I take 15mg Mirtazapine daily for the past 6 months and during this time I have began to get stiff hands and feet, acompanied by muscle weakness. For example; I cannot make a fist or grip even a pillow in the morning, I have to use two hands to lift a full kettle, and I hobble around for about 30 minutes in the morning before my feet loosen up. The weakness lasts all day long but the stiffness subsides. I was wondering if anyone else on Mirtazapine has these symptoms?
It may be unrelated, and otherwise Mirtazapine has been a god send!
Hi Allison , when I was on mitrazapine I expierienced weakness in my left leg , couldnt lift my foot up , couldnt tap , but as I stopped mirtazapine its gone and my leg is okay. I also felt weird sensation in this leg , pin and needles. I went to doctor and they are sending me for MRI even tho it passed. I just want to be on safe side. When I was on mirt I always felt weak like something was breaking my bones, like an old lady , lost all my strenght when used to be queit strong. Its funny that until I come off it I didnt know what was to blame and then saw this post . Hope you feel better soon xxxxx
Hi allison: I'm very sorry your are suffering. I know all our bodies are different but I've been on Mirt for over 20 years and have never experienced muscle weakness. What causes muscle weaknesss in me is the statin med I'm taking for high lipids. Are you also taking a statin med?
Thanks for your reply, not on any other meds,
I also had the same symptoms as you when taking Mirtazapine. Extreme weakness that sometimes lasted all day. A pre-existing RLS condition has worsened. My calves got twitching all day long. This lasted about a month and then began to improve. But it improved well when I started taking 200 mg of COQ10 early in the morning. I learned that many antidepressants, like statins, deplete the COQ10 needed by the mitochondria of our cells. So by restoring a good level of COQ10 give you more energy. In fact, I think these doctors should prescribe COQ10 along with these drugs. Anyway, my legs still wake up strange and still twitching all day. My right foot also seems to have an lift up problem. These symptoms made me even more anxious, thinking that there might be something more serious. But after the exams (MRI, EMG) came back negative I relaxed and attributed all this to mirtazapine. Now I'm in the process of weaning off. From 30mg to 15mg to 7.5mg to nevermore!
Hi. First night I took 7.5 mg for insomnia I felt the restless legs. I also noticed some weirdness related to my hands and feet over the month that I took the drug. Specifically, my left hand felt detached from my body. I had a hard time typing. Hand also had slight tremor. When walking down stairs, my left foot and leg felt weak, like my gait was off. The drug also gave me this pins and needles feeling, kind of like akathisa. I am so happy to be off this drug now. It's been about one week that I've discontinued. I am still feeling brain zaps/body zaps, hypnic jerks. After reading some of the terrible withdrawal symptoms from users that have been on the4 drug for many years, I'm so happy I've made the decision to get off this horrible medication. It helped me for a few weeks and then my sleep started to deteriorate. It's funny, the drug is technically out of my system by now (based on half life), but I'm still getting the munchies at night. I'm now looking for an alternative for sleep as I'm starting to wake up early again.
Yes feet stiffening up in the early morning sleeping or during the night and barely being able to walk when I get up. I know it would made me groggy and really tired. I thought too tightening up with a feet in the legs was due to my anxiety but I think it is the mirtazapine. Been on it for 8 months and I think it made my muscles stiff and rigid and actually caused another frozen shoulder for me. Also been extremely fatigued lately on it and I've checked my blood sugar. I was pre-diabetic for many years maybe 7-8 and checked it today and it was 155 3 hours after eating oatmeal with a decent amount of sugar in it but not excessive. I have to check my fasting blood sugar in the morning to see what that is maybe it has made me completely diabetic. Also read that it messes with your insulin levels in the way it stores the food in your body is as fat and therefore that's what really makes you hungry in addition to its and histamine affect
also my anxiety has gotten so damn high again over everything and I want off this drug so bad but it's the only thing that will allow me to sleep right now my anxiety is through the roof over things right now declining slowly. can't walk can't even wash my own hair. So tired and lost even more weight I was severely underweight to begin with and I'm at azepine seems to be the only thing giving me an appetite. Feel trapped and helped by this evil drug and my own mind allowing me to keep taking it in the beginning. Should have gotten off of it right away but I was content sleeping extra figure that was better than not sleeping at all which I had had not been before being on it. I was put on it in the hospital in a 30 milligram dose in went down after a while to 15 which basically had no antidepressant effect or helped anxiety at all just kept me sleeping. So part of it's my own damn fault for being complacent and just content with sleeping on and off at least most of the night and then laying in bed in the morning for another 3 hours sleeping on and off making a total of 10 hours in bed at day in the beginning it was a more like 11.
If you are having appetite issues than I can see why you are taking this drug. I had trouble eating for a number of months so that was primarily why I was put on the drug. Also, I was having insomnia. I will say the drug almost immediately improved my appetite. I was snacking all the time. Once I discontinued Mirtazapine, I started experiencing insomnia again. I am now taking low dose Ambien, which has been helpful. I don't feel any grogginess on Ambien, unlike Mirtazapine.
Hi, I am presently coming off Mirtazapine 30 mgs to 15 mgs My doc had me drop straight down from 15 to 0 taking 10 Nortryptoline Bi scared that I will have withdrawal symptoms over the next couple of days. I have had muscle aches as well and hoping they go away and that I can finally wake up. If I have trouble 😴 I will take some GABA. I took it once as a calming supplement and it made me tired. So maybe that will help with any insomnia. Also have some CBD oil that I can take. Maybe this will help you to sleeep? Had nasty restless legs as well. Can’t wait to get off this med.
