Insomnia - mirtazapine

[CustardCream1]

Hi, I had a baby a year ago. For about 4 months now, I have had terrible insomnia and lucky if I can get 3 or 4 hrs sleep. I suffer from depression and am on 40mg of citalopram, but it hasn't helped with the insomnia. I have just read about the anti depressant mirtazapine and apparently it really helps some people to sleep. Has anyone been prescribed it and did it help you to sleep? Thank you

hi custardcream I'm on mirtazapine and another antidepressant. I find it helps with sleep- I have trouble getting to sleep and then actually staying asleep (wake up loads and loads). It makes you feel sleepy enough to fall asleep, but doesn't knock you out so that you can't wake up. E.g. if your baby needs you, you'll wake up.

Lots of people complain about weight gain on mirtazapine but I feel that for me it's worth it to regain some sort of normal life…e.g. I can now usually drive a car for more than 10 mins without starting to nod off, which I couldn't beforehand as I was so sleep deprived.

I couldn't stay awake on it. I lost everything - my purse, coat, handbag and was too dozy to remember where I had been or when I had had them last. I put on a stone in a month as well , so I had to come off them fairly quickly. I was not depressed but I wasn't awake either!
40 of dosage seems small to me. Maybe you need more of it. In the end I stabilised on 150mg of Venlafaxine.

I thought 40 was a lot of citalopram clonakilty . The other option is seeing if Dr could prescribe you a few days worth of one of the 'z' type sleeping tablets e.g. zopiclone to see if that could get you into a routine with falling asleep…as it's easy to get into a vicious cycle with insomnia…where you get stressed about going to bed etc as you know it's going to be another night of hell…They are hypnotic (mirtazapine works in the same way with sleep) in that they make you sleepy, but don't knock you out so that you can't be roused.

mirtazapine helps me sleep , i take it at night.
dont think it does anything for my mood but it keeps me asleep and helps with my appetite.

Citalopram made me very jittery.
What exactly is the problem with sleep? Are you struggling to fall asleep for example? Or wake early? Or wake constantly? Different issues can have different source causes.
Do you snore? If you do it may be worth being checked for sleep apnoea

I'm a lifelong insomniac and the only thing that's ever helped me is melatonin. You can't buy it otc in the uk but you can order it online from the big pharmacy chains in the USA. Worth a try, at any rate.

Mirtazipine does make you tired but it's notorious for weight gain. Have you tried a sedating antihistamine? Sometimes that can help.