Hi, Currently on Alprazolam .25mg at night for sleep and to help with PD anxiety.This was prescribed by my primary MD,for years.But recently saw my MDS who opted for an antidepressant,Mirtazapine 15mg for sleep at night.His reason,is that Alprazolam has a shorth half life being an anxiolytic,but antidepressants are better for treating anxiety in PD.Please assist with your insights if you have taken this medication before or currently on it.How much help,did you get with sleeping and anxiety treatment?Thanks for your support.
HAS ANYONE TRIED MIRTAZAPINE FOR ANXIETY ... - Cure Parkinson's
HAS ANYONE TRIED MIRTAZAPINE FOR ANXIETY IN PD?
Hi Gbamigod. For these issues, Amitryptiline did the job for me.
Hi
I had a particularly bad time last year with anxiety/depression due to a very stressful time and was prescribed Mirtazapine 20mg (taken 1 hour before bedtime).
I have been on it for about 6 Months and have had great results with it. Anxiety/depression has minimised and I sleep well.
Also, I have had no noticeable side-effects.
Hope this helps and Best Wishes
Works for me, too! My Doc did did the same for me.
My husband was put on mirtazapine and in my opinion it brought on the PD symptoms. It caused fatigue, daytime sleepiness, apathy, and he wanted to sleep all day and do nothing, and he seemed to me to be like an elderly dementia patient, staring blankly at me all the time. He would not exercise which I think didn’t help his physical state and kept saying that he could not enjoy anything. He is 58. He weaned off it over nearly 3 months but several months after coming off it he relapsed in to extreme anxiety, worse than he had ever had and ended up under the psych ward at the hospital. He was then put on sertraline which made his anxiety worse then they added back mirtazapine to sedate him as he was so hyperactive, behaving like a drug addict having withdrawals. He was still suicidal.
I eventually convinced the psychiatrist to let him try Hardy’s daily essential nutrients which had been very successfully used by a friends child who had adhd and with 3 days his anxiety and depression was totally under control and he has been feeling very well for a few months now. He dropped the mirtazapine back to 1/4 of a tablet.
I wouldn’t recommend mirtazapine except perhaps for a very elderly dementia patient who is already inactive.
If I was you I would try the Hardy’s daily essential nutrients, Hardy’s inositol and Hardy’s greens and probiotics. Ring their free help line and talk to their product specialist about anxiety. It is quite expensive but worth it to feel, so much better if you can afford it.
I take 30mg mirtazapine at night. I have tried eights or ten others and nothing worked this is the only thing that stops the anxiety for me. I went nine nights and das in June 2018 without any sleep at all.
I’ve been taking this med along with klonopin and OTC melatonin 10mg. Helps me sleep through the night. Don’t like taking all these meds but I’m grateful they work. Blessings Kate