Mirtazapine with sleep disturbance
Posted , 5 users are following.
okay. i been on 30mg of mirt for about 2 months,when i first took it. it knocked me out. the problem i have now is that i dont seem to sleep deep with it or when i take a zopiclone. the doc raised the mirt to 45 last week and it seems to be effecting my ability to sleep. anyone else on here had mirt and found that it effects deep sleep???? im thinking of getting off them and going to venlafaxine which helped me alot few years back
1 like, 9 replies
paul_33483 milkyjoe
Posted
Mirtazapine is actually paradoxical. The lower the dose the more sedating it is. Not every GP knows this but it is a fact.
I was on 15mg for a year. Reduced down to 7.5mg and that knocks me out at night pretty much. Works better than 15mg.
They tried to put me on 30mg but I had insomnia and was even more alert. Was only on it for 2 night.
Been on 7.5mg for 3 weeks now
milkyjoe paul_33483
Posted
paul_33483 milkyjoe
Posted
One thing I can say is that when I've been stressed it doesn't matter what I take or the dose- I won't sleep. Mirtazapine works for me but yeah you might need something else. Wish you all the best
catherine55994 milkyjoe
Posted
Hi Milky Joe,
Mirtazapine is known to have a greater sedative effect at 15mg than at the higher doses. I've always had restless sleep on it, but the advantage was that I could get off to sleep to start with, and even if I woke or was disturbed I could always drift back off. So broken sleep has become the norm, but that was better than no sleep at all.
I wonder why your Dr increased the dose when it has been known for many years that higher doses don't enhance sleep.
It is my experience that higher doses increase anxiety which won't help if you can't sleep.
Maybe Mirtazapine is not right for you.
Good luck
milkyjoe catherine55994
Posted
Calmer milkyjoe
Posted
Hi Milky
So when you took 15mg and it worked for you why did you increase? I wonder if you step back down to 15mg (slowly) it would be better. Many folk have discussed on this forum that 30mg made their anx & insomnia worse, indeed it is paradoxical - and to be honest not many doctors understand this. Mirt should always be introduced to the ystem from a low dose of 15mg, I am shocked your doctor said he should have started you off at 45mg ... doctors !!
Be careful not to suddenly just 'stop'.
How long have you been at 30mg and then 45mg??
milkyjoe Calmer
Posted
Calmer milkyjoe
Posted
I don't really understand why so many folks have an increase in anxiety at the higher doses but there is definately a pattern of that.
Do you think you were better at the 15mg/breaking the tablet in half?? You know if you can sort the sleep out, everything else may well be OK, as insomnia causes anxiety & then depression (or of course the depression may come first) I would be looking at getting back to 15mg.
If you've been on 30mg for 7 weeks, I would ease down to say 22.5 for 2 weeks, see how you feel, then think about a further taper for 2 weeks, it all depends how the taper go for you.
Good luck with your doctor.
ssk1 milkyjoe
Posted
Hi I started on 15mg for my depression and sleep troubles having been on sertraline and zopiclone for a while 3 months before. The dose was upped in may and again to 45mg in june. The past 4 weeks my sleep is back to where I was a year ago, about 2 hours a night. I went to my GP yesterday and he agreed the higher dose was less effective at helping with insomnia. He reluctantly agreed to help me lower the dose- he knows that I was very unhappy to be taking any form if medication and doesn't want to give me any more sleeping pills. I've been given a plan to lower down to 30mg and then look at going down to 15mg.
Hope you can get your insomnia sorted x