Do I try mirtazapine, or just power through?

[[Ja...]]

Hi all,

 

every night I do not sleep. The issue is far worse than before I started taking temazepam. I have read good things about mirtazapine on this board, and did try it years ago, though I seem to recall it not helping me.

 

I do not want to get involved with another drug, but something has to change. Night after night of no sleep, or just an hour or two of dozing, is not sustainable.

 

Should I ask my psych nurse for mirt? Or just deal with this shit every day and accept for very low quality of life?

 

Jammin

[[al...]]

You might want to consider the fact that so much is not yet known about our brains. Mirt does not seem to directly target the same receptors as benzos and Z-drugs, but who knows how much indirect connection there might be. It will be a trade off that only you can decide upon taking. On one hand there is the potential sleep benefit of Mirt and on the other hand there are side effects such as weight gain and a very foggy head all the next day. There is also the possibility (remote or otherwise) that adding another drug can delay healing.

[Guest [ba...]]

Maybe consider taking Benadryl or Unisom (doxy) a couple of times a week to help get you through this insomnia phase.  I wonder if a higher dose of melatonin would help???  I take 5 mg most nights and it knocks me out pretty good.

 

Also helps to relax about the whole sleep issue.  Don't anguish or worry about it.  Be at peace whether awake or asleep.  You don't make sleep happen; you let it happen.

[[Ma...]]

i tried it. help 3 nights then back in beginning.and it makes you totally dead during day.

[[Ch...]]

I suspect that there are issues that you cannot share with us and your "insomnia" or sleep disturbance history is incomplete.  That being said, the posters have given you excellent advice, especially in the once or twice a week dosing.  You turned to Benzos because you have a problem and many of us did the same...but unlike your brief encounter many of us chased the sleep dragon for a very long time....in the long run pills are not the answer...please read on the internet about sleep hygiene measures and incorporate all of them over a short period of time and if none of them work it would be in your best interests to be evaluated by a certified sleep disorder clinic....

I wish you the best and most of all I caution you to never take any kind of Benzo or Z-type drug for more than a few days infrequently for sleep disturbances, and long term use of any drug to help you sleep is a slippery slope.

[[Al...]]

mirt causes sedation the same way benadryl does - by H1 receptors. So if large doses if Benadryl don't work for you than mirt might not, and the effect is quickly lost at a certain dosage just like Benadryl. Compared to Benadryl, Mirt  preserves sleep architecture but in return it has a super long half life and causes lots of side effects and screws around with your 5HT2A which is its antidepressant property. You may not have wanted to screw with 5HT2A and this tends to cause anxiety. I tried 3.75-7.5 mirt and hated it. Maybe if I stuck around with the '6 week come up' it would get better but no thanks. I think if you are going to start a regime of antidepressant therapy, and you need to choose which one carefully, then you might as well just reinstate/taper a benzo and take care of your real problem without confusing the hell out of your brain. I hear antidepressant withdrawal can be just as hard as benzo withdrawal and take up to 10 years. I'm current taking just 1mg of  Remeron to get myself to sleep and hope to do this only for another week or two.