4 weeks on Mirtazapine 30g - great at first, now I can't sleep
Posted , 3 users are following.
Hi all,
I was prescribed 30mg of Mirtazapine 4 weeks ago for anxiety and depression. I'm 33 and never taken antidepressants before now, and my doctor recommended Mirtazapine as he said they’d help with my early waking too. I was falling asleep fine but waking up after only a few hours and unable to get back to sleep, meaning I was constantly shattered which exacerbated the anxiety and low mood.
Anyway, as soon as I started taking the 30mg, they knocked me out I started to actually sleep through the night which was amazing. I started to feel slightly better straight away, whether that was the sleep or the drugs starting to take effect, I don’t know.
After 3 weeks, the sedative effect seems to have completely stopped. For the last week, I’ve been struggling to fall and stay asleep, which is once again exacerbating the depression and anxiety. Is this normal? I’ve read that Mirtazapine’s sedative effect is better in lower doses, does this mean my sleep won’t get much better on 30mg?
In those first 3 weeks when it was knocking me out at night, I realised just how important sleep is for the mood and general wellbeing. I had a great 3 weeks on Mirtazapine but now feeling like I’m back where I started – shattered, anxious and low.
I’m hoping it’s just a blip and it’s my body adjusting to the drug. Has anyone else experienced this?
Cheers!
0 likes, 2 replies
betsy0603 Lewis85
Posted
Lewis, I sent you a PM.
Mirt blocks Histamine exclusively at low doses such as 7.5 mg, but blocks serotonin at higher doses as well. If you only need it for sleep, 7.5 mg is the place to be.
Do a search for anxiety and high serotonin. Research has found that high serotonin and social anxiety are linked. Due to genetics some of us have higher than average serotonin, and adding a drug that raises serotonin to this scenario can cause high anxiety.
I have the genetic mutations in genes that process neurotransmitters, meaning the enzymes coded by those genes are too slow at processing NTs = higher than average levels. I have always had social anxiety, and low self-esteem and depression follow. So, I went on antiepressants assuming a chemical imbalance, and given that was 20 years ago, there was no way to know my situation was likely the complete opposite due to my genes! Though everyone is different genetically, when taking an antidepressant that raises serotonin has the side effect of raising anxiety and causing insomnia, one must wonder.
karen60759 Lewis85
Posted
hi lewis, ive also been on mirt 4weeks, 3 weeks at 30mgs, in the past 2 weeks ive started feeling much better from an anxiety and depression perspective but yes the sedative affect is patchy, which im actually happy about as i was getting freaked out about how much it knocked me out at first...the only complaints are the odd bouts of anxiety which last a few hours and come and go, along with waves of anger / irritability but when i spoke to my psychiatrist she said it was still settling and to give it another month - i also occasionally take a low dose of lorazepam (1mg) when things are over whelming me....ive been on lots of other ssris and in comparison this has had much less side effects, so i would try to stick with it a bit longer and maybe think about going up to 45mgs which might sort of the depression, which in turn would help with your sleep ? 😃