Anyone familiar with mirtazapine?

Posted by toren123 @toren123, 4 days ago

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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frouke | @frouke | 4 days ago

I can definitely relate with you about this drug, my symptoms were different from yours, I started with 5 mg. for GAD/PTSD., I was already taking Ativan 0.5 mg. and Amytriptyline 10 mg., I felt the effects of the Mirtazapine on the first dose, I felt edgy, restless with tension, I had a ferocious appetite which was the only good thing about this medication. I read stories from people that loved this drug, they said sleep came easy with great dreams, I was barely able to sleep and when I did it was so frightening what I came up with, it was like a creepy movie with lots of violence, I couldn’t get hold of the prescribing doctor and the help just wasn’t right so I began to wean off it, I wasn’t on it for long so withdrawal was tolerated but still exercised caution, strangely it remained with me for a while longer, threw off my sleep for a while. It’s pretty much the same thing with most medications and it doesn’t always matter how others felt because it’s different for everyone, to date I haven’t heard anything worrying about this drug, it just wasn’t for me.

dlydailyhope | @dlydailyhope | 4 days ago

I couldn’t take this medication due to drowsiness plus extreme hunger, even at a very low dose.

laura1970 | @laura1970 | 3 days ago

The half life of mirtazapine is 30-40 hours, longer in females and the elderly. I take 7.5 without effect but I don’t think it helps me sleep either

sharshy | @sharshy | 3 days ago

Mirtazipine is the only thing that has worked for my Restless legs. Weird dreams and put on weight and a bit tired during the day but I need to get some sleep. So will stay on it for now as it works so well for me.

kawanhee | @kawanhee | 3 days ago

I have taken 7.5 mg after trying multiple things including Ativan which I weaned off of. I can finally sleep with minimal side effects and both my pcp and sleep doctor are fine with me being in it long term.
No major side effects except sometimes very groggy when I first wake up and a little weight gain of about five pounds. Totally worth it to me

bridgeback2 | @bridgeback2 | 3 days ago

I took it for a bit and had similar side effects. Turns out, it's pretty normal for mirtazapine to have a strong sedative effect. I went to her doctor to ask him to lower the dose, but he explained that it would only cause a stronger sedating effect. (something like it affects other receptors that cause sleepiness, but in higher doses it affects serotonin and norepinephrine, which can counteract sedation).
He prescribed ramelteon, and it solved the problem

sharshy | @sharshy | 1 day ago

I decided to cut the mirtizpine 15mg in half which was hard to do as it so tiny, I will keep doing it and see how I get on. Thanks for the advice everyone.