Is anyone here prescribed or has been prescribed Mirtazapine 7.5 mg to help with sleep? I’ve been taking this dose at bedtime for over a year now. I didn’t take it the last two nights because I don’t like the way it makes me feel in the mornings, foggy and anxious. But now I’m waking up very early again and I’m worried. I also take Xanax Xr 1 mg. And Prozac generic 30 mg a day. But the lack of sleep troubles me the most. I’m just looking for some feedback.
Thank you.
Expect some rebound insomnia if you stop taking it. It should improve, unless you always had the issue of waking up very early.
You could try low dose amitriptyline instead of mirtazapine for sleep, but you may have exactly the same problem.
Another thing to try, would be check if taking 15mg or 22.5mg of mirtazapine doesn't have the same side effects. (If you have special health issues, or there is a risk of medication interactions, then I wouldn't take more without first consulting a doctor; but generally speaking it should be safe to try taking 2 or 3 tablets.)
I would oversleep on mirtazapine no matter the dosage, but you never know.
I wouldn’t increase the dosage of Mirtazapine. If I take it I get to sleep fine and may get 6 or 7 hours. It seems to make me more anxious in the morning and tired. I never wake up feeling refreshed. And driving to work is difficult. What I wouldn’t do to return back to a time when sleeping was never an issue with me. I would sleep through anything.
First, never increase the dosage of any medication as suggested above without speaking to your doctor. We don’t have your medical history at hand here on an online forum to make suggestions like that and know if such suggestions would be safe for you.
Next, stopping is going to cause rebound insomnia and withdrawal symptoms as well as the med is completely depleted from your body. Again, you need to talk to your doctor about stopping and suggest asking him/her about a slow and gradual taper. In some instances your doc might prescribe an alternate med to help you wean off or assist with sleep.
Thanks for your feedback. Insomnia is my biggest issue. If I don’t take mirtazapine I go right back to waking up at 3:00 or 4:00 am unable to get back to sleep. And even with the med I’m so tired throughout the morning, it’s difficult to drive to work. I severely limit my intake of caffeine because of anxiety so I have nothing to get me going. A good nights sleep would certainly help. I feel like I’m on the hamster wheel of medication, I’ve been prescribed so many over the past 20 years. Some work some don’t and some for only a little while.
I am gonna talk to my phychiatrist at my next appointment. I’ve read plenty that CBT helps a great deal with insomnia but my issue is cost. Seeing a therapist every week would be to much, my insurance co pay is high. I need to do something I can’t keep going I like this.
CBT did not help me, but it certainly can help you, especially if depression and anxiety are your causes for insomnia or sleep hygiene is terrible, you've adopted bad sleep habits you need correcting and if sleep restriction will cure your insomnia. There are very low cost programs found online that you can follow on your own instead of shelling out alot of money. I did both, I attended 6 sessions with a therapist and then followed a program I found on line after my insurance company for this therapy was used up. Sleep restriction portion of the program resulted in even less sleep and adopting worse sleep overall.
Mirtzipine is my last medication of choice for just insomnia, but if you have depression and anxiety it might be the right med for you if its helping with balancing that. Doctor and yourself need to weigh the risks and side effects against its therapeutic benefit. That said, there are many other meds (in my opinion that dont have scary medical risks like mirtz).
I still have insomnia but physch meds for sleep are something I cant do again as I've withdrawn off mirtz and trazadone and I had my fill of doing that twice. Best of luck and I hope you get this worked out.
Thank you. I’m grateful for your help. Hopefully I’ll find what works for me. I’m interested in what sleep restriction means. It seems to be the opposite of what you’d want to do. It seems as soon as I wake up my anxiety starts and it only gets worse. It doesn’t help that my mind goes from one worrisome thought to another. Sometimes I just feel like giving up, I had enough. It seems I have slot of things to worry about and it’s not helpful that I’m a worry wart to begin with. I just want to quiet my mind.
Thank you again for the information and for taking the time to send a message.
I used take 30mg mirtrazapine, but I'm now up to 45mg,medication is prescribed for many reasons,and of course its important discussing any long term problems with your doctor, I had been on the 30mg dose for many years, and after discussing the lack of sleep and the pains from the my neuropathy it was agreed to increase my dose, these tablets are often used not only for depression, but also as an epilepsy drug, but work as an alternative to try to help with my terrible sleep patterns,so if in doubt, always have a talk with with your doctor,I don't worry to much thinking if my head is clear as a bell,its quality sleep that I feel we need, and lets be honest who wakes up feeling like they've had a decent night's sleep and ready to run a marathon,hopefully its just trying to find a happy medium, sometimes we can get stuck in a ruck regarding sleep, hopefully you can sort out this blip, good luck.
Thank you for your information and personal insight. I’m just worried about never getting a good nights unless I take medication. I hate relying on this stuff but my mind just won’t quiet down, all I do is worry about problems that haven’t occurred yet, jumping from one anxiety inducing thought to another. I wish I was able to stay in the present, I’ve read so many post about this very topic, staying present. But how do you do that? I don’t know, and at times I just want to give up. I’m getting older and my life isn’t going to get anymore easier. If I could only stop worrying.
Thank you again for your reply. And I’m sorry that I did not replying back sooner.
I think we all can get strung up about how little sleep we get,and yes,unfortunately some nights the human body can keep us awake with other ailments, so perhaps try not to worry about the what 'ifs' ,there's going to be plenty more years ahead of you where you'll be wondering where have they have all gone to, and they'll be gone in the blink of an eye,I have an over imagination at night time, and even with this medication and my aches and pains, I'm still awake until the small hours,perhaps you are no longer needing as much sleep than the average person, and this is keeping you awake,unless you are feeling absolutely shattered in the morning? Don't rely on alcohol to knock yourself out, as this isn't the way forward, like I said the medication is very mild and will make you feel 'woozy' and that's how you are meant to feel, so that's one of the effects, its always nice having some extra information, and sometimes its trying to understand your own body, if that's at all possible, I wish you well.
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