Doc Gave Me Mirtazapine For Sleep, Is It Safe For Few Weeks Use?

[yoshiesque]

My doctor has prescribed me Mirtazapine 7.5mg for sleep. He said i only need to take it for 2-4 weeks then I can go off it.

He also said in comparison to sleep drugs, this actually promotes deep sleep.

HOWEVER, it is classified as a Noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSAs..NOT the same as SSRI). A brief description of NaSSAs is quoted below:

Noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (NaSSAs) are a class of psychiatric drugs used primarily as antidepressants.[1] They act by antagonizing the α2-adrenergic receptor and certain serotonin receptors such as 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C,[1] but also 5-HT3,[1] 5-HT6, and/or 5-HT7 in some cases. By blocking α2-adrenergic autoreceptors and heteroreceptors, NaSSAs enhance adrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in the brain involved in mood regulation,[1] notably 5-HT1A-mediated transmission.[2] In addition, due to their blockade of certain serotonin receptors, serotonergic neurotransmission is not facilitated in unwanted areas, which prevents the incidence of many side effects often associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants;[1][3] hence, in part, the "specific serotonergic" label of NaSSAs.

I dont really get what this all means. Does it increase Serotonin? Should I consider using it for just a few weeks if it helps me sleep better. My doctor says its not addictive and I can easily go off it, he doesnt even want me to take the normal dose and wants me to stop within few weeks. But i feel like it will make a lot of changes to the brain chemistry by then - i dont know coz i know jack all about all these hormones and stuff so your advice would be great :)

 

[Anonymous]

I'd take it. It's probably the only modern day antidepressant I would touch. Be careful and be very aware of your mood. If Ondansetron had a stoner brother who sat around eating pizza all day while running an Internet business and raking in cash, his name would be Mirtazapine. I think it's been discussed multiple times on the forum and it looks like you've done your research. But once again, take it slow.

 

[BobbyDukes]

I wouldnt take it. I was initially prescribed it for depression. Hands down, the worst anti-depressive I've ever taken. The sedation is something else. I'm judging it on my 4 day experience (lol). If you can get through those first few days of sedation, whereby your brain suddenly adapts better to it, then it probably isn't bad a drug (although, anecdotals I've read tend to say otherwise). The strong sedative effects will always be there lingering in the background. People just yawning all day, and drinking extra strong coffee to try and power through it, is not uncommon.

Oh, it will make you sleep alright. Do you like sleeping 12-14hours, per day? That's not just me. Seems to happen to a lot of people when they first start taking it.

It's in another universe compared with cyproheptadine. Cyproheptadine is actually ok. Far easier to adapt to.

Cypro is prescribed especially for sleep. Why would you not go for something like this? If you've read the threads around here, that drug cannot do any wrong. It has a myriad of benefits. Anhedonia just being an annoying side effect (something that would actually be better on Mirtazapine).

Give it a go, though. It may do the job.

 

[jyb]

Mirtazapine seems much safer that the SSRI anti-depressants. And since it seems close to cypro, you might as well try cypro? I used mirtazapine for sleep for a few years. After reading Ray I experimented with cypro for sleep too. I regret taking those for sleep as I won the insomnia battle with diet eventually.

 

[Sheik]

I took it years ago (before it was cool) and I slept probably 13 hours a day. No joke. People had to force me to get out of bed.

Now I take Cyproheptadine before bed and it helps me sleep. I'm a little drowsy during the day. It all probably has to do with dose.

Of course, nobody's answered your question: Does Mirtazapine increase serotonin? Still waiting for an expert answer.

 

[Anonymous]

I took it years ago (before it was cool) and I slept probably 13 hours a day. No joke. People had to force me to get out of bed.

Now I take Cyproheptadine before bed and it helps me sleep. I'm a little drowsy during the day. It all probably has to do with dose.

Of course, nobody's answered your question: Does Mirtazapine increase serotonin? Still waiting for an expert answer.

