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Better Sleep off Mirtazapine?

Posted , 5 users are following.

rob03933
rob03933

Well I'm back to square one after my therapist tried me on multiple medications and they all failed miserably including a benzodiazepine 😩.

I'm only taking Mirtazapine now and I want to get off it eventually next. Has anyone's sleep improved when getting off of Mirtazapine or what were some things you did to help if your sleep got worse? I wake up multiple times from dreams that I remember and I'm in and out a lot which I was wondering why some people may have slept better without it.

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • sarah24378
    sarah24378 rob03933

    Posted

    Hi

    Did you try venlsfaxine ?

    What happened ?

    I'm on mirt and wake up constantly too.

    • rob03933
      rob03933 sarah24378

      Posted

      I haven't tried that and I'm trying to get off the medications completely and I'm down to Mirtazapine at this point. I wanted to see some alternative methods people may use to help with insomnia.

      I'm looking to start a CBT program for sleep also soon so I'm hoping that may help also.

  • catherine55994
    catherine55994 rob03933

    Posted

    Hi Rob.

    The lowest I've got to is 7.5mg without sleep problems. Dreams I've had for years. I thought it was the Venlafaxine. I thought the drugs weren't woring as well. In fact the Mirtazapine was exacerbating my anxiety and once I reduced it I started feeling calmer. I'm starting to wonder if they've done more harm than good. Anyway I hope this helps.

    • sarah24378
      sarah24378 catherine55994

      Posted

      It is interesting you say that Catherine as I have been thinking the mirt has been making my anxiety worse
    • sarah24378
      sarah24378 catherine55994

      Posted

      Ooooops

      I am on 45mg of mirt.

      Started venoflaxine 5 weeks ago. Did it help you ?

    • catherine55994
      catherine55994 sarah24378

      Posted

      I was put up to 45mg due to stress at work. Although the stress eased I was left with severe anxiety. I thought id be like this for ever. I was told by my counsellor that the Mirtazapine can stop working so I thought I'd come off it as I have put on 4 stones. As soon as I made the first reduction I noticed the anxiety going. I can't seem to get lower than 7.5mg at the moment, but I'm doing a uni module which I think is making my sleep worse.

    • sarah24378
      sarah24378 catherine55994

      Posted

      How was the venlafaxine for you ?

      How slowely did you reduce on the mirt and did you get withdrawals ? I want to get down to 15mg.

    • catherine55994
      catherine55994 sarah24378

      Posted

      I've been on Venlafaxine and Mirtazapine combined for about 14yrs. I started on 150mg Venlafaxine and Mirtazapine 30mg. When I had a relapse due to stress the Venlafaxine was increased to 225mg. Then a while later the Mirtazapine was increased to 45mg. The Venlafaxine causes excessive sweats. The Mirtazapine causes a monstrous appetite and weight gain. When I had a relapsed again last year I had the choice of counselling or referral to psychiatrist. Thank goodness I chose counselling. She informed me that the Mirtazapine can stop working so I thought I'd try to come off it. I started reducing in September/October time. A lot of the advice here recommended reducing by 10% but to me that sounded fiddly, so I reduced by 7.5mg each time until I got to 7.5mg without I'll effect. Then I halved it for a few weeks then stopped. I couldn't sleep so I went back to 7.5mg. I've tried smaller reductions but I've got too much on at present so I'm leaving it there for now. I've managed to reduce the Venlafaxine down to 162.5mg. I have the capsules that contain small pellets 12.5mg each.

    • sarah24378
      sarah24378 catherine55994

      Posted

      It sounds like the ven worked for you. I'm really hoping it works for me.

      With the mirt I plan to reduce it 7. 5 every 4 weeks or so once I'm more stable on the ven. I ve heard terrible things about withdrawing from both.

      Luckily I have not gained any weight and do not sweat but not sure I m getting any benefit from either but only 5 weeks on ven but 1 1/2 on mirt.

      Can you remember how long it took for the ven to start working and did you get side effects when you went on or up ?

    • vikki87350
      vikki87350 sarah24378

      Posted

      I'd Never had anxiety in my life until I was prescribed the Mirt, this med doesn't agree with everyone.

  • rob03933
    rob03933

    Posted

    Catherine,

    Thanks for the info about Mirtazapine and that does help, the only thing it does for me is sleep at this point which isn't great anyway and the dreams are aggravating as I would just like to sleep through the night without waking up in a dream all the time.. I'm on 30 mg currently but I'm going to start weening down soon

  • rob03933
    rob03933

    Posted

    I think I'll probably do a similar weening method as 10% a month seems like it would take a very long time and I don't want my weening to go on so long.

  • janice35918
    janice35918 rob03933

    Posted

    I was on 15 mg of Mirt for 1year and it helped with sleep, mood and anxiety for quite awhile but quit working so good around 1 year in.

    I did a really slow taper. over 3 months, going from15mg to 7.5 for a month, then 3.5 another month and then half again for another month.

    I have been off for 3 months and am sleeping wonderfully, 7-9 hours a night, maybe up once to go to the bathroom.

    Insomnia was the main problem in kicking Mirt. I used L-tryptophan ( amino acid) and Clonazapam (benzo) in very limited amounts to not create another addiction, when I woke up several times a night. Mood, anxiety and sleep all fine now and no drugs.

    • rob03933
      rob03933 janice35918

      Posted

      Thank so much for the info and I'm hoping to start weening down in the near future. I just got off Clonazepam and it has been really hard getting off it as the side effects from benzodiazepines suck!! Mirtazapine is the last drug I'm on and I hope to be drug free myself in the near future.

      Good to hear that your sleep pattern is so good, makes me more hopeful that I can get mine back eventually. Best of luck to you moving forward!!

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