Hi Kevin, I know exactly how you feel as I'm going through it myself right now. Was told I have anxiety and put on this med to help relieve the symptoms and to help me sleep and I was so desperate at the time I just took it without reading up on it because I knew it would probably make me too nervous to start taking it (which in hindsight I wish I had done now!). I was put up to 30mg a few weeks ago and started noticing some visual disturbances so was told to go back down to 15mg for a week and then come off it. Soon as I went down to 15mg and ever since (for 2 weeks now), I've been getting frequent muscle twitches/vibrations. Came off them when that started as it scared the hell out of me but I've gone back on them now in the hope that it was withdrawal from coming off too fast and will go away now I'm taking them again. Don't know if its the right thing to do or if I'm making things worse, all I know is I want to get off them as quickly and safely as possible :-( Like you I feel angry with the doctor who prescribed them and with myself for giving in and taking them. I hope you can get off them without any problems. I wish you luck.
HI what dose are you on ,I am 7.5 can't get up mornings, stiff knees back ,
15 mg was on 30 for about 3 weeks back in mid November through beginning of December then dropped to 15
had my own trials with Ambien initially almost 4 years ago didn't help created more anxiety. would wake up after one and a half to two hours with severe anxiety then about a year and 10 months ago try it again and even taking two extended release didn't help because my anxiety was so bad. Try it again a few months later when I was tapering from benzodiazepines and opioids at the same time. My body would just laugh at taking 2 ambiens extended release. There were nights I was so desperate for sleep that I would get a couple hours after taking two and then take two more. I spent the equivalent of couple months of absolutely no sleep between October 2016 and February January 2017 before I went into the hospital. About 4 months ago try taking Ambien again maybe 5 months around 4 in the morning to try to get back to sleep slept an hour.
Ambien has a very short half-life. Unlike mirtazapine. Stays in your system the next day too. Make sure you give yourself breaks from the Ambien. rebound insomnia is very common and also you can get addicted to it also and not be able to sleep unless you take it you keep taking it. I should have listened to the advice of somebody very wise 4 years ago and developed more natural methods of dealing with my anxiety and problems then turning to the pharmaceutical industry.
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forgot about Gaba supplements never really tried one. red mixed results whether or not they actually cross the brain barrier.
Does list does list both of these as a side effect. I believe it is also happened to me. Can't be sure because I also have not exercised much or walked very much but I also went through a long period of not eating enough and losing tons of weight and not getting proper vitamins and minerals. Also still suffer from extreme anxiety so that tightens up the muscles suspend prolonged for very long time. At one point in time I asked my doctor about it psychiatrist and she said it 15 mg doubts if that side effect would happen. Seems like these doctors deny all the damn side effects from medications
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I too think that Mirtazapine has created weakness and stiffness progressively in my body over the past 7 months. I have been taking 15 mg and wanted to know what your dosage was. I asked my psychiatrist about the stiffness and she said I wasn't on a high enough dose for it to cause at problems. Seems like these doctors all deny side effects of their medications. Past several months my anxiety has gotten much worse and I haven't been walking or exercising as much as I know can contribute to the problem and having a lot of anxiety can cause muscle stiffness and weakness at times but I have had worse anxiety than this in my life. Although not as prolonged at this level perhaps close similar but in a different way. Thanks please let me know the dosage. plan to taper and get off of this stuff anyway
Robbie I'm also angry with myself as I knew some of the awful potential side effects of this drug. I read up on it several years ago when the doctor wanted me to take an antidepressant unfortunately whenever I attempted to take an antidepressant my anxiety was already through the roof just made everything worse. I had a brief stint on low dose Lexapro that didn't cause any side effects other than sexual and making me yawn all day didn't really feel tired from it just yawned all day. Yawning is your body's reflux I guess usually that it wants more oxygen. I write a pretty detailed post if somebody who did a lot of research on Mirtazapine and listed a lot of the metabolic and potential problems you can have while on it and listed the difficulty getting off of it. his bottom line statement at the end was I wouldn't wish Mirtazapine on my worst enemy. And I knew this going in taking it. I agreed to take it while I was in the hospital just to appease them so I could get the hell out of there. They were tapering me down from a very high dose of clonazepam and I also had anxiety so bad I was barely eating. Shortly after I got home I went down to 15 and was debating on whether going back up or not because my anxiety was getting worse again. I just stayed on 15 because it made me sleep. over the past several years I had used it on and off in the lower dose for sleep between 3 and 3/4 and 7 and 1/2. I meet with my psychiatrist on Tuesday. I'm still in the process of tapering from clonazepam and my anxiety is Extreme right now to the point where I can barely eat to maintain my weight. I get a tight stomach and acid reflux after eating I force my food down after the first few bites other than breakfast. usually. I have a host of other medical issues now my back neck and shoulders are weak and dysfunctional I can barely get in and out of bed and in extreme pain all day long I've had one frozen shoulder for about a year and 10 months and the right one is getting worse and more painful right now I can barely move it keeps me up half the night even with the mirtazapine. It's horrific getting in and out of bed and extremely painful as I have to use more of my back muscles now cuz I can't use my arm to help me push up out of bed so then I keep hurting my back getting in and out of bed. Feel like I'm trapped in hell. Don't know if I can handle tapering the mirtazapine and the clonazepam at the same time right now that psychiatrist put the clonazepam taper on hold. I have been on it for a long time again reluctantly after almost killing myself getting off of it about a year-and-a-half ago I was able to taper down to one and a quarter to milligrams it was also tapering off opioids at the same time and then it up in the hospital.