I'm no expert. But there is not a black and white answer here. You have to ask, what is the net effect on serotonin? And it probably has both pro and anti serotonin properties. So that's why it can be helpful for a short period but over the long term it can cause problems. for example, it does act on the 5ht3 receptor like Ondansetron so in that regard it is antiserotonin. But I don't know about the other effects. Keep in mind the drugs that cause weight gain and increased appetite are always going to have antiserotonin properties. But once again there is not a straight answer.

 

[jyb]

Of course, nobody's answered your question: Does Mirtazapine increase serotonin? Still waiting for an expert answer.

It has been discussed by haidut and others on the cypro threads.

 

[tara]

Since Peat has recommended diphenhydramine and cyproheptadine as relatively safe, and they often help people with sleep, maybe you could see if you can get one of those? I broke open a 50mg diphenhydramine gel capsule once. ~ 1/3 made me sleep deeply for 8 hrs. 2/3 had me sleeping nearly 12 hrs. I wasn't looking for a sleep aid, but that's how the diphenhydramine is sold here.
Low dose (eg 3mg) amitriptyline and nortriptyline also had sleepy effects, but I'm not recommending those.

 

[haidut]

Of course, nobody's answered your question: Does Mirtazapine increase serotonin? Still waiting for an expert answer.

It has been discussed by haidut and others on the cypro threads.

It is also answered by its Wikipedia page - i.e. it states that mirtazapine has been used to treat several cases of serotonin syndrome, so it can't be that serotonergic, right?

 

[mujuro]

I used it briefly to combat bipolar symptoms, and also high cortisol. I felt tremendously calm for about a week, at which point it wore off and I felt cortisol symptoms re-emerge. I just kept building tolerance to it. It also stopped me up real good. Had to go heavy on the coconut oil to get things moving. It has no sedative effects for me, or perhaps I'm just accustomed to the massive stoned incapacitation you receive from quetiapine, asenapine and the like.

 

[haidut]

I used it briefly to combat bipolar symptoms, and also high cortisol. I felt tremendously calm for about a week, at which point it wore off and I felt cortisol symptoms re-emerge. I just kept building tolerance to it. It also stopped me up real good. Had to go heavy on the coconut oil to get things moving. It has no sedative effects for me, or perhaps I'm just accustomed to the massive stoned incapacitation you receive from quetiapine, asenapine and the like.

The slow bowel movement is from its antagonism of 5-HT3. Cypro does not antagonize 5-HT3 unless you take 16mg+ a day and as such may be a better alternative to mirtazapine. Cypro also lowers cortisol.

 

[Nick Ireland]

I've used Mirtz on and off for sleep for several years. It lowers prolactin and cortisol in a big way. It increases sex drive accordingly. Just 3mg under my tongue at night and bye bye Kansas. Better taken, say, an hour before sleep to minimise (is it possible) daytime sides. But yes, there is quite a lag in the daytime. My experience is that Mirtz is anabolic - it promotes androgens by opposing the hormones that counter them.
What a pity it eventually raises noradrenalin... which explains the anger people feel using it. When estrogen rises, it raises the same and that explains the anger in estrogen dominance. Apparently the body adjusts, but I haven't waited to test that. As an occasional guaranteed sleep aid this stuff is hard to beat. It absolutely crushes anxiety flat in minutes and has to be a better bet than benzos if cycled with another antihistamine every few days? The Last Psychiatrist gave it a decent write up as I recall.
I think much of the daytime sleepiness is probably attributed to much lower cortisol which most adults have too much of and rely on to keep blood sugar up. Take that sugar carrier/liberator away and you are going to feel tired and hungry, like a sort of adjustment phase hypoglycemia.
Benadryl is not bad for sleep but it has that adrenalin side effect of sympathetic selective agonism.
With Mirtz, it is a really, really deep sleep! I find that taking it for two nights and then taking two nights off works pretty good - I guess it's a way of preventing the body from adjusting and getting used to the drug.

