did a number on my brain when I did that. So I am back to going very slowly. I must admit the Remeron has been a Godsend but I hope someday to taper off that too.

Hey - me too to all that you said. I resisted the Remeron for a long time, thinking I could handle it myself. But my sleep was severely affected during the last part of the taper (.25mg and down) and I realized I needed help. I went even slower than you - 6-8 weeks at each reduction. We will get there! I am thankful for this site!

Hi!
Insomnia is no joke. And the longer we toss and turn, the worse it gets. I do hope the Remeron won't be an issue with weight since it is such a small dose. I fought it for many months until I was lying awake all night. It was messing with me emotionally, so I had to do something. I am also starting acupuncture next week. I try a little of everything just to sleep. Best of luck!!

Wonderful news! I had a great first night experience, which I did not expect. I feel completely differently after a full night's sleep. And yes, this is not one of the evil drugs.

This thread helps me to consider Remeron if I can’t get rid of this insomnia. I’ve been worried about taking this drug but it keeps coming up as a recommendation. I’m also starting acupuncture next week to see if that can help. Not sleeping is just awful and I can’t believe how bad it’s gotten.

When PN suddenly hit me, I was in the hospital for 2 weeks before being transferred to a nursing home for 5 weeks of intensive PT to learn how to live in a wheelchair with limited use of hands. It was hoped that in time I could get stronger and regain some balance and regain some amount of life skills. The nursing home physician greeted me with a prescription for Remeron, saying they gave it to all patients there because they found it helped them sleep. It did indeed work for that. I slept, they woke me up to dress me and get me to 3 meals a day and PT 2 times a day, and I slept at all times in-between and most of the night. I fell 6 times in that month, btw, all in PT. I had a laptop, but really couldn't use it much because my fingers & hands weren't really capable, and plus if I had free "play" time, I couldn't stay awake. When I went home with the prescription, I continued the same pattern of only staying awake for meals and my physical & occupational therapists (who came to my home & bathing was part of my learning therapy). I didn't even watch TV & couldn't read a book. I finally had an appointment with my PCP I had to go to after a month, and I told her I wish I was showing more improvement with PT but struggled with energy and slept a lot. When she saw that the nursing home had added the Remeron to my medications, she was perturbed. First, Gabapentin (much needed) had also been added and already has some sedative qualities . Second, the dosage of Remeron was enough for a horse in her (exaggerated) opinion. Third, it was contraindicated with another medical issue I have so it could have caused damage. Finally, there wasn't a clinical reason to add the medication, as I hadn't reported a problem with sleeping. She regarded the practice of sedating all nursing home patients as more for the staff vs the patients. She said that if I wanted to get some balance back, it wasn't going to be achieved by being sloppily & intoxicatingly drugged while trying physical therapy! So she stopped it cold turkey, telling me if I absolutely ever wanted to take it for sleep, cut it by 1/3 when I felt the need. Within days, I stopped sleeping all day, had so much more energy, and started showing much improvement in physical therapy. Within 2 weeks I could use a walker, within 3 weeks I could take steps without. My sleeping at night returned to my normal undrugged state, which was satisfactory enough luckily. So, you asked if it helped sleep? Yes indeed, almost 24/7! You have to find the right balance though and see how it fits with other life performance goals you have. It seems I was obviously given too high a dose, and I'm very glad that I had no problem stopping cold turkey after 2 months of it. I hope you find the right balance!

That is a difficult situation! I'm glad you got off of it. I don't know how much you were taking, but I am currently on 7.5mg and I'm sleeping really well with no daytime drowsiness at all. I'm sleeping a bit later in the mornings, but I can as I work very part time in my own business. I was experiencing nights of absolutely no sleep or nights when I would wake at 2 or 3 and never get back to sleep. So far this drug (supposedly much less damaging than long-term benzo use) is truly making a difference in my quality of sleep as well as my quality of life.

Do you cut the 15 mg in two and so it becomes 7.5 mg?

I had been cutting them but recently had my doctor just prescribe 7.5mg tablets to make it easier and more concise.