 

[Nick Ireland]

Haidut, when I first spoke with my Doc about cyprohetidine, he read his notes and they suggested it raised prolactin and that is why it was seldom prescribed. He didn't take that as fact, though, and from what I can see it should lower prolactin. I guess the drug companies wanted to sell the next generation patented anti h and had to clear cyprohetidine of their clients' books?
I note it is actually used to restore sexual function to SSRI users!

 

[haidut]

I've used Mirtz on and off for sleep for several years. It lowers prolactin and cortisol in a big way. It increases sex drive accordingly. Just 3mg under my tongue at night and bye bye Kansas. Better taken, say, an hour before sleep to minimise (is it possible) daytime sides. But yes, there is quite a lag in the daytime. My experience is that Mirtz is anabolic - it promotes androgens by opposing the hormones that counter them.
What a pity it eventually raises noradrenalin... which explains the anger people feel using it. When estrogen rises, it raises the same and that explains the anger in estrogen dominance. Apparently the body adjusts, but I haven't waited to test that. As an occasional guaranteed sleep aid this stuff is hard to beat. It absolutely crushes anxiety flat in minutes and has to be a better bet than benzos if cycled with another antihistamine every few days? The Last Psychiatrist gave it a decent write up as I recall.
I think much of the daytime sleepiness is probably attributed to much lower cortisol which most adults have too much of and rely on to keep blood sugar up. Take that sugar carrier/liberator away and you are going to feel tired and hungry, like a sort of adjustment phase hypoglycemia.
Benadryl is not bad for sleep but it has that adrenalin side effect of sympathetic selective agonism.
With Mirtz, it is a really, really deep sleep! I find that taking it for two nights and then taking two nights off works pretty good - I guess it's a way of preventing the body from adjusting and getting used to the drug.

For some extra anabolic effect try adding some bromocriptine or lisuride to mirtazapine. The combination of dopamine agonism and serotonin antagonism is very hard to beat for metabolism an libido.

 

[Blinkyrocket]

Does mirtazapine need a prescription? And what are side effects? I'm walking a thin line with sleep right now. And if I don't want said noradrenaline side effects, what other options for sleep are there?

 

[Nick Ireland]

It needs a scrip in the UK, because of it's antidepressant qualities no doubt. I have found that even taking it on alternate nights can fix sleep...and I mean a low dose like 3.5mg (a quarter tab).
Using this quantity tends to avoid too many nootropic effects which kick in whenever a dose is high enough to cover H receptors and have some left over to look for other things to latch onto. Make no mistake, this will take you down to Oz faster than anything out there, and for the full duration. My brother gave a couple of tabs to some friends who were travelling on a 20 hour flight, starting AM. They took a quarter each after flying for a few hours.... and woke up when they when the flight was landing! It can reset sleep when insomnia has been an issue for some time, and relieve any anxiety that has built up as a result of that.

 

[Blinkyrocket]

It needs a scrip in the UK, because of it's antidepressant qualities no doubt. I have found that even taking it on alternate nights can fix sleep...and I mean a low dose like 3.5mg (a quarter tab).
Using this quantity tends to avoid too many nootropic effects which kick in whenever a dose is high enough to cover H receptors and have some left over to look for other things to latch onto. Make no mistake, this will take you down to Oz faster than anything out there, and for the full duration. My brother gave a couple of tabs to some friends who were travelling on a 20 hour flight, starting AM. They took a quarter each after flying for a few hours.... and woke up when they when the flight was landing! It can reset sleep when insomnia has been an issue for some time, and relieve any anxiety that has built up as a result of that.

Whoa, sounds perfect since I plan on flying someday but am afraid of flying O_O

 

[Such_Saturation]

I challenge you to fear anything after 10mg cyproheptadine

 

[Nick Ireland]

Lol
What is a single dose over 10mg Cypro actually like?

 

[Such_Saturation]

Lol
What is a single dose over 10mg Cypro actually like?

Nobody knows. Nobody remembers